Last month I started writing goals posts because I felt like it would keep me more accountable for what I was hoping to accomplish in a month. I have big hopes for my blog this year, as well as personal ones so I’m hoping these posts will help me achieve that.
We’ve had a lot of change in the past month, none of which I was expecting at the time I wrote last month’s. Michael got a job offer in Berlin and we moved here last Wednesday (can’t believe it’s only been a little over a week) and things have been pretty chaotic. Regardless, I believe I’ve actually done quite well in terms of what I was hoping to accomplish. Let’s see how I fared.
Blog Goals For February
Post at least 2 or 3 times a week. Yay! I did actually accomplish this. 3 times a month was a bit of a stretch, and I knew that at the time, but I have posted two times a week throughout the month of February. I was aiming for Mondays and Thursdays, which I think I’ve done with the exception of this week since I posted Tuesday instead. Either way I’ll consider that a huge accomplishment because being consistent with my blogging has probably been my biggest struggle thus far.
Post to Instagram at least 4 times a week. Unfortunately, I wasn’t as good with Instagram this month as I wanted to be. Some weeks I posted a ton (like when I was in Scotland and Marseille) and others I didn’t really post much at all. Although I’m not trying to make excuses for myself, I know it’s because our situation in the UK meant I didn’t go out all that often since I didn’t know anyone, so I just stayed inside most of the time and had no Instagram inspiration. Whoops.
Revamp Pinterest and make it more aesthetically pleasing. I’m so proud of myself for actually doing this. It took me pretty much all morning one day, but once I was finished I really loved how much more professional my Pinterest looked. I organized all of my boards, deleted ones I didn’t like, deleted pins that were ugly, and made cover photos for all of my boards. Definitely pleased with the way it worked out.
Come up with a social media strategy and start using planning tools. I’m going to count this as a win because I scheduled almost every post I wrote this month ahead of time (which so far I’ve never actually done) and I also scheduled a couple of pins using Buffer. However, I know there’s tons of room for improvement and I didn’t use planning tools nearly as much as I wanted to. I’m still trying to figure out how to utilize them in the best way, but either way I’m glad I at least gave it a try!
Personal Goals For February
Read two of the books on my reading list. This didn’t quite work out, but in fairness, I did read four books this month. I finished The Innocent like I mention in my February Goals post, and I also read Gone Girl from my list, however, I couldn’t get my hands on any of my other books at the library. I now have borrowed a bunch from a friend and I’m hoping to get cracking, but instead this month I just read some other ones. So although I didn’t exactly complete this goal, I’m not too bothered.
Work out at least 2 to 3 times a week. Yeah, I didn’t do this either. Oops. I was going to go to the gym and everything but then we were in Scotland and France and then we were packing to move and I had other things on my mind. It’s no excuse though and I should have tried harder.
Apply to more jobs and stay positive. This I believe has been accomplished, but I’m going to wait to write about until a little bit later!
Blog Goals For March
Grow my Pinterest followers. After a successful completion of last month’s Pinterest goal I would like to now work on using Pinterest more and growing my following. I gained approximately 50 new followers last month, so if I actually try to gain followers I think I can grow it a lot this March.
Post to Instagram at least 2 times a week. Last month didn’t go well with my Instagram challenge I set myself, so this month I’m setting myself an easier to manage goal. I know I can manage posting to Instagram at least 2 times a week, so I’ll start here and when I’ve got that done I’ll increase the number.
Keep posting 2 times a week, hopefully get up to 3. I was quite good about posting on the blog last month, so this month I want to keep up the good work and hopefully get myself up to posting 3 times a week. Baby steps, but I think I can do it.
Work on my social media strategy and increase traffic and page views. This is a big general one, but now that I feel more in the groove with my blogging ideas and posts, I think it’s time I start giving my attention to my social media strategy as a whole. I would love to increase my page views and general traffic because I think it’s at a point where once it starts to grow it’ll just be exponential. Here’s to hoping!
Personal Goals For March
Settle in Berlin and make friends. Since we’ve only been here for about a week I haven’t actually made any friends yet. I’m going to a book club meeting for English speakers on Monday so I’m hoping to meet some people there, but I need to make sure I branch out and really try and meet people so I’m not miserable.
Keep improving my German. For the past few of weeks I have been working so hard with this online course for learning German so I could feel more prepared when I got here. I’ve got some basics down and according to my course I have completed A1 German on the European Language Scale, so I really want to keep at it, because I know if I can communicate more I’ll feel generally more comfortable in the city.
Workout at least 2 times a week. This month I’m really going to try to accomplish this even though I didn’t manage it last month. Whether it’s just exercises in the apartment or finding a gym here, I think it’ll be good for me to exercise a bit.
Read All The Light We Cannot See. I’ve been meaning to read this book for ages and now that I’ve finally got my hands on it it’s the next one to read as soon as I finish this book club book for next Tuesday.
Whew, that was a long post. I wasn’t perfect last month with my goals, but I’m pleased with what I accomplished and I can only hope this month is just as good as last!
