2008: Resolution Knockout

Man I'm getting old. Is it seriously 2008 already? It doesn't seem that long ago that I wrote my 2007 New Years Post. With that in mind, it's time to revisit the resolutions I made last year, see how I did, and make some new ones. BTW, I stole this idea last year from Tynan at Better Than Your Boyfriend. (How cool is that blog title by the way...second only to Your Daily Remedy :)

Last Years Goals (see last years post for a detailed description:

1. Become Real Estate and Investment Savy.

2. Progress in Internet Marketing.

3. Become a better musician.

4. Learn more about Social Interactions.

5. Become healthier.

Number One, I'd say I did OK on. I definitely learned a lot about investments and what it's going to take to get involved in real estate. On that front, I AM in a position to buy property, however the two issues preventing me from diving in are the current market outlook, and the fact that San Diego is a tough place to buy property (especially if it ends up being held for a relatively short time).

Also, I'm not quite as involved in the stock market as I'd like to be, but that should change soon. Financially, I'm much better off and I have a few new avenues of income which is great (and no this blog is not one of them). Despite all of my expenditures, my future savings rate looks to increase!

I'll give myself a 7/10 on this one. I'd say I had pretty lofty expectations, but also was somewhat naive considering I had just recently begun making any sort of substantial money when I wrote last year's post.

Number Two. Hmmm....well I'd say I didn't do so hot on this one. Sure, I learned some about internet marketing, namely that having a blog that doesn't focus on one central topic, isn't going to make a lot of money.

A couple of times, I considered doing some sponsored posts which can pay pretty decently, but I decided against that because I didn't want to ruin the integrity of the page. Seriously, people will STOP coming if I'm doing some ridiculous review on some "as seen on TV" product!

One of the reasons I only post once or twice a week, is that I try to focus on writing QUALITY material. I don't want to dilute this page and make it an advertising haven or personal diary of baloney that no one cares about. Only the best stories, adventures, rants, and advice make it through!

Basically, if I want to make money writing a blog, it won't be on this page. Sure it's nice when I make money and people click on the ads, but I don't write for this reason. My all time record money making day was sometime last month when I made 5 bucks in a day! I treated myself to a victory Jamba Juice :)

I'll give myself a 3/10. The effort wasn't really there.

For Number 3, I started out really slow, but recently my music has been picking up again. I've started playing guitar more, and even relearned some stuff on the piano! Last week in Alaska, I picked up my cello, and was not actually as bad as I thought I would be. I wish I had the cello here, but it's too damn big for apartment living. Overall though, most of the year was a musical failure. I improved marginally at guitar, and probably got worse at piano. 3/10

NUMBER 4!!! Finally some success. I read quite a few books on social dynamics and psychology and learned a ton! I've learned everything from neuro linguistics, to body language and actually been able to observe and apply what I've learned. I would say that I have reached a pretty accomplished level of knowledge in this area.

This is great because, despite the fact that I'm already a social butterfly, it has made going out and meeting new people that much easier and fun! It's also upped my charisma and charm to the point of being able to finnegle free cell phones and smoothies, as well as being better with the ladies (Yes, I know...hard to believe I could ANY smoother than I already was! ;)

9/10. Not much more I could've done here.

And lastly, Number 5, becoming healthier. Well, I definitely became healthier overall. I increase my exercise and cleaned up my diet. Most of this progress though, came towards the end of the year (except for the Holidays where I ate tons of awesomely tasty and unhealthy food). I'm back on the healthy wagon though, so I'm gonna try to do better this year. 6/10.

Now its time for this years goals!

1. Increase my Output. Reading Tynan's Post about effort and output helped me realize the blunder I make in overthinking and underdoing. I devote a lot of time thinking and reading about ideas without actually putting them into practice.

Part of this is because of wasted time I spend doing unproductive things that are really not that emotionally fullfilling (ie puttering around, watching TV, etc). I'm going to start producing more results and wasting less time!

2. Begin to delve into the world or Passive Income. Easier said than done. After reading The Four Hour Workweek though, I realized how awesome it is to work as little as possible to make the most money. One of the ways to do this is to automate things, and have money (and people) work FOR you. I'm the boss, instructions are given, and money comes in. This is gonna be a hard one, but I'll give it the ol' Arun try.

3. Make long term goals clearer. Ideally, I'd love to have a little business going that eventually makes me ridiculously rich. However, until I get that genius idea, I need to get a clear picture of my options down the road. I'm pretty sure I want to get an MBA either way, as having business savy NEVER hurts. This means I'm going to have to make some progress this year towards that eventual accomplishment.

4. Become Healthier. Ahh yes...the old staple. I found some great foods this year that are tasty, filling, AND healthy! Now they're gonna become thoroughly integrated into my daily diet as well as some new excercise routines. This year WILL BE the healthiest one yet!

Four goals for the year. They're all pretty general, but all very attainable. It's time to step it up, and pass every one! You should do the same! List your goals somewhere, and hold yourself accountable! There's really no excuse not to do this, and writing them down (and in my case, making them public) is a great motivator.