My 2012 New Year’s Resolutions are really goals and I am very resolute to make them happen! Many people make resolutions this time of year, but never hold themselves accountable. Every year millions of people make new year’s resolutions and less than 15% of them are accomplished! What changes are you prepared to make to accomplish your resolutions?
According to Wikipedia, a New Year’s Resolution is a commitment that an individual makes to one or more lasting personal goals, projects, or the reforming of a habit. Too many people ask for and offer resolutions as though it is a party favor or just something to do just before midnight on December 31st. Goals are very important to me and I treat them with respect. Just writing them down is a good start, but that won’t make them happen. Setting goals is important, but what happens later is even more important. Monitoring your goals and adjusting your effort are the keys to success.
My 2012 New Year’s Resolutions are the following:
- Volunteering – I want to volunteer two (2) hours a week. This is something I thought I would start when I retire. I decided why wait! If this looks familiar, it was on my 2011 New Year’s Resolutions and I put it first this time. I expect to start sometime in the first quarter. I will definitely report on my progress at the beginning of the 2nd quarter.
- Earn more income from my blog – I would like to average at least $2,000 per month net. I started to monetize my blog in mid September and averaged between $5-600 gross per month. This may be a stretch, but a worthwhile one!
- Top 100 Personal Finance Blogs – I want to be part of the Top 100 Personal Finance Blogs. This was my goal for 2011, but I only achieved the top 200 (193).Cal me determined, tenacious, or just stubborn, but I will keep after this goal. In the last quarter of 2011, my Alexa ranking was going in the wrong direction, but I am not ready to give up on this. Since it is a combination of factors (MozRank, linking domains, Klout score, Twitter followers, Alexa Rank and Facebook likes) I figure I have a shot.
- What’s left? – I could add reading more, but I already read 50-100 books a year. If that is not enough, I read 500 articles on various blogs weekly. In my spare time, I read 6-12 business periodicals for article ideas to go on my blog. Can I do more reading? I doubt it!
- I could pay off debt, but I do not have any except for a small mortgage. I am already paying additional principle on my mortgage to have it paid off by my retirement. I max out my retirement savings in my 403B, IRA and Roth IRA. I suppose I could invest more or pay my mortgage faster, but I choose to travel instead.
- There are some personal habits I think I will work on, but it is unnecessary to include them in my resolutions. I plan on smiling more, you know match what I feel inside with my outside. I do not need to lose weight, stop drinking or stop smoking. Some may call me boring! I would like to think of myself as a role model! Can I workout more, I doubt it!
These are my goals for 2012! I plan on reporting my progress quarterly. My 2011 New Year’s Resolutions were a little aggressive, when I stated I wanted to achieve the WiseBread Top 100. Just because I did not achieve it doesn’t mean I should give up. It is still a goal and I will work on it. What are your 2012 New Year’s Resolutions? These are My 2012 New Year’s Resolutions.
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These are My 2012 New Year’s Resolutions.
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Love your goals, I think they are much better than resolutions too! Good luck with them all, I think that there is a very good chance that you will achieve them.
At least one of them, I am taking another swing at it. Thanks for the encouragement.
Great goals! Especially the Volunteering. When you’ve got your own life in order (as best you can), the next best thing you can do is to help others do the same. I’m also impressed that you only started to monetize your blog in Sept and are already up to $500 – $600. Way to go!
I had help and looking forward to more in 2012. I am looking forward to volunteering as a form of therapy. Very rewarding!
Thumbs up for making volunteering a goal! Good luck on your resolutions KC and wish you a very happy new year!
Thanks, I am looking forward to it. I am expecting a really good year! Happy New Year to you too.
I like your goals. In fact, I may borrow one. I think it is great that you are increasing your monetizing goal. At some point this year (around March), I will add that as a focus. Right now, I am still trying to figure out the best course forward.
I had the advantage of thinking about it for while and put together a plan. Since this is my second year of blogging, I ready to make a push.
Great goals for 2012! Best wishes KC. I know how determined you are and am sure you will achieve great success!
I hope to work a little smarter versus just working a lot of hours this year. Thanks for the encouragement.
Good luck with the blog income. I think it is definitely within reach.
Thanks, I need goals to work on and accomplish during the year. I am looking forward to seeing how far I can go.
I like your non payoff debt goal.
You are already doing well so you should enjoy life. Good luck with your goals. I will try to make the 100 top blogs too, but it is very difficult to climb the rank.
I always say impossible is just an opinion! I may not make it, but I will climb higher this year and maybe it will take another year. Who knows, but I will keep moving toward the goal.
