Dennis's Corner of the Internet

My Goals for 2015 - Wrapping Up

Dennis Martinez -

In case you missed it, I've spent the last week writing about the goals I want to accomplish. I've expressed my desire to write more blog posts (which I'm doing!), get better at freelancing, expand my programming knowledge and continuing to lose weight at the same rate I did in 2014. It felt great to write these down somewhere and hold myself accountable for them. It gives me a reason to wake up each and every day, trying to move forward towards these goals. Even if it's only one inch, as long as I have some forward progress every single day, I'm sure I'll not only reach these goals, but exceed them as well.

But if you've been reading along, these were not just simply goals. I wrote down specific numbers and measurements that I'm looking to achieve, not just the end goal in itself. If there's anything I want you, the reader, to get out of this is simply to be specific and detailed about what you want.

It's really, really easy to say things like "This year, I'm going to eat better" or "I'm going to build that project I've been wanting to do for years". But until you have a plan, those words are not goals - they're simply a wish. And wishes really don't come true unless you set something in motion. This is the main lesson I've learned by failing to accomplish most of these things in the past. That's why I wrote this and made sure I wrote down specific milestones or measures that will guide me along this path.

In each of my previous posts, I was specific with what I wanted: write at least 20 blog posts this year, have a certain amount of money in revenue (I'm keeping the specifics on this one for myself), learn a programming language well enough to get one new paid project for it, and lose 30 pounds before the end of the year. I have a few more goals that didn't warrant a separate blog post, but I wanted to write it here anyway:

  • Build a product to make passive income - As a freelancer, there's always the chance that I won't have work all the time (the so-called "feast or famine" cycle). To help with this, I want to build a product that will generate some income with minimal work from me after the initial building of the product. I'm currently doing research on this, but my goal is to earn at least $500 in passive income revenue per month by the end of the year. Not a whole lot of money, but the purpose is to build to something larger down the road. This will either be a website or an eBook I've been looking to write.
  • Continue my Japanese language studies - I've been studying Japanese for a few years now (mostly on more of a part-time basis). I've been getting better at this incrementally, but I'm far for where I want to be (mostly because I have a silly little fear of speaking and messing up). I'd love to get better at speaking, but that's to vague so I still have to be more specific on that. For now, my main goal for the year is to take and pass the level N2 for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test in December.
  • Release a mobile app for Android - This is more of a personal mission that I have for myself because I've failed to do this for the past three years. I have a small idea for a Japanese studying app from a website I use, so my small goal is to build and release an Android app for my Japanese studies within the next six months. This will probably help me with other goals, but this one is mostly to scratch my own itch.

I hope that there's been some nugget that someone got out of these posts, or at the very least some inspiration. I'm wishing all of you the best in 2015. Get your planning on and get to working on making your dreams come true.