The Sixth and A Half Update!: 7 Major Goals I Have For 2025
I said in my previous post that I hope this year will be full of great accomplishments. Here what I intend to get there and how I'm going to break up the patterns that prevented me from getting there sooner:
1. Go to sleep at a better time
This will continue to be a goal until it's no longer a problem. Everything I said in the last half update, still stands; sleeping late effects everything else I do during the day. If I don't get this under control, it'll throw the rest of my goals on this list, out-of-whack.
Some things are reasonable to be wary about. But others? Enough is enough. I gotta stop missing out on some of these experiences...if I can make tiredness less of a problem, I can push myself to do more. I want to try to say "yes" more often when invited to do things and try not to focus too much on the negative. I want to learn how to stop allowing the fear of failure to discourage me from doing what I have planned and cause me to procrastinate when I should be developing a better solution.
3. Bring back K-Tee's CreeativeWorks
Last year, I got a whole lot of work done for my DT Blog, but now, it's time to get back to my original art blog and give it the attention that it needs. This month, I want to get it ready for monetization and launch it out into the digital atmosphere. I'm not just putting up listings and posting about designs like I did the first time around, I'll be documenting my art business journey, sharing helpful tips for other artists, product reviews, and more detailed introductions about my characters too.
Last month, I found out about a newer print-on-demand site called "Fourthwall"and I think joining it could unlock a lot of potential...👀 It's already looking more impressive than the usual sites: Storefront customization beyond a banner and profile picture?? Memberships? Donations? You can sell digital files AND give them physical items you made, that they'll ship out for you?! I GOTTA get in on this! (,,⟡o⟡,,)
Like I said in last year's post about my goals, "If I'm going to start making more videos, I'm going to have to make use of my Blue Yeti microphone again." Technically, I have been using it for video calls, but yeah, not to do what I originally intended. In high school, I wanted to add being a voice actress on to the other art-related careers I wanted to pursue. But things like equipment quality held me back. When I was gifted my Blue Yeti in college, I thought that wouldn't be an issue anymore, but there was still something I was doing wrong, and the desire to voice act pretty much fizzled out after I graduated. 😕
There's gotta be a way I can make this more appealing for me to pick this back up...I have so many ideas over the years, and I'd hate to see more of them fall by the wayside. 😓 I need to figure out what exactly needs to be improved upon...like, what extra piece would be needed to connect the portable vocal booth I hastily bought a long while ago, to the mic stand my brother gave me. I tried just holding it up while I record, but I really need my hands free.
If getting myself to make full-fledged videos to accompany the audio is such a hassle, putting something together with less visual effort or simply uploading the audio itself, should be easier to get done. I had also said, for the longest time, that I was going to unearth the keyboards from the basement to see how I can utilize them for my future videos. If I don't have a means of transferring the sound directly to my computer, I can use my mic for that. Hope they still work...and don't have mold or something on them. 😶
I've been wanting to revisit a local music store to see how much their keyboard stands are...maybe they can help me out with all my equipment questions. 🤔
The main ones I have accounts on, are getting...weirder. They're almost unrecognizable since the first time I joined them...I do like some of the features that have rolled out since then, but as a whole, it's gotten harder to enjoy the places like I used to...The way these companies are trying to utilize A¡ in invasive, scam-y ways, has only increased the feeling. How are you supposed to get excited about milestones like views and followers when there are bots roaming around? Social media, online communities in general, are supposed to help connect real, live humans with each other. Now even more than ever, you have to consider if the users you interact with are being genuine...😑
I couldn't have picked a better time to start having my own blogsites. I need a place to retreat to when other places are becoming too much...This year, I want to find more online spaces where I feel comfortable (enough?) sharing art and being silly. Not filled to the brim with annoying greed tactics or bogged down by heavy topics I was never deliberately looking for. Or, maybe the most ridiculous of them all...people making it their life mission to hate you for liking a...quite literally harmless ship and having most of their reasoning come from something petty rather than something legitimate. 😒 (These people really act like they don't know how to use block and mute features. They just don't want anyone to enjoy anything contrary to exactly what they want to see.)
