Success is one of those words that can mean different things to different people. And any single individual’s definition may be somewhat polarizing, depending upon your personal beliefs. Over the years, my own definition of success has changed significantly.
As a child, I defined success as being a doctor 👩⚕️ or maybe an astronaut 👩🚀. Owning a house – bonus points if it had a swimming pool! Taking vacations. All very material and concrete measures.
By my late teens, early 20’s the definition had changed to be more education/early career based. Did you go to a good school and get a meaningful degree? Did you land a management trainee or some other “career-path” job? While the focus had turned a bit more inward, these were still fairly limiting/specific definitions.
During the mid-life crisis of my early 40’s I had a revelation! What if I stopped measuring success as an attainment of specific goals or material things and started defining it as gradual but consistent improvement? It’s a much more fluid and positive way to define the word. It’s also one that nearly ensures if you put forth any effort, you’ll find it!
This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide a means for sites like NattyGal.com to earn a small commission when a reader clicks through and makes a purchase at no additional cost to the reader. See full affiliate disclosure in Privacy & Disclosures.
Planning for Success
Regardless of how you define success, you won’t achieve it without planning. Check out this post for the exact road map I’ve used to guide myself towards a much simpler and more satisfying life. Remember, if you’re a subscriber, you have exclusive access to an array of free planning printables and other tools. Check your new blog post email notification for the password or, if you haven’t subscribed yet, sign up here.
Blogging Goals for 2020
Firstly, thank you so much for all of your support in making 2019 a year of substantial and continual growth for Natty Gal. December ended with another record-breaking month for page views! (happy dance, happy dance) I can’t begin to tell you how much it means to me. As a blogger, numbers are everything: subscribers, followers, page views, likes and engagement via comments are what determine your street cred and worth in this industry! So if you haven’t already, please subscribe and follow your favorite bloggers on the major social media sites. My own links are below, if you want to show a little love! 💖
In 2020, I plan to keep delivering consistent content within the topics of fashion, lifestyle and travel. I’m also planning to enhance a few things via:
- More blogger and industry expert contributors and collaborations to bring you even better and more meaningful content!
- A monthly subscriber newsletter with exclusive content.
- Increased use of LIKEtoKNOWit – an app that allows followers to shop photos and posts directly from a phone via screenshot or by liking a photo within the app. More on this in weeks to come but if you already use LIKEtoKNOWit and want to follow me, my user name is Natty Gal.
- Increased use of video. Yikes – this is WAY out of my comfort zone but it’s always good to push your boundaries. Subscribe to my new YouTube Channel – when I reach 100 subscribers, I can create a branded URL for the channel.
- Develop an e-book! Actually a 2019 goal that wasn’t completed. Carrying over to 2020.
Personal Goals for 2020
In recent years, my resolutions/goals for the new year have focused mostly on implementing and maintaining strong personal habits. This year I hope to continue with those along with adding a new twist. In 2020 I’d like to stop or reduce my practice of several bad habits/non-beneficial behaviors. More on this later in January.
I anticipate this will be a good bit more difficult than adding new, positive habits to my life. To diminish bad habits, you need to first identify and be aware of when you’re engaging in the bad behavior and then teach yourself to stop it or replace it with something more positive. Having done some of these behaviors for years and years and years, that’s a lot of brain re-wiring to do. But I’ll hope to make some headway. As long as I realize a small incremental improvement, I’ll consider it a success!
What’s on your mind for 2020? I’d love to hear from you either in the comments below or via email. Do you set goals/resolutions each year? Any new types of content you’d like to see on the blog? Let me know! And until next time, keep working towards a simple, stylish and satisfying life.
Thank you for a perfect post. Your points certainly resonate with me and I’ve already been thinking about the good things I want to add to my days, as well as the bad things I need to be more critical about. Here’s to a great year/decade, and thanks for being the voice of friendship to so many of us through your blog.
Lucy, Thanks so much for your kind comments! Can’t tell you how much it means to me hear that the voice I’ve tried to cultivate is understood and appreciated by others. Hope you have a wonderful, healthy, happy 2020!
Such a great post! My definition of success has definitely changed drastically throughout my life and where I stand right now, I am not sure that I can define it! But I am trudging forward in the direction of my passions for now and hoping it leads me somewhere great. Congrats on a great blogging year to you, my friend! Wishing you all the best and much success with your 2020 goals!
Shelbee
http://www.shelbeeontheedge.com
Thanks so much! You were one of my very first blogging friends and I am so appreciative of the support you’ve shown me! Trudging towards your passions sounds like a great plan to me and I love seeing the contagious effect it’s had on your son! Wishing you a healthy, happy and successful year, friend!