Okay, so it’s not quite the New Year yet, but it’s just around the corner. As I’m recapping 2011, I’m realizing I need to make sure I set attainable and realistic goals given what I think my situation will look like next year. So, taking the past and present into consideration and predicting what I think the future for 2012 holds, I am pretty confident that my goals will be as follows:
Finance
My financial goals are still very similar; save a ton of money. However, that’s not a very specific goal. To narrow down what “a ton” looks like to me (which may be subjective for others) and making it realistic given my income, here is what I’m extrapolating:
- S – specific – Each month save $500 ($100 toward emergency fund, $225 towards house fund, $175 towards retirement)
- M – measurable – Every month I should see each savings account increase by my specific figures (at the end of the year, I should have saved $6000 – a slight revision from the $9,000 for last year and the $7,200 from the other day. I’m being realistic here.)
- A – attainable – $500 a month is attainable. Last year, I was really “hoping” to save $750 a month but that just wasn’t realistic given my current situation. Hoping and doing are different things.
- R – realistic – I’m being realistic based on my expenses and income. I use Quickbooks, so there’s no reason I need to sit down and make up some “ideal” budget. I know how much I spend and on what, it’s time to use that data and form a savings plan.
- T – timely – Checking in every month will help me stay on track. Last year I tried quarterly updates and I ended up giving up after the 3rd quarter. Monthly check-ups will keep me focused.
Personal
I have a few personal goals this year, but I’m not going to go into detail at the moment. Basically, bike a little more than this year and get a teaching job!
Blog
- S -specific – I want to increase my daily readership to 375 per day on average. Some days I get this kind of traffic, but it’s just not consistent. Spending more time networking will hopefully up these numbers.
- M – measurable – I use Site Meter to measure my daily readership. It’s pretty accurate, so this part of the goal is covered.
- A – attainable – 375 views per day is definitely attainable; as long as I keep writing good content and networking.
- R – Realistic – Again, the goal is realistic. It’s not a pie in the sky number.
- T – timely – Checking in each week will give me an idea of if I’m meeting my number goals.
I’m definitely one of those people who like to pile on the responsibilities, and this is what sometimes limits me in achieving my goals in a timely manner. However, I feel I work better under pressure – even if it’s pressure I put on myself.
What goals are you defining for next year? Do you like to shoot for the stars or is the sky just fine?
9 Comments
I like how you’ve split your blogging and finance goals separately. I find setting goals easy but following up hard! I hope you’ll do better! 🙂
@Money Cone – I have the same problem! I can set goals for myself all day long, but following through is the tricky part. I can’t say 2011 was a total wash (at least I made some progress) but I know I can do better next year. 😉 There’s always next year, right?!
I like the SMART approach to goal setting, I might apply that to my own goals for next year. I normally list a majot goal for several aspects of life:financial, education, career, social, family, health, and so on. I also like to lay it out visually, it ends up looking like an old wagon wheel with circles and connecting lines everywhere.
BTW, I noticed a new banner on your home page. Awesome!
I really like the SMART approach also. I am going to work on this for myself and also introduce the concept to my two teens. Thanks for sharing!
I like how you sorted your goals too. Helps keeps things organized for tracking progress. SMART goals are always the best ones to set but many of us forget this. I think you will reach your blog goals no problem.
Nice goals! I’m still trying to finish up 2011 goals so I haven’t thought about the 2012 goals yet. I’ll probably be more realistic next year since I didn’t do very well in 2011…
In 2011, I included a strange goal that probably does not fit into SMART goals. I created a solution that fit perfectly. My goal was improving my patience. How ould I measure my progress or how would I know I succeeded. I journalized every time I lost my patience and it made me aware what my triggers were. Then I started working on the solutions. The results even surprised me because I did see an improvement.
I split my goals into personal, financial, and blog for 2011. I think I did worst on blogging! 🙁 for 2012 I really need to be more consistent with posting, write better content, and learn how to monetize a bit more. I don’t blog for the money, but anything extra is such a help to my financial goals.
Wow! You are already making SMART goals for the new year?!> That is awesome!
You have officially inspired me to *begin* the thought process concerning my goals for the next year!