I’ve been listening to this podcast for a while, and today my girl, Morgan, is speaking to me. The cards have been telling me all week that something was coming to an end, and I need to let things go.

A few weeks ago I got a burst of energy and wrote myself a new schedule to give me some structure. I was ready to get started actually getting things done. And then I found other things that needed to get done, so I did them instead.

The cards have been telling me I’m rebelling against authority, and I’ve been confused because I don’t have a boss right now. Now I know it’s me. I’m rebelling against me. I have tried to control too many things. My former students would say, “You’re doin’ too much!” And they’re not wrong. I like starting new things. It’s way more fun than following through and finishing them.

So, I went back and crossed some things off. The first one was pretty easy. Yesterday people in Kindle Vella Facebook groups started posting about getting their March bonuses. This came as a surprise to me. Usually there are days and days of people stalking their dashboards and asking each other if the bonus is out yet. This month I somehow missed all of that. I went in and checked my bonus. There isn’t one. I’m not sure if this is a “not yet”, or if Amazon is done with me because I don’t do my own promo, and I quit uploading new episodes when I finished my draft. But for now, there’s nothing there. Rather than start to obsess and stalk my dashboard, and wonder what I could/should be doing to bring people in, I’m going to let it go. I’m not going to take it down yet, but my energy is better directed on revising my manuscript. I am glad I had the experience because it definitely motivated me to start writing again. But that phase is over now.

The other thing I’ve decided to stop putting energy into (for now) is my Etsy shop. They’re raising their fees again, and yes, I signed that petition that went around and put my shop on strike for a week… but honestly, I had been on vacation for a week before that, and I don’t think missing two weeks had any effect on sales. It turns out that the shop is another job that has a lot of hidden responsibilities, and since I’m not interested in learning more about marketing, spending money on ads, or pretending to be an extrovert in a bunch of online groups to push my products, I’m out.

Same goes for my other blog. It was fun to design, and I learned a lot from the process, but making it profitable is not where I want to spend my energy right now. I don’t think I have enough projects planned to be consistent in posting, so I’m not going to push it. When I do cool stuff, I’ll take pictures and post about it, but I’d like it to be more organic and fun, and less product and traffic driven.

Like the Vella, I’m not going to shut these down, I’m just going to redirect my energy elsewhere for a while. If I had really wanted to be successful with an online business, I would have made it a priority. I treated it like a hobby, and the results are what you would expect.

Which brings me to what I am going to prioritize. I belong to two writers’ groups. I haven’t been particularly active in either of them (neither has anyone else, but that’s just more excuses). I’m going to spend this week making some actual, actionable goals. Then I’m going to use the groups and my social media to hold myself accountable. I’ve done a lot of reading, research, note-taking, and planning, but if I want this WIP to be a Completed Project, I need to do the work. And I do want that. So I will.

ETA: I just realized that today is my novel’s second birthday. 62,000 words later, it’s not a baby anymore, but it’s definitely not ready to go out on its own. Yet.