Sunday, January 1, 2012

2011 Goal Recap and Looking Ahead in 2012













Happy New Year 2012!!

When I posted this Sunday morning I didn't include a recap of my 2011 goals.  After checking out one of my favorite sites Sunday evening, I decided I was short changing you guys and missing a valuable opportunity to go over last years goals as well.  So without further adieu, here is an update to my post listing last years goals along with an update on my results:

Continue with the Come Into My Trading Room book with the ultimate goal being able to work from anywhere by trading;  Continue to network with seasoned traders on places like SpikeTrade.com;  This goal was successful.  I completed the book and I didn't even realize the 2nd half was part of my goals until I looked back.  I think I might have gone back and updated the goal sometime during the year, because I did network with one of the elite traders from the group and we interacted and worked on some trading strategies electronically.  I will be continuing with this goal in 2012. 

Continue on the Dave plan, fully funding our Roth IRAs before April 15 for 2010 and throughout the year for 2011.   This goal is complete.  We did both throughout the year and will continue to do so going forward.

Continue Cash for Cardio program $3/mi with ½ going to charity; Work up to 5k by May.  This one I didn't complete or follow through with fully.  We did compete in and finish a 5K in May and I met my goal of getting under a 12 minute mile, but the giving $ to charity based on my miles completed didn't really happen in that way.  We did give more $ to various people and causes than prior years, but it wasn't specifically tied to my cardio.  So I'll give myself a partial completion on that one. 

Be positive and grateful and appreciative every day; Visualize  This one is kinda subjective, not specific and measurable like the link to the other site above states, but this is something that I think I do manage to do several times a day, usually in the morning and in the evening for sure and at other times during the day occasionally.  Basically it's just being thankful for the things you love in life and saying so inside your head. 

And also, if something bad happens during the day that you don't like, try and take something positive from it.  A prime example was on Sunday afternoon, we were watching the Bills/Patriots play with our Bills Backers group to end the season and we were kicking some butt early on....things quickly went sour in the 2nd half and there was this one lady and her husband in a booth by themselves.  She had a Steelers shirt on and her husband a Patriots shirt, so she must have just been rooting against the Bills.  All of a sudden when the Patriots started to turn things around and were kicking our butt, this %&$# lady was cheering/laughing/cackling and doing EVERYTHING possible to rub it in, but not at all in a funny way.  If she was having fun with it and being funny about it, no one would have cared, but this was just a plain very mean spirited person.  To cut it short, what I learned from that experience was to try and NEVER be like her.  I know what that felt like and everyone was literally wanting to inflict physical harm on her, so I want to make sure not to do that.  In the past I have posted on Facebook when a team like the Patriots loses and it brings me great pleasure, but I will instead cheer silently or in the comfort of my own home but will try NOT to do that in a way it will piss other people off.  So there, positive lesson learned. 

Continue to strive to experience at least one new thing every other week;  This is something we've had for the last 2-3 years and it never ends up happening in the way I was thinking.  By something new I mean like maybe you do a zip line, or experience a new restaurant, or go to a new park, etc.  This is one I will be taking off our list.  We will strive to do new things when the opportunity presents it, but I'm going to remove it as a goal. 

Get to the driving range to use new clubs and maybe take a lesson or two;  I did get to the driving range at least 2 times, maybe 3, but no lesson.

For 2012 I mentioned some goals subjectively below, but since this post is MUCH longer now, I will create a new post with specific and measurable goals here to hold myself accountable.

I'd really like to hear if you created goals and how you did last year and what your goals are for 2012. 

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The original post was as follows...

Saturday the wifey and I got to talking when we were hanging out at the beach enjoying the nice weather.  If you recall from a few prior blog posts we were thinking we might want to relocate to the Tampa area sometime in the next 2-3 years.  Well, after our exploration trip over Thanksgiving and some time to contemplate things, we've decided that we are no longer interested in doing that.  We really enjoy vacationing there, but we decided that we like where we are and really don't want to make a relocation move.

That is actually a bit of a relief.  I've felt we have been out of sync a bit over the last few months.  We've both had a bunch of different ideas going on as far as what we might want to do, where we might want to go and really it's all been swirling around in my head but I haven't felt focused on any one thing.  When I'm not focused I tend to bounce from one idea to the next, not really making good progress on any one thing. 

We decided we made it through the introductory 5 year trial period for outsiders entering Florida and now that we're at the 8.5 yr mark there are a lot of things we like about where we are and the things we don't like we've dealt with this long and can live with.  That doesn't mean we might not change our mind someday, but for the near term we're happy where we are with no plans to change that. 

Another thing we discussed was my blog post from Friday about the NetWorth/Financial Recap.  It was good our NetWorth increased and that we significantly increased our investment levels at the beginning of the year, but we still weren't where we wanted to be.  The wifey has also been attending school part time, so that's a portion of our expenses as well.  But we got to talking and decided that we wanted to cut back on expenses as well.  Initially we could make some easy changes like drinking water instead of soda when we eat out for lunch and could cut back some on the amount we eat out in 2012.  We had also planned to possibly go watch a movie Monday and cut that out of our plans as well, so we're focused!

I again feel good that we're both in sync on that goal as well and really feel good overall for 2012!  I am very focused on bringing in more $ by setting up some niche web sites and driving traffic to those sites over time.  I have several different ideas and registered two domain names and am about to cancel an $11 monthly fee to pay for my $3.95 monthly web hosting account.  Another example of making cuts to one thing to bring in more $ longer term elsewhere.

For 2012 I'm focused on continuing to make progress on my SpikeTrade.com trading account where I make a stock pick each week to try and beat the top performers and hone my trading skills.  In addition, my primary focus will be to work on my niche site ideas to bring in more $ as well.

On a recreational note we're planning our annual week long getaway this year and contemplating a few different ideas.  The wifey found a California Coastal Cruise that goes from LA to Santa Barbara, San Francisco, San Diego and Ensenda Mexico.  Seems like a neat option.  We've wanted to hit up those cities and that might be a perfect way to do it.  Surprisingly airfare on Airtran actually is pretty cheap from here to ATL to LAX.  Sounds like a definite possibility. 

In addition we're looking forward to a becoming an aunt/uncle for my sister Jen's new arrival MAX sometime in February!  My Gma also turns 90 in February and there will be a BDay bash sometime in the summer in NY for that and hopefully lots more good/fun stuff ahead!  

So things are on track and exactly how I like to start out a new year, with a new focus and enthusiasm for what is ahead!  I hope you had a great 2011 and more importantly will have a fantastic 2012!  Let's do this!

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