Happy New Year!
2015 is officially over which means it’s time to review my 2015 goals.
All the way back in January I shared my goals for 2015 and a mid-year review in June.
One thing I learned this year is this: setting goals is good, but flexibility is better.
You’ll notice that there were a number of goals that I set last year that I simply abandoned, usually because there were new goals that became a higher priority.
Here’s where I landed with my 2015 goals:
- Sign up for Life Insurance – Fail
While I made some progress towards this goal, I still ultimately have to chalk this up as a fail because I did not sign up for life insurance.
The progress I did make was getting a free online life insurance quote from Policy Genius as well as finally getting my life insurance physical (two weeks ago). I’m now waiting for the underwriting process to finish and a final rate provided to me.
- Get my CMA License – Fail
Most people reading this probably don’t know what a CMA license is, so to clarify CMA stands for Certified Managerial Accountant. The CMA is similar to the CPA, except for people who did not get enough credits to sit for the CPA or did not major in accounting. It also focuses more on the managerial/internal accounting than public accounting.
This goal was abandoned for other goals (read on to see what those were).
- Drive More Affiliate Revenue on Young Adult Money – Success
While I didn’t drastically increase the affiliate revenue of Young Adult Money, the affiliate revenue did increase in 2015. I also took some positive actions towards laying the groundwork for future affiliate income. Overall I spent more and more time focusing on affiliate income and finding/planning opportunities to utilize affiliate links.
- Complete 2 of 5 Major Home Projects – Fail
I only completed 1 out of 5 major home renovations, but man was it a big project! I got rid of our failing, rotting, wood retaining wall and replaced it with a 40-foot block retaining wall. Each block was 80 pounds and over 12 cubic yards of dirt were moved out of our backyard.
Before:
After:
Not too bad if you ask me! Someone on my Facebook said that this before/after was “inspiring.” So I have that going for me.
We still have a lot of landscaping work to finish and decisions to make as far as how much time/energy we want to spend on landscaping, but it feels great to have a huge project complete. Even if I did only finish 1 major project this year.
- Churn 3-5 Credit Cards – Success
Not much to say here. We churned 3 cards and are very happy with the results.
- Read the Bible in it’s entirety – Fail
The reason I failed at this is simple: I didn’t make it a priority.
- Prioritize “Better” – Success
Whether or not I succeeded at this goal is clearly a judgement call. Overall I am very happy with how I’ve been able to prioritize in 2015 and I hope to carry over that momentum into 2016.
The final tally: 3 Successes and 4 Failures
Looking at these 7 goals it may not appear as though I accomplished much. Yes, I built a huge retaining wall, but the other two goals I marked as successes involved an increase in affiliate revenue (which wasn’t difficult when I wasn’t focused on it at all in 2014) and getting “better” at prioritizing.
In reality I changed my goals drastically throughout the year as I had new opportunities and goals I pursued.
What else did I accomplish in 2015?
My goals changed throughout 2015. Here’s some of the highlights of things I accomplished that were not part of my original goals:
- Wrote a Book
Yes, I wrote a book! It still feels weird to say that out loud, but I’m getting used to it. The opportunity came up in August and I jumped on it. The book is titled Hustle Away Debt and is coming out in May 2016.
If you want to hear more about how this opportunity came about, read my post How I Got a Book Deal.
- Promotion at Work
Another thing I accomplished in 2015 was securing a promotion at work. I won’t go into great detail here, but I was able to go from being a Financial Consultant to a Finance Manager. The promotion involves completely new work which is a great change. I also still get to report to the same manager, who I’ve worked well with the past year-and-a-half.
- Took the GMAT
I decided to pursue my MBA around Spring-time last year. This is why I didn’t pursue the CMA, which was one of my goals heading into 2015.
Getting into an MBA program meant taking the GMAT. It took a decent amount of time as I studied and took about 5 or so practice tests to prepare.
- Enrolled in an MBA Program
I get it – anyone can enroll in an MBA program, but this was a big step for me. For years I went back and forth on whether an MBA was worth my time (and money). Enrolling meant putting some eggs in my career basket and trusting that an MBA has a positive ROI.
I finalized my book deal with my publisher in August, literally just a couple weeks before the Fall semester was supposed to start. I ended up delaying my enrollment until Spring of 2016 so that I could concentrate on writing my book.
