Happy New Year, readers!

I hope everyone had a great holiday and went back to work this week feeling super replenished, fed, and ready to start the new year. I wanted to do a little something different with this post, and I’m passionate about helping others set goals for the year, so there will be a giveaway at the end of this post– stay tuned!

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A look back at 2016. 

On social media, I’ve noticed that a LOT of people were ready to say farewell to 2016. Although some crazy and terrible things have happened this year, when I looked back at 2016 personally, I had a really good one. Obviously, many things in the news upset me and had me praying heavily for others, and I’ve had bad days myself, but I can’t ignore the personal blessings that God has placed in my life last year! I was able to attend Madcap Retreats last spring, in Tennessee, with other aspiring authors and bestselling authors, and it was an absolutely amazing experience. I saw Beyoncé in concert (in the middle of a thunderstorm) for the second time, and she did not disappoint. There are a few new babies in my family, which i love! And, at the end of the year, I took a job in social media and moved to New York City. That is something I was not expecting, but it was the hugest change of the year, which i am so thankful for! I miss my family and the south so much, but I am slowly getting to know what new york has to offer.

A look at 2016 goals. 

• Read something out of my normal genre (I tend to read fantasy and contemporary more than anything) –
• Get my family/boyfriend to read more-
• Read a classic
• Dive to my OWN book collection and stop buying as many books
• Provide more original content for my bookish YouTube channel
• Polish Manuscript(s) and Send to Literary Agents
• Apply to Writers’ Residencies
• Drive more traffic to my blog
• Make Waves in Freelance Writing: 
• Create Bloggging/Vlogging Schedule
• Lose weight, get fit, become healthier
• Listen to God MORE
• Become financially responsible
• Become a better friend
• Establish Independence

I did pretty well with this! I’m so excited about the bylines I have in TeenVogue.com, ESSENCE.com, and Sesimag.com, I joined a gym and lost a few pounds at the end of the year, got my boyfriend and brother reading, and moved to a new city. The other goals that I did not meet will definitely be on my goal list for this year 🙂 With that being said:

My 2017 Goals: 

Bookish

• Read the Bible more frequently
• Finish re-reading the Harry Potter Series
• Read MORE
• Expand Booktube Channel

Writing

• Write and Send another manuscript
• Write 30 minutes a day
• Step back from Freelance Writing

Personal

• Be more Financially Responsible
• Listen to God
• Lose (more) weight + become healthier
• Explore New York
• Stop Procrastinating
• Connect with Loved Ones (brunch dates, actually text people back, etc)

My bookish goals consists of basically, me reading more. I felt like I was reading very s l o w l y last year, and I think that’s because I had a lot of reading slumps. I’m going to try and set aside of dedicated reading time everyday to improve that. I also want to really upgrade my booktube channel, which I talk about more in the goal setting video I made on my channel. I want to improve my equipment, setup, etc. Writing wise, I want to write a new book this year, so that’s why I’m trying to write everyday and I’m taking a step back from freelancing. I LOVE freelancing, and this probably won’t be a goal that’s in affect for the whole year, but at least in the beginning months, I want to put most of my writing energy into writing that manuscript. My personal goals are all pretty much exactly the same as last year. Even if I’ve “accomplished” a personal goal, I believe that I can do better!

When crafting the list of goals I want to set this year, I used my 2017 Powersheets from CultivateWhatMatters.com. I spent an entire day filling them out. I have blog post about last years sheets, but this year, the sheets are so much more clean and compact. I LOVE them and would recommend them to anyone wanting to set goals for the new year. I’m so passionate about how these sheets have helped me, that I am gifting away a One-Year set of Powersheets to a lucky reader! This giveaway will go on for a week, so that the winner can start digging in as soon as possible.

I believe that there are 6-month undated versions of the Powersheets in the Cultivate What Matters shop (which are the exact same format) but these are sold out. I hope whoever wins will see the difference that goal setting will make in their life!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck readers! and whether you are entering or not, I’d love to hear what your goals are for this year!

Let’s make 2017 the best year yet!