Since my word of 2016 is change, I need to work super hard in order to make that happen. It might seem like I have a ton of January goals, but I think they are all very achievable. Last year, I had a hard time completing a lot of my goals and I’m hoping this year if my goals are part of a bigger goal it will keep me motivated. Each time I’m working on one of my monthly goals, I’ll know why it needs to happen and once it’s completed I’ll be that much closer to the bigger picture.
Blog & Biz
WORK ON MY NEWSLETTER – I’m really excited that I’ve finally started my newsletter, but I’ve unfortunately been neglecting it. The first thing I want to setup is an email sequence to send out to every new subscriber. Then I want to finally create my library/resources page and a lead page to explain what you can get from subscribing to my newsletter.
BUILD MY PORTFOLIO – You may or may not have noticed that my portfolio page is a little bare. I have another portfolio site that consists of things other than blog designs, but I need to start adding some websites to my portfolio. I have a couple projects that I’m currently working on, but I’m going to start reaching out to some people to see if they need any design work done.
REDO THE LAYOUT ON MY WORK WITH ME PAGE – I got some shiny new copy for my work with me, but it’s not laid out in the best way. I’m going to start rearanging thing and looking for some plugins to make it look a little nicer and easier to follow.
START BATCHING MY TASKS – I’ve been terrible with watching Netflix while I write posts and getting distracted while I’m working on blogging related projects. I want to start designating specific days to specific tasks. I’ve always said that Sunday was my day to write posts, but most of the time I still end up writing them the night before. It’s currently Sunday night and I’ve already finished one post and I’m working on this one right now. It’s going to be super amazing during the week when I can work on other projects instead of having to worry about writing posts last minute.
BRAINSTORM PRODUCT IDEAS – In my Plans for 2016 post, I mentioned that I wanted to start creating some products that I can sell alongside my design services. I have a few things in mind that I’d like to create, but I want to start coming up with more ideas so that I can start planning release dates and deadlines.
Life
COLOR IN MY ADULT COLORING BOOK REGULARLY – I got the Enchanted Forest coloring book from my cousin for Christmas and I colored in it while watching Charlie Brown Christmas with my family. It was super relaxing and nice to be creative off the computer. I want to color a page at least once a week for the next month. I spend so much time on my computer I need to step away every once in a while. I go to work and sit at a computer and then I come home to get back on the computer to work on my blog and job applications.
READ 1 BOOK – I got a ton of books for Christmas and I ended up reading one of them in 2 days while I was off. I always forget how much I enjoy reading and never set aside any time to read. Like I mentioned above, I need to spend a little more time away from my computer and this would be another great way to do so!
KEEP UP WITH EXERCISING – I haven’t been doing anything extremely hardcore, but I’ve been doing some leg exercises every night before I go to bed and I’ve slowly been increasing the amount of reps that I do and adding in a few different exercises on to them. One of the main reasons that motivated me to do this was the fact that 1. my jeans were wearing out from my thighs and 2. I got my first stretch marks on my inner & outer thighs.
START SAVING UP MONEY – Buying Christmas presents has made my bank account super depressing. Now that the Holidays are over, it’s time to start saving up again. I even made sure to limit the spending of my Christmas money to new jeans, frames for posters I got and then one ‘Treat Yo’ Self’ item I’ve been wanting for a while now.
APPLY TO 8 PLACES A WEEK – Since I still don’t have any leads on jobs, I need to keep applying as much as possible. I set a goal a while ago to apply 5 places for a week and it got a little too overwhelming, so I think this is a good alternative.
BRAINSTORM EXTRA THINGS I CAN DO TO STAND OUT FROM OTHER APPLICANTS – I still haven’t gotten an interview since I’ve started applying, so I want to start thinking of ways that will help me stand out from other applicants.
Last Months Goals
Blog & Biz
KEEP UP WITH PLANNED POSTS & NEWSLETTERS – I did awesome with my posts, but no so much with sending out newsletters. I’ll be working on that this month.
BRAINSTORM – I didn’t brainstorm at all. I got my posts written, but I didn’t do much else besides that. I ended up watching way too many Christmas movies instead! Oops!
CREATE A BUSINESS PLAN FOR MY BLOG – I started working on a plan, but I’d still like to write something up with deadlines and break down each step.
LIFE
HAVE FUN – I had so much fun being around my family throughout the month. We had a couple game nights with my cousins, 3 Christmas celebrations with family, dinner with a friend from college, an adult coloring book session with my mom and sisters and a New Years celebration with cousins!
WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR JANUARY?
