Happy New Year! My 2024 Word

Happy New Year, writers and friends! I hope you had a lovely holiday. I spent the last two weeks snuggled with family and enjoying time with friends. I gave myself permission to let go of the pressure of what I should be doing and took time to simply be present. It was a much needed digital and mental break.

This week, I’m slowly dipping my foot back in the fast-moving river of real life. The kids are back at school. I have actual appointments at specific times I have to show up to. I suddenly know what day it is again.

But as I begin to rejoin the hamster wheel of life, there are also things I need to reassess as I move into the new year. Habits I need to let go of and new ones I would like to start. Goals I am excited to make progress towards. I am trying not to let the list of to-dos and the burden of the early morning alarm clock drown out the beauty that is this time of renewal.

As is my tradition, I have picked a word to reflect my goals and intentions for 2024. (Do you pick a nudge word?)

Last year, the word was focus, and if I’m honest, I totally lost sight of that word somewhere in May. In fact, I had to look it up before writing this post to remember what last year’s word even was. Not a good sign. I ended the year feeling like I sprayed my attention in every direction like a broken sprinkler, hoping it might land on a goal or two to help them grow. I accomplished little more than exhaustion and frustration with that scattershot focus.

While I ended the year feeling a bit flustered and defeated, I don’t want to minimize what I actually did manage to accomplish last year: I completed my revisions and pitch documents and started querying. I attended two writer’s retreats and one writer’s conference allowing me to deepen my connection to craft and the community of writers I love so much. I worked with some fantastic clients this past year helping them to make progress toward their writing goals. I launched a Start Your Novel for PR Pros workshop that I plan to present again in 2024. I blogged here more weeks than I didn’t. I started playing with a new manuscript idea.

As I contemplated my business and writing goals for 2024, I realized it is time for me to level up in both categories. Stepping into my own power as a writer and a coach and a member of the writing community is a difficult thing for me, but something I am ready to do.

But leveling up sounds perilously close to climbing the ladder and one of the things I didn’t enjoy about the corporate world was just that: the constant need for advancement for advancement’s sake up someone else’s predetermined ladder.

There are a lot of things about the ladder metaphor that rankle for me:

The ladder is linear with only room for one on a rung at a time leaving little space for collaboration or hand holding. There is no room to pause or take a diversion on the ladder. The climb is prescribed one rung after another with little room for experimentation lest you fall off and, horrors, have to start over or behind your peers. Plus, I was never even sure where this ladder was headed. The ladder itself is simply a means to an end.

None of that feels good to my core values of craft, community, and connection.

As I contemplated how I wanted to level up this year in a way that did feel alighned with these core values, an image came to mind.

A mountain.

A mountain is a slow climb by nature. It’s full of expected obstacles. There are opportunities to stop and enjoy the view, pick wild flowers, or pitch a tent to stay a while in a particularly pretty spot and rest. You can walk side-by-side with companions, you don’t have to go it alone. You can detour and meander. You can pick the mountain that best suits your mood or needs on any particular day or trip. When you reach the top of one, you can always find another to climb if you want.

This year, my word is mountain to remind me:

• This life and work (coaching and writing) are a journey that takes time and preparation
• The journey may be hard and slow at times, but it is also beautiful and rewarding
• The journey is often the point, not the destination
• There is room on the mountain for many
• Sometimes you need a guide–I will ask for help when I need it and be a guide for others when I can
• Everyone’s pace up the mountain is different, as long as I keep putting one foot in front of the other, I will reach the top regardless of how I “place” in relation to others

It feels right. I am ready to take the next, slow steps up my mountain of 2024.

I hope our paths cross on my journey up the mountain for a short picnic or even a long hike to the top. Whatever it may be, I will be sure to pack some extra snacks and water to share and am always happy to pull up a spot on a rock and simply enjoy the view with you.

I hope 2024 is filled with writing progress and success for each of you this year!

What word did you pick for 2024? Share in the comments!

Featured photo above by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash