January turned out to be much more than I expected and I am excited to share how it went.
I started new things, quit old ones, learned critical lessons, and accomplished great things.
It was a great month indeed.
I will be writing about how January went for me as a Freelancer, a Blogger, and an Entrepreneur.
This article is about my accomplishments, the resources I used and loved that made January even better, and my goal for February.
Life as a Freelancer
I went into full-time freelancing last year December and it was one of the best decisions I ever made. I even wrote a blog post about it here.
At first, it felt difficult. I worried I had made the wrong decision, things were quite slow, but by the middle of the month, things started turning around for good and I was glad I had stopped working with my former boss to go into full-time freelancing.
It was an eye-opener for me.
I especially wondered why I had been cheating myself, you know, doing for other people what I could have done for myself.
I have not only learned something new as a freelancer, but I have also become more confident about what I do.
Almost everyone around me knows I’m a freelancer. Some are sweet enough to always refer me or send me freelance job openings, while some patronize me or cheer me on by visiting my blog religiously.
It’s a great feeling.
Life as a Blogger
Well, life as a blogger is not exactly a tough one. It has been a great ride. In January, I wrote more blog posts than I had ever written in a month since I started my blog in 2017.
My blog writing has also gotten me new clients, some of which are people who visited my blog, loved my posts, and wanted me to write for them.
It’s been refreshing.
My blog also made me learn SEO, which has in turn added to my skills and knowledge.
It’s tough sometimes trying to post 12 or more posts in a month but if for the first time I could do it in January, I’m excited for what I can do in the other months to come.
Life as an Entrepreneur
This is the toughest journey ever.
Being an entrepreneur is like putting all your eggs in one basket and sailing across the ocean on a thin rope.
It’s tough and exciting.
Sometimes you wonder what to do next. Sometimes, you wonder what new strategies to come up with, and sometimes you wonder if people will love or accept the value you have to give to them or if they will ever visit your page again. Lol.
But one thing I have absolutely learned and am still learning is the power of consistency.
It is the most important thing I learned in January.
If you’re consistent, it doesn’t matter how long, you will soon be relevant.
And in 31 days I have built enough relevance just by showing up every day for my business and my social media, and the growth is astounding.
If you’re consistent, it doesn’t matter how long, you will soon be relevant.
January Accomplishments
January, oh January.
The most exciting month I’ve had in my life.
I really conquered a lot this month. I did a lot this month.
It’s liberating.
It felt like I had hidden so much potential inside me for a long time and I couldn’t wait to release it in January. I’m so excited for what the rest of my life holds because January has taught me that there’s no limit to what I can achieve.
It’s a beautiful experience.
1. Killed my January Goal
My goal for this month was
Publish and write 12 SEO optimized blog postUpdate and optimizefreelance resource pageGet new followers and connects on LinkedIn and other social media by posting regularly
And guess who killed it all? Me! me!! me!!
That is not all.
By January 10, 2022, I had;
154 followers . 149 connections (Linkedin)
562 followers . 403 following (Personal Instagram)
101 followers . 81 following (Business Instagram)
938 friends (Facebook)
And today February 1, 2022, I have;
185 followers . 162 connections (Linkedin)
1,573 followers . 414 following (Personal Instagram)
105 followers . 84 following (Business Instagram)
938 friends (Facebook)
227 following . 297 followers (Twitter)
I was mostly focused on LinkedIn and My Personal Instagram and I did get what I wanted.
And the secret is simply putting myself out there consistently. That’s all.
3. Consistent Prayer Life
Another accomplishment I’m really excited about is sticking to my prayer schedule and making sure to pray every single day since the beginning of this year.
And the most interesting part is for the first time ever, I prayed for 6 hours — stretch (all alone).
I have prayed with people for 6, 12, and even more hours before at a stretch, but alone!!?? Naa!!
So, this is something I’m really excited about and I look forward to doing more of it.
In fact, I believe the consistent prayer life has been a factor in the achievements of my important goals in January.
I also plan to write a blog post on my first 6 hours prayer and how it went.
Look forward to it.
3. My Health
In this blog post I wrote about how to get through January, I wrote how I wanted to take 0-1 soda in a month and I achieved it in January.