I don't know, am I asking for too much? I miss the feeling of 2000's - early 2010's internet. While, of course, concerning things were present back then, I don't remember it being as common to come across. It's been speculated-- or confirmed, I dunno--that some algorithms were designed to make us angry to increase engagement. 🙄 Either way, I'm just fed up and want to see what alternatives there are to explore.
Since most of the ones I'm keeping an eye on are newer, I want to wait to see how they develop and improve over time. One of which, is a site called "DomoTown", that's being advertised as a deviantART alternative. Its creator (the same person who created Smack Jeeves, btw) promises that the site will prioritize human artists and has plans to introduce helpful features for users in the future. Sounds great! 😄👍🏾 Cara is another art-based platform with a similar mission. They provide their users with data poisoning tools to disrupt the information A¡ models receive when they scrape images. (If companies are going to automatically opt their customers in to having their content trained upon, we need to fight back! 💥👊🏾😤)
I want to use Cara to advertise for my art business and if I enjoy being there, I'll make a personal account later. But right now, I'm a bit concerned about the stability of the website. 😬 There have been some monetary struggles with the server after a large influx of people joined some months ago...they accept donations, and I do intend to contribute if my experience goes well, but it's possible that they may be tempted to set up some kind of constant hosting fee where you can't continue to use the website until it's paid first. How would something like that affect our accounts? Would it be more than keeping you logged out? Could they de-boost you from being visible on the site?
I've also wondered about the likelihood of the site shutting down; I'd hate for that to happen not long after joining. 😳 But maybe I'm getting ahead of myself here...surely, they must have a plan by now, or at least developing one, to prevent that from happening. Maybe they'll run ads or have premium account options behind a paywall. I'm just now realizing they have a shop. It's very limited though; only postcards and tote bags...and they're only available for pick-up. Perhaps this could be a test for something bigger? 🤔 If they ever introduce monetary payments for creators or allow people to sell their work through the website, I can see them taking a cut to help support the servers.
I've been thinking off and on and off again about TikTok. My brother REALLY wants me to join...but the security concerns...and now it's not completely certain if it's getting banned or not...I can't make up my mind. 😓 Would the app even work anywhere near the way it used to if it was bought by an American company? If I joined after this, would it end up being a waste of time? If I do finally join, I'm basically doing the reverse of my Cara plans: I want to use it as a personal / fanart account and at times, direct traffic to my business. Then if I like it enough, a separate account for my original art.
6. Spend less time on social media
Yeah, even though I might find other places to be online, I still want to get offline more. I don't like how much I rely on my phone and laptop, so, I want to keep working on reducing my screen time. Instead of dwelling on irritating things and scrolling around endlessly, I want to connect more with the world around me. I want to contact those I haven't held conversations with in a while, and for those I am closer with, to talk to them more. I want to increase my effort to go outside each day from 15 minutes to 20 minutes more often. I still need to get my bike fixed to help encourage me to stay out longer. I also need to get my mouse fixed; the scrolling wheel isn't working properly and if it's a driver issue, I don't know where to find one...I'm hoping the place I took my laptop can help me with this. I really don't want to buy a new one--I don't think I've even had this one for that long...😕
It feels like I don't draw as much anymore...that probably is true for last year, considering how much I've been working on my DT blog. 🤔 If so, I want to improve upon that, so I'll have more options to post more frequently. I definitely don't game as much anymore, but now that I found my Wii, and still have my Wii U, I can! (Before you say it: I haven't been able to transfer my old Wii data over and I want to run GameCube discs. My Switch is still dead-dead.) I know of at least one library that carries video games, so this year, I can add to my other media requests for checkouts!
Oh, and something, something, sell and donate unwanted stuff.
Much like my first goal, I can't pull the rest off without this. I recently put a list together of all the main drawings I want to do for my DT blog, and just the thought of combining that with everything else I need to do this year, is making my head spin...but I can't allow myself to be intimidated. I need to keep working at these things, be more conscious of how long I'm working, what I give my time to, and stay focused. If I get stuck, I need to see what other thing I can do in the meantime.
~*K-Tee ✍🏾👩🏾🐹
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