As we have wrapped up 2013 and we’re now being thrust into the first full work-week of 2014 we’re all hearing lots of chatter about goals and resolutions (same thing) for the coming year. I’m all for setting goals, but most resolutions rarely make it because people don’t write them down, and they usually have arbitrary goals for themselves that aren’t specific. No more! Over the next two days I’ll share some very personal goals of mine so you can learn exactly how I set them and why. However, as I wrote about last week, we need to know where we’ve come from before we know where we’re going next.
Reviewing our accomplished goals is huge for us in our goal setting. If we completed our goals we need to see how we did that so we can push ourselves further next time. If we didn’t, we need to reflect on why and learn from those lessons. And most importantly, if we did accomplish our goals, we need to let ourselves relish in that achievement! We set it because it was important to us, and when we can check it off our list we build confidence in ourselves for the next goal we set!
WARNING: The rest of this post is all about me and my 2013 year in review. If you don’t care that much, I’ll save you the time, you don’t have to read it. If you are that intrigued, I want to thank you for finding me interesting!
Low Points
ABG – The lowest point came to me in July when I quit Atlantic Bedding and Furniture after dedicating my heart and soul to the company for 6 & 1/2 years. Although I’m the one that left, I don’t feel like it when I look back on the events that transpired. I’ve never quit anything in my life and it was a scary thing for me to do. I didn’t know what was going to come next and I didn’t have any real plan. I’ve grown tremendously since then and I know everything happens for a reason. It was rough for a while, and still can be when I reflect on it, but I’m happier now for having left.
Epic Day – Don’t jump to conclusions here, I had great experiences with Epic Day (see below), but we didn’t turn it into a business. Our goal when we set forth with Epic Day was to make money and up until the point when Travis and I parted ways in December, we hadn’t done so. Travis & I will both be accomplished entrepreneurs one day, but we didn’t make it happen in 2013.
IT Band – As I was training for the marathon I had terrible pain in my IT Band. This hindered my training and was a true hurdle for me to overcome the last 4 months of the year. It caused me physical pain and made me question whether or not I could actually complete the marathon. It was only a hurdle and I got over it, but it caused me a lot of distress and I’ve learned to take care of myself better because of it.
Highlights
Katie – I met an awesome girl almost 1 year ago that has been more loving & supportive than I could ever have asked for. She’s stuck with me through thick and thin and helped me through some tough times. She’s also pushed me to do some great things and never let me compromise. Thank you KB! She’s been a huge bright spot on my year, literally with her blonde hair and figuratively with her spirit.
Epic Day – See, it’s not all bad! I worked with one of my best friends for 4 months, I learned a ton about WordPress websites and social media, I learned how to record a podcast, I learned about remote work, and most importantly I learned how hard it is to start a business. Epic Day was a fantastic experience, my only regret is that we couldn’t monetize it in the short period of time we had to make it work.
Blog – The blog has been an incredible stress reliever and a great sandbox for me to toy around with ideas. For everyone that follows my work, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. I received encouragement early and it’s those kind words that have kept me pushing on with this. I’ll be expounding on more ideas for the blog in tomorrow’s post!
Accomplishments
Marathon – I ran 26.2 miles in 4:07… Do I need to say anything else?
Devotionals – If you’ve ever met my Mom, you’ll know that she is constantly preaching for us all to have well-rounded lives. I have been missing something for a while and I’m trying to get it back. I set a goal to spend more time in my spirituality, I would do this through a daily devotional on my phone. It feels weird now if I don’t do it, like my day isn’t complete. I’m glad I’ve started doing this and Mom would be proud to know it. (cue text from Mom in t-minus 3 minutes)
Books – I finished a small handful of books and really got myself on track to read more. It’s become a daily habit of mine and I have set some serious goals for 2014 because of my commitment to it in 2013. Just as with my devotionals, I set a big goal to ‘Read More’ in 2013. The details of that goal were to read every day for at least 10 minutes, I do well more than that now and I’m addicted to books.
Overall 2013 was a very up and down year for me, but it’s made me a better man. I’m glad that it’s over because 2014 is going to trump it! Now that I’m able to reflect on 2013, I am ready to take on 2014 and set my goals for the coming year. Lots of people ask about goal setting, and it has been one of my most popular posts, this review of goals is an important part of goal setting. I know what success looks like, and I will define it for the coming year in tomorrow’s post.
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Leave a comment below or chat with me on Twitter with your highlights or accomplished goals in 2013, you deserve the praise for them!
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Have a great week!
