k, bye for now: 2019 Successes & 2020 Goals January 2, 2020
Of course, I had to end 2019 the way I started it: listening to Ari while I write about my 2019 Successes, 2019 Failures, and 2020 Goals. If you’re interested to read about this past year and my plans for 2020, please keep on reading.
2019 Successes
1 | Starting Graduate School | As most of my regular readers friends know, I started a graduate program in January. Although I’ve always been a studious person, this was scary. To go back to school, I left my job and uprooted my life.
Although my school experience got off to a rocky start, I am happy to say that I have gotten more confident each semester. My GPA continues to rise and I am gaining valuable educational experiences.
2 | Securing a New P/T Job | I felt proud of myself when I secured a spot working in one of the most desired centers on campus. No only does this job give me an opportunity keto ep working in the marketing field, but it has been an opportunity to develop management skills and to learn new technical skills.
Exponential Blog Growth: 2019 Yearly Views vs. 2019 Yearly Views
3 | Exponential Blog Growth | By the end of 2018, this blog had 235 followers and garnered just under 2,400 views. My target goal for 2019 was to reach 1,000 followers and 12,000 views by the end of the year. Although I am 120 people shy of reaching my followers goal, I smashed my views goal for the year with 24,000 views.
While these milestones may seem small to some bloggers who have thousands of views a day, I am ecstatic with my growth. I even have blog posts that rank on the first page in Google search results!
2019 Failures
1 | Failure at Proper Self-Care | I’d by lying if I failed to tell you that I initially thought that going back to University would less stressful than working full-time. This year was an emotional rollercoaster that I was not equipped to ride. I neglected healthy sleeping, eating, exercising, and general self-care habits that were detrimental to my emotional and physical health.
2 | Shopping Addition | Let’s call a spade a spade. Clearly, I developed a beauty-focused impulse shopping addiction in 2019 as a coping mechanism for dealing with low periods and extreme anxiety. Despite me chronicling my journey online, I failed because I did not hold myself accountable.
3 | Failure to Reach Follower Goals | In 2019, I fell short of reaching any of my follower goals across all my platforms (WordPress, Instagram, Pinterest). For most of the year, I was on-track to reach my WordPress follower goal. However, my growth stagnated immediately after I upgraded to a plan where the “Follow” button was removed.
Instagram and Pinterest were harder to grow due to my lack of consistency with posting and pining. How could I expect to grow if I was not posting every week?
2020 Goals – Professional Goals
1 | Finish my Graduate Program | One of my biggest goals in 2020 is to finish my graduate program. Currently, I am set to graduate in May and I am excited for what completion of the program will bring!
2 | Secure a Beauty or Retail Marketing Job | If it wasn’t apparent from my blog, I have a passion for retail and beauty. While I’ve worked with retailers and beauty brands through my agency positions, my dream is to work in a marketing or e-commerce role directly for a brand.
3 | Move Out | For six years, I was blessed to be living and working in Boston. However, I moved home last year to save money while in graduate school. Once I secure a job, my hope is to find a new apartment in Boston or in any metropolitan city where I end up working!
2020 Goals – Blogging Goals
1 | Collaborate with other bloggers | In 2019, I did my first brand collaboration and my first collaboration with a friend. However, I have yet to do a collaboration with another blogger. My aim in 2020 is to collaborate with one of my talented blog friends.
2 | Monetize my Site | As of January 1st, my blog has not afforded me any financial gains. I don’t have advertisements placed on site, nor do I charge for my brand work because this blog was born out of a pure passion for the beauty space. In 2020, I want to set up display ads and join an influencer network.
3 | Increase my blog traffic | Part of the joy that I glean from blogging is that I get to connect with others. As such, I want to increase my blog following and double my traffic in 2020. This will require much more keyword research and promotion in 2020, but I am willing to put in the work!
2020 Goals – Personal Goals
1 | Develop a healthy schedule | As my graduate program raged on, I developed an unhealthy sleep and eating schedule due to ever-changing work schedules and a demanding course load. In 2020, I want to get 8-hours of sleep, eat home-cooked lunches every day, and exercise regularly.
