Looking Back At 2017 And Ahead To 2018 (LBE)
I know most people did this a week or two ago, but I had several other things I wanted to post first. I mean, I only got around to posting about my holiday celebrations yesterday, after all. Better late than never though, right?
Anyway, to be honest, I'm not sure how I'd describe my 2017.
There were positives in 2017, my year was better than those of some people I know, and I did well with many of my goals for the year, as you'll see when we take a look at those in a moment. But somehow those things feel as though they're overshadowed by the bad things, whether those things happened to me personally, to people close to me, or happened on a worldwide scale.
For me, personally, the worst things that happened this year were us losing our ratty girls, Skye and Star, and then our gerbil, Baggins, during the start of the year. But there were other things too. For example, for my family as a whole, there was the loss of my Auntie Sylvie at the start of the year, my Mam's Cocker Spaniel, Ebonie, in early July, and my Grandma's Yorkshire Terrier, Jayde Bramblerose, less than a week before Christmas. I also know of losses online friends have suffered, including - but not limited to - one who lost his young puppy around the time Mam lost Ebonie, and one who lost her Mother right before Christmas. That's without going in to all the things that are happening on a larger scale as the forces of nature, and the nature of what feels like most of mankind, battle it out to see who can make a bigger mess of this planet.
I'm trying to let the positives shine through, like the addition of Lilie the Westie to our family at the end of May, and the amazing keeper for a day zoo experience I had at the end of March. But it's not easy, and somehow it feels like a terrible year, even though it could have been worse. From what I've seen from others posting their 2017 evaluations, it's not only me who feels this way.
With that in mind, I'm going to try to focus on how I did with my goals, and try not to dwell on the other stuff. So, let's take a look at my 2017 goals, which were as follows:
Reading goals:
*Read at least 217 books.
*Focus at least a large chunk of my reading on those books I've had waiting to be read for longest.
*Complete the A-Z title reading challenge.
Blogging goals:
*Continue to post writing themed posts on Wednesdays.
*Continue to post "Furkid Friday" posts on Fridays.
*Continue to post about other things on Sundays and/or Mondays (preferably both).
*Make use of hashtags in post titles, in hopes of increasing post visibility during social media shares.
Household goals:
*Finish unpacking and organizing the things that have been in boxes for way too long.
*Get the jobs done that are our responsibility to take care of. (I can't control what happens with the jobs the landlords need to do, so I'm not officially including that on my goals list).
Personal goals:
*Start meditating daily again.
*Attempt to break some bad habits I've gotten in to, and try to replace them with some good ones I wish I had, or used to have and want to have again. This especially applies to exercise, and the fact I should start making some effort to go out more.
You can see the list of blogging and reading goals in this post, and the household and personal goals in this post - both from January 2017.
So, how did I do?
Reading goals:
*I read 183 books in 2017. You can see the full list of the books I read by checking out my year in books on Goodreads. As you can see, I didn't make my goal of 217 books. I don't mind. Not really. OK, maybe a little. But mostly I'm glad I did enjoy most of what I read, which is more important than how many books I read anyhow. I mean, it would have been nice to have reached my goal... I usually at least make it, and often read a lot more than planned; this is the first year I haven't managed to. But... Well, I still read a lot of books, and - as I said - I enjoyed most of them, which is what matters most at the end of the day... Right?
*I did manage to read several books I've had waiting on my Kindle for ages, but also read several new ones. I forgot to keep track after the first couple of months though, so I don't actually know how well I did with this one. Oops! I can't check on Goodreads either, since the date on my "to read" shelf is the date I marked the book as "want to read" and not the date I purchased it, so I can't be sure which books I had for ages and finally read, and which books I brought and read after wanting to read them for ages, if that makes sense. I know I read several books I'd had for a while and not gotten around to reading though, so that's something.
*I completed the A-Z title reading challenge in October. You can see my challenge post here. I'd have finished it sooner, but added a little extra to the rules to make it more challenging for me... Check out the post to see the rule I added for myself.
Blogging goals:
*I did continue to post writing themed posts on Wednesdays.
*I also continued to post "Furkid Friday" posts on Fridays.
*Every Sunday and Monday also had a post during 2017, along with a few other days of the week when I needed to post on spacific dates, or needed more posting days in a month due to having a lot of things I wanted/needed to post about, the latter of which happened a lot during the last couple of months of last year.
*I made use of hashtags in most of my post titles. I'm not entirely certain if it helped or it was a coincidence that my posts got more attention last year than they did before, but it did seem to help a little... I think.
Household goals:
*All the stuff is out of boxes and on to shelves, though perhaps not as organized as it should be. It wouldn't have been so bad, but we had to move things around after Lilie ate the modem wire, chewed the plug off the paper shredder, and almost ate my speaker wire. We haven't had a chance to organize it properly since that was done. Our aim at the time was to just get things moved, and attempt to ensure chewable items weren't within easy reach any more (which we thought we'd done before, but apparently hadn't).
