We're now almost three months into 2014, and I am pleased to announce that, up to this point, I have failed at all five of my goals. If, on the off chance you aren't obsessed with me and my blogging goals, here's the overview:
GOAL #1 - Be Consistent
FAILED! I took most of February off when my wife brought another human into the world.
The big problem I have is that I'm not very good at writing short posts. I'm analytical and a big picture thinker. Therefore, when I address a topic, I tend to want to frame my opinion within a grander context.
Also, since I'm analytical, I'm obsessed with numbers and traffic sources; it's like a big game to me. So, I'm not very good at writing some quick thoughts, posting them, and leaving them be; I want to track everything. And, if I'm going to put that much effort in, I want to swing for the fences. I may be over-thinking things a bit.
GOAL #2 - Be Social
FAILED! I still don't comment on many blogs. It's a bit tricky for me. One of the reasons I started blogging again was that I was spending too much time in comment sections having meaningless debates. I wanted to express my thoughts, and interact with people. Blogging seemed like a better option than debating people.
So this goal somewhat goes against some of why I started blogging, but this type of being social would obviously be different from online debate. Though, I may be over-thinking this.
GOAL #3 - Figure Out How to Use Pinterest
FAILED! I have met with my sister about Pinterest, but I haven't really applied much of what I learned. Pinterest is mildly interesting to me, but it's not something I naturally click with. It makes it tricky to really engage with it.
At the same time, I know that even with my limited Pinterest skills and interest, it's become a steady source of daily traffic. In my numbers games, it's interesting to see which posts spread via Facebook and which ones spread via Pinterest. I have this one post which had very little interest when first posted, but it's image is very pin-able; it brings in daily traffic. It's all very fascinating to me. Though I may be over-thinking this.
GOAL #4 - Start Podcasting or Vlogging
KIND OF FAILED! I haven't done this yet, but I'm very close. I have a space with a backdrop. I have a mic and USB interface. However, I don't want to use the camera in my Macbook, and I don't have a tripod for my iPhone. Even if I use my iPhone, suddenly making a video requires generating content, setting everything up, filming it, syncing audio, exporting the video, posting it, and promoting it. If I'm going to have to put that much effort in, I want it to be something really good, so then I tend to stop myself before I get started. I may be over-thinking things.
GOAL #5 - Expand My Readers Beyond My Facebook Friends
FAILED! This goal really goes hand in hand with goals 2 and 3. Really, this is the goal, and those are applications. If I did a better job with points 2 and 3, goal 5 would start being met. I would imagine that all of my goals would have the end result of increasing my readership.
I think I'll stop commenting on this one before I start over-thinking it. Though, even making that observation is itself over-thinking things. I may be over-thinking whether I'm over-thinking things.
FINAL THOUGHT!
Now that I know that I'm failing, it's time to get back into gear and make progress. I'm really great at making incredible plans that I don't stick to, but at least when you do that, you're aiming for something. Starting this week, I'm getting back on the path!
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