It wasn’t until I got my Anime News Network weekly streaming assignments that I realized summer—and 2017—are both half over. How has the first half of your year gone?
This is the time of year where I like to reflect on how my year is and isn’t panning out. My favorite, Alexandra Franzen, has some great questions to help with this.
Lately, I’ve been feeling sort of lost. So instead of a regular blog post, here’s an exercise: here’s how my year is going, followed by some questions for you to consider about yours.
What have I done for the first half of the year?
Learned to oil paint. Wrote 2,600 words of fiction. Tweeted 2,700 times. Launched Anime Origin Stories. Presented my panel, “He Is A Char,” for the first time at Katsucon 2017. Got my panel, “Gunpla is Freedom,” accepted to Otakon 2017. Volunteered at Anime Boston. Went to West Virginia and tapped trees to make maple syrup. Joined a local support group for women entrepreneurs. Solidified my self-employed income with two new regular clients, then quit writing income reports. Wrote a free e-course for making your first $1000 as an anime blogger. Went to a Korean spa. Celebrated my fourth anniversary with John at a Japanese-American bed and breakfast. Went to John’s hometown and talked to kids and teens about anime.
What do I want to do for the second half of the year?
Publish 150 Anime Origin Stories. Draft a novel that I can write during NaNoWriMo. Pass the N4 Japanese Language Exam. Run my third 10k race. Plan my 2018 trip to Japan.
What am I going to need to do (or not do) to make those things happen?
- Cut back on social media. I quit Instagram. I deactivated Facebook. Now, it’s time to heavily limit my Twitter time. Social media gives me the dopamine burst I would normally need to do actual work to obtain. It’s taken a long time for me to realize that my reliance on Twitter is codependent and unhealthy.
- Develop a more disciplined daily routine. Normally it goes like this: get up around 8, work until noon, eat, exercise or go on a walk, then work until John gets home. This isn’t strict enough. If I want to make fiction and studying Japanese priorities for the second half of the year, they need to go onto the schedule.
- Say no to what’s not working anymore. I started writing a book compiling and analyzing Anime Origin Stories but I feel so reluctant every time I open the doc. So I’m putting that on hold for now. I’m not excited about anime this summer the way I’ve been in the past, so I’m letting myself cut back to three shows. If it’s a commitment that doesn’t fit one of my goals for 2017, it’s time to rethink that commitment.
Now it’s your turn. Here are my questions for you to consider:
- What are you most proud about accomplishing in the first half of the year?
- What do you regret not accomplishing yet? Is it too late to start now? (Hint: it isn’t.)
- What were your goals? Are they still your goals?
- What do you need to do (or not do) to reach these goals in 2017?
- What’s no longer working for you that it’s time to cast aside?
This has been quite the navel-gazing blog post, but I hope you found parts of it helpful. This year isn’t over yet. May we all accomplish great things as it continues!
13 Comments.
What are you most proud about accomplishing in the first half of the year?
I think the main thing is just getting way more disciplined and organised with my life and actually ‘taking action’ in general. It’s been a major boost to my confidence, seeing immediate results – and becoming addictive almost! Whereas before I’d shy away from doing anything outside of my comfort zone, now I’m taking every opportunity to get out there and try new things.
What do you regret not accomplishing yet? Is it too late to start now? (Hint: it isn’t.)
I think the main regret is just not starting earlier with the above – while I feel relatively at ease with where I am in life right now, I think there’s part of me that still wonders ‘what if’ I’d got things together earlier and how far I’d be? I think there’s still an element of me that procrastinates too – telling myself ‘Oh, I’ll do this first, and then that…’ or ‘I’ve got to focus on this first’ – when in reality I should probably just jump in right now.
What were your goals? Are they still your goals?
I think my No. 1 goal right now is to come away from the MA I’ve been doing this past year with a distinction – and then get accepted to my university’s PHD programme, with funding. It’s a big ask, but I feel fairly optimistic about it – and I’m definitely up for the challenge.
