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As the second quarter of 2018 ends, I thought it would be wise to check on the progress of my yearly goals. Unfortunately, lots of “fails”. Take a read, and help keep me accountable!
FINANCIAL
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GROW NET-WORTH (EXCLUDING MY HOME AND 529 PLANS) BY 25%.
Fail
Through the first six months of this year, I have increased my net-worth by 5.01%. By this time of the year, I had hoped to increase my net-worth by at least 12.5% in order to stay on track. However unfortunately, that hasn’t happened.
I do realize that a lot of that has to do with the choppiness of the stock market, as it’s up a measly 1% year-to-date. However, I was hoping that some of my side hustles, like my Reaching FIRE course, would offset some of the volatility of the stock market. Enrollment for the course is steady, but it definitely has not offset the difference thus far.
Hopefully, the market will take off soon so that we have a better second half than we did in the first half.
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SAVE 70% OF OUR TAKE-HOME PAY.
Fail
We slipped down to 58% for the year as we prepaid for a couple of vacations that we will take later this year. Because of that, I’m hoping that the second half of the year will be less expensive than the first half. But, we all know how that normally doesn’t happen. It also probably doesn’t help that I really haven’t made any changes to my budget from last year.
I know that if I stopped going out to eat lunch during the work week that I could get over the 65% hump, but as I have mentioned before, I use that time to unplug from the office and enjoy a tasty meal. It’s a splurge, and a costly one at times.
REACHING FIRE
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INCREASE PARTICIPANTS OF THE COURSE.
Pass
As many of you know, I created a course last year called Reaching FIRE. I put a tremendous amount of effort into creating this course from scratch. I piloted the class this past fall and spring and received really encouraging feedback.
Right now, I am in talks to potentially hold it church-wide this upcoming fall and have even been approached about having others teach it at their churches. If you’re also interested in teaching, let me know, and I can give you some additional material.
BLOG
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MAINTAIN VIEWERSHIP OF 100,000 PAGE VIEWS.
Fail
I have only achieved 100,000 page views once in six months. However, I am continuing to hover around the 70,000 page view mark so far this year. Seems like in the summertime, people are more interested in vacation and relaxation rather instead of reading finance blogs. I totally understand. 🙂
Firstly, I want to thank all of those who read and comment on the blog regularly. I love reading your comments and appreciate you taking the time to read my thoughts.
Finally, 70,000 page views is really amazing, but I am hoping to utilize some more tricks of the trade this upcoming year, like SEO and some other tips, in order to drive traffic. We’ll see how it goes.
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MAKE $1,000 A MONTH THROUGH THE WEBSITE.
Fail
I’m making about $400 a month through the website at this point, which is less than the $500 I was making per month during the first three months. As I mentioned before, people haven’t been reading as much this summer season, so less views = less revenue.
I’m hoping to do some more advertising with my Reaching FIRE course to help make up some of the difference, in addition to doing more paid one-on-one coaching sessions.
PERSONAL
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WORK OUT 4X A WEEK AND GET A SIX-PACK.
Fail
This is probably my biggest fail. In the past, I was pretty dedicated to regularly going to the gym and working out.
Now… ugh.
I’ve been reading Tim Ferriss’ book, Tools of Titans. As a result, I have been inspired to incorporate one exercise move a day, even if I’m not able to work out for an hour. One of his tips was doing one push up before you go to bed.
I’m thinking that if I can do one, then I can do two, and then, I could compound that number such that I have a nice little bedtime workout routine.
However, I still haven’t started that yet.
Hopefully, I have a better update in October.
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TRY TO OBTAIN AN OVERSEAS POSITION.
Holding Pattern
As many of you know, I have been a bit wishy-washy these past few months. There were some days that I was totally gung-ho on going overseas. Then on other days, I had no desire because I would miss my family too much.
Right now, I am leaning towards staying close to all of our family, which may make this a goal that I need to remove at some point.
For the record though, I was setting myself up nicely to go overseas, so I was hopeful to succeed.
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MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN 12 LIVES.
Pass
I think I have accomplished this so far. I taught the Reaching FIRE course this past spring. The feedback that I received was encouraging and led me to believe that I made some impact on their lives. So halfway through the year, I am definitely reaching this goal.
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PRAY WITH MY FAMILY EVERYDAY.
Pass
This is a borderline pass. My wife and I pray every night with our oldest son, who is two years old. While that’s a pass, my wife and I are normally so exhausted that most nights that it’s a miracle if we have time to talk before we pass out.
However, with that said, we have been making a concerted effort to pray together (sans kids) before bed these past few weeks. Hopefully we can keep it up.
Gosh, is it the 3rd qtr already? You are having a great year. Thanks for sharing all of the progress you are making. You have many different projects going on. You manage them all very well.
Dave recently posted…The Rule of 72
Looks like a mostly successful year for you. So far so good for us with all metrics on track. But we have some major changes on the horizon so we’ll see. The last half of the year is always so unpredictable.
FullTimeFinance recently posted…The Grasshopper and Chengdu China
Those are some inspiring goals you have there.
Thanks for making me feel like a terrible person.
