Today marks the last day of the year 2012. I can hardly believe that a whole year has gone by already! So many crazy amazing things have happened this year - visiting Mystic Falls, getting kissed (on the cheek) by Ian Somerhalder, getting engaged, attending Book Expo America and The National Book Festival, meeting JK Rowling, winning NaNoWriMo - and I am simply grateful for the blessing that this year has been.
In 2012, I set quite a few goals for myself, as evidenced in my 2011 year-end survey and bookish resolutions. Let's see how I did, shall we?
Goal #1: Finish 120 150 books.
Status: I actually just hit 165 books total yesterday night, so this was obviously a smashing success!
Goal #2: Make a sizable dent in my book piles.
Status: I still haven't read some of the books that were on the pile last year. I did, however, manage to cull my books and just keep those I really wanted to read!
Goal #3: Create a system to decide which books to keep and which books to sell/donate.
Status: I mentioned something about this in Goal #2, but I would consider this a success! I came up with a way for me to decide what books I needed to have in my library and what books I could let go of.
Goal #4: Be more organized with my blog schedule.
Status: I am so happy to report that this is a success, especially towards this latter half of the year. It's like magic, since I appear to be ahead of schedule by at least a month!
Goal #5: Bring in some new features for the New Year.
Status: I did start my An Author a (Mon)day feature, which I absolutely adore. I need to send out more emails for this! I'm also cooking up a new one for next year...
Goal #6: Figure out my reviewing style.
Status: My reviewing style has gone through a couple of changes up until now, but I absolutely adore the one I currently have. I love that it's personal, but it's also professional. And I hope you guys like it too!
Goal #7: Keep up the steady level of blogger interaction.
Status: This is SO definitely a success! I've still been managing to comment on blogs, make new bookish friends via Twitter and discovering new blogs too.
Goal #8: Write a page every day.
Status: This was definitely a fail, although I did manage to win NaNoWriMo, so some writing was definitely done!
Goal #9: Finish the story.
Status: I ignored the old story and started two new ones. Oops.
Goal #10: Let someone else read my work.
Status: Nowhere near done. Then again, I didn't finish Goal # 9 so...
Even though taking a peek into my past is always fun, this day is also a day where I look ahead to the future. 2013 is going to be a wonderful year, and I'm even believing that it's going to be more awesome than 2012!
After a couple of days of reflection, here are my bookish resolutions for 2013. I actually came up with fewer goals, mostly because I know I'm going to have a lot on my plate with the wedding and a few other personal things. I'm still very excited though, as my overall goal is just to maintain this blog and to continue to let it grow. I've loved making so many bookish friends, who are proving to be some of the realest, sweetest, truest friends I've ever made, and I want that trend to continue!
What are your bookish resolutions for 2012?
You did great on your reading/blogging goals! And don't feel too bad - I did abysmally on my writing goals as well. I did manage to win NaNoWriMo, but it's hardly something to write home about this time around.
ReplyDeleteGood luck in 2013 :)
Bekka
Pretty Deadly Reviews
Congratulations on winning NaNo! I think that's definitely worth a celebration ;)
DeleteAnd yes, I need to be better about my writing goals. I think the goal I set for myself is a whole lot more manageable.
Wow, you really accomplished a lot in 2012. I can't belive that 2013 begins tomorrow. I'm not sure if I am ready for it, but at the same time, I'm excited for it.
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit of an overachiever. Even though I might have not exactly remembered what my goals were, I'm glad I was able to successfully tackle most of them!
DeleteI'd say you did a fantastic job and you achieved so much in 2012! I'm so glad we got to meet. Keep up the great work and have a happy new year!
ReplyDeleteThanks Nikki! I'm glad we met too, and I hope we get to meet up again in 2013 ;)
DeleteYou did great Alexa! And I'm glad I met you [through twitter, obviously] the latter half of the year!! :-D
ReplyDeleteGirl, when are we meeting in person?! I hope that happens this year (if we get lucky!).
DeleteYou did a fantastic job with your goals in 2012 Alexa! Besides your writing goals, it seems like you surpassed all your others ones. You've got some great goals lined up for 2013! 150 books is a great number to try and achieve, and I'm sure you'll be able to reach that number, especially since you read 165 this year. =)
ReplyDeleteFantastic post, and I hope you'll be able to achieve your goals in 2013! <3
Thanks! I decided to be a little more chill with my goals, but hopefully, I manage to meet them. Happy 2013!
DeleteThat's great that you're ahead of schedule with your blog!! I have a schedule going right now and it makes things sooo much easier. And you're a great interacter! I tend to go in spurts but have definitely taken off the last week or so ... here's to a great 2013! Good luck with your goals!
ReplyDeleteScheduling is definitely a blogger's best friend! I love being ahead, and even having some room to change things up if I want to.
DeleteHappy 2013! Hope it's a fab one :)
Great goals-I have a lot of work I want to do on my blog to improve it. I'm also probably going to shoot for 300 books read in 2013; that's what I did in 2012 and it worked out okay.
ReplyDeleteWow! That's an awesome amount of books, and I totally bow down to your reading skills. Happy 2013!
DeleteLooks like you had a great 2012! And I love your goals for the new year! I'm going to try and do more discussion posts as well. Here's to a great year!
ReplyDeleteHere's to hoping the muses of discussion posts come along and help us write some good ones. Happy new year!
DeleteI loved that you recapped how you did on your goals for last year. I did it recently, too, but you were much more successful at meeting your goals :) I'm going to try to make a dent in my book pile this year, and I hope I follow in your footsteps. I have SO many books (some that I actually want to read and some that I need to just admit that I'll probably never read) and really need to cut down. And yay for figuring out your reviewing style and getting organized with your blog schedule! I'm really going to focus on that this year, too. I've made many changes to my review style and format over the last year, just trying to figure out what works for me. I think it can be really challenging to figure out, especially you read a lot of other blogs. I have to keep reminding myself that I just need to do what works for me and not try to compare myself to anyone else. Hope you're equally as successful with your goals in 2013 - and I REALLY look forward to more discussion posts!
ReplyDeleteI like your new goals and also how you talked about how you accomplished quite a bit of your goals in 2012.
ReplyDeleteI think you can definitely read 150 books in 2012 AND you can write those 5 pages and add more cool things for your blog. I'm hoping to write more discussion posts in 2013 as well.
Happy new year!
HAHAHA Before I even read this post, my eyes caught on the words Mystic Falls. I have problems. Okay, I'm scrolling back up to read the post now...be back in a sec...
ReplyDeleteI set my goal at 150 too. :)
And my reviewing style changes like I change my socks. I wish my thoughts were organized enough to do regular, nice, flowy paragraphs like most people. Alas, my brain is too scattered and I have to make lists and funky stuff like that.
Great goals, Alexa! I love how you included writing pages. You're awesome. :)
Congrats on Nano. Enjoyed reading your goals. Being organized is something I continue to strive for. Have a great year.
ReplyDeleteMy TTT goals
Hey, if you want people to read your work, you could try www.wattpad.com. It's great! :) Oh, and you're reading Enchanted? Isnt it great?! :D Good luck! =)
ReplyDeleteMy Goals for 2013
Waiting on Wednesday