2 | Immerse my self in the written word | I love to read and write. In 2020, I want to read at least 12 books, devote time to read the Bible daily, and journal daily. Conversely, I want to watch YouTube and other streaming platforms less frequently.
3 | Develop a Beauty Budget | In 2019, I let stress dictate my spending in unhealthy ways. In 2020, I want to return to the strict budgeting that I followed throughout the years when I lived on my own. To aid myself in that process, I want to partake in a successful “No Buy” in 2020.
K, Bye for Now: Final Thoughts on my 2019 Successes and Failures, and 2020 Goals
2019 has been a major year of personal introspection and growth. I challenged myself academically, personally, and professionally. Despite facing failures and hardships, I was able to look inside myself to understand why I behaved in certain ways.
In 2020, my ultimate hope is that I can lead a happy, successful life.
Let’s connect on social media: Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest | Bloglovin’ | Influenster
Now that I’ve shared my 2019 Successes, 2019 Failures, and 2020 Goals, please let me know about your biggest wins or 2019 and your blogs for the future!
2020 resolutions blog goals Blogging goals lifestyle motivation new year's resolution wellness
Rosie Culture says
January 2, 2020 at 1:07 pmWow your blog growth is amazing!! Great reflection and 2020 goals. Happy New Year! 🙂
The Newbury Girl says
January 3, 2020 at 4:33 pmThanks, girl! I still have a long way to go to improve my blog, but I’m happy to see how I’ve steadily improved over time! Happy New Year! 🙂
jennifertarheelreader says
January 2, 2020 at 2:34 pmLP, you continue to amaze and astound me! I have loved watching you grow, both with your blog and personally with your introspection. I see so many bright things ahead for you and I can’t wait to watch them unfold. Best of luck with your last few months of grad school, with finding the job of your dreams, with finding a balance (my biggest goal too), and of course with this beautiful blog! ♥️
The Newbury Girl says
January 3, 2020 at 4:35 pmThank you, Jennifer! Your kindness always astounds me – you were def one of the friends that kept me going with blogging when I felt like tossing in the towel.
Wishing you all the best in 2020!
Castles and Hurricanes says
January 2, 2020 at 3:56 pmCongratulations on your blog growth-you may not have reached the amount of followers you wanted, but the increase in blog views is amazing! I have similar goals for 2020, such as finishing my school program, improving my blog, moving out, and finding a job. Happy New Year, and good luck with your goals for 2020!
The Newbury Girl says
January 3, 2020 at 4:36 pmThank you, girl. I’ve been so happy to see more of your posts popping up in my reader these last few weeks! Wishing you nothing but success in 2020!
Simone | Beautymone says
January 2, 2020 at 5:15 pmCongrats on your blog growth, girl! You’ve accomplished some great things in 2019 ❤️ can’t wait to see you accomplish even more goals in 2020!
I also want to read more books – I feel like a Goodreads promoter now since I’ve said this to Alex too lmao – but if you have a Goodreads account I would love to follow you there too!
The Newbury Girl says
January 3, 2020 at 4:37 pmlololol will you be adding a book review section to your blog now!!? 😀
I do not have a Good Reads account but maybe i’ll try to incorporate some book reviews in a lifestyle roundup post this year. So far I’m on track to for sure finish one book this month and I’m stoked!
Simone | Beautymone says
January 3, 2020 at 5:28 pmI actually haven’t thought about a book review section but it might actually be a good idea! Or something like a beauty & lifestyle favorites blogpost 🤔
That’s exciting! Go you!!! I’m close to finishing my first book of the year too yayy
Geraldine says
January 2, 2020 at 5:46 pmYour blog growth is amazingggg girl!! Having content to share in depth while in grad school just be a challenge but you killed it! Shopping as a coping mechanism can be a hard thing to stop by you got this. I hope you get to reach all of your goals for the year! 😍❤️🙌
The Newbury Girl says
January 3, 2020 at 4:38 pmThank you, gal! I can’t wait to see where you go with your biz – I can’t wait to support ya! 😀
Teen Beauty Central says
January 3, 2020 at 1:56 amWow, congrats on all the growth your blog has made!