2015 was a big year for me from a blog and career perspective. It wasn’t easy and it wouldn’t have been possible without proper planning, prioritization, and sacrifice.
Speaking of sacrifice one of the most difficult things I dealt with in 2015 was how limited I was from a time perspective. Relationships definitely suffered and there wasn’t much room for a social calendar. Unfortunately I’m not sure there is going to be any more balance in 2016.
There’s pros and cons to everything, and I think the best thing anyone can do is regularly reflect on where their time is going and whether they are using it properly.
As far as 2016 goals are concerned, I’ll be sharing those next week. They seem to keep changing, so hopefully writing a post will force me to lock them down.
How was your 2015? Are you satisfied with what you were able to accomplish?
____________
Photo by redspotted
Check out some of our favorite personal finance resources:
Are you getting the best credit card rewards? Check out the top cash back credit card offers (updated daily)
Make extra money: 15 ways to make money from your computer
Get the First Chapter Free!
Join our online community and get the first chapter of the book Student Loan Solution absolutely FREE!
nice job DC, although I definitely would make finding more balance a priority. You don’t want to look back on your life with any kind of regret. Congrats again on the book. I think that’s a huge accomplishment. Overall, I’m very happy with my 2015! Cheers to a happy new year!
Beachbudget Thanks Tonya, and glad to hear you are happy with your 2015! I agree about balance, but unfortunately I think 2016 will have even less balance : / I just reviewed my plans for 2016 and it’s not looking like I’ve left much room for balance. Here’s to a great 2016!
Sounds like 2015 was an awesome year for you. One thing I still need to do as well is that I need to sign up for life insurance. I just keep pushing it off!
SenseofCents Haha it’s so easy to put off! I put it off for nearly 2 years now. Thankfully I’m at the end of the process and should have it within a month.
It seems to me that 2015 was a great year for you. Congratulations! No doubt that the successes of last year will serve as part of the foundation for your 2016 successes.
Looking over your goals reminded me of where I was a few years ago. You had some BIG career goals that you didn’t complete because some other maybe more important opportunities came your way. Like you said, setting goals is good, but flexibility is better.
All the best to you in 2016!
RetirementSavvy Thanks! It was a great year and it was interesting how priorities changed throughout the year.
Laura Beth @ How To Get Rich Slowly Definitely! A part-time MBA can take a long time to complete so delaying it obviously could hurt me down the road, but there were other opportunities that presented themselves.
Here’s to a great 2016 for both of us!
DC @ Young Adult Money RetirementSavvy That’s always been my experience with respect to goals, and by extension, priorities. I’ve come to recognize that it’s not so much the goal itself that is important but the fact that you are always working toward something and improving your mental, spiritual, physical and fiscal well-being in the process.
I was satisfied with 2015, but looking more to using what I learned in 2015 and applying it to 2016. Congrats on your year.
The year 2015 was a good year for me too. It was also a year of great surprises with unexpected opportunities that came knocking on my door. I think the book is a really big deal and I wish you the best of luck with that in 2016. Looking forward to reading it.
ferventfinance That’s a great attitude to have. I am constantly learning as well and hope to apply some of those “lessons learned” to the new year.
Petrish @ Debt Free Martini Thanks Petrish! Glad to hear about the unexpected opportunities – looks like we can relate on that front. Here’s to a great 2016 for both of us!
The story of the book deal really illustrates why it’s good to set goals, but remain flexible. You really don’t know what opportunities might come along!
Pretend to Be Poor Exactly! I like to plan, which is good, but it also means I need to be flexible with my schedule if priorities change.
Sounds like you’ve had a very busy year! I’m pretty satisfied with what I was able to accomplish in 2015, but there’s always room for improvement each year.
Congrats man, definitely feel like I’ve become more focused on what I want to achieve, which is living life as much on my terms as I can, happy to get into more specifics however that could turn into war and peace ;)..
The really big thing I’m excited about for you is your book! Hit me up when / if I can help with promoting it, would love to help out even if in a small way :)
Chonce Great attitude, Chonce! I love the idea of looking forward to a new year with new possibilities. There is always room for improvement.
mycareercrusade I love your perspective, Jef! I appreciate your support of my book and I will for sure let you know any ways you can help.