*When it comes to other things that needed doing, the only thing that wasn't done around here that was our responsibility to deal with was the shower. We still don't have the shower rail and curtain put up. The landlords got most of their jobs done too, though the windows could do with actually being replaced properly, and they're supposed to be coming back to paint the bathroom where they had to replaster it after the water damage. The landlords also got some jobs done that neither we nor they knew needed doing, but they're done now, which is a good thing.
Personal goals:
*Daily meditation hasn't become a habit again. I'm still only meditating from time to time. I'd make excuses, but since they don't even convince me, there's not much point in me trying to use them to convince anyone else.
*I went out more, and worked on some bad habits I wanted to break. I didn't do as much with this goal as I originally thought I might, but ended up realizing that there's a difference between what I'd like to achieve, and what my body will allow me to achieve. And I'm OK with that. Well, mostly. OK, sometimes. Maybe not so much on bad days, but certainly on good ones, which is the best I can manage nowadays, and I'm learning to accept that this has to be good enough.
Anyway, I didn't do too bad of a job with my 2017 goals overall. At least, I don't think I did too badly with them. Don't you agree? I mean, I didn't do as well as I'd hoped with the reading goals, my body wouldn't let me do as much as I'd hoped with some things, and I was very unsuccessful when it comes to the meditation thing, but I didn't do too badly other than that. Could have done better, could have done worse. It's just a shame the other stuff is making it difficult for me to call the year a successful one from a personal point of view.
Like most people, I feel more than ready to move on to 2018. With that in mind, I think it's time to look at my 2018 goals.
Reading goals:
*Read at least 150 books. Yes, only 150 this year. At least, that's the number I'm setting on my Goodreads reading challenge. I'm hoping to read more than that, but I'm setting the challenge at 150 books so I can focus on enjoying what I'm reading, while also dealing with my writing and publishing goals for 2018, and a few other things I'd like to achieve this year.
*Do the 2018 A-Z title reading challenge, which the same group is doing again this year.
Blogging goals:
*Continue blogging on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, using hashtags when appropriate.
*Start blogging more about other topics besides books and writing. The themes for Wednesdays and Fridays will stay the same (writing and pets respectively) and some of my Sundays and Mondays will too, but I want to make a habit of blogging about some of my other interests as well, rather than just focussing on books and writing, since it seems lately as though only my pet themed posts have given you a break from book/writing related posts - sometimes even they haven't - so I'll be trying to do that with some of the Sunday and Monday posts, and with some Tuesdays too. There will still be a lot of book/writing related posts - especially while I'm catching up on getting my backlist produced in audio - but I want to make sure you regularly get a break from those, while also taking the time to talk about some of the other stuff I'm interested in... Music, for example. Plus, I know there are those who wish I'd share more of the random day to day goings on in my life. Not that they're usually all that exciting to me, but I know I enjoy reading posts about the daily lives of others, and am told they enjoy mine, so... *shrugs*
I've got a sort of blogging schedule that looks something like this:
First Sunday of the month: book reviews for books I read the month before.First Monday of the month: music Mondays, where I'll be sharing some of my favourite music by artists I've loved for ages, newly discovered music I've recently enjoyed, etc.Last Sunday of the month: reviews for new to me movies and TV shows, or thoughts on some favourites if I've not watched anything new that month.Last Monday of the month: motivational or inspirational quotes.The other Sundays and Mondays: a variety of posts on themes ranging from day to day life, crafts, book releases (mine and those of others) and any other topics I have an interest in and want to post about.Every Wednesday: writing Wednesdays, where I'll be sharing details about progress on my own writing projects, news about any guest posts or interviews I've done, and any posts or articles of interest I've read during the week in question.Every Friday: a post from the point of view of one of my furkids, sometimes on recent events, other times on random topics (the latter being if nothing of interest has happened for me to have them write about).Some Tuesdays: extra blogging spots, for those times when there don't seem to be enough Sundays and Mondays in the month.
Household/Personal goals:
*Finish organizing the things on the shelves.
*Arrange to finally get the shower rail and curtain put up.
*Get back in the habit of meditating daily again.
*Actually remember that it's OK to take time off from working on the computer sometimes, and have a day off at least once a week.
*Teach Lilie the difference between what she's allowed to chew, and what she isn't. Hint: my stuff isn't supposed to be chewed on, but she can chew her toys as much as she likes.
Perhaps not the most impressive list out there, especially compared to some I've seen. But it works for me. Remember, I've got my writing goals to consider too. Besides, I know I tried to fit too much in to most of last year, and need to slow things down a bit for the sake of my own health and sanity. Well, what's left of those things... Neither is in particularly great shape these days, after all.
