As 2025 draws to a close, it’s natural for us to look ahead and plan for the future. But instead of ‘New Year, New Me’, which frankly, only leads to unrealistic resolutions and early disappointment, this Historical Romance author suggests looking to the past to channel your inner Viking Queen. Allowing yourself to set goals that are both achievable and empowering, while also delving into our own formidable power.
Viking age pagan women were powerful, respected, and fierce. They ruled the home, owning the keys to their husband’s treasure chests, as well as ensuring house elves and the Gods were always appeased with offerings and ceremonies.
They also protected and managed their farms and businesses when their men left to raid or trade for months (sometimes years) at a time. Pagan women could initiate divorce, own property, become religious leaders, healers, or even shield maiden warriors.
In fact, the Birka Warrior is the name given to a burial chamber so lavishly decorated with weaponry and sacrificial offerings, that scholars quickly agreed its occupant must be an important King, or at the very least a high-ranking general.
Later, DNA testing proved the mighty warrior was in fact a woman! And, that modern prejudices had coloured the scientists’ views on what a woman could achieve at that time. Likewise, the famous Oseberg ship burial is also the resting place of two women, one thought to be the powerful Queen Asa, the grandmother of King Harald Fairhair—the unifying King of Norway.
So, let’s defy expectations and live like Viking Queens!
Four Pillars of Happiness
When looking to the new year divide your life into four important areas of growth. Imagine them as trees, their branches spreading out and intertwining, yet still remaining individuals at their core:
- Home Fires – This includes your physical home, finances, and family members.
- Distant Lands – This includes your career ambitions, travel, and any personal long-term goals.
- Community – Friends, social commitments, and hobbies.
- Strength – This is the strength of your mind and body, and includes mental health, fitness, and focus.
Ask yourself, what do I want to achieve in each area next year? And, remember create one ambition for each area, otherwise your growth will be unbalanced!
Ambitions
For each pillar set one over-arching ambition—if you’re feeling brave you can stretch this to two or three. But try to remain positive and realistic when considering your ambitions. Negativity about your current self is not allowed! You want to grow not diminish yourself. Think about what you can add to your life, not take away!
As Viking Queens. Your goals should be creative and positive, always looking at what you can add to your life. There should be no denials or cut backs. A Viking Queen does not reduce herself in anyway.
For example, here’s two of my ambitions from a few years ago. Originally, I had the ambition to ‘Get a book published’. But this is too vague and relies on another person’s actions and not my own. Instead, I changed it to ‘Submit a polished manuscript to a publisher or agent.’ This is a realistic, positive, and clear ambition.
For many years, I have also had ‘lose weight’ as a goal. But this ambition is negative, and does not add growth to my life. These are the types of resolutions that will quickly fall or fail. Instead, I changed it to ‘find a sport/physical hobby I enjoy’. As this will add joy to my life, as well as help my health and mental wellbeing.
Divide, Quantify, and Conquer
Now you have at least one ambition in each pillar, you can think about breaking up that goal into smaller bite size pieces. Divide and conquer each ambition like a true ruler, and most importantly, try to think creatively about how to achieve one goal in a variety of ways.
Perhaps your ‘Home Fires’ ambition is to help your daughter with her exams, but also have a better relationship with her. Instead of nagging her to revise, how about going with her to see the play she’s studying performed at a theatre? That way, you help grow your relationship, as well as help with her exams.
Do the same with your ambitions. Write a list of tasks that will help towards your ultimate goal. The list should consist of no more than twelve tasks, because you will want to accomplish at least one task per month.
You need clear achievable tasks to lead you on your path to victory.
Growth & Power
Make sure these mini-goals or tasks also have a positive spin – just like your ambitions, to provide you with growth and power.
Negativity is the death of ambition.
For example:
- Be stronger: Eat more fruit (a piece of fruit or smoothie every breakfast). Try a strength training exercise once a week. Try a walking club.
- Be Financially Secure: Set a realistic budget to reduce your overdraft. Sell stuff you don’t need that helps clear your home of clutter. Try to increase your income with a side hustle you enjoy.
- Find a job you love: Decide what aspects of your job you currently enjoy or want to do more of. Set small positive tasks towards attaining your goal; writing your CV, checking job sites, attending networking events etc.
Actions speak louder than words
Years ago, when I first started writing, I wanted a book deal. A very big ambition. Positive? Yes. Actionable? No, because it relies on the judgement of a stranger.
So instead, I set myself the goal of ‘submitting a polished manuscript to a publisher/agent’ by the end of the year. Positive and actionable.
The mini-goals were as follows:
- Find a list of publisher/agents I want to submit to
- Read examples of their previously published books or manuscript wish lists
- Create a brainstorm of potential book ideas and choose one
- Write the book (I broke this into smaller word counts per month, so that it wouldn’t be overwhelming)
- Find a writing group/Beta readers for feedback (I found the Romantic Novelists Association, and through them found loads of writers/beta readers who have become very close friends to me over the years)
- Join the Romantic Novelists Association New Writers Scheme and action feedback from manuscript appraisal
- Go to RNA Conference 121s and pitch my first chapter to editors
- Action Feedback
- Submit a polished manuscript to a publisher/agent
Funnily enough, I didn’t get to my ‘Action Feedback’ task, as one of the editors at the conference 121s requested to see my manuscript immediately, and I quickly skipped that task and submitted the reasonably polished manuscript to a publisher, achieving my goal for the year! And, because I’d made these goals achievable, I was happy to pat myself on the back regardless of whether anything came of submitting to that editor or not.
However…
A couple of months later, I received ‘the call’ telling me they wanted to publish my book. I have now written over ten historical romances for my publisher. Proving that clear ambitions combined with positive, powerful actions, really does conquer all!
Now go slay your own goals, my Viking Queens!
Reclaiming His Viking Queen
A royal, enemies to lovers, spicy Viking romance.
He will have his queen…
For better or worse!
Viking Agnar has had many names: Usurper. Warlord. Wolf Slayer. Still, there’s one role he’s hell-bent on claiming—Skadi Friggsdottir’s husband! Rejected by Skadi years ago, he’ll be denied no longer. Storming her hall is easy. Taming his warrior queen will be much harder…
Young Skadi chose survival by marrying another over honouring her promise to Agnar. Now, believing Agnar has killed her husband, she’ll surrender her hand but never submit! Yet behind Agnar’s fury lies a man deeply wronged…one she can’t help but want. Is her enemy husband her doom, or her greatest desire?
