SMART Goal Progress - February 2012

How are you coming along with this year's goals?

I want to share with you how I'm coming along in my goals (there are seven of them), and I'd love to hear how you all are doing. After all - setting SMART goals is what keeps you thriving as a small business professional (freelancer).

Here are my goals (next to each one, I will update you on my current progress in bold):

1. Start earning at least $500 per month in passive income by the start of the 4th quarter (October 2011). Right now, I work for all of my money. I'm not paid on an hourly basis, but my income is a direct result of my effort each day. I love my work, and I still plan to work, but I also want to start earning money "in my sleep". I've earned $0.29 so far from the Adsense I'm running on this blog. I will have to see a trend over the next month to see whether that puts me on target (as far as growth). It seems pretty low initially, but my blog is growing leaps and bounds each day.
2. Post at least 10 comments per working day on new blogs. This allows for new blog discovery and helps others find my blog. Right now I am averaging about 2-3 comments per day. Some days are higher, but I haven't yet hit the goal of 10. I will strive toward this goal again over the next month.
3. Lose at least 50 pounds by December 31, 2012. Like anyone else, I have weight loss goals. These goals have previously been the form of a resolution, but now that I'm announcing something publicly, I should be better on track to reach it. I've lost 5 out of 50 pounds this month. If I lose the same amount of weight each month, I will be down 60 pounds by the end of the year. I'd say I'm pretty well on target with this.
4. Build an emergency fund of at least $2000. That may seem like chump change to most of you, but as of right now, I don't have any money saved. That would be a major deal for me. So far, I'm still sitting at $0. This isn't something that I've even worked toward, to be quite honest.
5. Grow this blog to receive at least 5,000 monthly page views. Again, this may seem like a small goal to most,  but I have nowhere near this right now. Over the past month, I've had 1,345 views. I'm not counting uniques - just views.. Maybe I should have set a higher goal - who knows? I'd say I'm on target for this.
6. Grow this blog to have at least 1,000 subscribers. Do you notice a recurring theme here? I think that big things come in small packages. (smile) As of this writing, I have six total subscribers on Feedburner. Someone has a long road ahead, but that's OK. I'm in it to win it!
7. Post to this blog at least every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from now on and for the rest of the year. This is a big one. I can remain dedicated to this blog for a short time, but I always end up falling off the metaphorical wagon. This, of course, is important to achieve the two goals before it. I missed last Wednesday and Friday along with Monday (made up for it on Tuesday) because I was on vacation. Other than that, I have stuck to my schedule. I plan to be even more consistent going forward.

Well, that's how I'm coming along on my goals so far. Where do you stand? Let me know down in the comments...

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My SMART Goals for 2012

A few days ago, I discussed the importance of setting SMART goals. I also defined the acronym SMART as specific, measurable, achievable (or attainable), relevant, and timely. Hopefully all of you have outlined your goals and posted them publicly (I still want to see links!).

It's Friday, and I know you're ready to party hard, so without further ado, here are my goals for this year:

1. Start earning at least $500 per month in passive income by the start of the 4th quarter (October 2011). Right now, I work for all of my money. I'm not paid on an hourly basis, but my income is a direct result of my effort each day. I love my work, and I still plan to work, but I also want to start earning money "in my sleep".
2. Post at least 10 comments per working day on new blogs. This allows for new blog discovery and helps others find my blog.
3. Lose at least 50 pounds by December 31, 2012. Like anyone else, I have weight loss goals. These goals have previously been the form of a resolution, but now that I'm announcing something publicly, I should be better on track to reach it.
4. Build an emergency fund of at least $2000. That may seem like chump change to most of you, but as of right now, I don't have any money saved. That would be a major deal for me.
5. Grow this blog to receive at least 5,000 monthly page views. Again, this may seem like a small goal to most,  but I have nowhere near this right now.
6. Grow this blog to have at least 1,000 subscribers. Do you notice a recurring theme here? I think that big things come in small packages. (smile)
7. Post to this blog at least every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from now on and for the rest of the year. This is a big one. I can remain dedicated to this blog for a short time, but I always end up falling off the metaphorical wagon. This, of course, is important to achieve the two goals before it.

That's it. Seven goals. Well, it's the lucky number seven. I feel like printing this off and posting it on my desk so that I don't have to remind myself to look back on my blog to see my goals. I think I will (once I buy printer ink). *smile*

So, let's hear it...what are your goals for 2012?

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SMART Goal Setting for Freelancers

If you haven't already thought about your goals (or resolutions) for the year, now is the time to start. After reading a bit on Pat Flynn's Smart Passive Income blog (which I recommend, in case you don't follow it), I plan to post my 2011 goals to this blog.

One of the biggest keys is that you set SMART goals. What is a SMART goal? Simply put, it's a goal that is Specific, Measurable, Achievable (or Attainable), Relevant, and Timely. You should make sure that any goal you set meets all of these criteria.

Here are a few quick questions you can ask yourself to determine if your goals are SMART enough:

1. Is it specific enough? Would someone who doesn't know anything about me know exactly what this goal is without any help from me? For example, don't say "Learn to do something". Instead, say "Learn to play the guitar".
2. Is it measurable? Can you qualify or quantify this goal? Using the guitar example, you can say something like "Learn to play six rock-and-roll songs on the guitar" instead of just "Learn to play the guitar" as mentioned above.
3. Is it achievable (attainable)? Is it impossible to complete your goal? Very few things are truly impossible, so most goals will meet this criteria.
4. Is it relevant? If you are a musician and learning to play the guitar will better your career, great. If you love music, even better. If you aren't a musician, have no desire to learn music, etc., the goal is not relevant to your professional or personal interests.
5. Is it timely? You have to set a time limit. If you don't, you'll have no way to gauge your success. To wrap up our guitar example, you can say "Learn to play the guitar by September 2012."

I have been using this methodology since 2007 when I started working at my last "real" job. Each year, we were required to set SMART goals. Whether or not we reached these goals was a part of our annual review. Goals setting for freelancers is equally important. However, since you don't get reviews from a boss, it's important to make sure that you can be honest with yourself on whether you met or didn't meet your goals.

I challenge to you, for 2012, to publicly announce your SMART goals on your blog or some other public forum (post the link here, I want to see them!). At the end of the year, you can review your progress, also in some public forum.

So, let's hear (read) it! What are your goals for this year?

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