CJ recently posted…How to Pick the Best Pension Plan For You
70,000 page views is definitely nothing to sneeze at. You put out really great content on a consistent basis. I always love visiting your site, Rob.
Things slow down a bit in the summer for pretty much everyone. I’m sure you’ll bounce back in those areas. Congrats on all the passes so far! 🙂
Simple Money Man recently posted…How And Why Should I Diversify?
Thanks for this post. It’s refreshing to read another persons successes and failures. On a personal note, you made a difference in my life this year by doing our case study. Thanks for that. You and your reader’s comments have been very helpful in steering our financial ship in the right direction. You also inspired me to start my own blog (rethinkredorepair.wordpress.com). Best of luck to you next quarter.
Minor league-Pro tip: The exercise stuff gets a bit better once the little ones are over two, and even better from there. Having a 5 and 3-year-old has allowed us to get back to a more “regular” exercise routine- not to mention see friends, etc (my wife affectionately calls those years baby prison). Your right, those years are exhausting and they feel like forever, but do get better.
Great job! Quick question. Do you go out to eat every day and are you doing it with co-workers?
70,000 page views is still pretty awesome! I still have a long way to go to get anywhere near that.
Mike @ Budget Kitty recently posted…How Does A 401k Work (In Plain English)
Congrats on the success of your course!
I think 70k a month is pretty awesome, especially considering your blog is relatively new too. Do you set up an LLC for your blog to write of business expenses or do you report it as a side hustle? I’ve been thinking about how I should report my blog income once I monetize my sight. 🙂
Ms. Frugal Asian Finance recently posted…Are House Repairs Bad For Marriage?
I don’t see this as a failure at all. I see the fails as “in progress.” I don’t think it is unrealistic to make major changes, such as some of your goals, in a short period of time. Just keep working at them. You’ll get there, so stay aggressive and stay focused!
Bert
Dividend Diplomats recently posted…Lanny’s Recent Stock Purchase – Starbucks (SBUX)
You are doing great MSM and even though it looks like you are taking a little bit of a break, I know you’ll be back 🙂
You are doing great my friend. I wish that one day I will be able to see 70,000 page views. One thing I’ve learned from other bloggers is to never allow discouragement to take over. You’re multi-tasking and you still have time to pray which is awesome. Keep on pushing.
John Morris recently posted…SoFi Vs Earnest
Don’t be too hard on yourself, it’s hard to achieve goals when you depend on so many unknown factors. To achieve the few you have is good going. We regularly set portfolio goals but ultimately there’s so many factors you cannot control which impact. The beauty of the goals long term however is they set you in the right direction. They may not be achieved when you watch them each day but over the weeks, months and years it’s surprising how many come to fruition – particularly in the game of investing – which is a long game.
I feel the same way about an overseas job. I’m interested just a for a change of pace and to shake things up a bit for a couple years. Where do you look? Are you finding the applications ask if you need a visa? That’s where I am. I thought since my company had overseas offices, it would be easier but they still need you to have a visa.
Great post MSM. I love all of the goals that you set for yourself. Your run one of the most organized blogs that I have come across. Really enjoy reading! Congrats on the “passes” and good luck with the “fails.”
I love these progress reports in the blogging journey, because
1. it’s transparent
2. builds rapport with readers
3. honest on what works, what doesn’t
4. the passes and fails makes increases credibility
You’re doing fantastic in just a few years! I still your early comment to me when we first started blogging in early 2016. I am impressed with people who build ecourses because it’s so much unpaid labour in the beginning and has to really drive value for the consumer to be a sellable product. And that’s just the beginning before marketing efforts. But it’s definitely rewarding to have something you created from nothing into something to impact a lot of people!
Cheers
Saving 58% of take-home pay is a dream for most people including me. Keeping 20% of a salary is not even doable for a lot of people. Before we purchased our house, we were saving about 50% of our salary. With our mortgage, we’re lucky to save 35%.
The simple fact that you are holding yourself accountable by sharing your goals and results is great. You’re pushing yourself and your readers to do more, plan more and achieve more. Even if you’ve failed on some goals, you still did a lot more than if you didn’t plan anything and you made progress in all areas so congrats on that.
I am excited for your next recap which should be along shortly, no?
Saving 58% of your take home pay is great, but I can see why you’d want to save 70%, that would be amazing!
Wes recently posted…Start this Weekend | 10 Ways to Become More Self-Sufficient
My main goal this year was to save £40,000 into my tax free ISA stocks and shares account. So far I’m at £10,000. That’s some serious catching up to do!
MSM,
You’ve listed a lot of very worthy ideals. Glad to see things are going well for you in your life.
Don’t be too harsh on yourself with the “Fail” grades. The market, for one thing, can be highly volatile and that’s a tough one to hold yourself accountable to.
Glad to see your course is gaining traction.
Take care,
Ryan
Hey Rob, if you’re still around I hope you come back to blogging. You did great work and seemed right on the verge of making good money. Good luck either way!
Mike – Budget Kitty recently posted…Google Opinion Rewards Review – Easy Money!
Do you know I think you have done really well I’d substitute the word fail for ‘work in prgress’
becky recently posted…How to save money quickly