Avon Van Hassel

Last year, a big trend was the One Word Challenge, where we chose one word to define the coming year. I chose Focus because I had so much that I wanted to do, and my life was so chaotic that I felt I really needed to buckle down if I ever wanted to get off the ground.

Well, I focused for all I was worth and I accomplished a huge amount. I launched my website, I took a bazillion classes about starting and running a business, I joined three viral builders that gained me literal hundreds of followers on Facebook, I published two novels and a short story, I helped friend launch her business, I started a Patreon (and then promptly dropped it, lol! Baby steps!), and I even took a much needed trip to the UK to reconnect with friends and get my head straight.

Having a one-word affirmation helped massively. So this year, I’m doing it again, and focusing on GROWTH.

I will grow as a writer by publishing at least three more novellas and another novel. Hopefully, it’ll be off to betas by May, though I’m still optimistic about late March.

I will grow as an entrepreneur. As a self-published author, everything is on my own shoulders. Planning, researching, writing, editing (I do have a wonderful and affordable editor, but I do the first few rounds myself), cover design, formatting, collaborating with other creators, promoting, and finally, marketing. Thankfully, as I publish digitally at the moment, I don’t have to deal with printing and shipping, but when I do, that’ll be my job, too. So I have to really work on how to market myself effectively, which will require an almost complete rewiring of my extreme introvert brain, lol, and possibly a complete overhaul of all of my marketing platforms. Pray for me.

I will grow spiritually. In the spring, my family circle decided to leave the community of pagans that we met with regularly. It wasn’t a clean or amicable break, so we kind of drifted aimlessly for a while to try to figure things out. Eventually, the decision was made to form a new group, and that will crystalise very soon. Additionally, my bestie and I have been kicking around the idea of a pagan podcast. We’re both very excited to get that started.

I will grow in my discipline and self-care. I know it sounds funny to say you’ll grow by reducing, but it works in a roundabout way. I’m a super low energy person on a good day, so it’s going to take a lot of effort and determination to give my body the exercise and nurturing that it requires. I need to eat better (and less), work out regularly (even if it’s just a sun salutation), meditate more, and look after my skin better. And yes *deep sigh* drink more water.

Right now on Facebook, I have a discussion going about what I can do to better engage with people, and the responses have been pretty interesting. If you’re interested in helping me out, please head over there and let me know. Or I guess, you can write it in the comments below.