My 50th Post

50 already? That is a big number. It is a serious number. A lot of articles on the web state that Google doesn’t get serious about a blog until there are 50+ quality posts on the site. So in some ways, this has crossed into serious territory. In many others, it is still in its fun and wild infancy. So if I had to sum up something that is both old and serious as well as young and playful then I can think of no better image to represent the blog at this stage of it’s existence:

Old (50 years), check. Fun and playful? Check. Coffee? In the show it is broth, but as this is my blog I call the shots, so we will change the details so that the little guy is slurping down a hot cup o’ joe. So check. This has been a fun ride so far. The growth and response has definitely exceeded my widest expectations. If you are reading this, thank you from the bottom of my heart. It is my sincere hope that something on this site has inspired, taught, entertained, or otherwise brought some measure of enjoyment to those reading these words.

So… what’s next? When I hit 25 posts I attempted to step back and reflect on the progress of the blog so far. The steps taken, the work completed. I questioned whether I would want to keep this thing going and whether or not anything would come of it. I am happy to report that I no longer feel a need to reflect on how I got to this point. I am focused on the future, on building. I do not feel a lack of motivation to continue, I feel a duty to myself to move this thing forward and see where it takes me. There have been some very interesting changes in both the blog and in my attitude towards things these past 25 posts. In order to explore those the first thing to do is to review all goals created before this point.

Post: Welcome to my Blog!

Learning more about web technologies – This goal was pretty much as stated and I have done a so-so job here. In terms of WordPress, plugins, and the site I have accomplished most of what I wanted to do by this point. In terms of Ruby on Rails, PHP, and other things not so much. This is a solid 3/5.
Building a professional voice – I believe that I have nailed this one. A blog, a twitter account, and published posts on Medium? Check, check, and check. 5/5 here. This one is dropping off the list as completed.
Build my writing skills – While this one will never be complete, I think it is getting better all of the time. Definitely hit this goal and giving myself a 4/5 here.

Post: Getting Started … And Already Sidetracked

Knowing what my next post topic is – Definitely hit this goal. As of writing this 50th post I currently have 195 drafts in the queue. That is plenty of interesting topics to choose from and I never lack for things to write about. 5/5 here and this one is being marked as completed.
Creating the ‘Things I Like’ section – While the section is created, it needs quite a bit of work. I just haven’t gotten around to filling it out with amazing things like I wanted to. 2/5 and this goal will carry on over the next 50 posts.
Setting targets for myself – This post is chock full of goals and targets. I think this one is safely put to bed. 5/5 here.
Attempt to define why I am doing this – Interesting and vague goal. So vague that I am just going to mark it as complete and move on. I know why I am writing and am still having fun doing it. 5/5.
Take a deep breath and realize that I can’t do everything at once – This one is tough. It is why I am shooting for only 2 posts/week instead of a post per day. I am not about to churn out content that fast. I have done pretty well on this one but I do struggle with the feeling that I could/should/need to be doing more. 3/5 here but will keep working on realizing that this is a long-term endeavor, not a short term sprint.

Post: # – Tags

Share stories and experiences in different areas – Definitely feel like I am heading down this path. 4/5. Need to keep up the Engineering posts, but so far so good!
Write a post defining each category as it is created and why it is being created – 3/5 here. There are actually a couple of categories that I haven’t created yet that I want to get into. I hope to get these set up in the next 50 posts.

Post: #BlogBuilding

I am not trying to build the best blog ever – Giving this goal a 4/5 and closing it out. This post shows that I am committed to writing for me and what I am focused on. This will not turn into a content mill begging for eyeballs. I will maintain my goals of keeping this fun and focused on the topics that interest me!
I am not trying to drive an online conversation – Check. 5/5. Still staying away from politics and most current events. Hopefully this blog will still appear relevant 10 years from now and won’t appear dated and out of touch. Fingers crossed here.
I am not trying to make money – 2/5. Yeah the lure of views, claps, and getting paid at Medium kind of threw this out on its ear. I am fine with failing at this goal.
I do want to get better at writing – Another one of these? Already covered above.
I am not focused on visiliby. Yet – Started strong, but ended up moving away from this goal. Not a big deal, but giving myself a 3/5.
I want to create a presence and I do want to give back – Very happy with the results of this goal. I don’t have any direct feedback that someone has been inspired by my words yet, but I have definitely created a presence and hopefully someone gets something from my writing. 5/5 here.
I want to have fun – Totally nailed this one. Still enjoying this whole endeavor immensely. 6/5 here!

Post: #EngineeringMgmt

To try and figure out how to select and build a methodology that someone else could consider a best practice – Totally whiffed on this one. Lots of post ideas here, but got distracted by other things. Hopefully will come back to it in the future. 0/5.

Post: It’s Project Time!! #Project-WPC

Get better at writing – Wow I really kept forgetting about this one, huh? Already covered, see above.
Gain a better understanding of certain technology and learn some new technologies along the way – Lost focus on creating a project over the past few months. 1/5 for both this item and the next one below. Will make this a focus for the next 50 posts!
Support open source and build my presence – See item above.

Post: My 25th Post

Visibility – Covered above, good to go here.
Hit the Metrics – Set metrics, modified and added metrics. Still some work to do, but am happy with the current ongoing metrics on the Site Metrics page. 4/5 here.
Zen Mastery – I have really enjoyed getting back to writing haiku. Since starting I have kept up a near haiku/day on twitter! Check out twitter #workplacehaiku for more. Checking this one off the list at 5/5.

Whew! The first conclusion is that I am not great at setting goals! With the many duplicates and random posts, I vow to get better at consolidation going forward. However, as this is an anniversary post I do need to set some new goals for the next 50 posts. Here they are in all of their goal-y glory!

SEO & Visibility – This is all about learning about Search Engine Optimization and getting more visibility for the blog. There are tons of things to learn here and I am very excited to start working on building up a more consistent audience with some repeat customers over the next few months

Increase Posting Frequency – The current goal is 2 posts/week and I want to bump that to 3 posts/week. This goal will help my writing by forcing me to write more. This should also drive more visibility by having more material to read. So starting in 2020 the goal will be 3 new, unique, and fun posts per week!

Make Some Money & Become Self-Sustaining – Through the first 50 posts I tried not to focus on this to get things moving. Now for the next 50 posts the goal will be to make the blog and everything else I am doing self-sustaining. This means that my web hosting fees and Medium subscription are paid for through my efforts on here. This will be a challenge, but if this blog starts to grow then I can start to do more. While I am not trying to quit my day job, it would be nice to make this whole thing self-sustaining going forward

Follow Through On A Project – After getting excited about projects and then dropping the ball over the past few months, the new goal is to complete a small project over the next 50 posts. This is not easy mainly because there isn’t enough time in the day, but the goal is set and I am determined! Go Project Go!

That is it! 4 primary goals and I promise not to make a whole bunch of random posts over the next 50 with more random goals. While this one is mainly personal for my own edification, thank you for reading this far on this one. I very much believe in setting goals and working towards them and hope that you can find ways to set your own goals no matter what hobbies, work, or projects you are undertaking. Thanks for reading!