And just like that, it’ll be 2024 tomorrow – 2023 flew by (I’m starting to feel like a broken record for saying that every year, but it’s true)!
For 2023, the word that I chose was STRIVE. In 2023, there were so many things that I wanted to accomplish, from putting more focus on being active, eating healthy and drinking water consistently, to helping to grow our new business to stretching myself creatively. I decided to not set any concrete goals (i.e. no ‘lose X pounds’) but the word strive meant that I would keep this word at the forefront of everything I did. Did I slip up every now and then? Absolutely. When I did, the intention was to pick myself back up and strive to do better.
My reading last year was probably my biggest accomplishment. With no set TBRs and after bidding farewell to ARCs, I mood read the crap out of 2023 and found so many new favourite books and authors. It also saw my most extravagant book purchasing in the recent past – I was reading almost as fast as I was buying, but I still added a ton of new books to my shelves, leaving a lot of the older, dustier titles untouched (more on that in a bit). I also had a goal in my book journal of reading every day, which I accomplished! It became a bit onerous to track this every day, but I liked that I was intentional about picking up a book in some format, each and every day in 2023. For fitness goals, I could have done better – but I am still proud of myself for each and every walk that I went on, or every time I hit the gym.
My word for 2024 is TRANSFORM. I actually contemplated INTENTIONAL, until I looked back at previous blog posts and realized I used that word already, but after giving it some more thought, I think TRANSFORM is where it’s at for 2024.
For my reading, I’m sticking to less formality and fully embracing the mood reader, but I also want to do a deep dive of my physical books. I’ve changed a lot as a reader in recent years, and I’m sure I have books on my shelves that past me would have enjoyed, but current me is no longer interested in reading and I need to really look at what I have and decide if I’ll ever read it. The genres that I am specifically focusing on is adult literary fiction, YA and middle grade — the last two I don’t have too many books left on my shelves, but adult literary definitely makes up a large percentage of my backlist. In this way, I intend to TRANSFORM my library into a collection of books that I have read and loved and books that I am genuinely interested in reading.
For my health, TRANSFORM represents a shift in exercise and eating habits. I’m going to be more intentional with prioritizing movement every day, especially getting up from my desk during the day. We also want to be more intentional with meal planning / grocery shopping, especially with so many chess clubs in the evenings, so that we prep meals for the week on the evenings that we’re home, and less need for takeout during the week.
Finally, I’ve been doing a lot of reorganizing and decluttering around the house over the past few months, and plan to continue that journey to TRANSFORM my home into a place that is peaceful, organized and a happy home for my family.
Happy New Year, friends, and may 2024 be everything that you’ve hoped for.
Writer Grrl Reads 