Revisiting 2011 Goals – Final Results

 

Setting goals is extremely important for me. When I started this blog, I wanted to set some goals to keep my self accountable. Setting goals is one thing, however it’s even more important to evaluate your performance toward those goals so that you can understand where you can improve and where you excelled.

To fully understand your goals, it is key to understand the four W’s of goal setting:

1. What went right…
2. What went wrong…
3. Why? and…
4. Whats next?

I’m fairly satisfied with my 2011 goals. Even though I met a lot of my goals, some I did okay with and others I completely failed.

Here’s a recap of my goals from one year ago, what I learned and where I stand now.

Financial Goals

Eliminate $3,000 CC Debt:

Totally crushed this goal in exactly one year. Anytime you’re battling to get out of debt, it’s a total uphill battle. My credit-card debt battle was no different. However, I’m proud of my end result – eliminated my credit-card debt in 347 days. Eight days shy of a full year, which is the timeline I allotted to my self to eliminate my credit-card debt elimination goal.

Eliminate $5,000 LOC Debt:

I knew when I set this goal it was going to be tough to achieve. I would have to eliminate my credit-card debt and my LOC debt, for a total of $8,000 debt elimination. Sadly, I did not accomplish this goal. In fact, I failed miserably, as I did not even scratch the surface of the $5,000 debt. Definitely on top of my to do list for 2012. More on that in the future.

$5,000 Savings Fund:

Much like the $5K LOC debt, this was a tough one to achieve. Savings is one funny aspect, that at times you’re so into it and other times you’re coasting. Sadly, I coasted too many times. Last year I only saved $3K. Not bad I suppose, however I wish I fully accomplished this goal.

Earn extra $6K with business:

I’m proud to say that I crushed this goal. In 2011 I earned just over $18K on the side (outside of my full-time job). The earnings are spread between my two businesses – cleaning business and blogging. Even though I’m not huge on revealing my blogging income, business income or personal income, I do try to share small snippets throughout different articles.

Create a $2,000 emergency fund:

This goal I truly coasted through. I basically set aside $100/month and in the end saved a total of $1,000. At one point of time, I had just over $1,300 in the account, but ended up spending $300 on non-emergency stuff. Now that I look back, I’m not impressed that I dipped into the savings, however I reached my goal by exactly what I put into it – half assing it.

Personal Goals

Go on Vacation:

I crushed this one as well. I guess that’s why some of my financial goals lacked a little. In 2011 I ended up going to four trips in total, some were short in the backyard trips, while others were further away. I spent a week in Mexico, a weekend in Chicago, a weekend in NYC and a weekend in Montreal.

Read 7 Books:

As I write this post, I have read a total of 8 books this past year – which definitely surpasses my goal for 2011!

Woohoo!

I never took reading so seriously before and quite frankly I never enjoyed it as much. However, last year was a year of change. And I’m looking forward to reading even more in the New Year. I’m currently reading the autobiography of Steve Jobs.

Here’s a list of books I read in 2011:

• I will teach you to be rich – Ramit Sethi
• The 5 Love Languages – David Chapman
• The 4 Hour Body – Timothy Ferriss
• Living Large in Lean Times – Clark Howard
• Driven – Robert Hervajec
• The Wealthy Barber – David Chilton
• The Wealthy Barber Returns – David Chilton
• The Ultimate TFSA Guide – Gordon Pape

Purchase my first DSLR camera:

I achieved this goal with a pretty good deal – only paid $475 (tax in).I ended up purchasing a Canon Rebel T1i. A great camera and what a difference between the average digital camera and a DSLR camera. Sadly, I only ended up shooting four or five times I think. I just got too busy with the blog, business and life in general. Hopefully I’ll put it to greater use in 2012.

Purchase a Mac Book:

After months of researching Mac Books and as much admiration I have for Apple products, in the ended I decided not to purchase the laptop. I just couldn’t justify paying over $1,000 for a laptop which I mostly use for writing on the road. However, I did purchase a new laptop. Scored a pretty solid deal too – I think.

How about you be the judge!

Purchase Price: $475 (tax in)

Acer Aspire

Intel Core i3 2.2GHz

13″ screen – ultra thin laptop

4GB DDR 3 Ram

750 GB HD

6 cell Li-ion battery (over 8hrs on a single charge)

Weight: 4.5 lbs

Coach kids soccer:

I’ve been around the game of soccer since I was ten years old. I had the pleasure to play on some fairly competitive teams and fairly high leagues. Years ago (six to be exact), I got into coaching. I started with 9 year old boys. In my first year of coaching, we ended up winning it all. Talk about motivation.

I coached 11 year old boys this previous year.

The year was good, but we did not win the championship. However, many memories were made and more importantly for me, it was another goal to scratch off of my list.

Professional Goals:

Keep resume up to date:

This goal I squeezed in towards the end of the year. I got in touch with someone, who’s not only a solid contact, but who helped me get my resume up to date. In fact, she’s become a good friend as well.

There was a cost associated with my resume re-creation, but totally worth it. This new friend took my resume to new heights. And I’m happy and grateful for that.

As you may know, I firmly believe that knowledge should be shared. So, in the next few months I’ve arranged a mini two part interview with her. I promise it will be juicy, with the scoop from the insider. Plus, it will give you the opportunity to introduce your self and get your resume professionally fine tuned.

2011 Overall

So that sums up my evaluation for 2011, and as I mentioned before, many unplanned things happened, both good and bad, but that’s part of life. One thing I did realize, is that going forward I need to set less, but more solid goals. Despite achieving over 80% of my goals, at times I felt stretched. I knew when I set my goals, I had a lot to accomplish. However, I didn’t want to go back and change anything. I left it as-is.

So, the goals list for 2012 will be shorter, yet more intense.

Overall, I’m extremely happy with my results and I can’t wait to share my goals for 2012.

I wish you nothing but the very best, safe, happy, healthy and profitable New Year!

Cheer-O!

Eddie