2019 Reflection: My year in a glance

Photo by Caleb Minear on Unsplash

2019 was a year of growth, overcoming, and persevering. I’ve never been more excited about being uncomfortable.

I began this year afraid and determined: overwhelmed by how much there was to do, but undeterred.

This is what I did in 2019 for professional development: 

Built a website for the first time (with some help from Julie Bonn Blank)

  • Learned the bare basics of CSS
  • Navigated WordPress Dashboards
  • Figured out plugins
  • Got professional photos done
  • Troubleshot design issues 

Created my first pitch deck

  • Learned Google Slides
  • Figured out photo transferring and file compatibility
  • Choose appealing composition and design
  • Crafted a concise yet purposeful narrative

Filmed my first bio video

  • Scriptwriting
  • Energetic delivery
  • Re-recorded (Again, and again…)
  • Became familiar with the basics of video editing and publishing

Put my LinkedIn profile together

  • Wrote job bios
  • Gained connections
  • Researched what makes a strong profile

Completed the Building a Second Brain course

  • Became familiar with Evernote
  • Learned Loom
  • Created a note and information organization system
  • Improved my info retention
  • Interviewed 7 people about their roles in Marketing, Customer Success, Sales, and Operations

Wrote a blog post every day for 31 days straight

  • Became familiar with Unsplash.com
  • Produced work, no matter what
  • Ideas, ideas, ideas
  • Got familiar with Grammarly
  • Experimented with topics
  • Pitched pieces to third party publishers
  • Worked with others on revisions and edits

Completed my first digital marketing project

  • Refined my communication skills
  • Conducted social media marketing research
  • Content creation galore
  • Pivoted with changing projects
  • Learned how to use Canva
  • Built a working relationship
  • Continued business connection with paid commitments
  • Learned how to use Later.com

Crafted my Crash profile

  • Created a tagline
  • Wrote a new type of bio
  • Selected portfolio pieces
  • Re-filmed a bio video
  • Built-up my tech stack
  • Sent it off for review and launching
  • Got the green light to launch

I learned how to turn my fears into curiosities, my uncertainties into excitement, and lean into my determination by turning it into a skill.

At the beginning of the year, I barely understood what a “Pitch Deck” was. The digital world was largely a mystery. Now, I love learning new tech and programs.

Here are some of the programs I’ve learned this year and am still learning: 

  • Airtable
  • Canva
  • Evernote
  • Excel
  • Gmail
  • Grammarly
  • Google Calendar
  • Google Docs
  • Google Drive
  • Google Slides
  • GoDaddy
  • HubSpot
  • Jetpack
  • Loom
  • Outlook
  • Slack
  • Survey Monkey
  • Updraft
  • WordPress
  • Zapier
  • Zoom

In conclusion

The person I was this time last year would look at who I am now and be flabbergasted at what I’ve done. I have so, so much more to learn and that doesn’t scare me.

Because I know I’m capable of more than I realize.

 If this is what the Praxis Bootcamp results in, I can only imagine the type of growth that’s coming in the next half!

Whatever it is, I will rise to meet it.

I hope everyone has a groundbreaking, incredible, growth-filled 2020 ahead. 

Happy New Year, and thank you to everyone who helped make this year as amazing as it was! 

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