My Goals, and what this blog is about.

One of my first blog entries was about my goals, I never finished it, but below is how it started, and I will continue where I left off:

Ok, so I took this assessment a while back for work called the Task Cycle which involved me to ask 3 of my co-workers and one of my managers to complete a survey about me.  I thought the survey was kinda ridiculous it asked about 100 questions, which were all variations of the same 10 questions.  I guess this is to weed out random question answers that don’t correlate with each other, but I thought it was a little overkill.  Anyways…the results of this assessment said that I needed to work on my goal setting as well as a few other things…but goal setting is first.  So I am not going to say specific goals, short or long term but start with some things I like doing.

I’d like to start my own company for multiple reasons, not just money.  Mainly, I like to have the sense of accomplishment and the feeling that i am making an impact on the world.

I’d like to continue writing this blog so that I can document my thoughts, and experiences better.

I’d like to travel and experience as much as I can.  I like to see new places and try new things.

I want to become healthier.  I’d like to workout more consistently, becoming stronger, faster, more flexible, and endure more.

I want to be successful in my career, prove myself and be respected in my position.  This also would lead to more responsibility and hopefully more pay, funding my business or other financial endeavors.

I want to be financially sound, to enable me to do what I want easier, such as learning to weld, blow glass, fix cars, build things, scuba dive more, everything.

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So the above is a high level view of the world, seem more like wishes than they are goals.  I think I need to prioritize my goals, and make some sub goals along with them.

1. Buy a house – I have been wanting to do this for a while, and I am really close, just a matter of time, but I’ll list the sub goals too.
a. Save up for a down payment (3% done)
b. Talk to a broker about getting a loan (done, all is good)
c. Talk with real estate agent about houses (done)
d. Find a house (found a few, still looking though)
e. Make an offer (made some, making more still)
f.  Finish closing and move in (Goal is by Feb, preferably Jan)

2. Be Successful in my career
a. Work hard, and be efficient while at work (daily)
b. Look for opportunities to expand and grow (daily)
c. Ensure that my goals are aligning with the goals of the Team (weekly)
d. Communicate with my manager about my progress and ensure I am performing as expected (monthly)

3. Become Financially Sound
a. Own a house so my money isn’t thrown away from rent (goal 1)
b. Get a roommate so I don’t have the burden of all the mortgage (1 month after buy house)
c. Save at least 10% of my paycheck for investments (SPP contribution)
d. Look for alternative sources of income
i. Write down a potential source of income and what I did to achieve it every month
ii. Talk to at least one person a month outside work about making money with them
e. Change my mental state on how much money I should be making a year, should be more than it is now. (immediate)

4. Work toward my goals on a daily basis.
a. Read my goals daily, and reflect what I did well and what I could do better.
b. Tell others my goals, and set hard deadlines, so that I work toward them more rigorously.
c. Have smaller goals that I can accomplish on a daily basis, eventually big things will come.

5. Become Healthier
a. Eat less fast food, once a week (this will be easier when I get a house)
b. Work out 3 times a week at least (need to get use of that gym membership)
c. Work toward fitness goals outlined in Men’s Health, (make blog post on that alone)

6. Expand my Skills/knowledge
a. Learn a new skill outside of work every couple months: Like Scuba, Welding, Building a Calcium Reactor, Microcontroller Projects, etc.
b. Read a book every couple months on a topic that will improve me mentally.
c. Travel to see and experience new things, at least once a year.

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I think those goals will be very attainable, and will continue to make myself a better person.  I intend to post more frequently, hopefully on things which will be on this goals list, as I also hope that the majority of things I do will be on this goals list in one way or another.  If it isn’t I probably shouldn’t be doing it.  That’s all I have to say for now.  -James