toddler_birthday_im_3_adorable_cupcake_design_card-p137590416529941691qi0i_400Yes, today is Easter. However, it’s a very special Easter because it’s also the day this website turned three years old. It’s a special birthday because I also hit a pretty huge milestone yesterday when I wrote my 1000th post. It almost feels like the odometer flipped and I’m starting back at #1 all over again. So, here’s my first post of the new millennium.

So, for the last two years, I’ve reviewed the previous year for this blog and then set goals for the coming year. So, let’s take a look at how I did. Here were the goals I set:

  • 550 posts (that’s a post an a half every day… I want to hit 1000 posts by the end of year three)
  • 1,500 comments (I had twice as many comments as posts last year, so let’s see if I can triple it this year)
  • 50,000 Unique Visitor (This should be doable, but we’ll see)
  • 100,000 Page Views (This will be a bit of a stretch, but very possible)
  • Most popular post: Hmmm, I’m thinking about it right now…

And here is what I actually did.

  • 551 posts. Not only did I meet my goal, I exceeded it by one post. Seriously, even though I met my goal of 550 posts, I’d totally be bummed for ending year 3 a 999 posts.
  • 1,389 comments (Okay, I’m kinda bummed on this since I was so close. I think with another 2 weeks or so, I would have hit 1,500. Although I didn’t make the goal, I’m very satisfied with what I did.)
  • 25,141 Unique Visitors (I think I just assumed that I’d be able to quadruple like I had from the year before. Guess I was being a bit too optimistic.
  • 72,665Page Views (I knew this one was going to be a tough goal to hit. I’m satisfied with what I was able to hit though)
  • Most popular post: This one. It doesn’t surprise me, seems like a lot of people really engaged in the conversation.

So, I hit one of my four goals. In some people’s books, that would be considered failure. One out of four is just 25%. However, these goals I set last year did actually drive me at a very intense pace this last three months. As a result of hitting the first goal, it enabled to get me pretty close to two of the other three goals. I’ve heard a saying all my life, “If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time.” However, another quote I really like is, “Aim for the stars. If you miss, there’s still a great chance you’ll hit the moon.” I aimed for the starts and I’d recon I hit Saturn. I’m very satisfied with my trajectory.

So, what about year four? I hope this doesn’t disappoint, but I’m not going to lay out the goals like last year. To some degree, my goal-driven personality about got the better of me. I really didn’t need to hit 1000 yesterday, but since it was my goal, it would have been really hard not to hit it. I’ve also got some other projects I’m hoping to work on this year. I’d be surprised if I came anywhere close to 550 blog posts this year; however, I think I would like to hit around 300 for sure. Everything else is up for grabs. I have certain things I hope to develop and improve on when it comes to this blog an other ventures, but not really things that can be numerically tracked like visitors and page views.

So, thanks for sticking with me another year (or joining me this year). Here’s to one more!