A look back at 2019 and a look ahead to 2020.

Thank you for your continued interest in Resourceful Designer. You have no idea how much I appreciate you. There are so many great resources available for learning and growing as a designer, and I'm humbled that you choose to spend a bit of your valuable time with me.

Last week in the Resourceful Designer Community, we held a video chat where we shared our goals for next year. We also listed our goals in the Personal-Growth channel in our Slack group so we could refer back to them as the year progresses.

Sharing my goals for 2020 reminded me that at the end of last year, I did a podcast episode titled A Look Back, A Look Ahead, where I talked about what I had accomplished in 2018 and my goals for 2019.

I thought it would be fun to turn the idea behind that episode into an annual tradition. So, as my final instalment of 2019, I bring you A Look back, A Look Ahead 2019 Edition.

A Look Back at my 2019 goals.

At the end of 2018, I set these goals for myself.

ACCOMPLISHED: Narrow down my niche: In February of 2019, I launched podcastbranding.co, a new endeavour where I focus on visual identities for podcasters. It's growing strong.

FAILED: I wanted to talk at more conferences in 2019, but I ended up not having any speaking engagements at all.

ACCOMPLISHED: Grow the Resourceful Designer audience. A change in the way podcast audience size is calculated makes this one hard to measure, but from what I can tell, I do have more podcast listeners now than I did at this time last year.

ACCOMPLISHED: Create and grow the Resourceful Designer Community. The Community has quickly become a place where friendships form and help is freely given. It's even more wonderful than I anticipated.

Some of my numbers from 2019 Resourceful Designer

• Released 50 podcast episodes
• Reached over 430k episode downloads in 2018
• Resourceful Designer released on Pandora and Deezer

My design business

• Switched to Plutio, a digital project management system.
• Worked on design projects for 29 different clients in 2019
• Seven of those clients were first-time clients.
• I sent out 57 invoices resulting in income in the high five figures.

Podcast Branding

• Launched a new website
• Worked with 18 different clients
• Mentioned in an article on how to create stunning podcast cover art.

A Look Ahead at my 2020 goals.

My 2019 goals carry forward. I want the listenership of Resourceful Designer to continue growing. I want to speak at conferences (I'm already booked to speak at one in March). I want to build the Resourceful Designer Community. It's such a fantastic place right now, but I know it can be even better.

New Goal for 2020.

• Grow Podcast Branding to become THE place for podcast websites and branding.

What about you?

Did you accomplish your goals for 2019, and What are your goals for the new year?

• Are you a student getting ready to graduate? What are your goals once you’re done school?
• Are you still relatively new to the design world? What are your goals to hone your skills?
• Are you a veteran designer like I am? What are your goals for continued growth?
• Are you a designer working for someone else? Maybe you enjoy your job; maybe you don’t. Either way, what are your future goals?
• Or perhaps you’re already a home-based designer, a freelancer if that’s the term you use, what are your goals to grow your business?

Wherever you are in the world, whatever your level of skill, whatever your situation is, I want you to take some time to look back at 2019 and think about your accomplishments AND your shortcomings.

Did you stop after your accomplishments? Or did you plow right through them happy with yourself but reaching even further? What about your shortcomings? Did they discourage you, or did they create a sense of want even higher than before?

Did you reach the goals you set out for yourself and your design business in 2019? If yes, were you happy with the outcome? If no, think about what prevented you from reaching those goals.

So long 2019

As 2019 comes to an end. I encourage you to reflect on this past year. Think about everything you’ve accomplished and those things you fell short on. And come up with a plan to make 2020 your year of success. To help with your planning, perhaps you should listen to episode 55 of the podcast, Setting Goals For Your Design Business.

I’ll be back in 2020 with lots more advice for starting and growing your design business.

I’m Mark Des Cotes wishing you a Merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday season. And of course, that no matter what goals you set for yourself in the new year, the one thing you have to remember is to Stay Creative.

What are your goals for 2020?

Let me know by leaving a comment for this episode.