Monthly Goal Update: January 2017



I've committed to tracking the progress of my goals on a monthly basis. These posts have been inconsistent in previous years, so I plan on recording 12 of these for 2017. 

I record these videos to keep myself accountable and show others how I've gone from A to B. I hope in time, I can help to inspire people to become accountable for their goals too.

Dr. Gail Matthews conducted a study that found you're 39.5% more likely to achieve your goals if you write them down. She also found that if you send progress reports to others - friends, mentors, coaches, accountability partners etc. you were 76.7% more likely to achieve those goals. 

Writing them down significantly weighs the odds of success in your favour, but providing regular updates almost doubles the chances of success. 

I have 9 Goals for 2017. They're spread across different areas of my life. Each month I record an update video charting my progress. 

Let's get to it!

1. I will easily create and launch an online course by 31st December 2017.

This is my priority goal for the year. If I fail all others and achieve this, I'll be delighted!
I'm continuing to make progress on a daily basis on this one. At the moment I'm writing up lesson objectives and making sure the whole thing flows. Hopefully in the net 10-14 days, I'll finish that job. I plan on recording and uploading Module 1 onto the website to see how it all works. 

I asked for testers, and they came! I've agreed to offer lifetime membership to 20 people who put their names forward. Now I just need to make the course. Having people wait for it is reassuring and helps to put a bit of the right type of pressure on me to keep going. 

So far so good on this goal!


2. I will easily set up a charitable fund, promote it on my Blog, and donate 10% of my course profits to ‘Building Schools For Africa’ by 31st December 2017.

I wouldn't say I have a fund as such. I have a savings account where I'm storing the money. At the end of this month the total stands at £1,069. Just the £19,000 to go! :-)

I've had two people reach out and offer donations which is awesome. I'm currently working on setting up a more official receipt / donation slip to provide to people who wish to donate. Currently, it's just a case of sending me money. I'd like it to be a little more formal, as it involves people's money. 

I've set up a page on this very blog, I've written a post about the fund, and I just need to release the course in order to fund it. 

I'll continue to put my contribution allocation into this fund each month, so we've achieve this target by people buying my course, and by funding it myself. 

Another positive start for this goal. 

3. My Investment portfolio will easily pay me £6,000 (£500 per month) in income in 2017.

I want to earn enough passive income from investments (that require no work), that cover my living expenses. Now that we're mortgage free, Lou and I live on around £300-£400 per month. I would like to earn over £500 per month by the end of the year to more than cover the basic living expenses. 

This income does not include money I make from Kindle - which is also mostly passive. 

For Jan I earned £166.26 in Dividends and £184 from Saving Stream and MoneyThing, producing a combined total of £350.26. This is a solid start. By looking ahead, I should expect this to be one of my lower months for the year. 

I don't use any of this income currently. It goes right back into buying more assets, and I continue to put more money into investments each month. 

Ultimately, I would like to create a large passive income source of around £2,000 to £4,000 per month for just sitting on my arse. This total would cover a more than comfortable living expense with fun thrown in. 

I plan on living on my kindle income (and other ventures) for as long as possible to allow my passive income stream to grow to a considerable level. 

Summary - Although I'm behind on target, it's forecast as a lower paying month, so I still remain confident that I can achieve this goal by December. 


4. I will easily create and launch my new Blog with 500 email subscribers by 31st December 2017.

I'm eager to get cracking with this one, but I'm purposely holding myself back until I complete my course. I've bought the URL and I hope to get it up and running in 3-4 months. 


5. I will easily read or listen to 16 books by 31st December 2017.

I'm on track with this one so far. I've read one book. Listened to another. I'm about to finish reading a third in the next few days. 

I've thoroughly enjoyed every book I've read in 2017, and I'm enjoying my current reads. I'd happily recommend all of them. 

Completed Books:
1. ‘Screw it, let’s do it’ by Richard Branson. 
2. 'Influence' by Robert Cialdini

Currently Reading/Listening to:
3. 'The Checklist Manifesto' by Atul Gawande
4. 'Tools of Titans' by Timothy Ferriss
5. 'The Power of Habit' by Charles Duhigg

Ahead of schedule on this one. 


6. Lou and I will easily have at least one ‘date night’ a month for the whole of 2017. (12 ‘date nights' in total) 1. Jan – The Golden Ball. 

One month, one date. We went to 'The Golden Ball' a couple of weeks ago. It's a nice country pub. We've passed it a couple of times and we both decided we'd like to check it out. So we did!

This is an easy goal to achieve, whilst being an easy one to overlook. It's important for Lou and I to take time out for each other. We think this is the least we can do for each other. 

So far so good on this goal.


7. I will easily attend 3 x different clubs/classes in Cambridge area by 31st March 2017.

I set this goal, with a limited timeframe, to make me get out there and meet people. I have limited friends in the area, and I hope by putting myself out there I'll meet like-minded people. 

I've been attending Improv lessons in Cambridge, which are highly entertaining. I'd love to film them, but I can't for confidentiality reasons. 

I've booked and paid for an acrobatics and juggling course in March (with Lou). I haven't attended it yet, but I just need to turn up. I'm excited about this one!

Lou and I signed up to a gym, which I haven't done in years. We've committed to attending every morning to keep fit, spend more time together, and hopefully meet people. 

I've almost achieved this one, but I'd like to push the boat out and join more clubs to continue meeting people. Once my rib is back to rights I'll start training in MMA / BJJ which I've always wanted to try. 


8. I will easily record 52 new Youtube videos and have 2,000 Youtube subscribers by 31st December 2017. 

You've probably noticed a lot more activity than normal on this platform. I'm really enjoying Youtube, and I plan on growing my channel and developing skills along the way. 

For this actual video I started doing some editing, adding images/text and even music (which I'm not too sure about!). I had fun putting it together, and I look forward to experimenting more with my Youtube production. In order to get 2,000 subscribers, I need to put out fresh content that interests and entertains people. Please keep providing feedback on what you'd like me to film and what you think. It means a lot!

I released 5 videos in January, and 2 in February so far. This puts me slightly ahead of schedule. I'm not getting too carried away as my record would show that I lack consistency in this area. 

My subscribers are now up to 281. So I have a LOOOONNNGGG way to go yet. 

I will say once again that I'm enjoying the production of videos far more than I ever had. I'm actually looking forward to creating more content. 



9. I will easily complete 26 x bi-weekly reviews to track my progress in 2017. Jan - 2

I set myself 26 instead of 52 to allow myself chance to make up for missed sessions. If I have early starts on Saturday or I stop away for the weekend I tend to forget about them. Giving myself a week to 'catch-up' so-to-speak is helping to keep me motivated. 

So far, I've done 5 in January, so my plan is working out. 


Summary

I'm encouraged by my start to the year, but there's a long way to go yet, so I'm not getting too excited. As I mentioned above, I have a track record of going through these phases. I just hope that my phases increase in length, and the work I do when I'm in 'the zone' is enough to get me there. Only time will tell. 

A quick tap on the back for me, and that'll do. Time to get back to work and prove that I can produce positive results on a consistent basis. 


How about you?

Now we're 5 weeks into the year, how's it gone for you so far. 

Are you on track?

Are you already losing motivation?

Or, are you smashing it out of the park?

Either way, let me know how things are going for you in the comments below. 

Have a fabulous Feb!


Music for Youtube video:
Moments by Sappheiros https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0 
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
Music provided by Music for Creators https://youtu.be/haiMw3ve1lg

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