How about you? How was your 2017? Did you reach all your goals? What are your goals for 2018? Let me know in the comments.
Anyway, to be honest, I'm not sure how I'd describe my 2017.
There were positives in 2017, my year was better than those of some people I know, and I did well with many of my goals for the year, as you'll see when we take a look at those in a moment. But somehow those things feel as though they're overshadowed by the bad things, whether those things happened to me personally, to people close to me, or happened on a worldwide scale.
For me, personally, the worst things that happened this year were us losing our ratty girls, Skye and Star, and then our gerbil, Baggins, during the start of the year. But there were other things too. For example, for my family as a whole, there was the loss of my Auntie Sylvie at the start of the year, my Mam's Cocker Spaniel, Ebonie, in early July, and my Grandma's Yorkshire Terrier, Jayde Bramblerose, less than a week before Christmas. I also know of losses online friends have suffered, including - but not limited to - one who lost his young puppy around the time Mam lost Ebonie, and one who lost her Mother right before Christmas. That's without going in to all the things that are happening on a larger scale as the forces of nature, and the nature of what feels like most of mankind, battle it out to see who can make a bigger mess of this planet.
I'm trying to let the positives shine through, like the addition of Lilie the Westie to our family at the end of May, and the amazing keeper for a day zoo experience I had at the end of March. But it's not easy, and somehow it feels like a terrible year, even though it could have been worse. From what I've seen from others posting their 2017 evaluations, it's not only me who feels this way.
With that in mind, I'm going to try to focus on how I did with my goals, and try not to dwell on the other stuff. So, let's take a look at my 2017 goals, which were as follows:
Reading goals:
*Read at least 217 books.
*Focus at least a large chunk of my reading on those books I've had waiting to be read for longest.
*Complete the A-Z title reading challenge.
Blogging goals:
*Continue to post writing themed posts on Wednesdays.
*Continue to post "Furkid Friday" posts on Fridays.
*Continue to post about other things on Sundays and/or Mondays (preferably both).
*Make use of hashtags in post titles, in hopes of increasing post visibility during social media shares.
Household goals:
*Finish unpacking and organizing the things that have been in boxes for way too long.
*Get the jobs done that are our responsibility to take care of. (I can't control what happens with the jobs the landlords need to do, so I'm not officially including that on my goals list).
Personal goals:
*Start meditating daily again.
*Attempt to break some bad habits I've gotten in to, and try to replace them with some good ones I wish I had, or used to have and want to have again. This especially applies to exercise, and the fact I should start making some effort to go out more.
You can see the list of blogging and reading goals in this post, and the household and personal goals in this post - both from January 2017.
So, how did I do?
Reading goals:
*I read 183 books in 2017. You can see the full list of the books I read by checking out my year in books on Goodreads. As you can see, I didn't make my goal of 217 books. I don't mind. Not really. OK, maybe a little. But mostly I'm glad I did enjoy most of what I read, which is more important than how many books I read anyhow. I mean, it would have been nice to have reached my goal... I usually at least make it, and often read a lot more than planned; this is the first year I haven't managed to. But... Well, I still read a lot of books, and - as I said - I enjoyed most of them, which is what matters most at the end of the day... Right?
*I did manage to read several books I've had waiting on my Kindle for ages, but also read several new ones. I forgot to keep track after the first couple of months though, so I don't actually know how well I did with this one. Oops! I can't check on Goodreads either, since the date on my "to read" shelf is the date I marked the book as "want to read" and not the date I purchased it, so I can't be sure which books I had for ages and finally read, and which books I brought and read after wanting to read them for ages, if that makes sense. I know I read several books I'd had for a while and not gotten around to reading though, so that's something.
*I completed the A-Z title reading challenge in October. You can see my challenge post here. I'd have finished it sooner, but added a little extra to the rules to make it more challenging for me... Check out the post to see the rule I added for myself.
Blogging goals:
*I did continue to post writing themed posts on Wednesdays.
*I also continued to post "Furkid Friday" posts on Fridays.
*Every Sunday and Monday also had a post during 2017, along with a few other days of the week when I needed to post on spacific dates, or needed more posting days in a month due to having a lot of things I wanted/needed to post about, the latter of which happened a lot during the last couple of months of last year.
*I made use of hashtags in most of my post titles. I'm not entirely certain if it helped or it was a coincidence that my posts got more attention last year than they did before, but it did seem to help a little... I think.
Household goals:
*All the stuff is out of boxes and on to shelves, though perhaps not as organized as it should be. It wouldn't have been so bad, but we had to move things around after Lilie ate the modem wire, chewed the plug off the paper shredder, and almost ate my speaker wire. We haven't had a chance to organize it properly since that was done. Our aim at the time was to just get things moved, and attempt to ensure chewable items weren't within easy reach any more (which we thought we'd done before, but apparently hadn't).
