2019 is here, can you believe it? Each new year brings new beginnings, and it’s the perfect time to create goals for the upcoming months and year! The challenge is that it’s easier to create goals and never follow through. So many of us establish goals on January 1st, but forget about them and fall right back into our usual routine by the second or third week of the year. So the question(s) become:

• What can you do to change old habits?
• What do you need to do so you can begin working towards your blogging goals?
• How can you make this year be your year? The year you start working towards creating a successful blog.

I’ve broken out this topic out into two blog posts. In the blog post below, we’ll walk through three blogging goals to help you mentally prepare for success in the upcoming year. Next, we’ll walk through simple goals/steps to help you establish a professional looking blog and a strategic plan for 2019.

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Blogging Goal #1 – Start Today

It took me over four years to start a blog! During those four years, I made so many excuses on why it wasn’t a good time to begin. And you know what, I lost years of blogging.

When I would think about new goals or habits, I would find excuses on why today wasn’t a good day to start. There was (and always will be) a reason why I should start at the beginning of next week, next month or when the timing was “perfect.”

The problem with this was I never got started. Excuses are easy, getting started takes work. But I’m happy to say, that after some time and effort, I have worked to change this habit. Now I am not perfect, but I have shifted my mindset and process. Now, I “accomplish” more during my downtime because I have made prioritizing my time into a habit. What’s the secret? I started small and worked on forming better habits each day.

Actionable To-Do: How to Get Started

• Write down 3-5 short term goals and prioritize them.
• Take your top 2 goals and create a short to-do list for them.
• Spend 15-30 minutes today working through a task on your list.
• Spend 15-30 minutes over the next week working on this list, and by the end of the week, you would have spent at least 1.75 – 3.5 hours working towards your goal! You will be amazed at how much you have gotten done!

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Blogging Goal #2: Create Actionable To-Dos and Become Proactive

In the previous goal, we walked through how to establish a list of goal and to-dos, but what do you do after that first week?

Are you consistently busy, but feel you’re never accomplishing what you set out to get done?

It’s not difficult to fill your time with busy work, even if you’re working on tasks in your to-do list. It’s so incredibly easy to fall into this trap, especially when it comes to blogging. How do you work towards your goal throughout the year without becoming overwhelmed?

Actionable To-Do: Steps to Get Your To-Do List Done

• Step 1: Write down only your top 5 to-dos each day
  Why write down only 5? Narrowing down your list to 5 tasks provides you with a focused list for the day. Your list can include both personal and blogging to-dos.
• Step 2: Work on your #1 to-do first
  • Instead of going back and forth between tasks, work on one at a time, starting with your #1 task.
• Step 3: Set Down Your Phone
  • Set a timer, turn your phone on do not disturb and put down your phone. Doing this will allow you to focus on the task at hand (social media and email can wait).
• Step 4: Give Yourself a Break
  • Accomplish what you can in a day, but don’t stress about not accomplishing your entire list. Remember, tomorrow is a new day and another chance to start again.
• Step 5: Start fresh each day
  • Create a new to-do list each day instead of working through your list from the previous day. Re-evaluate your list and prioritize based on what you need to get done that day. Items that naturally fall off your list and that is OK!

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Blogging Goal #3 – Believe in Yourself

Your mind is a powerful tool. It can work for you or against you. Choose to believe that you can do what you set out to do. Yes, you may have setbacks, but instead of getting upset, learn from them. Learn from your mistakes and figure out what you can change so you can continue to work towards your goal. Positivity and gratitude are contagious and can have an impact on your life and those around you.

Actionable To-Do: Steps to Believe in Yourself

• Establish a practice of gratitude
• Read books to help
• Listen to podcasts
• Reach out and talk to a professional

The goals and tasks above are the stepping stones to mentally get your blog started.
In my next post, we’ll work through what you need to do to get your blog up and running!