2018 Review and Blogging Goals for the New Year

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Can you believe that 2018 is over? I spent the last week of December reviewing the year and making plans for 2019. Instead of resolutions (which I tend not to keep), I made several goals for the year, including blogging goals, business goals, and health goals.

The difference?

Resolutions are lofty and vague. They’re promises to do better, without a plan on how to get there.

Conversely, goals are typically measurable and specific. They’re something you can break down into baby steps and know where you’re going to go.

To help keep myself accountable, I wanted to share my goals here with you. I’m also sharing five things I’m NOT doing in 2019.

Feel free to chime in with a comment about your goals for the upcoming year.

Highlights of 2018

First up, a year end review. 2018 was an incredible year both personally and professionally.

A few highlights:

• Attending Candidate Seminar with Baptist Mid-Missions with my husband and becoming Missionary Appointees (you can learn more about our journey to become missionaries on this website.)
• Having my course reviewed by 74 members of the Homeschool Review Crew (check out the reviews here and see if Balancing Diapers and Deadlines can help you get your time management on track for 2019.)
• Giving birth to baby number nine, Tyler Nathanael. And having a better recovery than last time!
• Connecting with so many amazing mompreneurs and becoming virtual friends with a couple.
• Increasing my blog traffic and passive income.

I may not have met all the goals I set out to meet at the start of the year, but I’m learning to let the Lord direct my steps. My plans don’t always align with His, and I have to trust that His are better.

I’m so excited to see what 2019 brings. While my path may twist and turn along the way, here are some areas I’m going to focus on throughout the year.

Health Goals

For far too long, I didn’t make taking care of myself a top priority. This started to change in 2018, and I’m excited to continue better self-care in the new year.

I’ll continue taking Plexus Tri-Plex and XFactor Vitamins. I have so much more energy since I started these. I’m discovering that gut health is crucial to our well-being, and these are hands down the best supplements I’ve ever used.

But, you can’t just take supplements and expect to get healthy, no matter how great they are.

So, my health goals need kicked up a notch.

I recently started doing two things, and I’m going to continue these throughout 2019.

1. Eating less. By not snacking at night, I’m lowering my calorie intake and giving my body more time to process everything. My goal is to give myself 12 hours of non-eating time each day.
2. Moving more. Exercise was definitely missing from my life these past few years. I did farm chores and played with the kids, but as far as actual exercise goes, it wasn’t there. I’ve recently started doing an exercise video each morning, and am enjoying it. My goal is to exercise for 20-30 minutes at least four days a week.

I also want to get more fruits and vegetables into my diet. But I know that having three health goals to focus on is too many for right now. So I’m not setting an expectation for that – just more of an awareness.

Blogging Goals

I want to help more women conquer their time and launch a family friendly, sustainable business.

That means I need more eyes on my content. Increasing blog traffic is a huge priority for me this year.

I’m going to go through Elna Cain’s Ready, Set, Blog for Traffic course again. The last time I did, I focused on one or two strategies. Now that I’ve gotten the hang of those, it’s time to pick a couple more.

Remember you can’t implement to many new things all at once

I’m going to continue putting out quality content once a week. While this will typically be blog posts, I may do some video content as well. It’s something I’d like to do, but my metered internet connection doesn’t make that possible very often.

Finally, I want to outsource more of my blogging work. I’m currently researching a social media manager, as that will be my first priority when it comes to hiring.

I’m also planning on finding a freelance writer to write a monthly post before the end of 2019.

I can’t do it all, and between my freelance work and the rest of life, some things on my blog are definitely falling between the cracks. Especially in the marketing department!

Freelance Goals

My blog isn’t my only source of income. In fact, my freelance business brings in the majority of my income each month. I really enjoy creating content for other entrepreneurs, and assisting with some behind the scenes things.

For 2019, I’m going to revamp my services packages for both writing and VA work. I plan on tailoring my VA services to help other bloggers – by offering packages that focus on getting blog posts formatted and scheduled, creating images, and brainstorming content.

It’s the work I love, and am good at, so I figured I might as well change my packages to reflect that.

For writing, I’m going to focus on landing a couple more recurring clients who need regular blog posts. That way I don’t have to spend as much time pitching for new writing gigs.

Big Picture 2019

My oldest daughter starts her senior year in 2019, and graduates in 2020. I want to spend as much time with my family as possible.

As we start presenting our ministry to other churches, we will be traveling a lot more.

So even though many of my goals are related to my business, it’s not taking first priority in my life for the upcoming year.

Between our deputation ministry, homeschooling, and making memories with the kids, I have a lot on my plate. Which is why work smarter not harder is an important philosophy around here.

I’m realizing I don’t personally have to do everything. And my foot doesn’t constantly have to be pushing the accelerator. It’s okay just to be okay at somethings.

With this in mind, here are a few things I’m not going to do in 2019.

My Not-Do Goals for 2019

I’m making some changes in 2019, which means dropping some things from my plate. Here are five of them:

• Using social media when my kids are awake (it’s too much of a time suck. I need to put the phone down and walk away from it!)
• Reading comments on recipes or news articles I find online (why do I feel like I have to read them all once I get started?)
• Writing a blog post without having a purpose. (Each piece of content needs to have a why behind it, and be useful to my readers!)
• Checking my work email on the weekends. Seriously…it can wait until Monday!
• Giving up on a goal if I mess up. There’s definitely room for grace when it comes to goals. In the past, I’d listen to the perfectionist inside of me telling me to just give it all up once I miss a day of exercising or don’t publish a weekly blog post. Now I know better. (Read Jon Acuff’s book Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done if you struggle with this.)

Here’s to a Wonderful 2019

Remember that baby steps will get you where you need to go. You may not arrive as quickly as someone else, or make as flashy an entrance, but you will still arrive.

Trust the Lord to guide your steps and lead you where you need to go this year. One step at a time, follow His guidance and look back in amazement when January rolls around next year.

No matter what you’re planning, how many blogging goals you set, or where your path leads, I pray that you have a wonderful 2019.