Setting Goals and My 2015 Year in Review
With 2015 at an end, it’s time to review some personal goals I set for myself and start planning new goals for 2016. If you’re struggling in any area of life, I challenge you to make a list of goals that can help you overcome obstacles or become a better version of yourself. Setting goals keep you accountable to yourself and provide a measurement for your progress. Without goals and measurements, how can you know if you’re improving?
Every New Year’s Day, people around the world set a resolution to help them through the next year. If you’re like me, you set the resolution and stick with it for 4-6 weeks and then forget about it until the next year. That’s the pattern I followed until a few years ago I decided to stop making resolutions. I just decided each new year I would work to be better than I was the previous year.
That’s a pretty easy goal to achieve. If I was one pound lighter, I was better. If I read a book, I was better. Pretty easy stuff. It sounds ridiculous, but it got me started on a path to self improvement. They were baby steps, but at the end of each year I could easily know if I had become a better version of myself in some form.
I had the same resolution for 2014. “Just be better than you were the previous year”. It was a long and difficult year. My manufacturing business was in turmoil and we were doing worse than the year before. It effected me personally and forced me to re-evaluate myself as a father, husband and business man. My New Year’s resolution had caused me to become stagnant. I wasn’t pushing myself or working very hard to improve. I was just taking baby steps and in 2014 it felt like I was crawling.
Through reading and listening to other people’s advice, I decided I would set goals for 2015. I wanted to be a better husband, father and business man. I wanted to be the best version of me. My goals for 2015 would be based on self-improvement.
My 2015 Goals
- 6 Informative Interviews (Talking to people who knew more than me.)
- Start my blog.
- Make my first money blogging.
- Determine my future with my current business.
- Get to 205 pounds.
- Read or listen to 1 personal improvement book per month.
- Read or listen to 1 business book per quarter.
Results
I achieved all of my goals for 2015 except making any money blogging and getting to 205 pounds. I’ve been hovering between 208-212 pounds for the past couple of months. I’ll have to work a little harder next year on my weight. As far as making money blogging, I’m comfortable not achieving that goal. When I started this blog, I thought I could sell ad space on it, but I want to offer more than just a place for ads. I want this blog to be a place where other dads can get useful information to help them be their best. My future goals with the coaching business will be to offer classes that dads can choose to purchase, but I’m not going to hold back any tips and advice that have helped me in order to get anyone to commit to a purchase.
2015 was my first year of setting goals and truly measuring myself against them. Looking back, I can say that I have improved as a father, husband and business man due to the goals I achieved over 2015. Setting goals jumped my personal growth into hyper-drive and I achieved more this year than I have ever in the past.
Now it’s time to focus on 2016 and set some goals. This year will have a shift from self-improvement to more family based goals. I also want to take my coaching to another level and offer more information and opportunities to readers and subscribers. For now, I plan to enjoy the New Year’s holiday with my family and next week I’ll post my goals for 2016.
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