Goals for 2019.

Every new year, I come up with ambitious new goals to pursue ... then forget about them as soon as February. But! I like to think that the act of goal-setting, anytime, allows the goals to seep into my subconscious where they drive my secret unknown behavior all year long. Because when I happen upon my annual goals sometime in November, they never seem all that alien. In fact, I've typically accomplished several, unbeknownst to me.

With such a limp-and-loose approach to goal follow-through, I like to think that it affords me some flexibility to how I go about setting my goals each new year.

You can see previous years here: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018.

This year, I'd like to exercise my right to experiment again. My new-to-me process: 

• Step One: List all the things I might like to do.
• Step Two: Get specific about each thing. Turn them into SMART goals. 
• Step Three: Place each goal into a bucket: One-year goals, five-year goals, forever goals.
• • NEW! Step Four: Place them into category buckets: Health, Career, Side Projects, etc.
• • Step Five: Choose the 1-3 most important goals of the bunch. Work on them first.

• BONUS: Create a More of / Less of list.

So without further ado, here's what I came up with for 2019 goals and dreams.

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tl;dr - My two main goals for 2019

1. Submit three book proposals

Elizabeth Gilbert has this notion of honoring our creative ideas because, if you don't, they'll leave.

I agreed to enter into a contract with the idea. We would work together. We shook hands on it, so to speak. I promised the idea that I would never fight against it and never abandon it, but would only cooperate with it to the utmost of my ability, until our work together was done.

I feel like I have a few ideas for books, and I wouldn't be doing the ideas justice if I kept thinking about writing about them rather than simply doing the writing. So off we go!

2. Record 10 episodes of a new podcast.

I love trying new things, especially when I remove any expectation of them needing to be wildly successful. Such is this. I've been curiouser and curiouser about podcasting lately, and it's evolved from happy-go-lucky entertainment to direct challenge of my ability to create things. So here I go! I have the equipment from previous stints on the Buffer podcast, and I have no shortage of ideas. 

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My process

1. List all the things I might like to do.

• Write another book
• Start my own business
• Run a blog like I used to do
• Start a podcast
• Read five long books
• Re-read some of my favorite books
• Plan a trip outside the U.S.
• Ski 20 times a year
• Pay off the house
• Build a WordPress theme
• Submit a WordPress theme -- that they accept!
• Memorize the book of James
• Meditate daily for 28 days
• Practice the seven sacred pauses
• Play in a card game tournament
• Monetize a blog
• Make my own game
• Visit Japan, New Zealand, or Iceland
• Own a dog
• Volunteer somewhere
• Eat less sugar
• Be an Instagram star
• Be a LinkedIn Influencer
• Create a new blog
• Get back into photography
• Get better at the piano
• See the eye doctor
• Get a wild hairdo
• Live until I'm 100

2. Get specific about each thing. Turn them into SMART goals.

• Submit three book proposals to 50+ literary agents
• Get 1 paying customer to a new product I've built
• Publish 12 new articles on a brand new blog
• Publish 13 episodes of a podcast on iTunes
• Read five long books
• Re-read 10 of my favorite books
• Plan a trip to Iceland
• Ski 20 times a year
• Pay off the house
• Build a new WordPress theme
• Submit a WordPress theme -- that they accept!
• Memorize the book of James
• Meditate daily for 28 days
• Practice three of the seven sacred pauses every day for 28 days
• Compete in a card game tournament
• Earn $100 from a blog via Carbon Ads
• Create a game that some (not related to me) plays all the way through
• Own a dog
• Volunteer my time to help empower young people
• Eat no processed sugar
• Get 10,000 followers on Instagram
• Become a LinkedIn Influencer
• Take 500 photographs in a year
• Play a song by ear on the piano
• Have an eye doctor appointment
• Try a new haircut (color or style)
• Track daily exercise 4x per week

3. Place them into timeline buckets: one-year goals, five-year goals, forever goals.

One year

• Submit three book proposals to 50+ literary agents
• Publish 13 episodes of a podcast on iTunes
• Read five long books
• Re-read 10 of my favorite books
• Build a new WordPress theme
• Submit a WordPress theme -- that they accept!
• Get 10,000 followers on Instagram
• Become a LinkedIn Influencer
• Play a song by ear on the piano
• Have an eye doctor appointment
• Track daily exercise 4x per week

