It's the end of the year! Again! And there's so much to look back at for 2019. I can hardly believe we're already at 2020. This is a year I thought we'd have flying cars and robots on the street. Yet, it's the same old same old. Lol.
We started out the year pretty easily around here with family nights, walks outside, healthy eating, and more pottery from me. The Emperor and Empress Emeritus of Japan attended their last sumo tournament. I turned 43 and saw in my new year with dinner out with the family.
March was going really great until I broke my leg. I can still close my eyes and see that moment that everything changed for me. I can still hear my own leg breaking and remember the horror of setting my own leg. Oh my god, thinking about it now while writing this is making me break into a cold sweat. Yes, I still have some PTSD from the incident. I hope the memories fade with time. But I started bread baking again and we sealed the deck to make it usable all year round.
May and June were a bit of a blur. I was just trying to get through my pain and become a whole human being again. I worked on SFR Station and did a little writing. I attended my family's annual cousins' reunion and threw a belated birthday party for my oldest daughter. Plus, there were donuts. Lots of donuts!
During July and August, I started to feel a lot better. We went to South Carolina to visit my parents, ate great food, and hung out with friends, went to the beach every day! Then once we were home, we went to the pool a lot and I rested and went through physical therapy. My youngest daughter turned 9 years old and I got the paperback copies of FIRST FLYGHT!
September it was back to school for my kids! And the launch of FIRST FLYGHT, too. My husband and I went to dinner at Nobu Downtown and saw Vampire Weekend at Madison Square Garden. Then we went to Le Bernardin for dinner to celebrate our 15 year wedding anniversary. But the biggest thing to happen in September was our foster and adoption of Lulu Ninja Assassin. Ah, she's been such a bright light in our house since then! October brought another book launch, BROKEN FLYGHT, and then a fun Halloween.
And November and December have brought more fun with Lulu, in the snow and traveling for Christmas. There was more pottery and Thanksgiving with my family. I attended my cousin's baby shower, and I launched the third book in the Flyght Series, HIGH FLYGHT.
Let's look back at my goals from the year…
The Year I Improve Myself and My Business
This is also the year I failed miserably. Did I improve myself? Barely. If anything, I slid WAY backwards after breaking my leg in late March. I gained weight because I wasn't moving as much, and now I'm even less flexible than I used to be. Am I bummed about this? Yes, a whole lot. It's really hard to look at this year and be happy with it. Did I improve my business? No, I did not. But at least, here, I really did try. I worked hard at ads that all failed. Then I launched a new series that's not done any better than any of my previous series. By the end of 2019, I knew I had to throw in the towel. I have decided that I cannot sustain an author business anymore. That I'm no longer a “career author” and this is only my hobby now.
Writing and Publishing Goals
I will finish writing Daydreamer 5. I did this! I'm very happy with how it turned out too.
I will publish Daydreamer 5. Done!
I will write Books 3, 4, and 5 of the Flyght Series. Done!
I will publish FIRST FLYGHT in September, then Book 2 in October, and Book 3 in November. Done!
At least all my writing and publishing goals went really well! I also updated the covers on the Nogiku Series and the Miso Cozy Mysteries series.
Business Goals
I will return to advertising. I did return to advertising this year, and each time, I failed. I tried Amazon Ads again, and I lost about $500 advertising there over the course of 3 months. I tried Bookbub PPC Ads later in the year with a little success but nothing worth noting. I tried Facebook Ads again and those ones failed as well.
I will make REMOVED free again. This is free again and it's doing moderately well. I advertise it a few times per year and get new people into the series.
I will continue with Pinterest. I did continue with Pinterest through most of the year, then around September, something changed. None of my pins were getting views anymore and traffic to my website dropped off. Even after changing things up, the situation didn't get any better. So I discontinued my regular pinning and canceled my Tailwind subscription. I'm no longer considering Pinterest a viable way to bring traffic to my blog.
I will use video more. I did not end up using video more. In fact, I realized I do not like video, so I stopped doing any of it.
I will redesign and relaunch SFR STATION. This is the one thing that has gone really well this year. My redesign and relaunch of SFR STATION was so much fun and it had brought in affiliate revenue each month, helping to keep me afloat. I'm really proud of all the work I've done there.
Blogging Goals
I will continue to update my blog on a regular basis. I did this! I feel like my blog stayed current all year.
I will continue to update the back posts of the blog. I did some updating this year, back when I was laid up due to my broken leg. But not a lot and not as much as I had hoped for.
Personal Happiness Goals
I will continue with pottery. I'm very happy I continued with pottery! It's been such a great class!
I will go greener at home. I did go greener at home. I got rid of a lot of single-use items and started reusing more. I also am composting more now!
I will explore Tarot. I didn't get around to learning Tarot this year. Maybe next year?
I will continue to knit, read, and listen to audiobooks. Per usual, I did do this! And I'm happy with what I did read and listen to, but I'm way behind on knitting. Sigh.
Personal Fitness Goals
I will walk 750 miles this year. FAILED. Due to the broken leg.
I will conquer the stairs this year. Also, failed due to the broken leg.
I will start stretching daily. Mostly failed due to the broken leg. I am stretching more again, but not as much as I had hoped.
I will work on my posture. This is a mixed bag. Somedays I'm good about it, other days I'm not. And walking with a walker, then a cane, then a limp did not help.
I will save sweets for the weekend. Lolololololol. I hate to blame this one on the broken leg as well, but I gained weight because sweets were my only way to relieve the depression of not being able to move. Hence, the gained weight.
And My New Mid-Year 2019 Goals Were…
Walk once around the park in one go. I'm glad to report that I'm back to walking several times around the park! So at least there's that!
Keep building up my Instagram presence. I am enjoying my time on Instagram a lot. I'm not there all the time, and I only post to my Stories about once per week now, but that's fine. I'm happy with the content I put there.
And That's It For The Year!
Tomorrow, I'll be back with my goals post for 2020! I hope you all have a safe and happy new year!
