52 Ancestors-Week 52: Resolution – Goal Setting 2021

This is my third year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.

Before setting goals for this coming year, let’s look to see how well I had accomplished of my goals for 2020. I had six goals for the year. I completed three of them.

Goal #1: Write the story of my parents.  Not even started.

Goal #2: Create Presentation Flyer and distribute to local societies.  Completed.

Goal #3: Create Genealogy Program for Adult School. Completed, as well as ongoing.

Goal #4: Finish processing paper and digital files. I have continued to process current files, but nothing has been done with older paper files.

Goal #5: Finish processing and cataloguing the Hork Photo Collection. Not started.

Goal #6: Keep the record keeping spreadsheets up to date.  Current.

2020 has been a crazy year. I made no plans to attend any genealogy institutes as our plan this year was to travel to Europe and take a river cruise for our 40^th anniversary. But with Covid-19 and the continuous stay-at-home orders, those plans were cancelled. We also were not able to visit New York City, as we usually take at least one trip to visit our daughter.

However, when the institutes and conferences changed to virtual, I was able to attend the following:

·        Midwest African American Genealogy Institute, taking the Slave Era Research class.

·        Institute of Genealogy & Historical Research, taking the Writing & Publishing for Genealogists class.

·        National Genealogical Society Conference in May. I had planned to attend in person in Salt Lake City, so our registration was converted to virtual.

·        Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference in September. I purchased a small package, because I hadn’t even made a dent in the on-demand lectures from the NGS conference.

I taught one course in the winter quarter at the adult school in person. But not enough signed up for spring quarter, so took a break. Fall classes were held virtual and they worked out fine. I taught two classes, a beginning class and an advanced workshop class. I plan to continue in the winter quarter in 2021.

I spoke nine times to local and not so local genealogical societies, three before the pandemic in person and the rest via Zoom. I also taught two series (Skills & Writing) for the California Genealogical Society, one in person and one via Zoom.

I volunteered to be a mentor to genealogists on the clock who are members Jill Morelli’s Certification Discussion Group and be mentor to upcoming GenProof classes in early 2021. We were trained by Tom Jones, himself.

My Goals for 2021

1. Continue teaching two classes per quarter at the adult school, Winter, Spring and Fall.

2. Create 3 new talks for genealogy societies.

3. Write 1 new KDP of one of my mother’s southern families.

4. Write at least 2 articles for journals

5. Work on processing the photo collection

6. Create an heirloom book.

These may be too many goals, but I think that 2021 will look a lot like 2020 and I should have more time at home to work on these projects.

Resolutions that will aid in the goals are:

1.  Reduce the wasted time spent on Facebook. Perhaps limit it to 20 minutes twice a day, morning and evening, just to catch up on news. The additional time can be spent on my goals.

2.  Keep better track of time spent on each of the above goals, so I know how I long I work on each project.

What are your goals for the coming year?

-----------------

Update: I have posted this post to Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun! and to The Genealogy Blog Party. Check out other genealogist's goals for some ideas.

Copyright © 2020 by Lisa S. Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.