Five years

• Get 1 paying customer to a new product I've built
• Publish 12 new articles on a brand new blog
• Plan a trip to Iceland
• Ski 20 times a year
• Pay off the house
• Meditate daily for 28 days
• Practice three of the seven sacred pauses every day for 28 days
• Earn $100 from a blog via Carbon Ads
• Try a new haircut (color or style)

Anytime

• Memorize the book of James (∞)
• Compete in a card game tournament (∞)
• Create a game that some (not related to me) plays all the way through (∞)
• Own a dog (∞)
• Volunteer my time to help empower young people (∞)
• Eat no processed sugar (∞)
• Take 500 photographs in a year (∞)

4. NEW: Place them into category buckets.

Writing

• Submit three book proposals to 50+ literary agents
• Publish 12 new articles on a brand new blog

Personal brand

• Get 10,000 followers on Instagram
• Become a LinkedIn Influencer

Side projects

• Get 1 paying customer to a new product I've built
• Publish 13 episodes of a podcast on iTunes
• Earn $100 from a blog via Carbon Ads
• Create a game that some (not related to me) plays all the way through

Finance

• Pay off the house

Health

• Have an eye doctor appointment
• Track daily exercise 4x per week
• Eat no processed sugar

Faith

• Memorize the book of James
• Meditate daily for 28 days
• Practice three of the seven sacred pauses every day for 28 days

Fun & Hobby

• Build a new WordPress theme
• Submit a WordPress theme -- that they accept!
• Take 500 photographs in a year
• Play a song by ear on the piano
• Try a new haircut (color or style)
• Read five long books
• Re-read 10 of my favorite books
• Plan a trip to Iceland
• Ski 20 times a year
• Own a dog
• Volunteer my time to help empower young people
• Compete in a card game tournament

Like last year, I’ve chosen three main goals and a series of smaller goals.

My success rate last year: 68%

Here is everything I said I was going to
... and what I actually did.

Not too shabby!

Main goals

1. Post 25 articles to a new blog
2. Be a guest on 25 podcasts
3. Record a song on the piano

I did write 25 articles, but they weren't on a new blog. They were on this blog (the one you're reading).

I was a guest on 16 podcasts, mostly inbound requests. Halfway through the year, I realized that I'd rather advocate for new and original and different voices to appear on podcasts rather than my voice.

I got really good at playing a few songs on the piano! I didn't record anything, which is more for technical limitations than piano-playing ones.

All the rest of my goals

I completed the ones in bold. I didn't do the ones in regular text.

One-year goals

• Publish something I created on Product Hunt
• Submit to be a contestant on Wheel of Fortune
• Take The 36 Questions That Lead to Love with Lindsay
• Do three activities from The Dangerous Book for Boys with Evan
• Submit a new WordPress theme to the WordPress theme directory
• Decide my next career step: coding, coaching, writing, etc
• Send 10 book pitches to agents and publishers
• Have at least one speaking engagement
• Refurbish the record player in my office
• Cook every recipe in my cookbook
• Do 60 pushups in 60 seconds
• Memorize the book of James
• Take the Strengths Finder
• See a dermatologist
• Attend a concert
• Visit Seattle

Five-year goals

• Cook every recipe in Salt Fat Acid Heat (2023)
• Give 10 percent of earnings to charity (2023)
• Play in a card game tournament (2023)
• Make money from a blog (2023)
• Go whitewater rafting (2023)
• Go skiing with Evan (2023)
• Pay off the house (2024)
• Visit England (2023)

Anytime goals

• Own a dog (∞)
• Be good enough at photography that I can shoot a football game (∞)
• Volunteer at the local animal shelter (∞)
• Kayak the San Juan Islands (∞)
• Start my own magazine (∞)
• Ski at 20 new places (∞)
• Visit Iceland (∞)

Bonus: To-stop-doing list

• Don’t eat refined or processed sugar