Turning The Page: How To Write Your Comeback Story In 2025.
2024 felt like a book with a missing ending—but what if 2025 is the sequel we’ve all been waiting for?
Wow, 2024 sure went by fast.
A lot of new things happened this past year: I took a leap and began writing my first ever book back in June 2023 then finished early 2024 which lead to being self-published in July. I started an author website, created new social media pages to promote my book, started being comfortable with Twitch streaming, and started to network, putting my novel out their to stores and schools. I even had my first ever book signing event!
All this to say, I started 2024 with growth and expansion. I learned a lot, even getting certified as a Digital Marketer and E-Commerce specialist, thanks to Google’s courses. And yet, like a coin, there’s another flipside to everything.
I had to sacrifice time with friends and family, staying in to write. I had to change—even get rid of a lot of habits to sustain a daily writing routine. I went deep into hermit mode. Thinking back was a bit too disciplined in that regard. I took a huge risk not getting a job with dreams of landing big as a debut author.
Never happened…yet.
Although I had successes with getting my book into some stores, I was rejected by many. And the stores that did agree to carry my book, sold only a few copies. Not a lot to be the next J.K. Rowling. The success of having my first book signing event sold a bunch of copies but nothing spectacular happened after that. No increase in sales, no publishing house reaching out to me for a book deal—not even a producer calling to make my book into a movie (that is the dream though)!
Speaking about rejection, I sent many queries to literary agents hoping for representation but it all came back negative. I won’t lie to you, I feel a bit discouraged, even a tad disappointed that my novel hadn’t reach the grand debut I imagined it would. And that’s okay.
Stay curious, be a kid!
There’s a lot to learn when we stumble. So get back on your feet and move forward!
So here I am writing this on December 31st, reflecting on the way 2024 went. I still have big dreams for my novel (amongst other things) and although I wanted it all to be achieved in 2024, they didn’t. And that’s okay too. Perhaps the opportunities await in 2025?
So, what have I learned from this?
Taking risks are worth it because you learn from them. You learn to keep moving forward despite things not going your way. Although book 1 wasn’t a ‘financial success’, it was still a personal success to me, and I can’t wait to finish the series. I’m currently 8 chapters deep into book 2, ‘The Last Princesses Of Atlantis’ and I’m taking everything I learned from writing book 1 into this. Hope you’re excited as I am!
If you’ve been reading my blogs, you’ll notice I like to mention one particular quote from Steven Bartlett’s book, ‘The Diary of a CEO’:
Failure is your power.
Learn from your mistakes and keep going, one step at a time.
I don’t consider my book’s lack of “success” and not achieving some of my goals as failures but some might see it that way. And that’s fine. I learned that success and failure are all perspective-based; it’s your mindset and beliefs which shapes them. So what’s the point of this image?
I wanted to share this because all too often when we don’t achieve our goals, we see it as a failure. And that’s not the right mindset to have. I used to have that belief and now I’ve adopted the notion above—seeing “failure” as power, as a way to learn and grow. In fact, I don’t see failure. I see opportunities to identify what didn’t work and what did then apply them to my next goal.
So what does this mean for YOU IN 2025?
It may seem cliché to hear “New Year, New you” but there’s inherent truth to that. I like to encourage you, the reader, to view 2025 as a blank page, where your story leads to new settings, new characters and some surprising plot twists. Create new opportunities for success to happen in your life. I’m still on my journey to create an abundant life. So, to help each other with that, I have 5 questions we can journal about (or if it’s easier for you, open a Word Document or Google sheet).
What’s one thing you’ve always wanted to do but never started?
What are you ready to leave behind in 2024?
What were the biggest lessons you learned in 2024?
Which moments in 2024 brought you the most joy, and how can you create more of them?
If 2025 could bring you one thing—just one—what would it be? How can you make space for it in 2025?
These journal prompts allows us to reflect on the things that happened and hopefully spark inspiration for what we can do in the new year. These are the responses I made for the questions above:
What are you ready to leave behind in 2024?
I’m ready to leave behind my fears, my doubts, my insecurities about myself and what I can do.
What were the biggest lessons you learned in 2024?
Although it’s a good thing to dream big and be focused on your huge goals, it’s also good to have your feet still planted on the ground. I learned to still be focused on my intentions but to also be pragmatic and realistic.
Which moments in 2024 brought you the most joy, and how can you create more of them?
Two biggest moments of joy: when I published my debut novel and when I had my first book signing event at a bookstore. I can create more of these moments by A) Writing and finishing my second book and B) Network and connect with more bookstores to see if they’ll accommodate a book signing.
If 2025 could bring you one thing—just one—what would it be? How can you make space for it in 2025?
Winning the lottery (ahaha)! Jokes aside, the one thing I want 2025 to bring me is the opportunity for my book to become widely known. This way, I can capitalize that opportunity and build my success from there (instead of having success ‘drop’ on me). I can make space for this opportunity(ies) by being more open to new things, staying curious, embracing uncertainty and having faith that everything will work out just fine.
Stay focused on your goals even if they seem so far away.
Your Story hasn’t ended yet…
As we approach the New Year, remember this: you don’t need all the answers right now. Every great story starts with a single sentence, and every great journey begins with a single step. Again, as cliché as it sounds, I see the new year as a blank page, and it’s up to us to write what comes next.
So, let’s choose to let go of 2024, and step boldly into 2025 with a heart full of hope and determination. Maybe this is the year our dreams come true or maybe it’s the year we discover something else about ourselves, which could lead to something beautiful. Whatever your story looks like, know that it’s uniquely yours—and it’s worth telling.
Here’s to fresh starts, bold goals, and writing the next chapter of your life with courage and intention. The best is yet to come.
Happy New Year, and happy writing!
🌊 Ready to dive into the adventure of a lifetime? Ancient legends awaken, enemies rise, and the fate of the world rests on one choice: Fight or die. Join Noah and his allies on a pulse-pounding quest in The Last Guardians of Atlantis—a story of friendship, courage, and destiny! 💥