Amazing job on the blog income. Also, I think you should aim higher in your goals.. even if you miss you will have made amazing gains
I will probably adjust the goals, if warranted. It would be a great problem to have.
WHOA! That’s a lot of reading. I am extremely glad to see that you have volunteering as a resolution.
Thanks, I think I will enjoy the volunteering. It should be similar to teaching.
Need to work on my resolutions. All systems go for you. Good Luck with cracking the WiseBread Top 100. You’ve got my vote. Happy New Year!
Thanks, I wish it were that easy!
I am going to see how far I can go in 2012.
Being boring is great, I can see why you would be smiling all the time!
My Alexa has tanked, but I also haven’t been real active the last couple of months. I need to turn that around for sure. Wisebread is so tough to figure out. It seems like some of the inputs cannot really be controlled unfortunately. Seems like tweeting is quite important to Klout, but I don’t really enjoy sitting on Twitter, so I am doomed.
I will try to reflect my happiness more often.. Success this year will mean progress, if you not the actual achievement.
I love how specific your resolutions (excuse me…goals) are. Volunteering two hours a week or earning $2,000 per month from your blog are measurable goals. You inspire me to be more specific.
It is part of SMART goals. I have been doing this for years (more than 34 years)! It helped me reach financial independence 27 years ago. The more specific and measurable your goals, the more likely of success.
Great list. I like how you mentioned more volunteering. I think this is really important. It can really make a big difference towards the cause at hand. I usually do a fair bit myself but have fallen off that wagon lately. I am hoping to get back into it soon.
Thanks, this was something I wanted to start last year, but I was derailed when I was given my RIF notice. My plan is to start during the first quarter.
Kudos to you for being such a voracious reader! Seems tough to get better on that front. Reading = knowledge, which is great to have to better oneself. By the way, what you’re calling boring sounds anything but that.
As a kid, I only liked reading periodicals, then I discovered the newspaper and finally biographies. Now I read as many mysteries as I can find. Last summer I read 20 mysteries in a series (Stone Barrington) from Stuart Woods. I find I read so much online for ideas and knowledge.
I’ll work out doubly for you, then, KC! I’ve been waiting to read your goals for quite a while. I’d like to read 500 blog articles per week. I’m not sure how you do it. Speed reader?
I agree, my resolutions are goals too. I set business and personal goals and have a broken them done by week/month in hopes to make them easier to achieve.
Here’s to a great 2012!
Your next step is to monitor your progress daily/weekly/monthly and adjust your efforts to achieve your goals.Go for it and we all will have a great year!
I took a speed reading class when I was in junior high school and managed to read at 2,000 words a minute with 80% comprehension. That was a long time ago and I doubt if I am that fast any more. I spend a lot of time (40+ hours) on the internet every week!
Great goals and good luck with these. I also liked your comment about ways to work – yep, we should all avoid simply working hard and start working smart. If you fancy sharing some tips this will be great.
I literally just (while bicycling) thought of a series I am starting in the next couple weeks which may be interesting regarding success. Since this is my (full) second year of blogging, I am starting to use what I have learned and will share as I go along.
Great goals for 2012! I also need to be doing more volunteering work.
Stay tuned, I will let you know my progress at the end of the first quarter.
$2000 per month is an awesome goal! That is quite a lot of reading as well. I read a few books and articles but not quite as many as you for sure.
I do the reading anyway, but I thought I would stretch a little too! My traffic is increasing and it motivates me to try harder. I will report how I am doing each quarter.
I think you are doing great with the site, I pop by but don’t comment that often. I’ll try to do that more this year! Good luck with all the resolutions.
Thanks, although the glass is half full, I want more! Traffic is building but does not appear in some of the usual stats. It gives me more goals for 2012!
Volunteering is on my list, too! I’m also keen to monetise – but the few times advertisers have reached out, they either stop responding partway through negotiations, or just want to lowball too much.
Top 200 on Wisebread is pretty impressive – you should be proud! I reckon you can crack top 100 this year.
Volunteering is a long term goal, I see it similar to teaching. I love goals, it motivates me and I love the feeling of accomplishment.
I’d like to run two half marathons this year. I also have a goal to read one non-fiction book a month and one fiction every two months. And our biggest financial goal is to save for a Disney vacation in the fall or spring 2013. Good luck with your goals!
Thanks, I read voraciously. This past summer I read 20 books from my favorite author (Stuart Woods). Although I have been to Disneyland, I have never gone to Disney World. I guess I will go when I have grandchildren.
I’m amazed you find the time to read so much. I love reading but find it hard to fit in. Good luck on meeting all these good goals.
I probably spend close to 30+ hours reading and 10-20 hours blogging per week. Most of it is pretty interesting!
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