2010 Will Be A Great Year-- Goals

A wise man once said that telling others what you plan to accomplish makes you accountable to yourself.  Therefore, I thought where else better than to post my goals for 2010 on my personal blog for everyone to see.  Please feel free to check-in and ask me how I am doing with my goals throughout the year...  I want this year to be an ambitious one.  No man is an island-- your support will help push me through!

Thanks in advance,
C.J.


Personal

1. Respond to all incoming e-mail within 3 days
2. Lose 20 lbs and maintain a weight of 150
3. Adhere to stricter diet (Low Carb)
4. Adhere to training plan—resistance training 2x week & run/walk 2-3 week
5. Volunteer consistently with at least one organization (Room to Read/Habitat for Humanity)
6. Start charity for schoolchildren in Nepal
7. March on Washington at least once for an entire week
8. Volunteer for at least one political campaign
9. Interview Grandma and capture entire life and family history including photos
10. Compliment a complete stranger at least once per day
11. Make a to-do list for the next day the night before and tackle the most difficult task first that day

Creative

1. Complete 1 year of quote blog & expand subscribers to 1000   
   
2. Complete 1 year of finance blog & expand subscribers to 250
   
3. Get affiliate sponsorship for at least one blog 
4. Learn about ustream and other blogging tools and use!
5. Write a page a night/journal

Financial

1. Open at least 1 legitimate business by June 30th   
   
2. Buy at least 1 passive income property, business, etc.
3. Determine Roth IRA allocation plan by Jan. 30th
4. Return at least 30% in investment portfolio

Learning

1. Complete business TEFL program by Jan 30th
2. Learn to type by March 31st
3. Complete Rosetta Stone Chinese 1-3 by June 30th
4. Get Chinese conversational partner
5. Learn about commodities market & become knowledgeable on natural gas & select at least one commodity (not silver, gold) to become knowledgeable in 

Books to Read

1. The Real George Washington
2. The Creature from Jekyll Island
3. Fooled by Randomness
4. The 5000 Year Leap
5. Meltdown: A Free-Market Look
6. Bastiat Collection
7. Winner’s Never Cheat
8. Hungry Planet: What the World Eats
9. Economics in One Lesson
10. The E-Myth
11. On Writing Well
12. Trading Commodities and Financial Future
13. Bird by Bird
14. A Foreign Policy of Freedom
15. Go It Alone! (started in 2009)
16. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
17. Presenting to Win
18. The Great Depression Ahead (started in 2009)
19. Never Eat Alone (started in 2009)
20. The Magic of Thinking Big
21. Watchmen
22. Lonesome Dove
23. For Whom the Bell Tolls
24. Catch-22
25. The Shadow of the Wind

Movies to See

1. Casablanca
2. City Lights
3. Vertigo
4. Lawrence of Arabia
5. The Searchers
6. Sunset Boulevard
7. The General
8. On the Waterfront
9. Chinatown
10. All About Eve
11. The Grapes of Wrath
12. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
13. High Noon
14. Double Indemnity
15. The Maltese Falcon
16. Annie Hall
17. Bridge Over the River Kwai
18. The Deer Hunter
19. Treasure of the Sierra Madre
20. Streetcar Named Desire

The New Year is Here!

Another year has come to an end...and I'm a year older as of January 2nd.

You know, it's funny, when we are younger, we all desire to be older, to be adult-like.  And then when the mid-20s come, most want to revert back to their youth and stop the hands of time.  Some find contentment when they reach 30-- I am one such person.  I can't speak for the 40s, although I've heard it's the most productive years of one's life, or the 50s, 60s, 70s or 80s.  But living with and taking care of my Grandma, I certainly can tell you what the late-90s are like...  you wish every day that you could have stored the energy of your youth in a bottle and saved it for just this moment in time, but, instead,  you use that spent energy to pull yourself through the day, reminiscing on the days of yesteryear and all that you accomplished then, while doing your best to live in the moment, hoping for a better world for those you will soon leave behind than that which you experienced.  If you're lucky, your mind is still sharp as a tack; unfortunately, your body is, by that time, more than likely, detached from it. 

We all wish that we could go back in time and change certain events that we all wish hadn't occurred.  I sometimes find myself dwelling (or even obsessing) on some of those events.  But then I remember that it is those same events that have molded me into the person that I am today and that because of those events I am a much better person now than I was then.

This year, I am bound and determined, will be the year to make up for all of my life experience years of recent memory.  I am convinced that the lean years were necessary in order to plant the seeds for the fruitful years ahead.

For the first time in my adult life, I have made a list of goals that I will accomplish throughout the year.  I have separated them into categories so that none get lost amongst the others.  If my list is any indication of the crop that lie ahead, I foresee fields of golden wheat as far as the eye can see come harvest time.

Yes, this year is going to be that year.

Unfortunately, the year has already started off on a sour note, as my Grandma fell and broke her hip on New Year's Eve, which required surgery on my birthday.  Fortunately, she pulled through just fine and is in rehab now.  Without prior experience of dealing with health-related issues, I would have allowed my plans to be deterred.  Alas, I have learned that lesson, which will soon be added to another list of mine-- a list of life long lessons I am determined to learn from and/or have promised myself to never repeat.

My list is ambitious, no doubt.  I have accepted that I might not be able to accomplish everything on it, depending on how life sorts itself out throughout the year, but my list will be posted on my bedroom wall, where I can read every day and mark off each event as it's accomplished.

And since sharing one's goals acts as a stimulant to accomplishing them, I will be listing my goals for 2010 in my next post.

I wish you all a fantastic start to your new year.  I can tell that it is going to be a memorable and bountiful one!  Best wishes to all!