Did you ever have that one friend, or maybe he was more of an acquaintance or just somebody in your circle who always had to tell his better story?
“Oh, you scored a goal at soccer last night? Well last week I scored ten AND went home with the other goalie’s girl”
“You just got into the band The Wonder Years? Man I’ve been listening to them since before their first full-length.”
Well I’m hoping 2019 is a little bit like that, but in more of a sincere and genuine way. 2018 was good, but I think 2019 could be fantastic, or at least an inflection point year.
Last year was full of adventure. What kind of cool shit did I get into? Here are some of the major highlights:
– set some serious goals
– got to know my brand new daughter, and watched her grow and develop
– started writing
– reignited a passion for music by recording and releasing an EP
– sold one rental property and bought two others
– visited my 97 year old grandfather in Arizona
– changed jobs
– got stiffed on my first paid writing gig (thanks Jason!)
– completed my longest bike ride ever
It was a pretty good year. As usual it had some highlights and lowlights. Some of the sleep issues and hopelessness I recall from the year before faded and things really started looking up. Also, I did a better job of “doing hard things” (which was my overall motto) than I ever have in the past. I’m not yet an expert on it, and I’ve plateaued in the last few months, but I’m pushing a little bit each day. It’s time to really hit the gas again.
Despite all the cool things I’ve done and all that I accomplished, when I look back at 2018 to compare it with my vision, I kind of missed the mark. As I’m learning now, sitting down to define some targets for this year, I made some critical errors. For one, I had way too many goals: 9! plus 8 guiding principles! WTF was I thinking?? It’s a rookie mistake I guess. It’s the first year I wrote down my goals and newbie-ism combined with parental leave in December 2017 led me to believe I would have more free time at my disposal — wrong.
Once January hit, and I went back to work — BAM! Almost zero time left. No more staying up until midnight putting the final polish on an article or doing one more take on a track.
That lack of time coupled with too many targets caused a significant lack of focus.
I have a feeling so 2019 will be a little different.
So here they are, my new goals for 2019:
- Publish 100 times this year.
This could be on Medium, a song on soundcloud, a video(!?), or a paid piece - Start building an email list and sign up my first subscribers.
This requires finding a topic or group of topics and consistently publishing in said genre. - Pick one main project per quarter and focus on it for three solid months. At the end, reevaluate whether to continue or to pursue something else on the list.
For the first quarter, I’ve chosen freelance B2B content writing with emphasis on financial tools for controllers. - Take action and make the first move: with the wife, with the neighbors, with the in-laws, with strangers, with colleagues and with the kids.
Voilà! I’ve cut the number of goals in half compared to next year, and I think they’re a little meatier.