My Annual Appraisal

Many people seem to view their Annual Appraisal as something to dread, maybe like a school report.  It’s my belief though, that done well (or properly), it’s an opportunity to stop and take time to appreciate the achievements, analyse and cultivate a plan (if not already done) to improve on any weaknesses and consider how to flourish and move forward and upwards.

I hope the days have passed where an appraisal was the boss’s opportunity to ‘tell you off’ for a misdemeanour that had already been dealt with, one that the appraisee hadn’t even been aware of, or to assert authority because there was just a plain old clash of personalities.

I am astonished to say that my RTWM blog has reached its first birthday. I have achieved such a level of prolificacy that my word processor automatically alters my blog acronym to its complete moniker. I feel that now would be an appropriate point to perform my own RTWM Annual Appraisal. So here goes, please be gentle with me:

Strengths:  Barring unforeseen circumstances, I’ve faithfully posted my musings on a Monday (my To Start the Week post) and a Friday (the Something for the Weekend post). I’ve aimed to keep my posts relevant, sometimes amusing and hopefully informative. The feedback I’ve received, from those I know AND those I seem to know a little bit more now, has been supportive and sometimes surprising. Though not as much of a surprise as it was to my sister that I could actually write!

Weaknesses:  I’m still not happy with the standard of images that I add to my posts. Over the last year I’ve continued to develop my knowledge elsewhere, both professionally and personally. I know the photos aren’t the best. I need better equipment, technique and inspiration.

Moving Forward:  One of the biggest changes I want to make is to reduce the number of times that I post each week. I’ve realised that, taking my other projects into consideration, there have been times (less than five) when it has been a chore to motivate myself into posting. 

I love my blog and I don’t want to give anything less than my best musings, with the respect and gratitude that you, the reader, deserves. I will retain the TSTW and SFTW format, not necessarily alternating them, as I have done over the past year, but in a more relevant, as I think it, way. 

I would like to develop and improve the image quality. Visuals are quintessentially essential to the engagement with a blog and I will be keeping a look out for ways to develop my knowledge and standard in this zone.

More than anything, over the past year, I have been staggered by the magnitude of visitors to my blog and number of views and engagement with my posts. I know that checking out blog stats is a bit egotistical – or even needy. I’m well aware that these figures will be inflated by malevolent spam sites OR by those who have questionable motives for viewing. But there have been so many, genuine, surprised and engaging readers who have not only allowed me, with my needy aspiration, to ‘have a voice’, but positively encouraged it too. For you, I am very grateful.

Thank you, thank you so much, for your time and attention.

Now, as it said on my school report ... I must try harder :)