2024 Word of the Year: L(EARN)

Here we go…another year and another focus/guiding word. I’m not sure about other people who use this method, but it works so well for me. Maybe because I’m such a text-based person to begin with?

Like last year’s ME, this year’s word(s) popped into my head a week or two before December ended and it just felt right. I’m using L(EARN) this year. I’ve put the parentheses around EARN because I want the focus for the bulk of my year to be on learning, but I do want to make some financial shifts and be more intentional on the money side of things. So let’s break it all down:

Writing

I’m carrying over writing 50 days per quarter, as I love that one. New this year: sending 12 months of newsletters from my website! (You can sign up here) I want to learn how to effectively market and reach writers, teachers, and librarians and connect with them over books via my newsletter. Lastly, I’m going to experiment with my writing more this year. I want to learn about and try new genres, and expand my short story writing opportunities.

Author Business

I started separating this category out last year. This year, I want to learn and implement an effective system to monitor my writing income and expenses, instead of doing it all at tax time. Sigh. I also want to learn new approaches for reaching readers via my “friend” Mina Allan’s work.

Health

I’m going to continue working with Paul, my trainer, and I want to learn what I’m capable of. For a long time I’ve treated my body as a meat sack piloted by an alien up in a cockpit. Unfortunately, you can’t operate that way into your midlife and beyond without the meat sack falling apart. So this year I’m going to lift more weights, sweat more, and integrate meat sack and pilot. I also am going to learn more about cultivating healthy sleep habits. Dude, I’m tired.

Family

I love taking the kids someplace new every month, so that stays on the list in perpetuity. I am also carrying over teaching the kids one new life skill per month, so they can learn how to be better functioning humans in the world. This month it’s How to Properly Shovel and Clean Off the Car—provided we get snow.

Financial

EARN is in LEARN. With one kid going to college in two years, we have some financial goals that we’re moving to the forefront. I’m going to start investigating opportunities around my writing, teaching, and coaching to make those happen.

That’s it! (That’s plenty!) There’s a lot to focus on, but I’m feeling optimistic about the year and what’s ahead. What’s your 2024 word?