March 2015 – Goals in Review

Though it is, first and foremost, A to Z Challenge month, there are still a few other posts I’ll have to do throughout April, and this is one of them. The fact that it’s a couple of days late? Blame that one on the run that nearly killed me…but more on that in a minute.

March had its ups and downs, but I made it through, so I guess that means it’s time to take a look at my goals.

Goal #1: Take care of myself more.

I’m going to go right ahead and say it: I did a horrible job of this goal in March. There’s no one particular example that I can give; I just wasn’t really in tune with myself this past month. I didn’t relax much, I ate horribly, and I somehow managed to never get enough sleep, even on the nights that I slept 9 or more hours. And to top things off, I realized that what ever rose-colored glasses I’ve been wearing the past few months have shattered… That is to say that I’ve fallen back into a funk concerning my body. I’m not talking specifically about weight, because I wasn’t even paying attention to that; I just looked in the mirror one day recently and realized that I am not happy with the reflection.

Cue the run I mentioned, which occurred on the last day of March and very nearly destroyed me. I was exhausted, all my muscles seized up, and my right foot still hurts like someone took a hammer to my toes and heel. Ladies and gents, I am the very furthest thing from being in shape. The furthest.

So, basically, I ended March on a sour note, having determined that I’ve let myself get into a pretty rough shape. I want to remedy this, but I’m unsure how to go about it since I don’t have much control over what I eat while I’m on shift out West, and I’ve gotten so badly out of shape that even the simplest exercises are a monumental effort. Sympathies and suggestions will be gratefully accepted.

Goal #2: Continue to build my readership/viewership.

I’m a bit on the fence about this goal throughout March. On the one hand, I sold a few books (not many, but a few) both online and to my coworkers. On the other hand my “comment for a chance to win a book” contest did not go as well as I hoped it would. That said, I did see several comments from people I’d never seen around the blog before, so that was nice. I also gained several new followers on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, and got a few new Likes on the Facebook page, so that’s all nice.

The thing that really amused me during March? My Goodreads giveaway has amassed 200 entrants. ^_^ The giveaway doesn’t end until my birthday (the 11th), so if you’re interested, stop by here and check it out!

Oh, and the commenting contest I was having? Though it didn’t go as well as I’d hoped it would, I guess I should announce the winner, right? Well, after taking down all the commenters throughout the month and randomizing a winner, the name that came up was miss mortbane, of Dreamer, Awaken. I’ll be contacting my fellow blogger today to confirm that she would like to receive her prize. And thanks to everyone who commented throughout the month! You guys are the best!

Goal #3: Write. Write a lot.

At the end of February I said that I wanted to blow that month’s word count out of the water. Well, I don’t know if I would really say I “blew it out of the water”, but I definitely did better. Mostly through planning out my A to Z posts in advance, I manged to write 20507 words during March, which is almost a 5000 word increase from the previous month. I’m plenty happy with that, no doubt. My only small complaint is that I spent so much time on the blogging that virtually none of those words were fiction. As soon as I get the last few (difficult) A to Z posts out of the way I plan to dedicate April to finally writing some fun stuff for a change. What do you think?

How was your March? Did you accomplish anything awesome? Feel free to share!