Trust me, there were temptations.
There were people who offered me soda (my favorite pepsi) on a platter of gold but I declined and asked for water instead and my kidney and belly were thankful to me. Lol.
I also drank a lot of water and prayed a lot about my health.
4. Building a Freelance Association
If you have been following some of my blog posts, you will notice I have been writing about me and my business partner’s plan for a freelance community.
In January, we had struggles but we have conquered them and we can’t wait to show the world what we have in store concerning the Association for Freelancers we plan to establish.
5. My Planner Business
As you probably know, I have a planner company where I help people organize their life, accomplish their goals, and live a balanced life by coaching them and being their accountability partner.
In January, I achieved a major goal of mine since I started Avid Planner in 2017.
And the goal is to release something to the world that will help people plan their life and achieve their goals.
This made me publish The Avid Planner Ultimate Planning Guide which I released to the world for free.
So I could create value and put Avid Planner’s mission out there.
And I am not only excited that I took this step, but I’m also excited that a lot of people found it useful, helpful, and they learned something from it that was life-changing.
6. My Freelance Business
At first, my freelance business started quite rocky.
You know how it is in the first year of full-time freelancing.
For me, I encountered boulder rocks at the beginning of the month.
I was dejected and tired. But I knew in my heart that I wasn’t going to quit.
So even though I rested and seethed in my anger, I didn’t stop doing all I needed to do to grow my freelance business.
I continued posting on my blog as planned. I wrote on my social media pages. I learned new ways to work with clients.
I learned to use freelance contracts to solidify my business and before I knew it, people started reaching out to me for work.
People were genuinely impressed with what I had put out there and they wanted to work with me.
I also learned new SEO tips that have established my blog and my value to my clients.
My January freelance accomplishments came from DOING. I learned that to accomplish anything, you have to stop worrying about what is going wrong and keep doing.
Be consistent.
And that really paid off for me.
7. I Got My Laptop
When I decide to go full-time freelancing, one thing I didn’t have was a laptop because I used my former employer’s computer to work.
It was one important work tool I didn’t have. But I didn’t let that stop me.
I used my phone to do almost everything I would have done with a laptop.
I designed this website, wrote and published blog posts, designed social media posts, my business logos, and did some client’s work with my phone.
It was an exciting experience that made me feel like if I could do so much even with my limited resources, then I can accomplish even more with more resources.
And by the end of January, I got my Laptop, and I look forward to doing so much more.
Resources I Love
Here are some articles, people, and websites that helped me in January:
She is a bold and clever freelancer who understands all the nitty-gritty of being a freelancer and she’s helping freelancers through her social media.
Her recent twitter space on freelance contracts was an eye-opener and I always look forward to her tweets and threads because they have value.
She also helped me when I was looking for the perfect freelance contract to use for my business.
Isaac created his blog in January and his writing is impeccable.
He writes about Online Business and I have never seen a person know so much about a particular topic.
There’s so much you can learn from him and his social media space.
Reading his blog changed my online business game in January. I look forward to more of his writings.
I think I have said a lot about this planning guide.
If you want to live more productively. If you want to kill all your goals like I did mine, ensure you get this guide. It is worth it and it is free.
If you would like to learn SEO in a simple and less stressful manner. This is for you.
Your chance to know everything about SEO.
For other resources, visit my resource page for extensive and helpful resources for freelancers, content creators, and entrepreneurs.
February Goals
In February, I plan to:
- Target even bigger clients by upgrading my skill
- Pray even more
- Eat breakfast (it’s really getting hard to eat breakfast)
- Write on new niches and see what I can do best.
- Finally Launch Freco
- And be more productive.
I look forward to what February has in store and what I will do this month.
My Favorite Blog Posts in January
Here are some of the blog posts I wrote in January that I am especially proud of. You should go check them out.
4 Reasons Content Writers should know SEO in 2022
My Top Ten Travel Wish List for 2022 + one
How to Earn More Money as a Freelancer
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January turned out extraordinarily great and I look forward to doing greater things in February.
If you have any achievements you would like to share. You can share it in the comments section.
I will like to hear them!
Have a great February ahead!
Happy New Month!!
