✍️ Desk of Amy Suto: It's Time to Plan Your 2024

What do you want for your new year?

Happy Sunday! In today’s newsletter, you’ll read about…

✍️ How to set up your 2024 for success

☕️ Why tracking habits — not setting goals — will help you more in the new year

😎 What I’m doing to turn 2024 into my ✨ dream year ✨

📖 3-Minute Story: How I’m Preparing for 2024 to Be My Dream Year

It’s December, and 2023 is almost over. How does it feel?

This is a question I’m asking myself as I put together my year in review.

The way that we think about our year past — and plan our new year — affects our motivation, morale, and most importantly — our focus.

I’ve written before on how finding a more focused, “essentialist” mindset has changed my life. I’ve also written about the life hacks that keep me productive.

What I love about the end of the year, however, is the ritual of starting fresh.

But in order to start fresh, you have to first clear out the clutter of the year past, and fully integrate and let go of anything that might be blocking any future success from finding you.

Here’s what I do at the end of every year to truly start fresh:

• Write my year-in-review. I’ll be sharing a step-by-step guide on how to do this on Wednesday! This is an essential step to truly being mindful of what you want to bring with you — or leave behind — before stepping into a new year.

• Create my New Year vision board. This will become my desktop wallpaper and a regular reminder of what I want to achieve for the year.

• Refresh my goals and habits list on Notion. I’ll go through my Notion and update my goals, benchmarks, and daily habits list to make sure I’m doing everything today to get the tomorrow I want.

Once I’ve completed all three of those things, I’ll meditate on any last unprocessed emotions or to-do list items that I want to clear before the end of the year.

In 2024, I’m thrilled to be working remotely as a digital nomad in some of my dream cities: Buenos Aires, Seoul, and Kyoto. I’m also working with my partner on a startup we’re building together, as well as making more progress on my fiction novel Let Me Be Your Ghost and keeping up with y’all here :)

I’m also continuing my work with select authors, helping them finish their books in a stunning way.

Keep an eye out on my blog, where I’ll be sharing my year in review with you so you can see a full breakdown on the exercise and what my approach will be to make 2024 the best year yet.

✨ 2 Quotes to Inspire You

• "The beginning is always today." — Mary Shelley

• "Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." — Maya Angelou

✍️ 1 Journal Prompt for Reflection

• Imagine if 2023 had a distinct color, sound, and texture. What would they be and why? Reflect on how these sensory elements correlate with your personal journey and key moments of the year. How do these sensory metaphors help you understand your experiences and emotions in 2023?

Feel free to share your reflections in the comments:

💻 New Blog Posts on AmySuto.com

• Working Remotely in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica

• Working Remotely in Cusco, Peru

• 3 Mistakes to Avoid When Self-Publishing Your Book on Amazon KDP

🎙 New From the Desk of Amy Suto Podcast Episodes

• #107 Three Mistakes to Avoid When Self-Publishing Your Book on Amazon KDP (5 min)

• #106 Three Steps: How to Write a Book Outline for Your Memoir or Nonfiction Book (3 min)

• #103 Four Lessons From Eat, Pray, Love: Best Travel Memoir Example (9 min)

I create these podcast episodes from my blog archives using the tool Wondercraft AI, a text-to-speech tool that speaks in YOUR voice. 🎙 Use my code SUTO50 or this link to get 50% off your Wondercraft AI subscription! (paid/affiliate link)

📸 Photo of the Week: Book Release Throwback!

Throwback to one of my proudest moments of this year — the release of my new book, Six-Figure Freelance Writer!

Follow me on X/Twitter or Instagram for more!

⚡️ Upcoming Wednesday Edition: 10 Questions to Ask Yourself for Your Year in Review

This Wednesday, ✍️ From the Desk of Amy Suto paid subscribers will get an exclusive issue about…

✨ How to conduct a “year in review”

🧪 10 questions to ask yourself at the end of every year

📚 How reflection and self-awareness can transform your life

Sending creativity and good writing vibes your way,

-Amy