2009 Goals
As soon as I started putting my goals down, I got a lot more productive. I'm not saying you need to plan the rest of your life out or anything, but you need to know where you're headed... so you know what needs to come next.
List last year (2008), this year (2009), 2010, 2011 and 2012. Next to each year, write what you'll have accomplished during that year. Write each thing in the present tense, as if you've already done it.
I'll go first...
2008: I bought my first house. Attended my first few seminars. Co-hosted 2 e-classes. (DONE!)
2009: I quit my day job and visited Orlando, Dallas, Austin, Iowa City, San Diego, Chicago, and Buffalo. Had my first several $30K months, sold a membership site for $32K. (DONE!) Haven't done this part yet: setup 20 recurring membership sites by year-end.
2010: Paid off 50% my mortgage and had my first $50K month. Sold at least ten copies of a $1997 package from the stage.
2011: Paid off my mortgage.
2012: Own at least one million dollars in cash and assets.
Now it's your turn. List each year from 2008 to 2012 and list what you have (or have yet to accomplish) each in the present tense.
I look forward to your comment below...
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2008:
2009: Have at least $2,000 a month in passive income. (Have $600/month passive now.)
2010: Get married to my girlfriend. Buy a house. Have $5,000 a month passive income.
2011: Have one child. Have $10,000 a month passive income.
2012: Have $20,000 a month passive income. Own house free and clear.
Great goals, Rodney… how do you plan to make the jump from $600 to $2000 a month in the next 5 months?
Hey Robert,
Tell me,
how will you make this happens?
Sud.L
I already have enough footage for 20 membership sites from the webinars Jason and I have recorded, and the ones Lance and I have recorded.
2009: Travel France, Spain and Italy by bicycle, receiving $2500/month in passive income (I have $1000 now). Release 2 information products, work towards a membership site. Be 100% raw, organic, vegan. — tickets are already purchased for the trip.
2010: Start the Ring of Fire bicycle tour, with $20,000/month in passive income. Have 500 members in my membership site.
2011: Upgrade to a new Surly LHT bicycle for me and my girlfriend. Purchase a place in Argentina or similar beautiful country as a long-term vacation rental, spending at least 10 weeks a year there. Make $50,000 a month in passive income.
2012: Purchase a home in the States, somewhere. Entertain the idea of getting a dog. Work towards opening a recreational therapy camp in a tropical region with recreational tree climbing and raw food detox classes. Make $100,000 a month in passive income.
We take all this for granted now but have you read the origination of all this aspirational and goal driven philosophy, from the father of self improvement. Try
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hilll
It is free and out of copyright.
http://www.selfstartersweeklytips.com/tagr.htm
Olympic champions believe in in it. Michael Schumacher used the techniques to to be the most successful ever F1 driver.
There must be something in it.
Bern
Bern,
Have you read it?
If so where is your goal list?
I have to admit I retired at 59 last year with a long list of objectives. The only one I have fully achieved is to go on holiday once a month. France x4, Spain x3, Germany x3, Australia x1, Italy x1. Plus a few trips round the UK. Pay off the mortgage, get a good pension, make sure the kids have a good education and buy homes abroad (it’s pay back time). Reap the rewards of focus and diligence.
A word to the wise. Achievement is about effectiveness not efficiency. You can deliver crap all week. Effectiveness is about delivering your objectives for the week on Friday afternoon after coming back from from the pub at lunch time after 4 pints.
I is amazing how the pressure on time can focus the mind wonderfully.
Hey Bern that’s pretty impressive… so paying off the mortgage, is that one of the things you’ve already accomplished or is that in the list of future goals? What deadline do you have for these?
The mortgage is gone. I’m looking for distressed repossessions to buy to rent. My next goals are to learn German (they say life is too short to learn Gernam) and write a Si Fi novel and sell the film rights. Bit tricky that. Anyway next trip is off to Rugen on the Baltic. Fantastic beaches and a great place to write.
Awesome, so what date will those goals be completed?
The Si Fi novel is about Time-Surfing so I’ll come back and tell you some time. Anyway time for bed it’s 1 am. Keep up the good work.
Remember there is a fundamental difference in the work philosophy between America and Europe.
In the US resources are more plentiful and it is about focus and effort. A quick idea down the pub is considered cheating.
In Europe resources are more scare/expensive and it is more about ability, flair and inventiveness. How to to more for less. Effort is not mandatory.
How do you deliver a bomb to within a few feet of the target 30 years before GPS was available and when anything within 5 miles of the drop zone was considered a hit.
Read up on Barnes Wallis and see how many low tech versions of today’s high tech weapons he invented 60 years ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnes_Wallis
He is my hero, though I have to admit he put a lot of effort into developing his original ideas.
Robert:
“Great goals, Rodney… how do you plan to make the jump from $600 to $2000 a month in the next 5 months?
Me: By building one new niche business which I’m almost ready to promtoe and creating a business to help offline businesses with email marketing.
The niche business I’m aiming to bring in $500 a month with.
The email marketing service will be $97 a month so I’ll need about 9 clients to reach my goal of $2,000 a month.
Rodney
Casey,
what’s topping you from getting a dog now?
or are you going to “get a dog” in 2012?
you said that you would “entertain the idea of a dog in 2012”.. well, why not now?
🙂
Setting goals is easy. Harder is working toward that. The really hard part is finding the route to attaining them in the first place.
Take my blog for example: A solid niche (a popular game), currently at 800 subscribers and maybe 18,000 hits a month. The topic isn’t big-money, so ads on those subscriber numbers barely cover the hosting.
How do you monetize a niche like that?
Jonathan,
I am not sure Robert would agree that that is a “solid niche” if it isn’t something monetizable.
can you sell advertising on it?
affiliate products? (computer games via amazon?)
Jonathan,
Try selling game guides as an affiliate, t-shirts and other memorabilia. If it’s D&D try hosting an online tournament for the game and see if you can figure out a way to charge for it.
I’m sure there are many other ideas.
Rodney
@Casey the Raw Foodie
define what does “passive income” mean to you.
I don’t believe that there exist a TOTAL passive income, every income stream needs more or less attention.
ciao
alex
Hi Robert, it is daunting to list goals. I’m closing my eyes, taking a deep breath and jumping in!
2008- I retired from public service after 35yrs of work, one eye peeking, did I actually spend so long, amazing! My immediate goal was to start a bookshop. Done.
2009- To start Internet business and start earning passive income. The second eye is open, is it so hard to begin? Still trying to get the hang. When does one stop surfing, browsing and start producing? Target income is $ 200- $500 weekly. How do I monetize my blog?
2010- Finish building my house. Cannot qualify for mortgage due to age. Travel plans possibly South America. Need to increase passive income to $3000-$5000 monthly.
2011-Be a fully established entrepreneur with a fully established bookshop and several internet web sites. I look forward to more leisure time with my grand children and my gardening while my passive income is on line. I have taken the plunge, the water is cold! HELP!
Caio.
Pat.
@Alexander,
I mean having a membership/subscription service. Something where the amount of income is not relative to the amount of work I do — I provide 1 CD a month and send it to 100 people, or 1000. Passive in that I am not actively going after new clients, but still working to produce high-value products.
@Izzy… dude – I’m taking a 4+ month bike trip. There’s no room for a dog at this point! I’ll continue to be a nomad for a few more years.
@Casey the Raw Foodie
having a product or a membership site doesn’t longly mean that:
1) people find it
2) are willing to pay for it
How do you plan that the potential customers will come passively to your product/service ?