I’ve never done New Year’s resolutions, since I’ve never really seen the value in them and am always striving to become a better version of myself anyway (more Christ-like). Plus, they seem kind of cliché. However, for the sake of a blog post and recording my subconscious goals on paper…ah, the screen…we are doing this. And then at the end of the year, we’ll do a review of how well I met these goals.
Grow Closer to God
The obvious goal and the entire goal of my life. Since I want to be able to measure up to this in 365 days, I’m going to put this into a more tangible form. I want to be reaching for God in any and all circumstances. I want to be praising him, pleading for His help, and everything else in between, no matter what’s going on. Knowing Him more (reading His word) will definitely help, as well as just making it a habit to be praying all the time. I’ve already found this increasing in my life because of the new friends I have now. However, I want to see this become permanent and something I do no matter if I have the same encouragement or not.
Work on Relationships
With more privilege comes greater responsibility. Recently, the Lord has blessed me with several new friendships. One of them bloomed super quickly and just took off into the sky like the fireworks in the picture above. The others sprouted more steadily. There’s a lot of potential, and I’m both excited and scared to see where they go.
This year, I want to focus on being a good friend, nurturing the relationships the Lord has blessed me with, and being an encouraging person who causes others glorify the Lord and builds up her friends through profitable speech. I’m not sure how I will measure this at the end of the year. However, I do know the things I want to do more: listen, learn, and love.
For listening, I want to hear what people have to say. Whether that be joyful news, prayer requests, or just a rant, I want to give whoever it is my full attention and just show that I care. (And if I say I’ll pray for them, I really mean it. I pray right then and there and then some afterwards.)
For learning, everyone’s got some wisdom or experiences I can learn from. I love hearing stories from older (or even younger) people and knowing their thoughts and opinions on what happened. Seeing things through other people’s perspectives is so refreshing. I want to take whatever I can learn from these people, follow their examples of Christ-like behavior, and just let the Lord speak through them.
For loving, I want to be more…loving. Each person is different. Every person has their weaknesses and strengths. Learning to love them through their flaws and preferences can be difficult, and I want to get better at letting my own selfishness go in order to serve other people. 1 Corinthians talks about what love is, and it’s a whole lot of things I am naturally not. As a Christian, I want to become more like Jesus and let His light shine through me, but I know this is going to be a difficult one—especially with people I don’t get along well with.
Step up My Social Game
I don’t do the best in social situations. I hate small talk, and my first instinct upon meeting anyone (especially a guy) is to push them away and make them not like me. This is obviously not a good place to be in. I find myself regretting the way I react in the moment when I actually have time to think—especially if the person was going out of their way to be friendly and nice to me, because I really do appreciate it.
Anyway, since I got a job as a CSR (customer service representative) at Pizza Hut, I’m definitely going to be put in many social situations. Everything is pretty casual. During the rush (which is when I’ll be scheduled), there will be many customers to interact with, both in person and on the phones. Outside of the rush, everything is pretty laid back. Some of my coworkers are really friendly, and I hope to get to know them better and maybe even make some acquaintances.
Write and Blog Consistently
Here’s a super measurable one. I want to write consistently. Whether that be in one of my WIP’s, a blog post, a journal, or an essay-like email, as long as it requires a generous measure of brain power and thought, it counts. To be extra strict on myself though, I’m going to say writing at least one word in any of my WIP’s every day. I know this will be a tough one when I’m going through the editing process.
As for the second part of this goal—blog consistently—I’ll be producing a new post every Wednesday. Currently, I have ideas planned out into May, so I’ll need to do some brainstorming before the year is over. If you guys want to see anything in particular, go ahead and write it in the comments!
Oh, and I almost forgot—my newsletter! Since adding in all the new sections and exclusive stuff you don’t see on IG or my blog, I have to put in a substantial amount of extra energy into each email. And since I send out one every week…well, hopefully I can keep up with delivering quality content to your inboxes.
Finish Filling Out My Super Secret Journal
I’m kidding. It’s not super secret, and I don’t even know if I can call it a journal. It’s a Google Docs with parchment/old paper images over each page and fancy fonts for the headings and text. The topic of the journal: my in-depth thoughts on marriage, children, relationships, and the like. It’s mostly so I can write out my opinions and thoughts and inspect them in light of Scripture. I know some girls write letters to their future husbands. I don’t do that, but I have a friend who does. I joked to her that while she’s creating something cute and adorable that she can share with her future husband, I’m making something I can dump on him before marriage to be like, “Are you sure you really want to commit to this?” 😂 Of course, assuming I actually get married. Right now, it’s just a way to self-reflect.
