Year in Review | 2016 — Chaos & Reason

“Staring at the world through my rearview”

— Tupac

A look back at 2016 and my plans for 2017

When it comes to how well I did regarding the goals I set for 2016, a lot of them I didn’t meet. In fact some of them I just forgot about, yeah not good at all. I remembered that I had set goals, I just didn’t take the time to revisit what those goals were.

2016  - year in review — 2016 - year in review

Rather than focusing on what I didn’t accomplish, I’ll spend time on the things that I did well or improved on this year. It’s not that I don’t think that the goals I didn’t meet aren’t important, it’s just I’d rather use my time to focus on what I did right.

Blog Goals

My blog is evolving slowly, for a time I felt a bit lost and unsure how to proceed, what do I right about, is anybody reading my posts, should I even keep writing? I’ve got my footing back, I’m energized and excited, I feel that heading into 2017 I’m better prepared to tackle some the goals that I had set for 2016, like working on a style guide and connecting with other bloggers. I’ve already requested to join a Canadian network for bloggers, I’m also looking into some Facebook groups. Bit by bit I’ll make my way.

There are a few things that I’ve done this year regarding my blog that I’m proud of. First I’ve increased the frequency in which I post, I started with 4 posts a month and have increased this to 12-14 times a month. Going into 2017 I want to maintain this posting schedule and maybe even increase it more, depending on the material that I have.

Second thing I’m proud of is that my photo quality has improved. I’ve found some layouts that work well for me. This is also reflected in my post titles, they are cleaner and look professional instead of home made if that makes sense. I still want to improve my styling even more as I feel that sometimes my photos can end up looking flat or repetitive. I’m interested in taking on figure fashion photos and detailed shots that require more than an iPhone camera.

Third, my maintenance of the blog is better, I’ve added descriptions and colour names to images where necessary, making it easier for readers to identify what is being shown in the photo. To improve navigation I’ve also added the Related Posts summary at the bottom of each blog post.

Lastly, I’ve increased my interaction and posting on the social media platform Instagram. I try to post weekly and plan to increase my frequency in the new year. I also want to define and refine my aesthetic and posting style. I love the clean white flat lay looks that are prevalent on Instagram right now, but I personally want some more colour in my photos. I’ll need to work on my Instagram strategy in 2017, my interaction with other pages is something that I want to work on as well, I like photos but my engagement is minimal on this platform.

Personal Goals

This year was up and down for me. On one hand I was let go from y job and have been searching for the better part of 6 months for a new position. I’ve had phone and in-person interviews but nothing that has resulted in a job offer. So while being let go wasn’t an overall positive thing have more free time has helped me relax and de-stress. I hadn’t realized how tense I was until I didn’t have to go to work anymore. I’ve tried to to utilize my time in a productive manner though I don’t always succeed. I’ve really struggled with low energy and lethargy.

However having more time has meant that I’ve had more time to work on formulating and developing recipes along with making and testing them out. I put the business plan component on hold and decided to work on a product development I’ve created some products that I like - you can check out my Body Care Routine post to see a few of them. I’m still working on improving them and settling on the final products that I’ll use for the launch of my brand.

Having more free time also allowed me to work on the blog more, which I used to make improvements and up my posting frequency as I mentioned above.

I was also able to spend more time reading and studying my Bible. I listened to a lot of sermons, which have had an amazing impact on my life overall. I fell hopeful and am looking forward to the future. I’m working on a plan for my and feeling happy about it.

I will say that I’ve failed in the keeping healthy part. I’ve become more inactive since I’ve been at home and really need to change that. 2017 I will make an exercise plan and stick to it, by the hook or the crook, I will stick to it.

Expectations for 2017

I’ll keep it brief because I have a post about my goals for this year coming up. Simply put I’m expecting great things for this year. Great things for myself, my family and my business. I foresee a lot of hard work, growth and challenges ahead.Wealth and success come from ideas, concepts and business.