Resolutions for 2009
I had a whole list of fuzzy aspirations for 2009 and decided there was no way any of that stuff was ever going to get done. There were too many things on the list, and everything on it was unspecific and big-picture. Most items had no metric to measure them. Most would have required several goals accomplished combined to say that item had been accomplished.
Then I listened to a public radio podcast, I don’t remember which one, but I think it was Marketplace, and one of the topics was New Years resolutions and why half of them fail, but on the bright side, about half of them succeed. I dumped my big list of fuzzy junk and decided on a couple of things I really need to focus on this year.
Resolutions for 2009:
- Increase my monthly online income to $3,000 per month ($100 per day)
- Increase muscle mass so I can lift a 40 pound bag of dog food without straining excessively
I’m sticking with these two for now. I know I didn’t put anything in here about how to make the world or even my community a better place, but until I get my own house in order I can’t be that much help to other people. Once my own affairs are taken care of, then I can make goals about helping others.
How I Am Going to Accomplish My Resolutions
Now for the sticky part, HOW am I going to make these resolutions reality? That is always the hard part. Saying what you want to accomplish is easy. Going about accomplishing what you said is hard because it requires hard work and commitment, 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.
Let’s look at them separately.
1. Increase Monthly Online Income to $3,000 per month ($100 per day)
Assess where I am right now – I earn anywhere from $90 – $297 per month or $2.97 – $9.79 per day. $100 – $2.97 = $97.03 and $100 – $9.79 = $90.21. I have a lot of money to make up to meet my goal of $100/day.
Mindset
- Focus on the tasks that need to be done first each day (avoid time-wasters)
- Accomplish daily tasks before checking email
- Unsubscribe from all lists that aren’t helping me make money or produce great content
What are my current income streams online?
- Amazon.com affiliate program
- eBay affiliate program
- Text ad sales
- MSNBC Going Green Network
- Other affiliate program sales (several)
- Squidoo
- Scribe Fire
- WordPress consulting
- WordPress website building
- Freelance writing
Which sites earn money and which don’t?
Earn Money:
- Being the Change I Wish To See
- Invader Zim Episodes
- Commercial Lawn Mowers
- Superman Villains
- Batman Villains
- Ferris mowers
- Home Office Organization (for sale)
- Debt Free Or Bust (you are here now)
Don’t Earn Money
- Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius (new site, needs some time and marketing)
- My Thirty Day Challenge
- Homeschool Your Teenager
- Hurricane Katrina Pictures
Tasks for making more online
- Sell Home Office Organization (I’m not keeping this site up)
- Publish at least 4 posts to my active blogs per month, 2-3 per week would be better (I have 3 very active blogs, and I’ll post to Hurricane Katrina Pictures when something is relevant)
- Write the guest author article I promised last month
- Market my current sites consistently every week on StumbleUpon and Twitter
- Use StumbleUpon and Twitter at least once daily just as a user
- Find more friends on StumbleUpon, Twitter and Facebook
- Search within each niche for other blogs and forums, and comment on them at least twice per month (pick one blog or site every other day or so and market that site that day)
- Submit a post each week to STC (I’ve written a lot but not posted anything to the group)
- Update Squidoo Lenses monthly
- Join the Squidoo forum to get more traffic to my lenses, and thus to my websites
- Build 10 WordPress websites each month for local businesses (make sure new websites use my HostGator and AWeber affiliate links to set up their accounts for hosting and email lists so I can have some residual income from them; it doesn’t cost the user more but it earns a little each month for me in sales commissions)
- Spend at least 4 hours per week consulting on WordPress
- Set up at least 2 new niche websites per month that earn $10 or more per day consistently (focus on quality of high-earning sites instead of quantity of low-earning sites)
- Find a product that sells on Hurricane Katrina Pictures, or find an advertiser for that site
- Convert Batman Villains to WordPress
- Convert Superman Villains to WordPress
I need to print this list out and put it where I can see it every day so I stay focused on the tasks I need to accomplish 
2. Increase muscle mass so I can lift a 40 pound bag of dog food
Why a resolution like this? I have to lift 40 pounds of dog food at least once a month for my two large dogs. I have already had major hernia surgery and I really don’t like the pulling feeling I get in my stomach when I lift the dog food bag. Other common do-it-yourself items also weigh 40 pounds, like the smallest concrete sacks. You can’t buy 20 pound bags of concrete mix. I have to do a fair amount of concrete work around the bottom of my backyard fence when my dogs decide to find another way to dig out of the yard. Moving those bags around is really tough now that I’ve gotten older. I’m losing my strength and I need to get back enough to accomplish the tasks I need to do around the house.
- Walk at least a mile at least 3 times per week carrying at least one 2 lb dumbbell in each hand
- Increase weight when 2 lb seems too light
- Spread my outside work around to 3-4 days per week that include mowing, raking, hauling limbs, cutting up limbs, etc. to build strength over time and accomplish things that I have to get done anyway
- Do the outside work with manual tools as often as feasible
These are the only resolutions I am going to make, and I am going to work on them until they are accomplished before I tackle anything else that isn’t vital to our survival.
I copied these lists of tasks into another document and printed it. From that I will make a monthly schedule/check list that I can use to be sure I’m doing all the things I need to get done. Each month I’ll report my online income progress.
Have you set any resolutions or goals for 2009? If so, what are they and how do you plan to accomplish them?
