One of my favorite things to do at the end of each year is plan my Yearly Theme. It’s becoming a bit of a tradition and I’ve even got my wife in on the action this year. I find it’s better to have a guiding set of principles than a number of promises I may or may not1complete. 2020 caused many people to change how they do things, and I was no different. that’s why for 2021, my yearly theme is going to be The Year of Opportunity.



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One of my favorite things to do at the end of each year is plan myYearly Theme. It’s becoming a bit of a tradition and I’ve even got my wife in on the action this year. I find it’s better to have a guiding set of principles than a number of promises I may or may not1complete. 2020 caused many people to change how they do things, and I was no different. that’s why for 2021, my yearly theme is going to beThe Year of Opportunity.


NOTE: If you need a refresher on what yearly themes are,check out my 2020 write up.


Before we get into what is my most well thought out theme to date, let’s evaluate my 2020 theme.


EvaluatingThe Year of Depth


Suffice to say, 2020 didn’t go as planned for most of us. When the pandemic hit in March, my wife and I realized with her being a nurse, we’d see no reduction in her hours, and she wouldn’t be working from home. With schools and daycares closing, my daughter would be home, so I’d be losing work days.


Erin’s normal schedule is 3 12-hour shifts, so I decided I’d work 3 of the days she didn’t work and we’d have one day for family. That has continued most of the year except for 3 months from July until October, when my wife was on maternity leave for the birth of our son, Louis.


The reduction in time meant I didn’t do as much reading as I would have liked, I didn’t spend as much time on the business, and I didn’t narrow down my services due to uncertainty in the market.


Wins


That said, I did manage a few wins in The Year of Depth. I successfully evaluated tools and services to help me save time. Ihired a lot more than expected, due in part to the fact that I was spending about 40% less time working.


I also pumped out a lot of content this year, and continued my path towards establishing myself as a podcasting expert. In fact, I believe I’ve made significant strides in moving from “WordPress developer who podcasts” to “Podcaster who is also a developer.”


Changing to The Year of Consistency


In June, when it was obvious this pandemic wasn’t going anywhere any time soon, I decided to change my yearly theme to better reflect my goals for the remaining part of 2020. I changed it toThe Year of Consistency, and decided that whatever I managed to do, I would do it consistently.


This was mostly in the realm of creating content – which was a huge success. I published 3 pieces of content per week: a blog post, a podcast episode, and aYouTubevideo. Towards the end of the year, I startedlive streamingconsistently. This lead to a new income stream:YouTubemonetization. It also increased (significantly) one of my income streams: affiliate income.


But I also put out major projects consistently, including 2 LinkedIn Learning courses, a book,Podcast Liftoff, and more.


No Grade


I’m not giving myself a grade this year, but I’m generally happy with the way my year went, all things considered.


The Year of Opportunity


The main goal of The Year of Opportunity is to create more, and better, opportunities for myself. I want to be more open-minded, and I don’t want to do things just to do them.


Life presents you with lots of opportunities that you might miss, or where you just say no. I’m a a point in my life where I’d like to slow down, make fewer snap judgments, and be more open-minded.


Why now?


There are a few reasons why I think this is a perfect theme for 2021. For one, I make lots of connections through in-person events that aren’t happening. I’m generally more open-minded when I meet someone in person because I can g