The Newbury Girl says
January 3, 2020 at 4:39 pmThank you so much!
Teen Beauty Central says
January 3, 2020 at 6:18 pmOf course, you deserve it!
Stacey Barbet says
January 3, 2020 at 12:56 pmI love reading other people’s goals! Sounds like you’re doing well regardless and it’s great to be able to put things into perspective!
Best of luck for your 2020 goals
Stacey
X
http://stcyblogs.blog
The Newbury Girl says
January 3, 2020 at 4:40 pmI totally agree – I love reading others’ goals! There is something so positive about reading about what others have accomplished or hope to accomplish!
bournemouthgirl says
January 3, 2020 at 3:24 pmI love how you have looked at successes and things you can improve on. What great successes in 2019! I hope you achieve your goals in 2020! Good luck with your graduate programme x
The Newbury Girl says
January 3, 2020 at 4:40 pmThank you so much – just 5 months now between me and my degree! 😀
bournemouthgirl says
January 4, 2020 at 4:16 pmThat’s amazing! I hope it goes well xx
Diffusing the Tension says
January 3, 2020 at 5:48 pmI love how you talk about your successes. It’s important to remember that stuff, not just look at failures. Way to go!
The Newbury Girl says
January 8, 2020 at 5:26 pmThank you so much – trying to be optimistic at the things I have achieved over the course of the year!
The Starving Artist Blog (@StarvingBlog) says
January 4, 2020 at 11:37 amThank you so much for sharing this! I appreciate you sharing your wins and losses for the last year, what a great way to reevaluate moving forward. So many congratulations on starting grad school and for growing your blog! I know you’ll smash all of your goals in 2020! Best of luck!
The Newbury Girl says
January 8, 2020 at 5:22 pmThank you so much for these kind words of encouragement. I’m really hoping that 2020 will be a year of happiness and growth!
Lauren Caton says
January 6, 2020 at 12:37 pmWell done of smashing your 2019 blog views, thats amazing. Good luck with all your goals for this year!
Lauren | http://www.laurenyloves.co.uk
The Newbury Girl says
January 8, 2020 at 3:25 pmThank you so much!
PoojaG says
January 11, 2020 at 5:36 pmCongratulations on your 2019 successes and sorry about your failures but if I’ve learnt one thing about 2019 it’s that you can’t always reach all your goals. If you ever need help with finding sponsors/other ways to make money on your blog feel free to reach out and if you’re looking for a networking site I would highly recommend Intellifluence.
The Newbury Girl says
January 12, 2020 at 1:56 amAh thank you, Pooja! 💜 I need to just get my butt into gear and take some time to get everything set up!
PoojaG says
January 12, 2020 at 9:45 pmYou’re welcome! Good luck with that!
badgirlrumie says
January 15, 2020 at 4:52 pmI really loved reading this post. For some reasons, I could relate to it. I was never really serious about my blog last year but this year, I have decided that I will put in a lot of time and effort. I also want to monetize my site and I believe we all can. We just need a great strategy. So far, I am focusing on creating more content than ever. I have decided that this year will be my breakthrough year and I am going to do that. I hope you achieve all your goals this year! Goodluck and thank you for sharing.
The Newbury Girl says
January 15, 2020 at 5:31 pmThank you so much for your kind words of encouragement – wishing you all the best in 2020!!
Rachel Laws says
January 28, 2020 at 5:41 amCongratulations on your 2019 success! I think it’s amazing that you also pointed out the negatives and you’re determined to change those into positive during 2020!
All the best for your 2020 goals <3
Rachel | http://www.rachellaws.com
Darina says
February 1, 2020 at 3:53 amGood luck on your goals. It is always nice to hear when people are back in school, I hope you continue your journey even if it gets hard. I am also really impressed by your blog growth, way to go.
The Newbury Girl says
February 7, 2020 at 5:08 pmThank you so much for these kind words!