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Mid-Year Goal Reflections for 2019

We're halfway through 2019! More than halfway actually, so I thought it would be a good time to check in on my goals for the year and see how I'm doing. Especially since I broke my leg in March and it changed a lot of what I had planned for the year. Let's go back to January!

The Year I Improve Myself and My Business

Well, this goal will probably be the one that I fail the most at. I'm not improving myself per se. I'm trying to get back to the mediocre state I was in before I fell and broke my leg. I've gained some weight from constantly sitting and resting, and I can barely walk a block anymore, much less the 3 miles a day I was doing before I broke my leg. Sigh. Someday I'll get back there.

As for my business? Well, I'm glad I have REMOVED and THE DAYDREAMER DETECTIVE free, and that I'm still here and blogging. And that I'm doing well over on Instagram.

Writing and Publishing Goals

I will finish writing Daydreamer 5. Done!

I will publish Daydreamer 5. Also done! And I got it all taken care of before I broke my leg.

I will write Books 3, 4, and 5 of the Flyght Series. My intention is to be writing Book 5 by the time Book 1, FIRST FLYGHT, publishes. Okay, so, I'm writing Book 3 right now and should be done with it next week. I plan to start Book 4 after I return home from my vacation at the beginning of July. I hope to finish Book 4 by September 1st. So, no, I won't be writing Book 5 by the time Book 1 publishes. I'm now a book behind due to the broken leg. BUT! It's a miracle I'm going to have FOUR WHOLE BOOKS ready before the first book even publishes! I plan to edit Books 3 and 4 during September. Write Books 5 and 6 in October, November, and December. Then I will take a break from Flyght to write Hikoboshi 4 and Daydreamer 6.

I will publish FIRST FLYGHT in September, then Book 2 in October, and Book 3 in November. This is still the plan!

Business Goals

I will return to advertising. Well, I started advertising at the beginning of the year with high hopes, and they were dashed rather quickly. I would spend $50 on ads to only make $25. And despite spending hours tweaking ad copy, finding the right ad images, or downloading hundreds of keywords, I was not doing any better. I stopped ads at the end of February when I had lost close to $400. Now that I have two free books, I instead rely on those books to bring me new readers and sell through. That strategy is working better for me.

I will make REMOVED free again. Done! REMOVED is free and so is THE DAYDREAMER DETECTIVE.

I will continue with Pinterest. I'm not convinced Pinterest is doing anything for me, but it is still fun and pretty effortless, so I'm keeping up with it.

I will use video more. Nope. I have decided I don't really like being on camera. I may try to use Instagram video more, but I don't know if I will. I do want to make some more video ads, though, so let's see if I can do that in the second half of the year.

I will redesign and relaunch SFR STATION. Done! And the site is rolling along with new content now!

Blogging Goals

I will continue to update my blog on a regular basis. I'm managing to keep this blog afloat, even after the broken leg and everything else. I aim for 2-3 posts per week, and that seems to be a good pace for me.

I will continue to update the back posts of the blog. If I had more time, I would do this. As it stands, I don't think this goal will get accomplished this year. After taking off 8 weeks due to the broken leg, I'm now swamped with the top-tier goals. This one is being relegated.

Personal Happiness Goals

I will continue with pottery. I did my best with this one after I broke my leg. (This statement now feels like a broken record, not a broken leg!) It was hard to sit at the wheel when I was already in pain. I'm hoping for better in the fall!

I will go greener at home. I'm doing good with this goal. We've cut back on single-use plastics and I'm better about recycling.

I will explore Tarot. I'm tabling this goal to 2020. I just ran out of steam.

I will continue to knit, read, and listen to audiobooks. I'm doing okay with this goal because I've had more sitting time in the last few months.

Personal Fitness Goals

I will walk 750 miles this year. I will conquer the stairs this year. I will start stretching daily. I will work on my posture. I will save sweets for the weekend. All of my personal fitness goals are basically dead. I can barely walk a block. I need help descending the stairs. I can't stretch daily because my leg is essentially still broken. I have PT 3x per week where we stretch, though, so there's something! My posture is okay. It could be better. And sweets? I need sweets to get me through this nightmare. I'll be more vigilant about that after the summer.

New Mid-Year 2019 Goals

Walk once around the park in one go. My goal with physical therapy is to get back to walking in the park in September. Right now, I'm working on building balance and leg strength back up so I can handle stairs again. I walk short distances but nothing longer than a block in my neighborhood. When September comes, I'd love to walk into the park and make it once around the loop.

Keep building up my Instagram presence. I'm taking Instagram seriously now. I'm posting more often and I'm using Stories. I'm sending that content to my FB Page too. I'm basically doing whatever else I can find to make it work for me since ads don't work. I think I just need to be myself online and hope that people find me and enjoy the content I produce.

And no other goals besides those since I have so much on my plate already. I love writing, blogging, reading, knitting, and Instagram so I'm making all of those my priorities for the rest of the year, including healing this darned leg.

Okay, time to get back to work!

S. J. Pajonas