*When it comes to other things that needed doing, the only thing that wasn't done around here that was our responsibility to deal with was the shower. We still don't have the shower rail and curtain put up. The landlords got most of their jobs done too, though the windows could do with actually being replaced properly, and they're supposed to be coming back to paint the bathroom where they had to replaster it after the water damage. The landlords also got some jobs done that neither we nor they knew needed doing, but they're done now, which is a good thing.
Personal goals:
*Daily meditation hasn't become a habit again. I'm still only meditating from time to time. I'd make excuses, but since they don't even convince me, there's not much point in me trying to use them to convince anyone else.
*I went out more, and worked on some bad habits I wanted to break. I didn't do as much with this goal as I originally thought I might, but ended up realizing that there's a difference between what I'd like to achieve, and what my body will allow me to achieve. And I'm OK with that. Well, mostly. OK, sometimes. Maybe not so much on bad days, but certainly on good ones, which is the best I can manage nowadays, and I'm learning to accept that this has to be good enough.
Anyway, I didn't do too bad of a job with my 2017 goals overall. At least, I don't think I did too badly with them. Don't you agree? I mean, I didn't do as well as I'd hoped with the reading goals, my body wouldn't let me do as much as I'd hoped with some things, and I was very unsuccessful when it comes to the meditation thing, but I didn't do too badly other than that. Could have done better, could have done worse. It's just a shame the other stuff is making it difficult for me to call the year a successful one from a personal point of view.
Like most people, I feel more than ready to move on to 2018. With that in mind, I think it's time to look at my 2018 goals.
Reading goals:
*Read at least 150 books. Yes, only 150 this year. At least, that's the number I'm setting on my Goodreads reading challenge. I'm hoping to read more than that, but I'm setting the challenge at 150 books so I can focus on enjoying what I'm reading, while also dealing with my writing and publishing goals for 2018, and a few other things I'd like to achieve this year.
*Do the 2018 A-Z title reading challenge, which the same group is doing again this year.
Blogging goals:
*Continue blogging on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, using hashtags when appropriate.
*Start blogging more about other topics besides books and writing. The themes for Wednesdays and Fridays will stay the same (writing and pets respectively) and some of my Sundays and Mondays will too, but I want to make a habit of blogging about some of my other interests as well, rather than just focussing on books and writing, since it seems lately as though only my pet themed posts have given you a break from book/writing related posts - sometimes even they haven't - so I'll be trying to do that with some of the Sunday and Monday posts, and with some Tuesdays too. There will still be a lot of book/writing related posts - especially while I'm catching up on getting my backlist produced in audio - but I want to make sure you regularly get a break from those, while also taking the time to talk about some of the other stuff I'm interested in... Music, for example. Plus, I know there are those who wish I'd share more of the random day to day goings on in my life. Not that they're usually all that exciting to me, but I know I enjoy reading posts about the daily lives of others, and am told they enjoy mine, so... *shrugs*
I've got a sort of blogging schedule that looks something like this:
First Sunday of the month: book reviews for books I read the month before.First Monday of the month: music Mondays, where I'll be sharing some of my favourite music by artists I've loved for ages, newly discovered music I've recently enjoyed, etc.Last Sunday of the month: reviews for new to me movies and TV shows, or thoughts on some favourites if I've not watched anything new that month.Last Monday of the month: motivational or inspirational quotes.The other Sundays and Mondays: a variety of posts on themes ranging from day to day life, crafts, book releases (mine and those of others) and any other topics I have an interest in and want to post about.Every Wednesday: writing Wednesdays, where I'll be sharing details about progress on my own writing projects, news about any guest posts or interviews I've done, and any posts or articles of interest I've read during the week in question.Every Friday: a post from the point of view of one of my furkids, sometimes on recent events, other times on random topics (the latter being if nothing of interest has happened for me to have them write about).Some Tuesdays: extra blogging spots, for those times when there don't seem to be enough Sundays and Mondays in the month.
Household/Personal goals:
*Finish organizing the things on the shelves.
*Arrange to finally get the shower rail and curtain put up.
*Get back in the habit of meditating daily again.
*Actually remember that it's OK to take time off from working on the computer sometimes, and have a day off at least once a week.
*Teach Lilie the difference between what she's allowed to chew, and what she isn't. Hint: my stuff isn't supposed to be chewed on, but she can chew her toys as much as she likes.
Perhaps not the most impressive list out there, especially compared to some I've seen. But it works for me. Remember, I've got my writing goals to consider too. Besides, I know I tried to fit too much in to most of last year, and need to slow things down a bit for the sake of my own health and sanity. Well, what's left of those things... Neither is in particularly great shape these days, after all.
How about you? How was your 2017? Did you reach all your goals? What are your goals for 2018? Let me know in the comments.
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