What do you need to do (or not do) to reach these goals in 2017?
Keep my discipline up mainly – and not ease off and slip back into old habits, now that most of the structured time on my uni course has come to an end. My days are pretty much as I choose to spend them now, so I need to be super organised and productive so I don’t feel like I’m just throwing weeks away and wasting them.
What’s no longer working for you that it’s time to cast aside?
I’ve definitely been stepping back big time from anime watching – my tolerance for poor and average shows has really dropped – and I find most seasons I only watch 3-5 shows now. My main motto now when it comes to entertainment is – if it doesn’t feel amazing, don’t bother with it. I want to get to a situation where I’m only watching or reading stuff that’s 8/10 levels of excellence or above (unless it’s for work or research purposes). I’d like to cut back on social media use too – I find I’m spending too much time flicking through it aimlessly, and not actually ‘using’ it; mainly Twitter. I need to go in more with a mindset of using it as a networking tool, and only at certain times of day.
About your regret: I know that feeling. I think, “If I had gotten myself together in college, where would I be now?” But now I think that I wasn’t mature enough then to start planning my life the way I did a few years later, so it’s not worth thinking about. What matters is that you DID start!
As for social media, I’m trying really hard to only use it when it is beneficial to me—like to promote something I’m working on. Too many times I’ve spent the morning publishing a tweetstorm and FEELING accomplished because I got 20 RTs maybe, but then realized I didn’t actually accomplish anything.
Thanks for sharing and best of luck with your MA!
Agreed, it’s so easy to get caught up in the false pleasure of Twitter. It’s like a drug or something. I recently returned to it after quite some time away, mainly for networking purposes – but that immediately opened the gates to just feeling compelled to check it every 30 mins or so. Nine times out of ten you just come away frustrated over something you’ve read or wasted time reading, but you keep going back for that one time you get a real thrill over getting stuck into a meaty conversation.
What are you most proud about accomplishing in the first half of the year?
I’m really proud of picking up Japanese again. I dabbled once or twice last year but this year I’ve made a serious effort to start to learn it. It’s taking a lot of time and I had managed to carve out a weekly studying schedule until my job situation through me for a loop. But I’m starting to pick it up again.
What do you regret not accomplishing yet? Is it too late to start now? (Hint: it isn’t.)
I regret not finishing my bedroom decorating! It’s been on the go for a year now but we’ve struggled to find the time after working all week to work on it. Finally started to make really progress with it now.
What were your goals? Are they still your goals?
I don’t really have set goals for the year – I find I get disappointed if I make strict ones as I can never seem to commit. But this year I seriously started my anime blog and I’m still going strong with that. I also want to try and do the anime challenge I set myself.
What do you need to do (or not do) to reach these goals in 2017?
I think need to be careful not to burn out on my blog. I’ve slowly upped the amount of content I write for it and I’ve got it to a steady place but I think I need to keep it there for a while before upping the power more. I’d love to get more reviews written but I’ve not managed to find the energy to dedicate to them. Currently I’m aiming for one a month.
What’s no longer working for you that it’s time to cast aside?
I’ve had to come to terms that the working industry I’m in might not be my “forever” home. I might have to change the industry I’m in even if the work is similar. That’s a hard thought process for me to grasp. Sometimes something has to give and it’s feeling like it’s either the industry or the location. The latter isn’t really an option. It’s not really an answer to this question though but the best I have.
Thanks for this thoughtful reply. Kudos on picking up Japanese again! I know that’s hard – I stopped taking classes for one semester, and by the end I’d forgotten SO MUCH KANJI.
Admittedly, I see those questions Lauren put up at the end… And I realize that I got nothing for them. I’ve generally just been in a holding pattern for a good long while, generally content with what I have & where I’m at in life. Could things be better? Sure, I guess, but things could easily be much, much worse, too. I have things in mind to do, but nothing major enough to call “goals”, at least that’s how I see them. Will probably have to find a moment at some point to think things out & really consider where to go & what to do next in life, but for now (i.e. 2017) I’m doing… Okay.
