It’s GOALS time!
Hey everyone,
I wanted to write a bit tonight about some of the goals I’m setting for myself and this blog in 2015 and celebrate some of the accomplishments of 2014. Not so much as a, “Good job, me!” but more of a form of accountability to myself for the year ahead. After all, that’s the purpose of setting goals, to drive yourself forward and take you from the person you are to the person you want to be.
“Setting goals is the
first step in turning the
invisible into the visible.” – Tony Robbins
So real quick, if you’ve never read my blog before, I began Still Life With Family in February of 2014 with absolutely no blogging experience, no writing experience, no knowledge of web site creation or management and no real goals. Now, after 10 months at this, I’m really glad I started.
Looking back, I’ve accomplished so much these last months without a plan. And my life has improved in so many ways because of starting this blog. But I’m learning more and more every time I write one of these posts. And especially when you guys, the readers, comment back, either on the post or in emails. Thank you so much. I really try to respond to everyone.
Some of the things I did this year as a direct result of this blog are:
- learned HTML, CSS and am learning Java Script
- Met a number of bloggers who have taught me sooo much
- Discovered I reeeeally like web development, and therefore returned to college to study it
- Got my first taste of “Freelancing” and loved it
- Learned to like Social Media again
- Realized I need to put more into this blog in terms of commitment
That last one is a biggie. This past year has been real half-hazard with my writing in terms of frequency and topics. I didn’t go into this with a plan or a goal or any idea of longevity. I didn’t even know I’d WANT to do it a year. Now I know I do. I want to keep going, keep getting better, keep meeting people. I’m having a blast!
So with this in mind, here are some of my goals for 2015:
- Establish a writing rhythm that allows me to post on a consistent schedule.
- Build my skillset by getting a good handle on Java Script
- Get better at working with images
- Improve the design of the blog, because design makes things pretty.
- increase my readership
- Find a true “voice” or “niche” for this blog
- keep learning
These are just a few goals, in completely random order. I have many more. But I think what’s important, is that I’m going into 2015 WITH goals. And now I’ve shared them with you, so I’ll be extra motivated to complete them! I also now have a standard to measure myself by using the last 10 months as a reference.
I know we’ve all heard it a million times in our life, but only because it’s true. It is tremendously important to set goals. With goals, we can create plans. And with plans, we can achieve what we are hoping for.
I look forward to the post one year from now, when I can look back at my list of goals, see which I achieved and which I fell short on. I look forward to writing about my methods for reaching these goals and talking about what worked and what didn’t. I’m sure there will be plenty of mistakes along the way. And I will be sure to write about them as well. Because I don’t fear mistakes. They are the greatest tool for learning.
I’m going to end with a few numbers from the last 10 months. Cause numbers are great tools for measuring progress. In a year we’ll see if they’ve changed and how much. To date:
- Number of posts on tedolivas.com: 20
- Countries tedolivas.com has been read in: 53
- Highest traffic source: Facebook
- Number of Facebook and Pinterest Followers of tedolivas.com: 726 and 2,039
- Number of New Users to tedolivas.com: 735
Hope to have you back for the new post next Monday. And please feel free to comment or send me an email. It’s your comments that keep me going and help me the most with improving this blog. You can also find me on Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, and twitter. Though I don’t spend much time on Twitter. And of course you can always subscribe to get my posts delivered to your inbox on Mondays. Thank you all again!
Hey, Ted!
You’ve accomplished a lot! Great goals, too. I think it would be great to read about parenting from a fathers perspective and family life in general. I’m interested in what you have to say 🙂 Can’t wait to read even more!
Tonya
Thanks so much, Tonya. It means a lot. I have began posts in the past giving a father’s perspective, at least this father’s perspective. But some how they never make it to publishing. There are definitely some generalizations about fathers/husbands out there that don’t hold true in this home, and I suspect in most homes. I will definitely have to put that down on my editorial calendar.( that was a hint, btw, to one of the ways I’m working to achieve some of these new goals!)