Did you get everything done this year? How did it go? What does “everything” mean to you?
Every year’s end, there seems to be a rush to make new year resolutions that run the gamut from exercising and dieting to being more productive and self-confident to whatever is cool and hot. I find it ironic that not making any new year’s resolutions is also a thing. Then again, if you don’t have goals, how do you know if you’ve reached any?
To me, getting everything done is a two-edged sword. On the one hand, it could mean that I complete my checklist for the year. If that is the case, let there not be something amiss, right? If “everything” means everything that God wants me to do, that’s one thing. If it means only what I myself want to do, regardless, then I have a lot to answer for regarding God’s perfect will for my life.
Ideally, “everything done” should mean what God wants me to do rather than only what I want. If what I want intersects with what God wants for me, then that’s a wonderful thing.
We’ve all heard of these adages, haven’t we?
- If you’re too busy for God, you’re too busy.
- If you’re too busy to pray, you’re too busy.
- If you’re too busy to spend time with your family, you’re too busy.
In the midst of the great chaos of 2021, I was surprised I wrote two new books at all. I wrote one book through the hard work of packing up thirty-plus years of stuff to prepare for the downsizing of our family home. I wrote another book while experiencing the grief of losing two friends and then unexpectedly catching COVID myself.
In the end, the year 2021 found me rereleasing one book, writing two new books, and revising three second editions of previously published novels.
When I heard that some of my author friends have published 24 or 48 books in 2021, I cheered them on. I congratulated them. I think it’s wonderful that they had the time and wherewithal to write so many books this year. We all have different lives and different capacities for achieving things. Some of my books took me ten years to write, some took ten months to revise, some took ten weeks to think about, and yes, some took me ten days to draft. There, but for the grace of God, go I.
In my 2021 process, I learned many things about God. Among all the important spiritual nuggets such as trusting God and waiting for Him, I also reminded myself about some basic fundamental Christian things. Here is what I told my newsletter subscribers a few weeks ago:
Even though I only published two new books this year (compared to last year’s four), I know that God is still sovereign. Praise the Lord. I am grateful to Him for everything. One of the many things I learned in this turbulent year is this: I am still saved in Jesus Christ regardless of what I achieve or don’t achieve, write or don’t write, pursue or don’t pursue. My salvation is secure in Christ. Therefore, I can go forth with peace in my heart.
What about you? Did you accomplish everything you set out to do in 2021? What is your assessment of it? Did you learn something new about God in the process?
The next time I blog, it will be in 2022 A.D., so until then, I wish you a Happy and Blessed New Year!
In Christ,
Jan Thompson
USA Today bestselling novelist Jan Thompson writes clean and wholesome multiethnic contemporary Christian romance with elements of women’s fiction, Christian romantic suspense with an air of mystery, and inspirational international thrillers with threads of sweet Christian romance. Join Jan's mailing list for her latest book news: JanThompson.com/newsletter
I am still in shock that an author could write 24 or 48 books in a year that’s 2 – 4 a month.
I know I didn’t do everything I hoped to but I know there is always next year. When you have health issues and tire you learn what isn’t done will still be there and not to push yourself further than you can cope with. If I push myself to much one day it can take a few days to get over it and then I get even less done.
If I know there is something coming up like a trip to the city for medical appointments I know I will be exhausted for the next few days so I make sure I have nothing I need to do those days.
It’s amazing how much you’ve done, given how much else was going on in your life!
I had goals for 2021, but met almost none of them. It’s been a rubbish year for productivity, and I’ve spent the last few weeks picking apart what went wrong. On the plus side, I’ve learned a lot of new things and God has brought many blessings and opportunities my way.
That’s a lot of books. I got almost all but a few done this year.
Wow!! I got my plans done & I mean what I wanted to do not my dreams lol
Yes, indeed re: health. I hear you about exhaustion. Over the Christmas weekend, we had to drive two vehicles some 1100 miles (1770 km) round trip to visit grandma and bring our cat home. Two vehicles bc the pet crate is so big it filled up one vehicle, so my husband had to drive the other vehicle with our son and all our luggage in it. Each way takes me 8-10 hours to drive, depending on how many stops I make and what traffic jams there are on the highway. The more stops I make, the more delays. The fewer stops, the more exhausted I become driving such long distance on the road. So it’s difficult either way. I drove there on Friday, and drove back on Sunday, with Christmas Day as my day of rest. Thankfully our Christmas meal was simple and sweet. And Thank God the cat only whined for two of the ten hours, but the drive home was super long because there were multiple wrecks on the highway and the GPS kept sending me on detours through cities and small towns I’ve never been to before (read: impromptu book research trips LOL).
Now that being a novelist is my main job, I have to be careful not to let non-writing things exhaust me. Mentally and emotionally spent, I will be certainly unable to write. I have to factor in non-pecuniary costs, such as HEALTH, as you and I discussed here. I’ve heard of enough stories of people who worked all their lives (in whatever profession), finally retired, and then spent way too much time at the doctor’s. Then again, I thank God for my doctors, who helped me survive COVID and a non-COVID viral flu plus my allergies this year!
I pray we will all be healthy in 2022! Have a blessed new year, and thank you for your comments!
