Progress on End of 2021 Goal Challenge

Hey there, Accountability Partners. Just checking in with you on the progress I’ve made thus far during the end of 2021 goal challenge. First of all, let me start out by saying that this hasn’t been the most stellar week as far as GETTING THINGS DONE, but I’m so thankful that I built in some flexibility to account for my “slow to gain momentum” performance this week.

Basically, I gave myself some much-needed leniency in how I would go about tackling the last few goals that I’d like to wrap up before entering into 2022. Here’s that list of goals to refresh your memory:

1. Record my audio book for Playground Instruction for the Growing Adult.
2. Get my audio book out on my Teachers Pay Teachers and Etsy stores.
3. Get the audio book prepped and submitted to Audible/ACX.
4. Get 10 new products up on my Teachers Pay Teachers store.
5. Read The Ultimate Blogger’s SEO Blueprint ebook.
6. Review the updated course material for the Printables by Number course that I purchased.
7. Start planning for my updated blog site. (Really wanted to have my blog site updated before the end of 2021, but it looks like this goal will take place in 2022 sometime – hopefully in January.)
8. Prep for my cold visiting strategy where I’ll actually go to a place of business or organization (daycares, schools, and tutoring centers) that can utilize my products and services, introduce Degrees of Maternity, and leave my promotional packet with the person I visit with.

And just so you know, I’m really not trying to set the bar on how I’m going about crossing off my to-do list of priorities. There’s definitely no streamlined process for how I set up this goal challenge. That’s for sure. It’s just my way of getting a few more things done, so I don’t feel like I totally blew off the month of December.

Plus, there are always creative goals that I’m seeking to accomplish, so I needed to find a way to lighten my goal list a little bit before adding more to it. And knowing I’ve communicated to you that I intend to get something done during this challenge is just the impetus I needed to get going. I told you the things I want to get done — not the way in which I intend to get them done (which is where the flexibility comes in).

Let’s just say I’m keeping the execution of the activity to myself since it’s pretty haphazard right now. Getting things done in the most structured way is really not on the menu this goal challenge. I mean . . . my family’s all home for the winter break, so what few routines I do have are totally going by the wayside during this challenge. This week and next are definitely not times for business as usual. After all, rest and relaxation have to be factored in somewhere.

And, not having to get up and go through the school routine with my son or see my husband off to work before the sun comes up is so incredibly refreshing. I love it. Everyone’s home and can help with the household responsibilities that routinely land in my lap. In fact, I received such a treat today. My daughter helped me cook the weekend big meal that I make on Friday to last through Sunday.

Just imagine cooking enough food (in one setting) to feed four adults and one pre-teen for three days. It takes a minute. And usually I’m the lone ranger on this weekly labor of love since the others are either at work or school. But today, I had some help, and it was AWESOME! My daughter and I pretty much halved the responsibilities, and we were done with the cooking and cleaning up the kitchen in a fraction of the time it normally takes me when I’m flying solo. And, I even had enough UUMPHH in me to finish up this blog post and get it out to you today.

So, you can see that scenarios like the ones I just described are inevitably setting me up to be in a less productive state overall. Guaranteed. And, I knew I would be a little lackluster coming into this goal challenge with a bit of a laid-back attitude in tow. Hence, the reason for the flexibility and leniency on how I’m currently getting after my to-dos.

But even with my “slow on the roll” activity, I managed to get some things checked off of my list and it looks a little bit smaller now. Check it out:

1. Record my audio book for Playground Instruction for the Growing Adult.
2. Get my audio book out on my Teachers Pay Teachers and Etsy stores.
3. Get the audio book prepped and submitted to Audible/ACX.
4. Get 8 10 new products up on my Teachers Pay Teachers store. (Thus far, I have created 2 out of the 10 digital products (a pack of ten digital rewards stickers for parents/teachers to give to their students and a pack of six themed notepads for children. However, I haven’t loaded them up on the store just yet. They’re currently sitting safely and snuggly in Canva but will make their appearance very soon.) 
5. Read The Ultimate Blogger’s SEO Blueprint ebook. DONE
6. Review the updated course material for the Printables by Number course that I purchased. DONE
7. Start planning for my updated blog site. (Really wanted to have my blog site updated before the end of 2021, but it looks like this goal will take place in 2022 sometime – hopefully in January.)
8. Prep for my cold visiting strategy where I’ll actually go to a place of business or organization (daycares, schools, and tutoring centers) that can utilize my products and services, introduce Degrees of Maternity, and leave my promotional packet with the person I visit with.

So, all in all, I didn’t do awful this week. I didn’t get as much done as I’d hoped to, but I made some progress. Items 1, 2, and 3 on the list go together and will be the priority next week. I’m sure I’ll be working on them all throughout the week as well. The rest of the products for item 4 shouldn’t be too involved. As a matter of fact, once I create my book report template, then 7 items will efficiently become a streamlined process. And items 7 and 8 are more prep and planning items that will definitely have some overlap into 2022. But, getting the pre-work done before the GO LIVE dates will be a great help in starting my goals for 2022 on the right foot.

Well, that’s all folks. Thanks so much for checking in on me for this first week of the 2-week challenge. Boy, do I have my work cut out for me. Nevertheless, I’m going to do my best to make you proud. But you better believe, I’m going to make ample time for some good old R&R as well.