Did You Meet Your Goals For 2007?
The end of the year is always a good time for me to reflect on the goals I’ve set for myself throughout year. Setting goals seems to be something I’ve always done. Yep, I even did it as a child. Of course my goals then are a lot different from the ones I try to achieve now however they were still important to me and I remember feeling a since of pride when I accomplished them.
Actively working towards something has always encouraged me to do my best. It gave me a clear vision of what I wanted to fulfill, and the goal was something I had researched and known that fulfilling it was within my reach. I owe a lot of my success to having a well thought out plan. Usually, I’ve met all the goals for myself but sometimes I have fallen short. It feels great reviewing what I’ve fulfilled, and I also learn a lot by reviewing the goals that I didn’t achieve.
December 6, 2007 makes a year that I’ve been working for myself full-time. The goal I set for myself last year, even before I made the leap to working for myself full time was simple. I didn’t want to go back working for someone else. I guess I could say I’m fortunate, that’s definitely part of the reason I’m still working for myself; however, the main reason is I adequately planned for it.
Freelance Writing
Another big goal I had set for myself was to start freelance writing. Well that was hard for me although I enjoy writing I don’t think of myself as a “writer” getting past that obstacle that I had built for myself was challenging but I moved forward and although it’s near the end of the year I’ve taken on a few projects as a freelance writer. I actively sought out a few “real writers” and many of them have been supportive but I wasn’t dependent on them. Realizing they have lives like myself I knew I couldn’t use them as a crutch. I could not base my performance on them.
As myself most people are busy and I knew these writers wouldn’t be able to devote a lot of time to hold my hand through the beginning stages of the freelance writing process and so I took the initiative and ventured out into the great unknown, exploring, making mistakes and coming away with a lot more knowledge. Guess what much of the information I was looking for could be found on the internet! Imagine that! ;-)
A few days ago I sat thinking about the ways I could offer my services as a freelance writer. The more I thought about it. The more I realized the answer was connected with Vegan Momma. I receive a lot of solicitations from people, on a weekly basis, who want to advertise on my website. Many websites I actually enjoy but their products, mostly, don’t match what I write about. I know that’s shocking since I write about almost anything. Two days ago I approached a few of them, via email, seeing whether they needed writers for their websites. Guess what? Some of them actually did, and I’ve received more freelance work.
Many failed “projects” that I have encountered have come from lack of research and planning. I don’t receive too many of them now because I’m extremely thorough and long before I reveal an idea to others I’ve examined it repeatedly in my mind. I don’t get discouraged by “blocks”. I never like that term. I like to think of it as a breakthrough. Sometimes it can be difficult, but I’ve realized if I have a positive attitude and actively think of way I can move forward whether in the same direction or on another path not only have I triumphed, but I’ve gained added experience in dealing with my obstacles.
One of the main reasons businesses fails is that the people don’t have an effective business plan. If you think about it this can be applied to other areas besides business. Think about the goals that you’ve set. Did you plan for them accordingly and did you continually push yourself if you didn’t initially succeed?
Question: Did you set any goals for 2007? Have you met them?
[tags]freelance writing, resolutions, positive thinking[/tags]
on December 16th, 2007 at 7:04 pm
Only had one real goal this year: not to work! :roll:
Seriously, I planned to take off at least a year and my last day of actual work was January 12. I made it through the end of the year and I’m not actively pursuing employment, so it looks like I’m going to make that goal easily. :wink:
Mike’s last blog post..An Interesting Story of the Civil War
on December 16th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
Mike,
I want to be like you when I grow up. It’s good that you can retire and not have to go back to work unfortunately some people do. I don’t plan on being one of those people. I’m saving/investing now. My goal is to retire in my late 40’s or early 50’s. We’ll see. Of course I’ll still be working but I won’t have to if I don’t want to. :razz:
on December 16th, 2007 at 8:00 pm
That is SO true Opal, planning is crucial to the success of any venture/goal. And having a back-up plan…..very important. I learned that the hard way but I learned it!!!!
Now I need to start thinking about goals and resolutions for 2008, I think its a very good thing to do. Thanks for the inspiration. :grin:
Veggies,Crafts & Tails’s last blog post..From the needles,hook and kitchen!!!
on December 16th, 2007 at 11:49 pm
I’m still breathing and that’s an ongoing goal for me!
Seriously, though I didn’t set many goals this year for myself as I didn’t know where my health would take me. But I have been feeling like I want to make some money for myself to not feel like a leech to my husband so I’m working on a few things and may set some real goals for myself for next year. Not resolutions though, I don’t do those. Just personal goals.
teeni’s last blog post..Dear Shabby
on December 17th, 2007 at 3:45 am
teeni,
It can be hard especially when you are in those situations thinking back to times when I didn’t know what was going to happen in my future setting goals helped me in many ways. It also made me look towards another day.
In my local Earth Save chapter there was a man who had terminal cancer he’s been in remission for fifteen years now. Listening to the goals he set himself during the time when he was ill was very inspiring. He had a strong desire to overcome that obstacle and he was not going to give up without a fight. That was very impressive.
A lot of studies have been conducted on those who set goals for themselves they usually do better than those who don’t. The mind is very powerful it can work for you or against you.
If that is something you want to do think about how you are going to achieve them. There are many ways you can make money online. What works for one person might not necessarily work for another finding what works for you might be difficult but (speaking from personal experience) it is worth it.
on December 17th, 2007 at 9:04 am
This has been interesting reading, I never even knew about half of this stuff.
on December 17th, 2007 at 11:15 am
Good points! Thanks for sharing the story about the gentleman with terminal cancer. I need to hear the positive stories every so often.
teeni’s last blog post..Dear Shabby
on December 17th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
teeni,
S is a nice man I remember he said you will attract more people simply by living your life and staying positive.
Those who stand on the corner and broadcast what they are doing turn more people off. He’s a very positive soul. A continuous source of inspiration for me and others.
Because of his cancer he became vegetarian. He did a complete 360 when it came to his food habits. He started reading about what they inject factory farmed animals with so that made him wonder if that along with the processed foods he had consumed could have caused his cancer. Stats seem to think they might. Anyway he impressed me. He still does.