New Goals and Word for 2013

One of the things I most enjoy about blogs and blogging is the incentive to improve yourself , and whether it’s to do things yourself, read more books, or get out of debt, blogs help to inspire, teach, and motivate me towards building a better life for my family. That’s part of my mission here at AOC, too – and having goals and working towards fulfilling them is part of the package. Reading other people’s progress not only helps me towards my own progress (oh! I need to be working on that, too…), but often gives me ideas.

So it’s from this perspective that I present to you this recap of last year’s goals, the goals I have for the coming year (and that it’s okay for most some of them to be last year’s goals that weren’t met…), and the word that I’m choosing to help guide me in the new year (huh? See last year’s post about this here).

Goals for me can’t be overwhelming or I’ll give up too soon – just from the thought of them. So I break them into three areas – Home, Financial, Business/Blog – and choose only 3-4 things to accomplish in each area. First I’ll recap of how we did on last year’s goals, then I’ll list the things we’d like to accomplish in 2013.

Progress on 2012 Goals

Home:

1. Finish the laundry/mud room: Ack- did we even do anything toward’s this? Ah, yes – we at least got some shelves put up, whew. Move to the 2013 list…
2. Chicken coop: Lots of progress, though not finished. We need to finish this just so everyone will stop asking if we’ve got chickens yet!
3. Updating the kitchen Yes – something gets to be checked off the list! And the remodel turned out wonderful even with a few bumps in the road. #kitchenlove
4. ELIMINATE (My word for 2012): I think I eliminated a lot, especially with our garage sale, but not nearly what I had envisioned. There are some major things I don’t love but haven’t found replacements for that I DO love, so this will be ongoing.

Financial:

1. Give generously. So happy we’ve been able to do this during the past year! And since it will be ongoing, it’s not really something to check off the list, but I since there seem to be quite a few that I can’t check off…
2. Six-month emergency fund: Ugh, this is so HARD. We still have a ways to go with this.
3. Pay cash for our spring break family vacation to Arizona: Did that and had a great time!

Blog:

1. Move from Blogger to WordPress: Yes – and with a new design thanks to the awesome Honeycomb Design Studio!
2. Indexes and better navigation: With the new design, things are much easier to find, plus there’s a new Project Gallery and another index I’m excited to be unveiling within days!
3. Publish ebooks: The free Summer, Autumn, and soon-to-be-released Winter Menus ebooks fulfilled this goal.
4. Improve my photos for the blog: I really feel like my photos and staging improved tons this last year, so I get to check it off, although I have lots more room to grow in this area…

Goals for 2013:

Home:

1. Finish the laundry room. Which means: paint the moldings and cabinets, touch-up the beadboard, sew new curtains for the laundry counter and figure out something for the dog-scratched floor,
2. Finish the chicken coop – and get chickens. Still to complete: Find 2 used windows (that open) for ventilation and install; install a door to the run; build nest boxes and a wall of 2×4’s and wire to separate chickens from storage area; paint the outside and protect it all from critters.
3. Continue to eliminate. I have a couple things I really would like to replace, and there are still more things to get rid of, so I’m moving this to the new list, even though it’s not my word of the year. You think that’s allowed?
4. Replace the crumbling (decorative) front fence. As the only new thing on the list, and not very big at that, let’s hope this is easy to check off next year at this time!

Financial:

1. Six-month emergency fund. I’m sure we have trouble with this because we don’t make it an absolute priority. But how can we when things like this come up:
2. Pay cash for a trip to Greece. Yep, some dear missionary friends have been in Greece for years and this is their last year – it’s now or never for our long-dreamed-of-trip. So we are going. And we are saving up the cash – mainly through gifts and odd jobs so far. Brian and I are the only two going, though, so that’ll make it easier – and we’re calling it our 25th-anniversary trip since we will celebrate that milestone in September. Wait. Isn’t that for old people?
3. Replace 250,000 milage Jeep with newer vehicle that can still tow our vintage trailer – with cash, of course. We’ve actually been putting a little bit into this fund for a couple of years and been very blessed that our old Jeep has continued to run so the fund has been able to build up more.
4. Continue to give generously. Probably goes without saying.

Business/Blog:

1. Expand online income to replace teaching income. The blog brings in a bit of income (thanks to you, sweet readers, for coming to visit, read, and occasionally click on a link!), but I need to fill the income void that was left when my teaching job was cut last June. There are a couple of ways I’m looking to do this – by exploring VA work and writing ebooks to sell, so you’ll be hearing more about this through the year, no doubt.
2. Complete the updating of posts needed from blog transfer. Every.single.post. needed updating to work with the new layout and I don’t think I’m even halfway there. It’s slow-going, but doable in little chunks, so I’ll keep chipping away at it this year.
3. Make a new system to track income for taxes. I’ve already set up a basic spreadsheet, which I think will help a lot. Now I just have to use it.
4. Balance online work with real life. This got way outta whack last fall and now I know I need to create a realistic schedule and stick to it each day – limiting the time I’m working online (good thing there’s the awesome Confident Mom planner to help me in this!). I take comfort in knowing, though, that I’m not alone in this, am I?

And my new word for 2013 is….

CHANGE

More on this as the year unfolds, but let’s just say I want to look at it positively. Have any goals you’re making? If you’ve written a post on them, leave a link! I love to read (and be inspired!) by others-

I’m sharing this at Layla’s Word of the Year party.