2020: Year in Review

This year, the infamous 2020, was a challenging and difficult year by all standards for everybody. There was a lot of hardship, a lot of difficult and heartbreaking moments…

And just as I was writing this, a magnitude 6,2 earthquake hit Croatia, causing severe damage to some places. Luckily, I live far enough from the epicenter, so I’ve only experienced severe shaking. 2020 really is rough.

But, as with everything, if we look well enough, we can find something positive even in the worst things. Here, I want to reflect on the good parts.

Highlights

CSS Weekly

This year, it feels like the newsletter has stagnated. I published 50 issues, and the audience continued growing slowly but steadily, almost to 33,000 subscribers.

Financially, the first part of the year was excellent. Still, the coronavirus pandemic changed things considerably. It became increasingly difficult to find the right kind of products and companies to sponsor the newsletter.

I did virtually nothing to promote either sponsorship opportunities or the newsletter itself. I didn’t truly take care of my community, particularly my supporters on Patreon. (Thank you, and sorry for neglecting you — significant changes are coming).

A massive accomplishment was a talk I gave on newsletter engagement, drawing from my 8-year experience working on CSS Weekly. Public speaking is outside of my comfort zone and something I intend to get better at.

In 2021, my goal is to redesign the website, rethink the benefits for my supporters, and launch some products related to CSS. Additionally, I want to experiment with the content a bit and expand the usefulness of the newsletter.

Inspiration Bits

This is the first year that I consistently sent out the newsletter (48 issues in total).

I refreshed the website’s design, focusing on the copy and conversion rates, revamped the newsletter content to shorter, bit-sized original articles. I was active on social media for a little while but failed miserably with that later.

In 2021, I want to continue publishing regularly, improve the content quality, and create a useful, impactful social media presence, particularly on Instagram.

Blog

My blog was neglected for far too long, and this changed with 2020. I’ve redesigned it and introduced the newsletter, with the first issue coming up soon. In total, I’ve published 11 posts. As the goal was to publish 50, I consider this to be a big failure.

In 2021, I plan to publish at least 300 posts. My intention is to publish a post daily. I believe this to be the best course of action to improve my writing, clarity, and focus rapidly.

It will be challenging, especially at the beginning and until I get rid of my perfection syndrome, but the tight schedule should help significantly.

Personal

I’ve spent a great deal of time with my family, particularly with my 1,5-year-old daughter, Alida.

My everlasting quest to learn Hungarian has progressed nicely, as I’ve been practicing daily (every single day of 2020, to be precise), with a current streak at 448 days.

I wrote something almost every single day (missed 4 days this year), mostly poetry.

Next year, my goal is to read more books and develop more healthy habits, like regular exercise and meditation.

2021 Goals

My goals might be overly ambitious and perhaps even out of reach, but I figure it’s better to shoot for the stars.

  • CSS Weekly — Publish 50 issues, redesign the website & newsletter, create 2 products for my audience.
  • Inspiration Bits — Publish 50 issues, create an impactful social media presence.
  • Blog — Publish 300 posts, send out a newsletter every 2 weeks, be more active on social media.
  • Personal — Develop more healthy habits, read 12 books.

I’ll treat all goals as flexible. If my personal or professional circumstances change, I won’t hesitate to shift my focus and prioritize more important things.

Here’s to an inspired, healthy, productive, and meaningful 2021!