I really like the idea of resolutions and approach them more as goals than something I’ve outright failed if I don’t accomplish them all by year-end. This year, I picked four simple ones to help guide my 2019.

Another year of kind. This was my only resolution in 2018 and I plan to keep it on the list for 2019 – not only on the list, but right at the top. This helped me so much that it’ll continue to be my filter for the year ahead. It’s telling myself it’s ok to do less things, to say no when I really need to and to go easy on myself during another big year of change.

Write more. This is a biggie for me. I went to a writing retreat last year at Write Doe Bay and wasn’t able to get myself back into long-form writing last year. This year though, it’s going to happen. I learned just how hard it is to start a new novel and then take some considerable time away from it. I’m planning to do that, in addition to tackle some bigger writing projects to hopefully place with a few publications, throughout 2019.

Read more. I’ll be honest. This one isn’t going to be hard. With everything going on last year, I read 1.5 books. Yes. You read that right. I have a list of books I want to read while I’m on maternity and up and about at unusual pockets of time during the day. I’m looking forward to being still and reading more — even if it’s only in the end a very short stack of books.

Disconnect more. This is easier said than done. Social media is my living and a major distribution outlet for amplifying my writing is online. That doesn’t mean I can’t reign it in, too. Recently on the year anniversary of my mom’s death, I quietly unplugged for the day. It was refreshing the amount of clarity that comes with fully immersing yourself in and focusing on the world and people around you, removing all those other extraneous thoughts. I look forward to doing more of the same this year.

What’s on tap for you in 2019?