In March I decided to cut my goals down to three and kept these all financial/business. This allowed me to keep a far better focus and prevented me from getting burnout on trying to do too much at once.
March’s Goal Review:
1.) Make $300 Online – I made $295. The beginning of the month started out with a bang so I thought that I would easily surpass this but ended up falling just under the $300 mark. Being that I was only $5 from my goal I am going to count this one as good enough! {Completed}
2.) Find a Staff Writing Job– I actually ended up with two. I don’t start one of these until this month though. This went well and I am going to search for more writing jobs. {Completed}
3.) Read 3 Books– Easily completed this. Reading has so many benefits for me. It gets me thinking outside of the box and usually brings me new blog post/article ideas. {Completed} I read the following books in March:
- Start Freelancing Now – by Martin Dasko
- ProBlogger
– by Darren Rowse & Chris Garrett
- Organized Simplicity
– by Jacqueline Musser
And I am finishing up:
- The 4 Hour Work Week – by Tim Ferriss
- The Habit Factor
– by Martin Grunburg
In March I also decided to challenge myself on getting rid of unnecessary items and adopting more of a minimalist view. I have passed with flying colors. I have thrown things out, rearranged, and put items where they make the most sense for our lives.
It’s unbelievable how moving the simplest things and putting them in places that are convenient can keep a house organized. (Example: putting a dirty clothes hamper in the living room.) I have learned to forget the perfection and just accept “neat & tidy.” A clean house is major stress relief!
April’s Goals
Since my limited goals produced great results in March I will continue them in April. For those of you Dave Ramsey fans, I am going to hit April with some “gazelle intensity.”
1.)Earn $350 in extra income – I am sticking to my original plans for the online income. (Although it would be great to earn much more.) If I can earn at least $350 I will be satisfied.
2.) Book at least 5 clients (total) for writing gigs – I have two now so I need to find three more. I am working on putting up a writer website and I am going to do much more marketing. Speaking of this I need some personal line insurance writing samples. If anyone wants me to do a guest post on insurance related topics (auto, home, discounts, boats, liability limits, RV’s, terminology – or anything else) let me know! You will probably see a post or two here this month on insurance related topics, but I promise I will keep them at a minimum!
3.) Read at least 3 books – I want these to be all different genres this month. I don’t have anything in mind right now but I am sure I will come across at least three things that I just have to read!
*Challenge* I really liked the paring items down, minimalist view challenge and it worked so well I want to challenge myself with something else.
Sure, goals could be considered challenges but my goals tend to be things I want to do anyway. Calling something a challenge gets me fired up to do something that I don’t necessarily want to do. (Hope that makes sense.)
This month I am challenging myself to get up at 6:00 am at least 5 days a week and work on commenting on other blogs. This is someting I need to find time to do anyway! My alarm normally goes off at 7, I hit snooze a couple of times and then scramble to get ready. Getting up at 6 will be a rewarding challenge!
What about you? How did March’s goals go? Have anything planned for April?
I am setting my April goal of purging our house of the clutter we have accumulated lately. With kids and a husband who tend to hoard, it gets outta control fast! I’ve always been a minimalist and when I have less clutter and everything is organized, I feel like its so much easier to be more productive. Plus, my stress level is waaaaay lower when I’m not overwhelmed with disorganization. Hopefully we can have a garage sale in May and make some money from the junk we purge.
I feel ya! I am so much more productive when my house is organized. My stress skyrockets if there are messes everywhere. I have worked on eliminating unnecessary items this past month and it has went very well. I thought about having a yard sale or selling stuff online but the immediate sense of relief from trashing the stuff right away was to good of a feeling to pass up! 🙂
WOOHOO! Looks like March was good for you. $5 away? Not bad at all 🙂
I hope April is even better.
Thanks Michelle! Maybe in a year or so I make it to your level 😉
You had a great month! Good luck in April 🙂
Thank You!
Good Job! Did you break down what you did ? i.e. different income from different categories ? I’m not sure if I missed it … I feel like a dunce. I didn’t get anything done last month. ~ Christie
I didn’t break it down above but it $35 for writing, $35 in facebook comissions (I sold a gun and some ammo for my brother 15% commission this included me meeting the buyer), and $225 from this blog. Keep trying you will get there. How is the Ebay and Craigslist positng going?
Thanks for the encouragement Alexa. I need it. ; ) I was really mad at myself last night. I am spending too much time figuring out what the best thing to do is and not enough time on the DOing.
I set a goal of listing 100 things for sale. I don’t know how many will actually sell, but I figure if I list that many then some have to sell and I have to make some money. Right?
I’m signing up for eLance. I need to write a few guest posts to put there for a portfolio. Then I remembered your post about finding people directly to hire you … hmm… See? I spend too much time thinking and not enough time Doing.
Thanks.~ Christie
I am sure some of them will sell. And you will learn what sells and what doesn’t and what the most effective way of listing those items are. Good will come of it 🙂
I tried Elance once and I really didn’t like it. It seems like there is way to much competition for very low paying jobs. If you are interested in writing check out makealivingwriting.com so far it has been the most helpful to me!
Oh wow, congrats on March goals! And I hope April will be great for you too (or even better)! 😉 Getting up at 6am? Sounds like a challenge but I guess I would start with cutting off 15 minutes every week 😉
Maybe I should do the fifteen minute thing lol. I am now at 0/4 haha. This challenge isn’t going to well 🙂
What is the reward for getting up earlier ? ( I know you will be more productive. You already seem like a rock star to me.) But, what is the reward ? Do you have a coffee maker with a timer ? Would the smell of coffee help you get up ? Also, are you going to bed earlier ? I’ve read that both times need to be consistent. Kids don’t seem to get that though.
~ Christie
Excellent work on the March goals! For me, April is a busy month as soccer is in full swing and I am continuing to network with folks online for my site. Throw in some guitar lessons, and I don’t have much extra time. The money, as always, is going towards my wife’s med school loans.
Good luck with your April goals!