At the beginning of the year I denounced New Year’s Resolutions and embraced goal setting. After reflecting on 2013 and embracing 2014, I came up with a handful of goals to meet. I put them on public display for my own accountability, but also for those that are having trouble making their own goals.
This post is as much for you as it is for me. This is meant to be a reminder for you to stick to your goals as I’m doing. If you’ve strayed, go back to what you promised yourself at the beginning of the year. If you’re moving right along, please let me know, I’d love to hear about your progress!
Volunteer Once Per Month
Katie and I have always known that we have more blessings than we know what to do with. But what we didn’t always do was pass our blessings on to others. In 2014 we wanted to give back. We decided to volunteer at least once per month.
I’ve committed to volunteering with the Alzheimer’s Association. I do this each week and I’m now the Marketing Chairperson for the Walk to End Alzheimer’s, hence the “Join my Team” button on my sidebar. I would love it if you joined my team (if you are local and can walk with us) or if you donated. Anything helps, we’re looking to raise $5,000 by September 20th!
The last Saturday of each month, one of Katie’s former clients runs something called Saturday on Meeting. She has gathered a number of people together and we feed the homeless here in downtown Charleston.
It’s extremely rewarding, yet very humbling at the same time. I would encourage each of you to find something YOU care about and dedicate some time to it. Everyone can give money, that’s not what I’m talking about. Take some time and give back, you will not regret it.
So far so good on this goal, we’re giving back at least once each month.
Learn to Speed Read
I have always been the slightest bit jealous of people who could rip through thousand page books in a weekend. Hence the reason for chasing this one down. I wanted to learn this by March 1st, giving myself two full months at the beginning of the year.
The most helpful article I read was from Mr. Tim Ferris on (duh) speed reading and how to improve your Words Per Minute (WPM). I studied these tactics, applied them, and did indeed improve my WPM score from under 300 to 481 Words Per Minute.
“Speed Reading” per se, it’s exactly what I imagined. It takes intense concentration and you feel like you are sitting down for work when you open a book. A normally relaxing hobby can easily turn into a chore if you’re not careful. I use the techniques I learned when I read, but I only push them hard when I am trying to practice. If I push them hard all the time, I cannot retain all of what I am reading and it feels like work.
I imagined speed reading as something like a switch you could turn on and off. I was way off the mark here. I’m glad I learned it, but it takes a lot of practice to really speed up your reading and keep it up.
It turns out I’m not the only one looking into speed reading. One of my readers/sister-in-law (thank you Kendria!) sent me this article about a new speed reading app that looks VERY promising and super cool. I’ll be following this company over the coming months as they prepare to launch!
As for my goal of learning to speed read – CHECK!
Build a TV Stand
I am going to replace all of the “cookie-cutter” furniture in my living room with hand-made pieces that I build. My coffee table was finished in 2012, and my TV stand is next on the list.
I gave myself until May 1st to complete this, so I’ve still got about a month. Fortunately, I already acquired an old pallet so the project is underway. I see some bumps in the road ahead, but this is going to be a fun, creative ordeal that I am really looking forward to finishing in my spare time.
This is one of my favorite goals because it forces me to use my hands and it engages my creative side. I have to solve problems and build a piece of art, not something I do regularly. We all need some of this creativity in our lives.
What have you done for your creative self lately?
Write an eBook
One of my life-long goals is to publish a book. In order to publish a physical book I need some practice writing (hence the blog) and publishing. So the next logical step is to publish an eBook on a topic I know and understand.
If I charge anything for the book, it will be a nominal fee. Or it might be a trade for someone’s email address so I can stay in touch with them.
Writing, I’m good with. But taking on a book is a much longer process, long form is a different game than short form like I practice here on the blog. I’m also not a huge fan of editing, as many of you know.
I gave myself until June 1st so I still have some time to complete this too. It’s been mostly brainstorming and scribbling on paper. You’ll hear more about it in the coming months. If you have some ideas or thoughts on what YOU would like to read, feel free to go to the suggestion box and drop me a note, I always love to hear from readers!
Complete a Sprint Triathlon
This is another goal that is still on the horizon, but I have done some research and I’ll be signing up for one a sprint triathlon in either June or July. The county park near my house holds races there every summer and I’m looking forward to the warmer weather so I can begin training outside again!
Monetize the Blog
Although I gave myself until October 5th to make this a reality, I’ve technically already done it. I am what’s called an Amazon Affiliate. Meaning when I post links to Amazon.com for book recommendations, products, or just the homepage they keep track of that. If you purchase something while on Amazon, they give me credit and I earn a small commission for it.
Earlier in March, I received my first commission for $1.09! WOOHOO Goal (technically) accomplished!
The structure will change as the year goes on to improve clicks, but the affiliate program is the simplest way for me to make money. It’s also not a “get rich quick” type of activity.
Know that any of the links you see on my site are affiliate links and I will get paid if you follow them. Thanks for supporting my writing addiction!
Read 40 Books
I am going to read 40 books this year, more than I have in the past 2+ years combined! I’m off to a great start and I’ve ripped through 10 already: 6 physical books (above) and 4 audio books (below). This doesn’t count a couple of shorter eBooks and all the blog articles I keep up with.
I feel great about this, but I am learning that it takes a ton of commitment to be a dedicated reader. But now that am committed, I love it and can never go back!
Recommendations List:
1.) David and Goliath
2.) The Ultimate Sales Machine
3.) Leaders Eat Last
4.) The Rise of Superman
I’ll let you read the descriptions since this post is quite lengthy, but each of these are great reads that I would highly recommend each. The Ultimate Sales Machine is very technical so if you’re not into sales or marketing, it probably won’t be to your liking. It’s not that the others were bad, I just took the most from these and enjoyed them most.
One of the reasons I wanted to learn to speed read was so I could get through more books, faster. I’ve been able to do that, but it’s not just due to the speed reading techniques. It seems quite obvious, but in order to be a reader, you must commit time to it.
I spend 15-60 minutes each day reading. The two most important times are right when I wake up (devotional type reading) to get my brain warmed up, and right before I go to bed (biography of some sorts) to calm my mind. If I have time I’ll get a few pages in during the day to recharge.
Nothing replaces sitting down and committing to a piece of literature, not even speed reading. But that’s OK, I don’t mind it now. This goal won’t be accomplished for some time, but I’m well on my way!
If you are interested in any of these books, feel free to reach out to me or tweet me. And I’m always up for your recommendations to keep my “to-read” list growing!
Reading in itself has been a pleasure. The journey towards the goals are what makes this practice of setting them come alive. It’s great to check things off your list, I love that feeling. But when you pick the right things to go after, your journey itself can be the reward.
How are your goals for 2014 going?
What have you checked off?
What have you learned?
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I look forward to hearing from you, have a great rest of the week!
