Last year I kept telling myself I was going to make some goals and write them down, but I never really got around to it. This year I am going to do better at reaching my goals and holding myself more accountable. In order to do that, I need to map out my goals and what I need to do to reach them.

Personal

• Eat better
  • Last summer, my doctor told me my cholesterol was in the high-normal range, which isn’t bad, but considering I’m only 31, it’s not exactly good. So, my goal is to eat more veggies and less processed foods. (i say this as i’m eating leftover Kraft mac & cheese from last night for breakfast)
• Get back into shape
  • I used to work out 4-5 days a week for 1.5-2 hours. My last semester was pretty heavy and I ended up only making it to the gym once a month for a few months. While I’d like to get back into 4-5 days a week, I’m going to be modest with this goal. School starts up again two weeks, so I need to be realistic about what I can do. My goal is to get to the gym at least 3 times a week for an hour and at least go on a walk around the neighborhood on days I don’t go to the gym. And if I’m super overwhelmed with school and don’t feel I can fit a walk in that day, I’ve got my WiiFit set up so I can do a few minutes on there so I’m at least doing SOMETHING every day. As soon as the Fitbit Charge HR hits the market, I’m going to buy one and that will help me keep on track with this goal. I’ll also be tracking my progress using MyFitnessPal, so if anyone wants to link up over there, my profile can be found here.
• Keep on track with school
  • One of my goals with school is to graduate in the top 15% of my class. Not sure if that’s going to happen because I have a C, C+ and B- on my transcript from 2004, but since I’ve gone back to school (started again in spring 2013), I’ve only had one B and one A-. The rest have been A’s. I have a 3.6 GPA right now and in order to be in the top 15%, I need at least a 3.72. So, this year my goal is to keep on track and keep working hard at school. I know I can’t get a 4.0 with my previous bad grades, but I would like to graduate with a 3.8.
• Start scrapbooking
  • When I first moved into this house, I told Troy I wanted to take over the spare room and make it into my craft room. That lasted for a little while, but then we needed it as a guest room. I’ve got several boxes full of things I want to scrapbook and THOUSANDS upon thousands of pictures I need to get printed so I can put those in there, too. It’s just always seemed like such a daunting task, but this year I want to get started. Troy bought a huge kitchen table, so I can take over one half with my stuff and work through one year at a time. I’m not even going to make a goal about how much I want to get through since I have no idea how much time it will take, but I’d at least like to get started and get some of it done this year.

Work/Blog

• Increase blog traffic
  • I purchased the domain for this blog in February. Since then, I have seen a steady increase in traffic. I went from a low of 524 views in March to a high of 4,228 views in December, which averaged out to roughly 1,600 views a month. I’d like to double that by the end of 2015.
• Start making money
  • Having a blog is a great thing, but it does cost a bit of time and money. I don’t have super lofty goals as far as income goes, but I’d like to make enough money to cover my blog start-up expenses and a bit extra so I don’t feel like a total failure. In 2014, my only income source was posting ads, but for 2015 I’d like to branch out a bit. I’ve signed up as an affiliate for both Amazon and Audible, so if you want to purchase anything from Amazon or Audible, it would be awesome if you would click my affiliate link (right-hand side towards the bottom) because I get a few dollars for every purchase made after someone clicks the link.
• Increase post consistency
  • One of my problems from 2014 was my lack of consistency. True, school got crazy and took up all my time, but I still could have posted more than I did. My goal for this year is to get more photos edited and post 2-3 times a week. Now that I’m running a second blog, that could get a little crazy, but I’ve got a plan. I’m going to make myself a posting/editing schedule and integrate it into my homework schedule so that I have a set time for it each week. That should make things easier.
• Get better at social media
  • One of the things I’ve not done much of is social media promotion. I’ve read so many tips from successful bloggers where they extol the virtues of posting something on each social media platform every day. I need to get into the habit of spending 30-60 minutes every day scheduling posts on Google+, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook before going through and responding to the interactions I have received. I would like to increase my followers on each platform by 50% as well.