It was a big year for me last year, I learnt a lot of things about me. Stress and I don’t work well together, I let anger build until it gets too much then blast everything around me, and I’m a relator.

Let me explain. A big thing in the writing industry at the moment are Clifton Strengths. Becca Syme (all hail Becca Syme) teaches that you need to write to your strengths, and how to work out your strengths. She’s a business and writing coach, and I got to meet her at the Romance Writers New Zealand Conference in Christchurch in August last year. She is amazing, so insightful and full of inspiration and lots of other things. So, I did my strengths. My top five are: Relator, Intellection, Learner, Positivity and Consistency. A lot of you out there will be nodding your heads, either knowing that is exactly me, or knowing exactly what that means.

Pretty much, I like to develop relationships with people, but I have a boundary system. Only one or two get to the inner sanctum. Everyone else fits into the remaining rings, either as friends or acquaintences. When I’m writing, I like to get indepth with the relationships that people build. Intellection is about enjoying mental activity, intellectual discussions. I like time alone and I am my own best companion. Learner, means I like to learn. Not necessarily about the learning, but the process of learning. I like to continuously improve myself.

Consistency means that I need to treat people the same. I crave routine, structure, rules and procedures. I don’t like unfairness or inequality. And lastly, positivity. I have contagious enthusiasm, generous with praise and encouragement. I like to celebrate achievements.

Many people are probably wondering why this blew my mind. Perhaps because I took a test, and these were the results. There are 34 different strengths, and these are my top five, and they pretty much sum me up. And looking back, I can see how they have affected me this year and the decisions that I made.

Going forward, they will help me with my writing. I already use Relator in building the relationships with my characters, and they with each other. The learner in me, has me studying NZ Small Business studies so I can run my business successfully. The positivity and consistency mean that I need to write every day and be happy with what I’ve done and celebrate the achievement of having written. And intellection? Well, that explains the need for cryptic crosswords in my life.