God is good all the time. I hear you! I wanted to write more books this year too (something like half a dozen planned), and yet… Oh well. I’ve learned to let things go, but yes, I do a lot of forensics each year too. I think for 2022, I will start to evaluate at the end of every month instead of quarterly or bi-annually or yearly.
Do you have small children at home? When my son was young at home, it literally took me 10 years to write one of my novels. My most productive years was when he was in a local homeschool high school academy, where my only job as homeschool mom, besides driving the teenager around, was to proctor tests and teach two classes instead of six or seven! Now that I am an empty nester, I am surprised at my lack of TIME to sit down and write a book. You’d think I’d have more time HAHA.
I’m praying for 2022 that God’s perfect will would prevail. However many or few books He wants me to write, that’s my happy place.
Thank you very much for your comments, and have a blessed new year!
Praise the Lord you’re that close to your goal! I’m glad for you. May God bless your new year with much productivity and good health!
Thank you for your comments.
LOL yes re: dream plans. IDK what they are for me since they change so much LOL. These days, I try to keep my plans loose (flexible) and I try to factor in some extra sick days, rest days, don’t-want-to-do-anything days…
Thank you for your comments and have a wonderful new year!
I think you accomplished plenty. I find the quality of books goes down if they turn them out to quickly. My favorite authors produce a couple a year. Blessings
Thank you! I enjoy writing very much. TBH I write what I write and when it’s done, it’s done. I am thankful to God for providing me with editors who patiently wait for me to finish writing my books. They never ask me, “Aren’t you supposed to be done already?” LOL
It’s like when I used to paint (I haven’t had time to paint this year, but maybe soon I can get back to some still-life painting). Sometimes I can get a piece of artwork done in an hour, but sometimes the incomplete work sits there on the canvas for weeks until I finish painting it. For me, writing is like that. Some years, like this one, I only wrote two books. Some years, I wrote more books. It depends on how much time I have. My family still comes first, so they get the priority.
Thank you very much for your comments. Have a blessed New Year!
I didn’t do too much this .end Christmas cards and make phone calls.
I don’t make new years resolutions anymore. I take each year when it comes. Congratulations on your books.
God helps us all in every way. We are nothing without him. Happy New Year.
Hi, wow, that is a lot of books, Congratulations. I got pretty much everything done. God is Good. May you and your family have a Healthy and Blessed New Year.
Only two brand new books out this year. The rest are release (x1) or second editions (x3). Hopefully I’ll write and publish more in 2022, but Romans 8:28.
Thank you for your comments and have a wonderful new year too!
Since we’ve been moving, all my Christmas cards are in some box somewhere. IDK where they all are. This year, our Christmas has been chaotic. I drove for 10 hours with a cat (he only whined for 2 hours and then settled down most of the time) on Sunday to take him to our new house, and that was my extended Christmas weekend!
I stopped making resolutions also, but I do make some sort of rough map or goal of where I need to do maybe in the next 6 months or so, something I can pray about and not lose track of. They are subject to change, of course, as the Lord leads.
Yes, indeed. Without Christ, we can do nothing (John 15).
Thank you for your comment, and have a wonderful new year!
I had no big plans. Life was good though.
My main goal this past year was my health. I have been dealing with a lot of significant health issues, and still am, so that goal will continue into the new year. Hopefully soon I can see significant improvement so I can start to accomplish other things.
Praise the Lord!
Health was an issue for me this year too — in fact, still is. I pray that God will heal us!
Thank you for your comment, and have a wonderful new year!
No, I did not achieve any of my goals this year. I had a year of physical issues as well as time to deal with changes in my life. Sometimes, it just seems to be too overwhelming to tackle some jobs. We are living in my childhood home. My Mom is now in a nursing home. We have 55 years of her living in the house to go through. Everything has a memory for me. We work in small jobs. My husband and I are both disabled. We do not have a lot of strength and endurance. Sometimes, I just have to say stop. I cannot do anymore. I am learning how to say what I need. Thank you so much for sharing. God bless you. Happy New Year.
Thank you for your comments. I hear you about 55 years of memories. We had to sort through 32 years of memories when we packed up to downsize our family home. It’s a long long long process, isn’t it? I can’t do much either due to medical problems, but I do what I can and delegate the rest. May God give you strength and wisdom!
Have a blessed new year to you too!
Wow that is some trip. I pray you will have a healthy 2022 and any lasting effects from Covid etc will leave very quickly. I am so thankful for Botox as it has helped reduced the pain. Now to train a cat to stop being a bed hog.
Honestly, I don’t even think I ever plan out my year to the point of feeling like I didn’t accomplish everything. I’ve never set goals for the year, except when it comes to the amount of books I read (lol)! And that goal I exceeded as usual :-)
I figure God has His plans for me set out already, so it’s enough for me to know His will for my everyday or every year life. Yes, there are times where my plans change on a whim & that can be disappointing. But I trust the Lord even in that. I’ve discovered it all works out in the end. The scripture I hold to is this:
Proverbs 16:9~”A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.”
I figure if something doesn’t work out, it wasn’t meant to be. That’s a lesson that’s hard won & I’ve made peace with. :-)