Time for a bit of self-reflection?
Did you do what you said you would this year?
Did you keep the promises that you made to yourself and to others?
Are you nearer your goal?
Are you proud of what you have achieved this year?
Did you use this precious year wisely?
OR did you fritter your time away?
For many of us, the end of the year is both a time of celebration, but also for self-reflection. 
CHANGE BEGINS IN YOUR THOUGHTS.
I was already considering what I had achieved this year when a prompt popped up on my Facebook feed from Karen McDermott of Serenity Press 
She asked a simple question.’ What is your word for 2018?’
The idea was to choose a single word that included all the concepts and things that you wanted to achieve in the next twelve months. Many people had replied with their word choice and many of their words resonated with me. Yet,none seemed exactly right
It nagged away at me, I kept reading and thinking ,but my perfect word eluded me . It simmered away in my brain as words were tried and then discarded. While I applauded other people’s choices, no one word felt right to me.
My word appeared when I was writing my early morning pages. I noted down a few words, Progressing, Enjoying, Completing. And then suddenly I thought’ I need to focus,’ and there it was , my perfect word
Focus, to pay close attention
So focus on I want to achieve in my writing and in my personal life.
Reflecting on this year, it was easy to see that I had not focused .Instead, I had done things that appealed to me without asking do they further my ultimate goals?
So this year my writing focus is on completing the first draft of my novel and then editing it. After that? Who knows?
My personal focus is one shared by many, improving my health by losing weight. I haven’t been paying attention and it shows. Time to get back on track.
Will you choose Focus as your word of the year , or does something different appeal? Please let me know.
Sonia Bellhouse- Author. 
Sonia, I smiled when I read this. Our thinking is on the same track – I too saw Karen’s post about a word for the coming year and had no trouble at all coming up with ‘Focus’. I have done my usual butterfly flit from appealing project to project throughout 2017 and while there is much I have achieved that gives me a sense of satisfaction, my novels remain incomplete. We can encourage each other to maintain focus! Wishing you a wonderfully creative 2018.
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Teena, I saw that we both had chosen the same word. Like you I have been ‘butterfly flitting’ from project to project and of course my NaNoWriMo project id there and unfinished although past the 50,000 words. It would be great to form our own cheer squad and to encourage each other. Wishing you too a wonderfully cretaive and magical 2018
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Focus is a great word! I sometimes find my attention is fragmented between too many projects running at the same time with the result that I make little progress. My old taid used to say “Don’t have too many irons in the fire!” Being a perfectionist doesn’t help me either, so my word is going to be BALANCE. My motto for 2018 is: “Balance is essential. Perfection is UN- nececessary!!
Happy New Year, Sonia. May our dreams naturally manifest in 2018 as we live, and enjoy, the present moment 💜💚
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It sounds lkie we have the same problem, wantingt to do too much! Luckily I am not a perfctionist as well ,but I cna see that make life more challenging,.Happy New Year dear Elizabeth, may our dreams naturally maifest in 2018 xx
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PS I spelt necessary wrong!!
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