Reflections and Resolutions

It is no secret that I am an introspective person. I find strength in taking the time to look within, reflect, and set goals and action steps for moving forward. I’ve never done a vision board (although it looks like fun). I’m the sort of person who can see it all in my mind and stay true to my course with that alone.

In the past, my focus has been on building my reputation as a freelance writer. There wasn’t any kind of specific milestone I was aiming for, but I knew I’d know when I got there. And I did. I’m not finished with my pursuits in that area, but I had gone far enough along that path that it no longer needed single-minded determination. I was free to open myself up to new opportunities and pursuits. I love when that happens!

This past year, I had some vague, but important goals for myself. Early on in 2011, I was feeling solid as a freelancer (or at least as solid as I can be until my kids are both in school full-time!). I actually wanted to be able to focus more on being a blogger. The problem was that freelancing was (and continues to be) my primary source of income. Blogging does bring in some money, but it hasn’t been as consistent or lucrative. And then it happened. All hell broke loose in my freelance world. All of a sudden, I was sliding backwards and it was not a good feeling. Several of my highest paying gigs started to dry up. I took that as a sign, but I wasn’t entirely sure of what.

Right around my 40th birthday in April, things started to happen. Good things, one after another. And most of them came from my blog. I had been toying around with an idea, but that’s when it really started to take root. I was going to need to take another leap of faith. The last big one was when I left my job back in 2005 with an at-risk pregnancy and the idea that I might be a stay-at-home mom. I waffled and waffled, afraid to take that final step. And then something else happened to force my hand. Without going into too much detail, I decided to leave About.com after building the Family Computing site for four years. It was my largest individual source of income and the decision was emotional and scary.

And that’s when I launched Quirky-Tech. I’m still building it up, but I’m so thankful to have it in my blogging family. Launching a tech blog on my own without the backing of the About.com/NY Times name was daunting. I had been building contacts for years and was afraid that I’d have to start from scratch and build a whole new reputation. Luckily, that has not been the case. My prior contacts are, for the most part, still happy to be working with me. Even better, bigger, cooler things have been happening both in front of the metaphorical camera and behind. I have not regretted the move for a single moment. Better still, my income has increased, which is what happens when you are clearly in love and passionate about what you’re doing.

So, here we are in 2012. I’ve already made another little leap of faith to start off the year and I’m anticipating many more. Heck, I’m a bit of a risk taker. I haven’t quite solidified my concrete goals for the year, but I am ready to put some resolutions on the table. There are some personal and some professional, but the way my job goes, they are closely intertwined…

• Focus on creating a healthier lifestyle for myself, and my family. I know that some lifestyle coaching expert will look at this and say that I need something concrete to measure it by. No, I don’t. Healthier is healthier.
• Strengthen prior relationships. As someone who relies on page views, freelance assignments, and contractual gigs, relationship building is of utmost importance. That said, it’s even more important to maintain the relationships you already have. That’s something I need (and want) to put energy into this year.
• Get more organized. This is a life-long struggle for me. Anyone who knows me very well is probably nodding right about now. I am not going to BE organized by the end of this year, but I want to make some positive strides in that direction. Big Guy, if you’re reading this, feel free to hold me to this one!
• Regroup and re-focus. I have some decisions to make about what direction I want to take, especially in terms of blogging. I’m not sure I want to be a “big blogger.” I think I kind of like being a smaller blogger with a strong resume. We’ll see!
• Get on top of my finances. I’m awful at this, so it’s an important area of focus for me.
• Travel. This is a vague, out-there goal, but I want to travel more with my family. One little step is to make sure we all have passports and are ready to go if the opportunity arises.

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