The Year of Change: How Did I Do?

“Gonna be some changes made, changes made, can’t keep on doing what I’ve been doing these days.” – Bruce Hornsby

2013 was definitely a year of change as I transitioned into my new life in Chicago and began adjusting to all that comes with living in the Midwest – including the sub zero temperatures and harsh reality that home is not a short car ride away.  Although I was blessed with an amazing career opportunity, the normalcy of life as I knew it would be forever changed. It was daunting considering I didn’t really know anyone here, but at the risk of sounding super cheesy, I can definitely say that over the past year I’ve met some of my best friends for life.

Here are a few highlights of 2013:

Travel

I flew more than ten times this year, which is more traveling than I’ve ever done in previous years. From Atlanta to Rhode Island to visiting family back at home, I managed to head back to the East Coast quite a bit. I also received my shiny new passport back in March and took a trip to Curacao with some of my best girlfriends. In June, my mom and I had some great bonding time over a week long trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Writing

In April, I purchased a web domain and spent countless hours drafting my very first blog post. Using WordPress to get my blog site up and running was a lot harder than I thought, but over the past several months it’s evolved into something I am definitely proud of. I completed an online blogging course and received one-on-one critiques of my writing from Jon Morrow, author of CopyBlogger and owner of his very successful blog, Boost Blog Traffic. In November, I landed my very first guest posts on Her Packing List and Brazen Careerist.

2013 was great but I’m striving to meet even more goals in 2014:

1. Continue to build my blogging portfolio through guest posting opportunities

2. Get my foot in the door at a top Chicago lifestyle publication

3. Create a mini e-book (more on that to come!)

4. Quench my travel thirst by exploring more countries on my bucket list

What are your top goals for 2014? Are you satisfied with your 2013 achievements?