Welcome to this December 2021 Monthly Blog Review!
It’s hard to believe that we have now been writing these monthly blog reviews for a year. We started writing these posts at the start of 2021 as a way of tracking our progress. We always share anything we worked on, any news we have, our stats for the month, and then conclude with how the month went for each of us personally.
Honestly, right now I don’t know if we will continue publishing these monthly blog reviews in 2022 or not. While we do enjoy reflecting on the months, we’re not sure if this content is best for our site. Not only is it probably not very applicable to our audience, but I’m guessing the Google search algorithms aren’t much of a fan of us posting very similar posts every month.
With that said, enjoy this post because it may or may not be the last one like it!
New Blog Posts
Here is all the content we wrote in December:
- Investing for Newbies: Should You Choose Acorns or Another App?
- November 2021 Monthly Blog Review
- What Tennis Taught Me About Success
- How To Practice Gratitude As a Teenager In 2022
- 5 Hacks To Be More Productive
- 10 Small Life Changes I’m Making Before 2022
- High School vs. Middle School
- Staying Productive During Winter Break
- My 2022 New Year’s Resolutions
New Podcast Episodes
Here are all the podcast episodes we published this month:
- How To Succeed In College
- The Difference Between Motivation and Discipline
- What To Do When You Find Yourself Burned Out
- The Importance of Gratitude
- Why Sleep is Crucial to Success In Every Area Of Life
- How To Get Better Sleep As A College Student
- The Massive Benefits of Networking
- Merry Christmas From Teen Financial Freedom
- Finance For The Future with Gayle Reaume
What We Worked On
If you’ve been following us for awhile, you’ll know that we’ve been struggling for the last few months. When school started up again, things got busier for us all and naturally TFF has slipped to the bottom of our priority lists. Yes, we’ve still done some work and kept up with our publishing schedule. However, we haven’t exactly been working on anything new for a few months. We’ve kind of been stagnant for the last few months of 2021, but we’re gearing up for a big 2022. We are just betting back into the swing of things with TFF and we have some big plans for 2022. Stay tuned and we promise we will deliver!
Statistics
I think our statistics have shown our stagnation as of lately. We’re struggling to see any growth without us pushing out new initiatives. Our podcast has been the only thing showing some promising growth over the last few months. Regardless, here our are stats as they stand a few days before the end of the month:
- 2,500 Users
- 8,000 Pageviews
- 700 Podcast Downloads
- 60,000 Pinterest Impressions
- 70,000 Google Search Console Impressions
- 1,600 Google Search Console Clicks
Personal Lives
Finally, everyone’s favorite part: our personal reviews for the month of December!
Jacob
If you read last month’s review. you’ll know that November was my worst month in a long while. Thankfully, things turned around in December. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but I’m quite happy with how things went considering how last month went.
I started off the month by wrapping up a few extracurriculars for the semester. I was a part of a 10 week professional development program through my school that came to a close at the start of this month. This program taught me a lot and I’m happy to say I graduated in the top 10 out of 50+ participants! I’m also a part of this entrepreneurship club that held it’s semester finale event where teams get to pitch their ideas for a chance to win startup money. Unfortunately, I was runner up for the competition and did not get to compete which was disappointing. Regardless of the ups and downs of these first few weeks, I was happy to have these two things behind me and a whole lot more free time ahead of me.
As the semester was coming to a close, there were several loose ends that needed to be tied up before I could leave for Christmas break. Obviously I had finals which weren’t too tricky, but definitely added a little more to my plate for the last few weeks of school. I also had a fair bit of work I had to do before I could check out of my room for the semester. Our entire dorm room needed deep cleaned, some furniture had to be rearranged, and there were a whole bunch of odd tasks that needed to be completed. Thankfully I had just enough time to finish everything before I took off in mid-December for break!
Although my break is around 3 weeks long, it does not feel long enough for some reason. I’m not sure if it is because a lot of other colleges get much more time off, or if it is because I have a ton of stuff planned for a relatively short amount of time. Nonetheless, I came into break feeling a little overwhelmed before it even begun which obviously was not a good feeling. However, I learned my lesson after my Thanksgiving break and knew that I need to sit down, get organized, and get everything prioritized for my break. That was one of the first things I did once I got home and I immediately felt way better about my plans for break. I was able to let go of a lot of the stress, tackle one thing at a time, and enjoy the break ahead of me.
So after a week or so of Christmas celebrations, I currently find myself in the final full week I have before I make my way back to school. Much of this week has been working on getting reset and my annual review. I have a huge process I go through to reflect on the past year and set goals for the upcoming one. With that said, I’m super excited for what’s to come in 2022 and can’t wait to keep you guys updated!
Dani
Personally, December was a strong finish to a successful month!
During the first two weeks, we had family over, so it was definitely a bunch of fun getting to meet them again. I made wonderful memories with my cousins that I’m going to cherish forever, so I’m super glad that they got to visit! On the other hand, I got lazy with the habits I try to stay consistent with, like waking up early and working out. But, it was good fun overall that I’m thankful for because it got my mind off finals.
My routine the next week completely changed. A lot of people suggested to start studying for finals two weeks before the tests, but I started studying a week before and I got by totally fine. I didn’t have to cram for preparing, so I feel like one week is a good amount of time for me. Each day, I studied one unit of a subject, and I had 3 subjects to prepare for. I made a whole routine of what I’m going to study for each day, and that really helped me stay on track and disciplined.
My finals only lasted for 2 days, Monday and Tuesday, so I was just chilling for the rest of that week. I got to spend quality time with my family, and I got back into my workout routine. The only thing I was lacking was waking up early.
Ever since the start of the break, I’ve been taking it easy but also getting back into blogging. For most of December, I didn’t follow my usual routine of 1 blog per week, so I had to make up for it now since I had the time. I finished 4 blogs in just a matter of a few days, and I am definitely proud of myself for doing that. I plan on writing a couple more blogs before school starts again!
Overall, I had a lot of fun in December and was able to relax, but also had to grind during experiencing my first finals. It wasn’t that bad as I thought it was going to be, and honestly, in its own way was a bit fun.
I have 12 days left of break, and I plan on making every moment worth it! I can’t wait to start off strong in 2021 and continue working towards my goals!
Ian
Wow, December is over and so is 2021. This month was the busiest month of the year for me since so much was going on academically, socially, politically, and in many other sectors of my life. I find it a challenging puzzle balancing time from socializing with friends who announced they are moving away or catching with others you haven’t seen in a long time. Or speaking up at city council meetings to advocate for your passions and having time to study for painfully harsh finals after being virtual learning for 18 months. December was quite the handful.
It was an eventful month, having to deal with a family medical emergency in the beginning of the month to stand in the city holiday parade and then hand out turkeys and toys to those in need. Making the time to attend the school winter ball and other holiday social events but be crushed by the academic pressure of finals and my math grade being on the very edge.
To say the least, December was an interesting month.
