🐼 Are the yearly reviews necessary? Can't-live-without-it necessary?
Getting into the not-so-long-away past
Heyaaa!
Happy New Year!
It's the same old me.
And while checking out my experiences from the past year, I wondered if it actually was me… this crackpot.
I was like…
What was I thinking trying this?
Uh, I did this too?
Did I try this one?
No, I surely didn't do this.
This one, absolutely not!
And while writing this newsletter, I had another thought...
How did I post 50+ articles on my blog in 6 months when earlier I couldn't even manage one a month?
Yes, Book Blabber (that I started in July last year) has 120+ blog posts as of today; half of which I imported, formatted or repurposed from my earlier content. The rest are all original.
You can surely outperform yourself. I know now; if only you get into something that interests you.
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OK, back to my story…
The growth of Book Blabber was also due to the gradual advancement in the search rankings. It kept me motivated.
I haven’t actually been promoting BB, except for random shares on social media and my other newsletter: Book Blabber's Bulletin
Organic Google search brings about 70% of my audience to the site. And 2 days ago, I got the notification that the site reached 500 clicks in the last 28 days.
Now, I'm hoping to do regular promotions, riding on topical trends on IG as much as I can.
Although the blog is the only side project I'm pursuing now, it isn't the first. In fact, last year itself, I tried my hands at colouring, doodling and creating comic strips before starting the blog,
And there were lots of other experiences like Twitter spaces, podcasts and Spanish learning. I even remained ill for most part of the year. So, yeah, it was fun.
But do we really need these yearly reviews?
We do.
We do?
Yes, we do.
It's not for you. It's for the one who is reviewing. It's for me.
Going through the things you achieved month after month brings little bubbles of joy. And the things you failed at remind you of your limits, your mistakes and that you aren't invincible.
You can look at your achievements and feel proud or focus on your failures and feel miserable. Ah, not failures. I choose to call them pending wins.
For example, If you had talked me into automating my processes 5 years ago, I would've sneered at you. Automating felt too complex and a non-personalized way to do things. I couldn’t find the end of the string to begin sorting things.
But last year, as I stepped up to set up systems, I found it easier to get different processes automated. Found more time to do my favourite things and leave other things on auto-pilot.
Still, a long way to go, but I almost touched my financial goal for the year in November. Then fell down. Need to repeat the performance; keep repeating it.
And now that I can see the tunnel forking towards being an indie creator, I guess I can cross the goal and aim higher.
Not having strict time-limited milestones. Just milestones I want to achieve, one step at a time.
Will keep reviewing and revisiting my progress.
You do too. Okay?
Till then…
Bidding adieu.
Live long and prosper.
See you next week, with another story.