Remember nearly two months ago when we were all making New Year’s Resolutions? I decided to try something new this year and try to track how they are going every month. I stole the idea from Joe of Retire by 40. Here’s an example: of one of his goals posts. He includes many financial goals in that, but that would overlap with my passive income update article. Maybe I’ll merge goals and passive income into one article like he does, but for now it makes sense to me to keep them separate.
My goals for the year were outlined here in my main 2020 Goals and Resolutions.
Perhaps one of my goals should be to get the goal update posts published in a more timely manner.
Let’s dig in
Goal: Lazy Man and Money
This past month’s progress was about writing. My goal was to publish 9 articles and I actually did 7. That’s not too bad – and certainly better than February so far.
I did a little blogger collaboration, but not enough. I reached out to a professional designer that seemed promising, but I’m not sure if I want to move forward with her plan. It would make the website look awesome, but I’m not sure if I can make changes going forward.
I aimed to do a content audit, but failed miserably. A content audit is reviewing all my old posts and updating them to make sure they are relevant.
Goal: Health
I did really well at the beginning of the month. I set up a spreadsheet and gave myself points for any extra “health stuff” I did. For example, I would get a point if I limited carbs for a meal or if I intermittent fasted. I ended up scoring 23 extra points for the month. Yes, that’s not very scientific, but it’s a step forward.
Goal: Declutter
The post Christmas clean-up is always difficult. That slowed me down from declutter as much as I wanted to. However, I spent a day and did a super clean of the basement. It still needs more work, but it’s a huge improvement.
I didn’t get to putting anything on Ebay. At least I did well with deleting some of the billion browser tabs that I always have open.
Goal: Productivity
I only scored two points for the two times that I used thed Pomodoro technique. I get so much done when I use it, but I can’t seem to consistently do it. I might need to write a note to myself.
Goal: Kids
As usual, the kids were the focus of the month. It didn’t start out well as had to rush to the capital for an emergency appendicitis situation. Except that it wasn’t appendicitis. It was just a normal virus, but everyone in the house got sick.
While everyone was sick, the newly-turned 6 year old made a 300 piece Lego Pokemon. It was the most extensive to date. He can build just about everything and I can’t challenge him enough in that area. At the same time, he can’t seem to put his shoes on the right feet.
The 7 year old started archery. It’s a bit of a drive to the class, but he likes it.
While it was technically February, we also introduced both kids to skiing. I don’t ski, but my wife does. The 7 year old fell too much and is thinking that snowboarding may be his thing. The 6 year old is doing great at it. It’s only been a couple of lessons, but he’s really good.
Finally we got the kids’ report cards from school. I’m such a Tiger Dad, but I couldn’t ask for more of them academically. We pay a lot for their private school, and the school can’t seem to keep up with them. I can’t either. I always feel like I’m failing them if we don’t cover trigonometry or some crazy subject each night.
Goal: Money
I did a lot of research into local certified financial planners. While I have a few questions, I want my wife to be on board with who we choose. That’s the most important thing as far as I am concerned. She’s a little too busy to dig into it now, so this is on pause.
We didn’t make any progress on the estate plan. I think we’re going to have tackle that one after the CFP.
As for my plan to make $75K in income, that didn’t go very well. One of my freelance clients had big layoffs and shut down most of the blogging side of business. Fortunately, it’s only about 10-15% of my income. I feel worse for the full-timers.
Goal: Special Projects
I didn’t make much progress on any of these. I knew that I was biting off more than I could chew in making these goals… and now I have to face the music. I often shoot for the moon, so that I can hit the stars – if that’s how the saying goes.