Publish TJB
For explanation, TJB is the abbreviation for my historical fiction WIP, The Jewish Baby. Currently, it’s in the stage of developmental editing, and I hope to get back to it after I finish writing the rough draft of my NaNo WIP. Publishing will be a huge process. Especially since I’m doing everything myself. Finishing up the novel is just the first step. Then, comes marketing. (Ah, the life of an indie author.)
Also, for those of you who don’t know, I have four WIP’s. Three are part of a fantasy/sci-fi/dystopian trilogy. The other one is a standalone historical fiction novel set in WWII. Click on the images below to learn more about the trilogy. (Each is a separate blog post covering the topic indicated on the picture.)
Start Freelancing
On February 6th, I turn 18. That means I can start working as a freelancer and easily sign the contracts that most freelancers use in order to avoid getting scammed like I may have just been. (We’ll save that for another blog post when I figure things out.) I’ve never tried freelancing, so I’m excited to get into it and start working from my computer. If things go well, it will turn into a full-time job. If things go only kind of well, it will be a source of side income. If nothing goes well at all, I’ll try to forget about it. However, freelancing has been a dream of mine for some time now, and I’m hoping it can turn into an alternative for things like working at fast food restaurants. (I’m mainly at Pizza Hut for the experience, but we’ll get into that in a few weeks.) Being able to earn money doing what I love—like writing, research, tech stuff, and design—sounds like a dream, and I’m hoping it doesn’t turn out to be just that.
Keep a More Positive Mindset
I am a natural pessimist and overthinker who is good at making anything sound depressing and hurting her own feelings. I’m also someone who is always pushing to reach the next milestone, attain the next goal, and keep climbing. I have a difficult time seeing the small things and just living in the moment. This year, I want to be more mindful of my thoughts (taking all thoughts captive) and work on just trusting the Lord’s plan. Let’s get a little deep here.
A few months back, I was having a hard time because I couldn’t see where my life was headed. I was extrapolating where I am now into like, five years in the future and getting sad about it. (Ridiculous, I know.) Also feeling like life was a monotonous cycle that would never change. I’m not talking about my writing here. More just my life and if I’d have a family, be independent, etc. It was truly absurd—something most young adults worry about, but it’s a worldly care. I should be trusting God with my future, not falling into hopelessness.
Now I’ve come to a mindset where I’m content waiting on the Lord. I continue the cycle day in and day out. I try to serve the Lord in the small things, like helping my family. If He opens doors and opportunities, that’s great; I’ll go there. But trying not to despair and seeing the joy in the small things—God’s love in everything and everyone around me. His timing is perfect. He has everything planned out already. I just need to live in faith and follow His leading. Easier said than done, but that’s where I’m trying to be. Learning contentment, peace, and rest will all be a big part in this, and I’m already experiencing the joyous rest of laying all my burdens on Him.
Conclusion
I guess these are more goals than resolutions. Depending on the amount of time I have and how much of my life my new job takes up, I may or may not complete some of the bigger ones. However, I think the biggest thing is just growing closer to the Lord. If I don’t accomplish much in the world’s sense, it doesn’t matter if I’m in a better place with God. Our relationship matters above all else. Everything I’m going through now is to draw me closer to Him and to help others to do the same, so I don’t really care if I get X amount of books published in X amount of years.
But Granny, I do know you want me to publish The Jewish Baby, so I will try to do that. I will try to make sure you aren’t waiting that much longer for a real copy. There’s lots of rewriting I need to do.
Hi Kayla,
I’ve really enjoyed reading your posts and seeing how you want to pursue God and seek to do His will. I appreciated that you looked for things in your life that could look more like the Lord and sought after things that He would like you to do to be more like Him. Good job!
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thank you! ❤️
Hey Kayla! I’m the same way with New Years Resolutions. 😅 It seems best simply to think through a few simple yearly goals rather than to set one big thing that you may, or may not be able to stick with.
Hi Hannah! Yeah, I also like to set very small goals, that way, I’m either satisfied or pleasantly surprised by the end of it all 😂
I love how you’ve broken everything down in manageable steps! All these are really good ones!
Thanks! Small and manageable is the way I’m trying to go from now on lol