Post-First Round Celebration

This week is the end of my first round here at ROW80, the achievement of one of my main goals, and the Summer Solstice! So, how’s it been going? Rather quickly and productively.

Monday was a very busy day, so I didn’t have time to work on the e-book. I had to get going right away – “jump and run,” as my parents call it (Dad not being a big fan of it in general). But Tuesday and today I had time for my morning writing, and as a result I finished the first draft of Cultivating Self-Love. Yay!!!

I’m feeling really good about it, and about my participation in ROW80. I’ll be back with some fresh goals for the next round. In the meantime, here’s my detailed evaluation of the goals I set back in late March.

Writing

Writing is my favorite creative focus. It’s what I do. It does help to have some sort of direction to it, though. Here are some writing goals for this round.

• Write 5000 words per week on the Cultivating Self-Love e-book. While I didn’t achieve the goal word count until the last couple of weeks, I’ve not only established a regular writing routine, I’ve also finished my first draft. Goal achieved!
• Draft and edit supporting materials for our upcoming workshop (May 25th). If all goes well, develop the workshop into a multi-week online course, and draft the materials for that. The first part was achieved. The turnout for the workshop was small, so we’re going to try again as a local workshop before developing an online course.
• Post to my Starcat’s Corner blog at least 3 times per week, and on this blog at least 2 times per week. Being a Virgo, I looked it up, did the math, and found the average. Interestingly, I posted 20 times on each blog during the 12 weeks of the round. So, my weekly average is 1.6. Not bad, but there’s plenty of room for improvement!
• Write and edit at least 3 guest blog posts and have them posted. Achieved! I’ve posted on Moon Books blog twice (my publisher), CafeTruth once, and Spiritual Now once. I also secured another slot on Kind Over Matter, for early August.

Promotion

I’m promoting my new book, which in itself is a big learning curve. We’re also promoting our business, Feline Dreamers, which is an ongoing thing. This section looks like it might be too full, but remember that I have a partner for these. BlackLion rocks!

• Continue to attend (or, when necessary, listen to the recordings) online Shift Your Biz classes. Complete all homework assignments prior to the following class. Goal achieved. I got a lot of good ideas from this course.
• Learn and practice 5 new ways to ask people to purchase our Feline Dreamers wares. The asks should be clear, concise, and joyful. Use them to make sales. I haven’t been as systematic about this goal as I’d intended, but I have been making progress gradually. We’ve learned some techniques from our biz coach. I just had a wonderful follow-up conference call from one of the leaders of Shift Your Biz, and ideas are still percolating from it. On the recommendation of a fellow writer, I’ve ordered a book on social media marketing for books. So it’s in the works.
• Set up and offer a book signing and reading at a local bookstore. I still haven’t made this happen yet. I think there’s some resistance around it. I will ponder and act, soon.
• Continue to increase my reach with book promotion, using tools like Good Reads, Amazon Author Central, and guest blogging. Consider doing some paid sponsorships on compatible websites. This one is still in process, too. I did a GoodReads giveaway and had plenty of folks add my book to their “to read” lists, but my sales were still low. I didn’t consider any paid sponsorships yet, as I didn’t have any money to put towards it.
• Have at least 5 people pay and attend our May Feline Dreamers workshop. When we create our online course, have at least 6 people sign-up, pay, and take the online course. Well, no, not yet. We had 4 people there at the May workshop, but they were the store owners and their friends. They did give us gas money. We’ll be trying again.
• Host a Feline Dreamers chat on our Facebook page in May. We did this as a fun way to spread the word about us and engage our fans. It was a big success! We’ve since done another one, in June, and have scheduled one for July, too. Easy and fun.
• Finish and release our 2 new Feline Dreamers e-books by June 1st. Not yet. But I just finished the first draft of mine, and BlackLion is working on his first draft of his. Well underway.

Wellness and Practice

For me, wellness and practice go hand-in-hand. Here are some things I want to focus on as the weather gets better and better (a typical cat, I don’t like the cold and wet, so I’ve been hibernating a bit over the winter).

• Continue doing my morning pages and affirmations in my journal. 4 pages each day. Achieved. I’m very faithful about my journal writing, and love the practice.
• Continue dancing for at least 20 minutes every day. 90-day dance challenge continues through mid-May. Achieved. I completed the 90-day dance challenge successfully, and then kept going. Now I’m ramping up for my first dance performance this weekend!
• Practice drumming at least 3 times per week, plus the weekly troupe practice. This one has been off and on, depending on when our performances have been. I just have so many creative projects that sometimes I don’t get to all of them.
• Do yoga at least twice per week. Well, I think I’ve only done it twice in the whole round! But I’m not feeling upset about it. I’ll try again.
• Go out for walks at least 3 times per week, for fitness and to attune more with the natural world. Another one that hasn’t happened – yet.
• Spend more time in ritual and sacred space. Attend the Women for All Seasons meetings more regularly. Achieved! I’ve spent lovely time in intentional sacred space, and have become more involved with the women’s group. I’m loving it and will continue.