It has been a slow start into this month. After a lot of sick days in December, before and around Christmas, and therefore a big chunk of work and planning being neglected, I decided to move slowly into this new year. I took a few mindful days to reflect on the old year and on my achievements, and then started planning the new year.

To make my reflections and my start into this new year more intentional, I relied on three tools I came to trust over the past years. Three workbooks that combine all the things I need to make peace with what has been and settle in to a new, successful year.

• Business-wise, this is The Calm Business Review by my cousin Kerstin. A great workbook to keep track of your achievements without neglecting the hard facts and numbers of your business. A mindful tool to get you in the entrepreneurial spirit for another business year.

• For personal (and sometimes business) review and outlook, I like to do the brilliant Unravel Your Year workbook by Susannah Conway. It asks all the right questions and helps me to ease into the new year.

• Choosing a word for the new year has become quite popular, and I could not do it without the Fin Your Word-workbook by Susannah Conway.  This year, it comes in a cool bundle with the Unravel workbook. I have been looking at the words for the last years and so far it feels like they have been an excellent fit for what happened.

So, I took the first week of January to get fully emerged in those reviews and outlooks. I pondered upon the last year, and while I did not have the feeling of it being very successful at a first glimpse, the questions throughout the workbooks helped me to make peace with it. It took me about a solid week into the new year to see what I accomplished in 2023, and to really see those things as achievements. Here is what I wrote on a tiny piece of paper:

• I quit my job at the beginning of the year (big win because I did not like that job!)

• I applied for a state funding for entrepreneurs

• I wrote a business plan and I got the funding

• I added a Portfolio to my website

• I created this Blog and a Newsletter

• I took a course in children's book illustration

• I finally became a member of the Illustration Organisation in Germany

• I started on the biggest mural project so far (no big pay but big passion project)

• I finally became self-employed as of September 

When I sat there and stared at the list I’d made, it slowly dawned on me, that I could be pretty proud of this past year, and the things I accomplished. What a great feeling.

Of course, I also made a list with my pain points. Things I did not achieve, things that annoy me, and that I’ve struggled with for a longer time. A lot of them are administrative stuff that results from being self-employed, some are things I always wanted to do, but are a pain in the a** time-wise. Most of them are classical frogs. I need to do them eventually, and with the right structure, I will. But there is a silver lining - when I looked at the list again to write this post, I was already able to check off one thing. 

Finding my word for 2024

The next big step was finding my word for the new year. I’ve been doing this for the fourth time now, and it always helps me to get a sense of what this new year will hold for me.

Usually I come up with more than one word or at least a few supporting words. My words in the past years were:

• 2021 REBIRTH (heal, accept, create, courage) - this was amazingly fitting. I was recovering from pregnancy loss, and started my art practice again to help myself heal.

• 2022 BALANCE (nurture, calm, grow, presence) - I became a mother in 2022, and I witnessed the most amazing thing on earth. The birth and growth of the most precious human being.

• 2023 DIRECTION (clarity, strength, confidence, joy) - I decided to go out and venture on my own. I took a leap of faith, and decided to become a full time artist and illustrator.

Now it is 2024. It was harder this time around to land on a word because sickness and stress around the holidays did not give me much time to tune into me and listen. But with Susannah’s workbook and a good amount of journaling and honing my senses, I finally felt something click. As much as last year had given me direction and clarity about WHAT I wanted to do, it had left me with confusion and unsteadiness about HOW to manage and approach things. I felt like a leaf in the wind or lost at sea, never knowing where to go next. My ideas and inspirations were all over the place and as I was sensing this unsteadiness, one need clearly emerged.

2024 would be the year of finding the right STRUCTURE and building a solid FOUNDATION to base my future work and business on. So I settled for two words this year and - how else could it be - four supporting words.

2024 STRUCTURE & FOUNDATION (community, compassion, authenticity, fun)

I hope they will guide me through this year. I plan on including them in all my goals, and I will hold myself accountable for the constant evaluation of their impact.

What I have learned this time, is to be more patient with myself and rest when rest is needed - even if that means things won't get done. I will be of no service to anyone, if I am sick and tired, overstimulated and stressed. In the future, I am planning on taking at least the first week of January (or better the first two weeks) to focus on myself and this reflection process, instead of cramming it all into the last weeks of the year. I will also go on a journey of building my business calmly and with intention by following My Calm Business Year - a weekly, one-year Email course by my cousin Kerstin (I am recommending this because I appreciate her approach so much, and it already made a difference for me).

In the next post, I will let you in on some of my goals - personal and business, and what you can expect to see on here in the future.

Until then, I hope you have arrived in this new year peacefully, and I wish you new ideas, inspirational conversations and a year full of creativity.

NORA