Writing Goals and More 2020 Close-Out

Today is the day I’ll summarize the progress I made on my “writing goals and more” for the remainder of 2020. I’m pulling out a bit of content from my previous blog post, Revisiting Writing Goals and More for the Remainder of 2020, to close out my thoughts on this year’s goals. Don’t hesitate to go back and read or reread this post in its entirety to get some context as to where my goal-setting frame of mind was back in October of this year.

To give you a quick catcher upper as to what seemed to be my content creation focus this year, let’s just say that I was going hard for several months in a row on creating digital products (printables) for my Etsy shop. Some of my printables involved considerable written content in the form of ebooks and others had more of an artistic slant and required some extensive assistance from one of the artists in the family, my daughter (Toodlez). I even threw a few physical products in there toward the end of my Etsy onslaught of product offerings. I’m currently at 39 Etsy listings to-date, and I was consistently creating new listings week after week for several consecutive months. However, that initiative came to an abrupt halt in November of this year, and a whole fresh refocus of my attention and intentions came about.

So, let me start with my list of goals as they appeared in my “writing goals and more” post (back on October 20, 2020):

1. Document the steps (or create a checklist of activities) to cover in order to successfully go through a new product development process and bring it to fruition in the online world (no matter the online platform).
2. Become more adept at managing my Etsy shop and Pinterest account by increasing my knowledge of both platforms.
3. Add Playground Instruction for the Growing Adult (paperback version) to Etsy shop.
4. Create and add themed journal bundles to Etsy shop.
5. Create and add personalized bookmarks and doorknob hangers to Etsy shop.
6. Create and add activity books/coloring books/games to Etsy shop.
7. Create and add audiobook for Playground Instruction for the Growing Adult to Etsy shop.
8. Change my blogging schedule to posting two days a week: Mondays for content creation and productivity topics and Thursdays for “Back to Natural Basics” topics.
9. Create an “I Miss You” cards product to place on the Etsy shop.

Now, let me follow-up with what the progress toward my goal achievement looked like back in October:

1. This goal is a work-in-progress. I would still like to create a new product development checklist before the end of the year but haven’t started to put the pieces (which are currently all over the place) together yet.
2. I have continuously been working on this goal and will continue to inevitably learn something new weekly whether I’m trying to or not.
3. This goal can be checked off as completed.
4. This goal can be checked off as completed.
5. This goal is somewhat completed. Meaning . . . I currently have digital bookmarks and doorknob hangers on my Etsy shop, but they’re not personalized. They’re theme-based off of 6 different child themes. I also have the physical bookmarks of the themes on my shop and will be getting the physical versions of the doorknob hangers out on the shop this week and next. I’ve decided to go the digital route (predominantly) but also the physical product route with some of my products in the shop. As stated in my blog post entitled, Accommodating a Wider Customer Base, “I’ve come to the understanding that there’s a customer base who enjoys the physical product market and I want to expand my horizons to accommodate this audience as well as the digital product market customer base.”
6. This goal may be partially completed this year or not. Time will tell. I definitely would like to get some reading and writing game-like items out on my shop before year’s end (if possible).
7. This goal will totally have to be carried over to 2021. It’s currently not in my immediate horizon for this year, I’m afraid.
8. Well, I’ve tweaked my blogging schedule several times recently to meet the demands of content I’m seeking to distribute through the different Degrees of Maternity platforms. The way the schedule currently stands is as follows: Tuesdays are dedicated to content creation and “Lessons Learned as a Parent of a Virtually-Schooled Student” posts and Fridays are dedicated to “Back to Natural Basics” and healthy habits goal-setting posts.
9. As stated in a previous blog post entitled, New Product Development Ramblings, I mentioned that the “I Miss You cards will be created for children to give to their friends and grandparents — two groups of individuals that school-aged children may not be visiting very much these days.” I also went on to mention that “I see the card activity as a great opportunity for young children to share important news with loved ones, let their loved ones know how much they mean to them, and provide a writing exercise on top of all that.” However, I don’t know that I’ll necessarily be pursuing the cards as a product for my Etsy shop for this year. I’m thinking of moving this goal into 2021 and working on a whole new product altogether, once I get the physical doorknob hangers up on my site.

Lastly, I’ll come to a close with what was left on my list of goals (with the exception of #3 and #4, which were completed goals as of last report). And let me just be honest with you, regarding this list. You’re going to notice that several of the goals were simply nixed because they fit into the category of “Busywork”. If you remember from my post, Simplifying the Writing Process This Time Around, I communicated that I’m simply not investing my time in busywork that doesn’t move me toward my goals for 2021 (to be shared with you in next Tuesday’s post).

Check out my year-end goals report below:

1. I’m no longer working toward achieving this goal.
2. I have continuously been working on this goal and will continue to inevitably learn something new weekly whether I’m trying to or not.
3. This goal was completed as of last report.
4. This goal was completed as of last report.
5. I’m no longer working toward achieving this goal of personalizing the bookmarks and doorknob hangers. And while I have the digital theme-based bookmarks and doorknob hangers on my Etsy shop as well as the physical bookmarks of the digital versions, I will not be placing the physical doorknob hangers on my site at this time.
6. This goal has not been met and will possibly be carried over to 2021. However, it’s currently not in my immediate horizon for the first half of 2021.
7. This goal will be carried over to 2021. However, it will come in a different format than a completed audiobook. My goal is to include audio clips in my upcoming NEWSLETTER for Degrees of Maternity email subscribers. More to come on the newsletter in this Friday’s blog post.
8. Yes, the goal of blogging two days a week has been met. However, I’ve recently tweaked my Tuesday and Friday blogging schedule (once again) to include content on my book writing journey and general writing goals on Tuesdays and on blogging truths on Fridays.
9. I’m no longer working toward achieving this goal.