I have thought long and hard about my goals for 2019. I talked to a number of people about how they think of goals, how many they will create, and whether they are monthly, quarterly, or yearly. As you might imagine, there is no consensus!
My list this year is a nice split between big rocks and tactical goals. My big rocks are business related and are steps along a journey. I am not sure how I will achieve them. I have ideas and will adjust along the way. My tactical goals are more personal.
Goals
Generate at least $1k in revenue from Make Life Great, Inc.
- Measure: The $1k must come from selling something. I expect that it will come from a mobile application (Beer Hiker, Walk and Wine, etc.). It could also come from an ebook, course, or advertising on my podcast.
- Rationale: I want to turn Make Life Great into a real business. This is an important step as I will want to generate $15-20k in 2020.
Build a community of >500 subscribers to Develop Great Managers
- Measure: This is a count of unique individuals (no double counting) from the developgreatmanagers.com mailing list, Develop Great Managers podcast subscribers or follows/likes from any Develop Great Managers social media page.
- Rationale: A community, as opposed to a transactional relationship, is important to grow the value of Develop Great Managers.
Reduce my golf index by 2
- Measure: I have an NCGA index as of 1/1/2019 of 17.5. Sometime during 2019, my NCGA index needs to be 15.5 or lower (ideally through the end of the year:)).
- Rationale: I enjoy golf but enjoy it more when I play well. To get my index to drop, I will have to play a number of good rounds!
Gain 5 pounds (of muscle)
- Measure: I will set the new target on 1/5/2019. I want to exit 2019 5 pounds heavier (and I want that weight to be muscle!).
- Rationale: I am doing this because I lost weight in 2018. I work out a lot but am still losing muscle. I would like to do my best to reverse that trend.
Do at least 1 Epic hike
- Measure: There is no clear definition of an epic hike. I view it as one that is long (10+ miles), hard and listed online as a “must do” hikes.
- Rationale: I like this goal as it keeps me training. More importantly, I love hiking, and hikes like this make me feel good about myself.
Get to know 10 new people socially
- Measure: 10 people that I don’t know today that I am comfortable doing things with socially by the end of the year.
- Rationale: I want to grow my social network outside of work (as I am stopping work).
Here are a few things that I could list as goals but view them more as supportive of the goals above.
- Fully retire from VMware
- Launch my Develop Great Managers podcast
- Hike a lot – 500 miles (that is ~10 miles/week)
- Get control of the cost of being retired
Now to get the systems in place to track these!
H1 2019 Update
Now that half of the year is over, and as part of holding myself accountable, I wanted to provide an update. Based on this, some of the goals are complete. Woohoo!! Others still have a ways to go, and one does not even have a plan.
Here is the status.
| Goal | Status |
| $1k Revenue | Red – No Plan, decided against hiking and climbing apps |
| >500 Subscribers | Green – >425 today, most coming from DGM Facebook page |
| Golf Index Reduced by 2 | Green – 17.5 -> 16.1 and trending down |
| Gain 5+ Pounds Muscle | Red – No Change, eating more and lifting, but hiking is burning too many calories |
| Do At Least 1 Epic Hike | Green – Two Planned (Machu Picchu and Grand Canyon Rim to Rim |
| Add 10+ Friends | Yellow – Gaining friends, but the process is slow (for friends, not just acquaintances) |
I also had some supporting goals. Here is the status of those.
| Goal | Status |
| Fully Retire | Done! – As of February 4 |
| Launch Podcast | Done -Already on episode 21 |
| Hike 500+ Miles | Yellow – Best I can tell, I have hiked around 200 miles so far |
| Get Retirement Costs Under Control | Done – Although I think this is a continual thing, think that we have a good understanding now |
H2 2019 Update
Now that the year is over, here is the final result!
| Goal | Status |
| $1k Revenue | Gain 5+ Pounds of Muscle |
| >500 Subscribers | Done – >900 for the year, most coming from DGM Facebook page |
| Golf Index Reduced by 2 | Not Achieved – 17.5 -> 16.3. I was as low as 13.4 during the year but gradually climbed back up to where I am today. Bummer. |
| Gain 5+ Pounds Muscle | Not achieved – No Change, ate more, lifted more, but long hikes/cardio won out and remained the same weight. |
| Do At Least 1 Epic Hike | Done – Did Machu Picchu and Grand Canyon Rim to Rim in one day (for the second time)! |
| Add 10+ Friends | Done – I met lots of people at La Rinconada Golf Course as well as met or reconnected with others. |
0 Comments