I published the goals I set for 2016 but I only updated once on those goals all year.
The first six months of 2016, I was still very much suffering from a sort of PTSD – anxiety and depression after the birth of my 27-weeker preemie. I went to bed early and slept in. I had no interest in being sociable and felt tired all the time.
But around the middle of summer, I started getting up very early again, to write.
This was actually a suggestion made to me by my now 15-year-old son. He told me that he would watch the baby in the mornings.
So I began arriving at Starbucks at 6 AM and working until 8, coming home so my husband can leave for work.
Most days, the baby sleeps nearly until I get back, but my son still enjoys that free coffee refill. 🙂
That turned out to be a life-changing move. It was the best thing I did in 2016, and it will have far-reaching effects. Turns out, the fatigue I was feeling was probably due to dysthymia.
I didn’t feel depressed, but clearly, I was. (Randomly bursting into tears and hiding from my children should have been a sign, but I can be a little slow.)
Getting up early and going somewhere in the morning energized me, got me excited about personal goals again, and made me stop being afraid of people. (Turns out, people are pretty friendly, especially when caffeinated.)
Having to get dressed and made up first thing didn’t hurt either. I cut my hair short and started curating a cute, minimalist wardrobe. Those two hours a day end up making me more energetic, productive and happy all day.
2016 Wins:
We took a vacation to the beach.
Unfortunately, it ended halfway in due to a hurricane. So we did a camping weekend to make up for that.
We saved a down payment for a house.
It’s not quite 20%, but it’s a good chunk of change.
I grew the traffic and income from my blogs.
My business pretty much tanked due to my last pregnancy and Josiah’s birth, so I was practically starting from scratch. I have big plans for 2017 in this department.
My preemie is still breastfeeding.
I am very proud of this, because nursing a preemie is hella hard. Watching him struggle to gain weight and having to supplement with formula for over a year was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do as a mother. (I used a Lact-Aid, which he was able to wean from several months ago.)
I stayed off sugar and on a healthy diet.
So that I don’t bore readers of this blog, who may be uninterested, I write a TrimHealthyMama blog here. I still weigh 123 pounds and have held steady for a year at that weight, even though I eat “off plan” at least once a week.
Which means that I am FINALLY able to build a wardrobe that will fit me forever, instead of having to start over every two years, because there will be NO MORE BABIES.
My oldest child graduated homeschool.
And he is a hard working, taxpaying, productive member of society (and talented and well-rounded and sociable to boot!). That gives me a sort of street cred that’s nice.
Homeschooling has been a pretty well-oiled machine this year.
2016 Fails
Of course, there were some things that didn’t go so well in 2016.
My last two ebooks were flops.
I’m not totally certain why this is so. Perhaps I didn’t do proper market research. Perhaps I need to work on better copywriting on the descriptions (writing copy is not my strong suit). Maybe the timing was just off.
I do know that they both got excellent reviews (that were organic, I don’t pay for those!), so the people that did buy them were pleased, which of course makes me happy.
It may not even be my fault. Amazon has changed the way they pay authors, and many people are quite upset about it. Instead of paying for each sale, they pay per page read. This has caused my ebook revenue to drop like a hot potato. So even when I make sales, I earn less. How often do you read an entire book as soon as you buy it? It seems very unfair, but what can you do?
I have decided to begin selling my books on my own domain, as well as other places such as SmashWords, instead of being exclusive to Amazon. Things are always changing on the internet, and so we marketers have to be constantly changing our tactics. (In upcoming weeks, you’ll see me adding my books to a page here as they graduate out of Amazon’s KDP program.)
For now, my focus has returned to writing and marketing my blogs, with great results. Which is fine by me, as I prefer blogging to writing ebooks anyway!
I’m still working on my goals for 2017 and will post about those in a few weeks.
How was your year? Are you happy with the progress you made?
Carrie, I love hearing your goals. Since you and I have so much in common, sort of like kindred spirits except miles away. I feel as if we were at the same congregation we would be inseparable. I’m surprised about the books they are all so good.
I’m still going through the last one and your writing is great!
That’s Amazon for ya, and yes paying for page read is unfair to me. Maybe going back to selling on your own domain and getting affiliates will be a better route. My business is just really starting to take off after all these years… Lol!
Keep it up, I love reading your posts.
Thanks so much Elizabeth! Yes I agree. Maybe someday we’ll get to meet, perhaps at a blogging conference? That would be so much fun, we could be roomies. 🙂
“Amazon has changed the way they pay authors, and many people are quite upset about it. Instead of paying for each sale, they pay per page read.”
You still make a royalty when someone buys your book. The per page thing has to do with the Kindle Unlimited program. If someone downloads your book through that, you only get paid per page read. And the payment is still unlikely to be anywhere near the royalty you would receive if that person bought it. The problem is, a lot of people have signed up to the KU program b/c they feel like they can get a bunch of books for practically nothing. Which is true, and not fair to us authors.
I was still recuperating from stress/depression from having a house built at the beginning of the yr, so I didn’t have any goals other than to survive each day, but I am now writing a series of homeschooling math books as well as a new novel series. It feels great to have a purpose. 🙂
Yes, I know… unfortunately my books were auto-enrolled into Kindle Unlimited, and I didn’t know about that change, so I’m having to wait until they expire from that before I can list them elsewhere. But yes, for those reading, thanks for making that distinction! 🙂
Amazon seems to be taking a cue from eBay, and slanting everything unfairly to the buyer instead of the seller. I have stopped selling on eBay because if the USPS loses something, the money is automatically deducted from my Paypal account even though it’s not my fault. That’s like making Walmart pay if someone breaks into your car and steals the bike you just bought. 🙁
For sure Carrie!
I would love to do that! Just let me know when.
It sounds like 2016 was another banner year. 🙂 I’m sorry to hear about your struggles with your son. I hope you’re both healthy and happy. 🙂
I just have to say–I adored your eBook. It was very well-written and the information was actually useful and actionable. I think it may be due to Amazon’s payment policies, which totally sucks.
Thanks for sharing your ups and downs of the year. I feel like at times I don’t always read honest assessments of someone’s year. It’s like Facebook where everyone only shows the happy side but chooses to ignore the massive crisis that is going on in their life so that their “brand” wouldn’t suffer. Here’s hoping that 2017 is a banner year 🙂
Thanks for the comment and encouragement. Yes, life doesn’t always behave the way we want it. I hope that by posting, I’ll keep myself accountable and working on the stuff I *can* control, and encourage others to do the same. 🙂
Thanks, and he is a miracle. He’s thriving and so happy, and brings a lot of joy to everyone who knows him!
I’m glad you enjoyed the book. 🙂
Your 15-year old kiddo sounds like a wonderful, empathetic child! What a nice way to support his mama 🙂
I haven’t really set specific goals for myself this year. I just wanted to “do more things that made me happy.” Which, I suppose I did! In 2016, I got engaged. I got married. I moved across country and met a whole new group of friends. I’d say 2016 was successful in my books!
@Divya That’s an awesome goal! I think it’s important to set “fun” goals as well as work ones. 🙂 And yes, he is!