Inspired by Jen at Master the Art of Saving, I’ve decided to do a monthly post where I list my goals for the upcoming month. I did this for the first time at the start of November and it really helped to give me focus and direction. That’s not to say I succeeded at all of my goals but I at least attempted all of them. Let’s check in on how I did:
- Participate in NaNoWriMo. Epic fail. I did not write one single word. I still plan on working on this book at some point but it did not happen in November.
- Get my Alexa ranking below 150K. Success! I actually broke 150K early on in November and now I’m hovering around the 100K mark. This pleases me.
- Get back to the gym/sign up for free yoga classes. This was a success and failure. I started off strong and then due to some…circumstances that I won’t discuss because my head may explode I stopped. I did write a post about what yoga taught me about finance, though.
- Finish the 2 books on my nightstand. This was also a success and failure. I did finish 2 books but they were not the original books. I finished Jen Lancaster’s “If You Were Here” and Chuck Klosterman’s “The Visible Man” (which was incredible) and started Mindy Kaling’s “Is Everyone Hanging Out With Me” and Gary Rivlin’s “Broke USA”. I’m in the middle of the latter 2.
- Get through my photo shoot. Success again! I did it! I got over my insane amount of self-consciousness and actually did it. I have the proofs if you don’t believe me.
- Create a schedule for my life. My second epic fail of the month. I am just as disorganized as ever. In fact, I think it’s gotten worse. I think I need a professional life organizer at this point.
Now it’s December. Given the fact that it’s Hanukkah, Christmas and my daughter’s birthday this month, I’m easing up a bit on my goals. Instead of 6, I’m aiming to accomplish 4. Here they are:
- Finish the 2 books I’ve started and at least start two more of the following: “The Storm Chasers”, “We Need to Talk About Kevin”, “Kiling Yourself to Live”, “Fargo Rock City”, or “The Corrections”. If you’ve read any of these, which ones do you suggest I go with?
- Create a schedule for my life. It’s so important that I do this that I need to try it again. I’m beginning to lose what sanity I have left because I’m all over the place. I’m starting to lose balance, focus and sleep. It’s getting ugly. If you have any suggestions, tips, plans, hacks or general supportive comments, please feel free to share those!
- Develop a concrete plan for leaving my full-time job. I know how fortunate I am to have full-time employment and the thought of leaving it makes me so nervous I want to throw up. But my job is depressing and makes me sad. I have a post planned for next week explaining why and hopefully this goal will make more sense then.
- Make these cupcakes for my daughter’s birthday party:
That’s what I’m hoping to accomplish in December. I’m focusing, for now, on nonfinancial goals because I have some other things I need to settle before I can set those.
How about you? Any year-end goals you’d like to achieve?
And before I forget, I’m running another giveaway. In case you haven’t notice (and judging by the attendance, you haven’t), Daily Money Shot has joined Facebook. I will be holding a giveaway for the first 25 people to like Daily Money Shot (the two of you who already like me will also be included). The prize will be $25 to one of the following: 1) Amazon.com; 2) iTunes; 3) A donation, in your name, to the charity of your choice (winner will be selected by random.org). Also, I will give $10 to the person who can accurately identify which movie is quoted in this paragraph. In the event that more than one person guesses the movie correctly, the winner will be selected by random.org
The deadline for the $10 is 11:00 PM EST on Sunday, December 4th.
I just read We need to talk about Kevin. I highly recommend it.
Thanks for the recommendation!
Good work. My new goal is to get my blog moved off the Blogger platform ASAP. I realized that it is indeed hurting my Alexa ranking, so my new number one goal is to get it the heck off there!
Money Beagle recently posted…Don’t Forget To Check For Promo Codes!
I think moving to WordPress was one of the best things I did for this site. I highly recommend doing it! Once I moved, I couldn’t believe I had waited so long!
Congrats on the Alexa rating and I am so proud of you for going through with the photo shoot! Cut yourself some slack on creating a schedule. It is hard to set up when things are changing and being added to it. Always start with your priorities and take it one day at a time. Find time to write it down and keep it visually available. You know I love list…make a quick list of what you need to accomplish today, by the end of the week, a month~add as time goes on~ and just prioritize. Remember it is all trial and error at this point and all your “epic” failures provide room for an epic success!
anotherhousewife recently posted…Enough IS Enough
I heart you and your always encourage words and positive attitude. I have actually downloaded a to-do list app for my iPhone that I’ve been using the last few days. It seems to be helping keep me focused on a daily basis.
Proofs must be posted as proof!
Eric J. Nisall – DollarVersity recently posted…2 Overlooked Year-End Tax Tips
Eric, per my contract, I am not allowed to share proofs. But I do have a post planned when I get the final photos. It includes a picture. I promise.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Seeing is believing 🙂
Oh, and when you make the cupcakes, ship a few of them down here!
Eric J. Nisall – DollarVersity recently posted…2 Overlooked Year-End Tax Tips
Yes I want to see the photos 🙂 I understand the deal about proofs, but if you would have flown out here and me take them, its my policy to give the client a sneak peek image for posting 🙂
Will be getting my goals out this weekend I hope
Jeff @mymultiplestreams recently posted…WordPress Fun #4: Spread the Love
It’s OK that I need to wait. I’d rather share the touched-up ones!
It’s okay if you don’t reach all your goals each month, the idea is that you have focus and work toward them. I think you did great last month. 🙂 I want those cupcakes for my birthday next year, your daughter is SO lucky. I’ve been trying to make a schedule for myself for the last 2 years and still can’t seem to do it. 🙁 I don’t have a job and I rarely leave the house, so I really NEED structure, otherwise the day just disappears and I’m not sure what I’ve actually accomplished. Good luck on your goals Jana. 🙂 Thanks for the mention.
Jen @ Master the Art of Saving recently posted…Were the November 2011 Goals Achieved?
Yes…I am a month late responding, but I highly recommend Amy Andrews e-book. I think it’s called Tell Your Time. Her method helps me immensely juggle work, kids, keeping house, family office paperwork and all the other tasks on my plate. As you can tell though, sometimes you just have to let some things slide like staying current on your Google Reader. :-/
In Debt recently posted…My New Daily Mantra