2020 is officially here and I can’t help but feel excited about what’s in store for the year ahead. 😀  As I did last year on this blog I want to look back at what I’ve achieved in this current year and see if there’s anything really worth celebrating.

Blogging achievements

This time last year I was amazed at the number of people who had followed my blog and visited.  It was the most visits I had had for a blog that had only existed since October that year, and I was over the moon to have 176 total blog followers and nearly 400 views in less than three months.  This year my stats are so amazing compared to last year though.  I’ve finishing the year with a total of 1,754 followers and nearly 10,000 views!!! (at the time of writing this on New Year’s Eve) 😮  I had a wish last year that I could reach 1000 followers but I still wasn’t sure if that was possible and I am overwhelmed with how many people have actually chosen to follow my blog – a blog that doesn’t actually have a niche and features so many different things.  Thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to read, like, comment and follow this blog.  You are all amazing and I truly appreciate every one of you ❤

Maybe next year I can make it well over 2,000 followers (even maybe 3,000 if I’m really lucky?) although I don’t want to aim too high as I’d rather be super surprised and amazed than disappointed. 🙂

Reading achievements

I reached and surpassed my Goodreads goal of 100 books in 2019.  Although I do think there’s something a bit wrong with the Goodreads’ website.  This last year I’ve been adding books whenever I haven’t seen a book I’ve read on there.  It’s happened a lot towards the second half of the year, various Walker Books just not on the website, and so I’ve added books whenever I’ve gone to Goodreads to review them.  But the website keeps saying I’ve read those books, I’ve just added, twice.  As if adding a book means I’ve automatically read it twice and I’m not sure how to remove a second read, so I’m not sure how many books I’ve actually read, although I do hope it’s still about 100 minus a handful of duplicates!

These 100 books I’ve read do include many picture books which are quite quick and easy to read, I also have some box sets marked as read, even though I haven’t completed them, so again, I think the stats are a bit off this year! 😮 😦  If you’d still like to check out my year in books on Goodreads though, here it is: My 2019 Year in Books

My Year in Books 2019
Image from Goodreads.com

I feel sorry for The Popcorn-Eating Squirrels Go Nuts on Everest which is a good book (check out my review) but didn’t exist on the system until quite recently so it looks like nobody has read it but me! 😮 😦

Personal achievements

Last year I was struggling with a lot of health problems and this had led to me wanting to get through them and start blogging which I did.  This year has been a radical breakthrough for me though as I’ve felt myself feeling better mentally and physically than I have for a very long time.  As some of you who read my blog know, I’ve suffered from terrible problems of depression and other mental health problems like anxiety which has been an on-going strugle for me for years.  When my health took a down turn last year, I fell back into a rather deep depression which left me feeing lost and like I had gone backwards in my life rather than forwards.

2019 has been a transformative year for me though.  I began in the spring listening to motivational videos which may sound like a strange thing to do but it really helped me focus on something other than myself and my problems.  I never thought motivational videos would work, having tried them before with little success, but then I stumbled across some specific ones that just worked for me and kept me focusing on more positive thoughts and less on self-destructive negative ones.  As months progressed I did a lot of personal work on myself, looking after myself and though there’s too much detail in what I did exactly to share in this post (I did a LOT of personal work on myself which I may share in the future), I can say that I’ve reached a place where for the first time I can say I don’t feel or seem to have any depression.  It feels strange to say that after years of going back and forth into clouds of depressive states after weeks of great days, but I can say that I feel so good right now that I can’t honestly remember how long ago it was that I felt this wonderful, it’s probably been years.

Health-wise I am getting better every day.  My health problems are taking their time but are also healing (hopefully for good) and mentally I just feel so happy and positive which is just amazing to feel after years of feeling down.  The biggest thing for me is my outlook on life.  I grew up with a positive outlook on my future but after several years of big problems that I won’t share here, I got pessimistic about life and didn’t see a positive future for at all, in fact my mindset completely changed and I dreaded the future as I thought there was nothing good in it.  It’s such a radical change now though as I really do feel so positive and that’s why I like to now spread some joy and positivity every wednesday with you all.  I know so many people are feeling the way I used to and although I’d still say I’m in a healing stage rather than fully healed, I want to keep up my own happy momentum and help others who are where I used to be to feel better, so I hope that you do enjoy some of the posts I put out on Wednesdays  which I hope to continue to do, at least sometimes. 🙂

Final thoughts…

This last year has been amazing and I really couldn’t have felt so good and be in such a positive place if it wasn’t for you guys.  This blog has been my first real blog where I have been completely myself, shared ideas and thoughts about things that interest me, things that are unrelated and without worrying about not being niche enough, or worried about upsetting readers by veering away from bookish content (which I still do a lot of!).  And the most amazing part of being completely myself on this blog is the wonderful feedback I’ve gotten from everyone.  You’ve all made me feel so special and part of this wonderful community of readers and bloggers.  Everyone has been so nice and lovely and I’ve already met some wonderful people and made great friends through this blog.  It’s really helped in my journey to becoming a happier person and I hope this continues 🙂

I want to thank you all for sharing in my journey and thoughts and I hope you all have a lovely 2020!  Don’t forget: Never be afraid of sharing whatever thoughts you have on your blog, don’t be afraid of what people will think, because the right people, the ones who support you will appreciate what you have to say.

Have a lovely day, week, month and year everyone! ❤ 🙂

What did you feel you achieved in 2019?  Was the year a good one for you or did you face some struggles?  What do you hope to achieve next year?  Let me know what you think in the comments below 🙂

 

 

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