Congratulations. Absolutely no one asked for this. However, this blog is not just about my desire for power but how I hope to achieve it and the things I’m doing to get there. This end of year review will share my successes, failures, and the things I’m working on for 2023.
Who doesn’t love to have a midlife crisis at the end of the year? This is the perfect time to think, “Where did my vision board go?”, “Did I lose any weight?”, and “Am I better?” So, join me as I overanalyze my life and contemplate whether I’ve done enough. Without this behavior, no one would become obsessed enough with their life in order to want to change it.
Sure this can sound pretty toxic but I’m a workaholic and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. Hey, it fuels capitalism and it’s only as negative as it makes you feel.
After reading this post you’ll see where I am in my path and if I’m worth listening to. Also, you could use it as a blueprint in case you’d like to dissect your own life.
This post is all about my end of year review as a blogger, corporate office worker, and awesome human being.
End of Year Review
Classes
I started the year with a lot of enthusiasm. I was taking Spanish classes and French classes. I love the idea of learning a new language. I did all my homework, attended every class, and had a lot of fun.
So why did I stop?
I was not dedicating myself enough to my studies. In fact, I didn’t study at all outside of class. Instead, I spent my time working overtime at the office, working on my book, and working on this blog. My time was limited and I decided that learning a language is not a priority for me at the moment.
However, I am ending the year with a class that is a little less demanding of my free time and that is swimming classes. Also note I spend all my free time working on this blog, strategizing on how I want to enter social media next year, and researching self-publishing. Self-publishing a book is a major beast and there’s a lot for me to learn there if I ever want to release my books. So that’s where my priorities have taken me.
In 2023 my goal is to focus on this blog and my book. Any classes or courses I take will be related to those two things or they’ll be a physical activity that will keep me balanced.
Work
My job is completely different from what it was at the beginning of this year. First and foremost I have a very supportive manager who allows me to take initiative and encourages me to find something that I can specialize in within my role. Second, within my position, I partner with people across different lines of business. So I’m not necessarily doing the same thing every day. Every partner has a different need and they all need me to assist them in a different way. Third, my job is a support function so I have some flexibility on how and who I assist.
All that being said I’ve come to realize how good I am at organizing, tracking, and bringing people together. Also, I’m lucky in the sense that there was a need for this. So I’m pretty much-creating processes and executing them based on my team’s goals.
In 2023 my goal is to find a way to automate a lot of the admin work that I do so that I’m able to continue to develop my skill set and have enough time to complete my work without feeling too stretched. This will also help me free up my time outside of work so that I can focus more on my book and blog.
Blog
I am so happy with where this blog is today from an infrastructure and strategic point of view. I took a blog course earlier this year, as well as a Pinterest course and those classes have really allowed me to create some structure. Without structure, there’s no way to be consistent and that’s where I had previously been failing with this blog.
I have a process for how I content plan and execute my posts and it’s allowed me to have an average of 30 views per month and 5k views on Pinterest. This may not seem like a lot but it means the world to me because it’s consistent and slowly growing. I’ve also done a lot of work to ensure that this blog is legally compliant and performing as an LLC and that was not an easy feat.
In 2023 my goal is to start a newsletter for this blog and to start welcoming readers to learn more about the books that I’ll be releasing.
Book
This is the whole reason why I started a blog in the first place. For the self-publishing journey, I’m going to start taking. I have a book and I finally have a pretty close to a final draft that I’m incredibly proud of. That took all year and it was very worth it.
In 2023 my goal is to get the book reviewed by an editor and finalize the illustrations. I’ve been working on a strategy to get there and you have no idea how many steps it takes. Sure there are self-publishing courses available but I haven’t found one that I believe in enough to purchase. Plus there is so much information available online that I’ve only started to go through. Here are some of the specific items on my list:
- Getting an editor to review the book
- Formatting the book
- Getting a book cover artist
- Finalize the marketing plan (One for before release, one for during release, and one for after the book is released)
- Publishing the book
And as I go through every one of these steps I’m creating a template for myself so that I can fine-tune and repeat the process.
Social media
I am not currently active on social media with my company. My goal in year one was to create the structure for this organization. Now that I’m happy with my foundation and because I’d like to release my book in 2024 it’s imperative that I start having an online presence.
I’ve been spending the last few weeks debating which platforms to get on and trying to figure out a cadence that is manageable for me to maintain. After much deliberation, I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m unable to get on Youtube at this moment. It’s just too much for one person to handle and again my book takes priority. With that being said I found an alternative that will allow me to better connect with you all.
In 2023 I’m going to start posting regularly on Instagram and Tik Tok. On January 1st I’ll start with my first post on both platforms.
ROI
Return on Investment is everything. And obviously, with a new venture I haven’t achieved much this year but what has been accomplished that I am so incredibly proud of.
Although I’ve only been posting consistently for the last five months I started investing in this company in 2021. In 2021 I spent $848.33 and in 2022 I spent $928.71. I’ve dedicated an average of ten hours a week to my business and I have a blog and Pinterest account that receives new content every week. My google Adsense account has a total balance of 37 cents, I have 4 followers on Pinterest, 33 followers on Instagram and 15 on Tik Tok.
In 2023 my goal is to start working on creating a community now that I’m happy with my foundation. It’ll be exciting to see what the numbers look like at the end of the year and how much my content changes once I connect with all of you. And if there’s no change in attendance, then that’s just hilarious. Also now that I see exactly how much I’ve spent I definitely plan to go into the new year with a budget.
Looking forward in 2023
This post has really left me pumped up. Sure I failed a bit but this new year is going to be beyond exciting.
I absolutely love social media and I’ve already been dreaming up how I want to brand myself so that’ll be fun to have another creative avenue for me to get into. Like seriously I’m thinking of Instagram as an art installation and TikTok as a reality show. My goal is not to fit into trends. My goal is to see how I can perform as a creative director with these tools.
I’m beyond excited for the day that I announce when my book will be published and when I reveal the cover and a little bit about the story. My book is going to be like a magazine/ adult’s children’s book. I’m pretty sure you can tell from my blog that I like to draw. So my book is going to be packed with illustrations.
Lastly, I’m excited to see if my blog strategy works. As I mentioned we’re going into 2023 with around 30 views a month so we really can only go up from here.
This post was all about my End of Year Review.
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