2012 Goals Review

It's time to look back at my previous year's goals and see how I did. Here's what I said originally, and now let's dive in.

My mantra for the year was to "work diligently, wait patiently". I did work diligently most of the time, but I must admit I got impatient near the end of the year on some of these goals.


1. Read all Bible reading plan assignments
Done! I used the Bible app on my iPhone and stayed on top of it. Basically, I would listen to an assignment when driving or washing dishes. It worked great and I really liked it. I'm going to keep this going for the next 2 years and get completely through the Bible.


2. Manage 1 other property
Done! I already wrote about the property we bought in October. This wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I set this goal, but I'll take the win.


3. Decide the fate of Univera: Fly or Die
Done... but not the result I wanted. My criteria for staying on this was to find > 10 new customers. I built a sweet online tool (in my opinion) and started promoting. I gained about 1,000 visitors a month, but never got any takers. I also tried calling leads, but also got no takers. I might share more of my experience later, we'll see... I still love Univera's products and will be a customer for life. I'll also remain an associate if someone expresses interest in the business, but I won't be actively working on it like I did last year.


4. Spend less money than last year
So... We didn't buy multiple Jeeps, but we did buy a Prius. Technically we spent $1,855 more this year than last year, but I would argue the money was better spent. For example, we paid an extra $4,449 towards student loans, we also spent money buying another property & car (which halved our monthly fuel costs, saving $1,010 last year). Some areas we saved money were $1,392 on travel and $12,314 on our Columbus property by refinancing and only doing one major project.

If you're like me, you're shocked by these super high numbers too... it's amazing what 12 months of spending adds up to! In the end, we also increased our income (despite what happened with Univera) and ended the year with more savings than when we started. In all, I'm happy with the direction.


5. Run 10 miles in <= 100 minutes
Done! It was glorious. I did it in 95 minutes. Jessi and I don't have any plans for running a half marathon this year, but I'll keep running on occasion.


6. Transition Bob the Autographer fully online
I set aside time to do this, but never got around to it. I suppose it's safe to say it actually wasn't too important to me. Ultimately, it was fun and I'm ready to fully move on from this. You'll learn more about why I didn't do this when I share my 2013 goals.


7. Teach Vinnie 3 new skills
I wanted Vinnie to learn 3 tricks: "Come", "Stay" and "Lay down". Vinnie is awesome at "come": 100% inside and about 80% outside. I would like him to "stay" longer than he does, but I'm happy with it for now. I never really got him to master the whole "lay down" trick, but I did teach him to spin in a circle and go outside to the bathroom on command.


Overall, I'm happy with my 2012 accomplishments. I did a whole bunch and feel like I'm in a better place today because I reached these goals. Stay tuned for my 2013 goals.