I do have something hopefully cool & fun in mind for 2018, at least when it comes to my blog, though, so hopefully that will help spur some new movement & feelings in me.
I think once you get older it’s harder to track whether you’re moving forward or not, which is why adults put so much emphasis on milestones like marriage, having kids, and things like that. Unless you’re setting arbitrary goals for yourself beyond the societal ones, it really is hard to track. I look forward to seeing what you do with your blog in 2018!
I’m curious about your approach on Social Media. As you know, I’m highly against it (part because its way time consuming, part because I think that everything is cyclical, so eventually the ‘Age of Oversharing’ will lead to an age of not sharing stuff online at all.
But for some people -and business- social media is a must. How are we suppose to attract readers to our blog without promoting our content on Twitter or Facebook, for example?
Also, out of all the social medias you use, why did you quit Instagram and not Twitter, if Twitter is the one you depend on the most?
P.s.: I don’t find this post ‘navel-gazing’ at all. You did some GREAT things so far this year, and your opinion on how to approach goals and expectations is highly valuable.
@gregvendramini:disqus There’s a lot of ways to promote your business without social media. For me, the most valuable promoters are 1) sending an email to previous clients and letting them know I have an opening in my schedule and 2) search engine optimization, which is just keyword tracking and hard work.
That said, most of the traffic to this blog currently comes from Twitter. Same with Anime Origin Stories! So I’m not going to stop posting on Twitter. The way I am restricting it is using an app called StayFocusd (stayfocusd.com/). It gives me 10 minutes a day on Twitter and then blocks the site. Now I can only use it to post stuff I think will drive traffic here instead of wasting my day on it. And I get that perhaps my limited activity will make Twitter less valuable for me over time, but it’s been going that way for a while.
In short, what I’m doing isn’t right for everyone, but it’s the right thing for me right now.
What are you most proud about accomplishing in the first half of the year?
I finally started to claw myself out of the chronic pain/depression hole that I fell into late last year. I’m doing my best to eat better, and work out more to make up for all the time I lost when I could barely leave my house. I’m also using my blog as a portfolio to apply for future chronic-pain friendly freelancing jobs.
What do you regret not accomplishing yet? Is it too late to start now? (Hint: it isn’t.)
I have one outstanding essay that’s due next month – my fear was that anxiety over it would spoil my summer but so far it’s gone fine! I got the essay requirements a couple days ago and I’m going to start researching tomorrow.
What were your goals? Are they still your goals?
A major goal this year was to grit my teeth and finish college. I only study part-time now, but I’m happy I’m still making progress.
Another was to bite the bullet and start a blog – and I did it!! Now my goal is to keep it up.
What do you need to do (or not do) to reach these goals in 2017?
I need to recognise that I can’t always work at the same pace as others, so I’m reorganising my studying/writing schedules so that I can work a little every day and still meet my deadlines.
What’s no longer working for you that it’s time to cast aside?
Self doubt and social media. I’ve gotten rid of all the social media apps on my phone, and now I’ve got more headspace for the stuff I actually care about.
@disqus_HReCBIxYvb:disqus sounds like you’re on the right track! I think that’s a great idea to use your blog as a writing sample for jobs—it doesn’t just show your skill as a writer, but that you can stick to a schedule without being told to.
Kudos to you for knowing your limitations and working around them. If you’re not already familiar, I’d love to recommend Esme Wang’s site for people (especially writers and freelancers) living with chronic illness. http://journal.esmewang.com/
Life without social media sure is something, isn’t it? I have myself limited to 10 minutes on Twitter a day and it’s been so weird to catch myself typing it into my search bar whenever I feel resistant to work on something. All that time I thought I didn’t have? Here it is!
I just looked at Esme’s website and I’m so happy to have found that somebody gets it – thanks for the recommendation!
Quite interesting reading, as well as the comments.
For me… Ugh. Nothing at all to report on any of those fronts. Just like last year, and more.