We’re well into the second quarter of 2020 and I thought I’d revisit the writing (content creation) goals that I’d set for myself in 2019, still had remaining at the end of 2019, and had to carry over into 2020. And finally, my intention was to then complete these goals in the first part of 2020.
To refresh your memory on the goals in question, I’ll recap them for you here.
- Create an audiobook for Playground Instruction for the Growing Adult (my debut book).
- Write and self-publish my second book.
- Research and set-up some future public speaking engagements.
Audiobook
In the December 9, 2019 post, entitled “Writing Goals for Remainder of 2019 – Weekly Report 10”, here’s what I reported about the audiobook goal:
I also called the contact person for the recording studio at the local university. I left a message for the contact right before his holiday break and haven’t heard back from him yet. Hopefully, I’ll hear from him this week and see if I can schedule a tour of the facility and demo on how to use the equipment. This is what I stated in the last report. And this is what I accomplished this past week: I ended up calling the contact person again and leaving a voicemail message. I also followed up with an email. I received a phone call on that same day from the contact and was informed that the recording studio is undergoing renovations and upgrading of equipment. (This is a good thing.) However, the studio’s renovations are going to demolish my deadline for getting the audio recorded, because the updates won’t be completed until mid-to-late January. So, there goes my goal for completing my audiobook by December 31st. I also learned that it’s highly unlikely for an author to get his or her audiobook approved and out for distribution on the ACX/Audible platform because everybody and their cousin is wanting to produce an audiobook in November/December. (ACX/Audible didn’t say it like this, but their messaging made it clear that the end of the year is pretty busy for audiobook requests.) So, it looks like I waited too late to get the process started and completed by year’s end. Well, I may be down, but I’m not out. The goal is delayed, not dead. I just need to regroup and look to late January/early February as being a more realistic deadline date for the audiobook.
This is how I left my audiobook goal . . . basically waiting for the recording studio to become available. And guess what? COVID-19 hit. So, no recording studio availability at this time.
Am I over this goal? Will it sink into the dark abyss of lost goals? Well, not necessarily. I don’t know what the future holds, but the imminent future doesn’t have the audiobook for Playground Instruction for the Growing Adult anywhere in it. But, never say never.
Public Speaking
And in that same December 9th post, here’s what I reported for the public speaking engagements:
I’ve identified one of the entities that I would like to partner with and have submitted my volunteer application. This is what I stated in the last report, but it appears that I didn’t actually submit my volunteer application like I originally thought I did. What I submitted was more like an interest form. Anyway, this is what I accomplished this past week: I received a reply email from the volunteer contact and she gave me the link (in the email) to complete the actual volunteer application. Now, I can safely say that I got the real deal completed and submitted. I initially thought it might take the organization’s representative more like 2 – 3 weeks to get back with me, but I was surprisingly contacted the next week. So, maybe I’ll hear back from my contact this week, since the “real” application was completed and submitted this past Friday. I indicated what areas I would like to assist with and shared my skills sets that would make me a strong candidate to do so. The next step is to meet with the representative after she’s reviewed my application and she’ll set up a time for me to tour the facilities and discuss the specifics of how I can be of service to the organization. I CAN’T WAIT!
Well, two different representatives did contact me from this organization of interest; however, we haven’t been able to meet in person yet to visit and schedule the tour. And a lot of the activities the organization contributes to are very public, crowd-driven opportunities. So, I’m on hold with this endeavor as well. And honestly folks, I’m not one to rush back into a crowd-like situation in the midst of this pandemic (no matter what the world leaders say about lifting social distancing bans). I’m for safety and precautions first before anything else. If I help more people by staying physically away from them for a while, then I can volunteer and do what I can from a distance, until evidence shows it’s safe to serve in the presence of the masses.
Second Book
As far as my goal on writing and self-publishing my second book; well, I had my own struggles with this one, pre-COVID-19. So, I can’t blame this goal disruption on the pandemic. Check out my post on December 16, 2019, entitled Writing Weekly Report 11 + Goal Disruption, to understand what mindset I was in, regarding my book writing journey. I discuss the following subjects:
Chasing the Shiny New Object
Quitting When the Going Gets Tough
Fear of the Unknown
And true to form, all three of those topics played a part in the turn of events for my second book, but I don’t feel like this goal came to a complete stop. After all, I’m presenting some pieces of my book in the weekly Wednesday posts known as the “Untitled Book #2” series. So, while you may not see a polished book in its entirety on Amazon or IngramSpark, I am self-publishing pieces of it here on Degrees of Maternity.
In summary, I didn’t manage to completely accomplish any one of the three writing goals from last year within the first quarter of 2020. But, ask me if I’m feeling a little self-conscious about that. Seriously, ask me. Well, the answer to this question is NO, NOPE, and NADA!
In light of everything that’s going on right now, my previous writing goals have not been on my list of priorities going forward. And the fact that we’re sitting in a pandemic situation has obviously shed some light on the true goals that I should be focusing on right now.
Honestly, I almost feel like my past goals were driven by my own selfish desires — what I wanted to do without really investing the time and energy into researching what I could do to truly be of benefit to people who visit my content. And, it took me a minute to hone in on that fact.
Did it really have to take a pandemic to come to this realization? Well, no. I had been facing this fact before the pandemic. But world events have heightened the need to provide value to people who could really use it right now in a way that they can really use it.
So, my goals going forward have to be driven by what the people want, which is why I’m encouraging your participation in the polls, open-ended questions, and email freebies that I’m including on this blog. All of these methods are actually being used with your “desires” as the focus. The only way to be of value to those around me is to ask the question, “How can I be of service?”
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