My 2022 goals were personal and professional.
The goals were to, in no particular order, make more profit on Etsy, complete a 100 day art challenge, take 52 walks, visit 12 state or national parks, read 20 books, start a Youtube channel, watch 180 new-to-me movies, reduce my consumption of fries by 50%, pay off two credit cards completely, eat more at home/meal prep 5 days a week, and work with two new illustration clients.
Did I meet my goals? We’ll find out after a break. Just kidding, I am not sponsored. However, I do want to say that if you enjoy my videos on Youtube, a like on any video and a comment would also help me out immensely. Another way you can support me is to share my work with your friends! You can also check out my Etsy shop if you’d like to support me by buying my art. Visit my website for all updated links.
So let’s break this down. I decided not to pursue Etsy as a way of making money. Revenue does not equal profit. This was a year where people fought back against Etsy raising their prices. I noticed in 2021 that a lot of my money was put back into my marketing budget, but that at the end while I did have a lot of revenue, the fact that I had to advertise and also pay for people’s shipping really cut into my profits.
So, I raised my prices and stopped advertising except around the holidays, where I did get quite a few sales but it wasn’t really worth it to me to advertise overall. Etsy is a bit crowded with people and really the only reason I stay on there is because they take care of sending the Tax Man things. I actually ended up making a lot more at in-person events where the overhead was low but there was a crowd that had come to actually support artists and crafters. I had previously sworn off in-person events because I got rid of my tent and I hate dealing with selling art when it is windy, but holiday events that are indoors are really awesome!
My 100 day art challenge fizzled out too. I got at least 44 pieces of art into it before I just got tired of doing it. I was focused more on making quality pieces and I got a bit burnt out. It was a big challenge and I learned that forcing myself to make art doesn’t make for good art. I do subscribe to the “just get it done” mentality but sometimes, I’m just out of steam. Any I need to recover by exposing myself to more art and different surroundings.
I told myself I would take 52 walks and I’m pretty sure I met this goal. I didn’t count them but I walked soooo much this year. I had to invest in better shoes as a result and have opted for some moisture wicking socks. I went to Germany and Italy and we walked our feet off, I had so many blisters. If you’d like to check out my travel sketchbook tour of that trip, see it here:
My goal to visit 12 state or national parks was a flop- while I did go to a lot of state parks, I didn’t really keep track and I also don’t have a top of national parks near me so let’s just pretend that goal doesn’t exist.
Reading! Reading 20 books was actually pretty easy and I upped my goal to 24 once I hit 20. It was nice to read books on my kindle, as audiobook, or physical books. I really made use of the library this year, support your local library! Our library had fundraisers at a brewery where we could donate and get a pint glass. It’s so neat, I love supporting them that way. They also have really cool things for kids to do and can get basically any book I want to read.
Let’s see, I guess you guys know that I started a Youtube channel! Growth has been slow but also my uploading and recording schedule has not been that great either. Youtube values consistency and while I do have a lot of things I am working on, I don’t always have it filmed. But, let’s mark that off as a win.
Watching movies is one of my favorite activities. I guess because I traveled and also had such a busy year, I didn’t meet my goal. I watched a lot more Youtube this year actually, to get ideas but also to find inspiration. You can follow me on Letterboxd if you like to see which movies I liked or didn’t like. Currently, my top two favorite movies of this year were the Banshees of Inisherin and Everything, Everywhere, All at Once. Great movies, go watch them if you haven’t yet.
In 2021, I started an Instagram for the things that I do or watch, like playing board games, or watching shows, or finished books. You can follow me on there at @AdrienneMagna. Magna means “the great” in Latin. I got inspiration from Pompeius Magnus, that guy from history. Look him up.
Let’s talk about something hot, salty, and crunchy. Fries. Fries were on my list because I have a slight obsession with them and it’s not good for my health. In the last few months I’ve cut them out almost completely and have not really regretted it too much. However, for the majority of the year I failed this one too. I thought I could just say no to every other time that fries were available but man, these restaurants charge more for salads than they do for fries. How about we turn that paradigm around, eh? Hopefully next year is better.
Paying off my credit cards was a huge goal for me and I can proudly say I did it with one credit card by using the snowball method. If you don’t know what that means, it’s basically paying off your lowest card first and then working on the next one. Because focusing on more than one account is really hard to get anywhere. So, I’m chuffed with that and next year I will be putting my other card on red alert, you’re going dowwwn.
Eating more at home was a way to save money, learn how to cook new things, and save time. Did I do it for the whole year? Did I do it for five days a week? Well, I tried. There are times that I needed to get out of the house, or wanted to have something that I cannot make. For instance, I’m still learning how to make a curry that is actually good. I don’t know how to make Thai food as good as how they make it locally, that type of thing. On the other hand, I did start implementing some substitutions and we used our air fryer so much this year. A total game changer!
My goal to work with two new clients for illustration work actually panned out! I was able to get some commissions from the internet, one from an illustration website and one from a Youtube video I had done before. I also got some new ones from people I know, so thank you so much! Shout-out to you! I continued to have good relationships with previous clients and did some other work here and there.
Thanks to everyone who has subscribed to my Youtube channel and who has supported my artistic journey this year! Please comment about what your resolutions or goals were for 2022, and how those went.
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