The year is quickly coming to a close – aah! I’m not ready for December to be over yet. It’s hard to believe I used to have all my Christmas shopping done by mid November, ha. I get later and later each year. Anyway, here’s a quick recap on my 2015 goals and highlights.
2015 Goals Recap
Successes
* Smoothly transition into a new career – It’s been a whirlwind of a year. I left my job of 10 years at the beginning of the year and as fate would have it, I ended up back working for them as a consultant last month. I had a great time away during the months in between and was able to focus on building my freelancing portfolio. I could have hustled harder over the summer and fall, but overall I’m pleased with how things have turned out.
* See all of my immediate family – This has been a great year for seeing family. I live long distance from them, but fortunately had the flexibility to make several trips to see my parents and siblings several times.
* Complete 1 item on my bucket list – I made it Asia and also got a cat! I didn’t expect to do either this year, so I’m really happy about both of these things. I’m not sure what I’ll try to accomplish in 2016 yet though so I’ve got some thinking to do over the coming days.
* Save 25% of my income – I did decent with my savings goals this year. With irregular income patterns, it’s harder to save than when I was getting a consistent paycheck every two weeks, but it’s still a passion of mine to save and invest.
* Income Reports – I didn’t have a goal to start income reports this year, but I’m proud that I started doing this every month. I wanted to make note of it so I can remember when I got started later on.
Partial And Mostly Misses
* Improve technical skills in editing, SEO, and tech – I learned a decent amount about editing such as AP stylebook quirks and got better about things like using footnotes in some of my freelance work. I learned a few things about SEO and technical stuff, but definitely not as much as I would have liked.
* Keep my files better organized and continue to declutter – I used to be a crazy organized person, but as each year passes I don’t seem to be able to keep up with my old ways. I suppose it’s good to let go of my perfectionist tendencies and find a more happy medium. I wanted to get all my photo libraries organized and do more decluttering at home, but didn’t really get around to it.
* Exercise 1x week for health and stress reduction – I failed on this during the first half of the year, but did an okay job in the second half. I did get in more exercise this year than last year at least, which is a good thing. Happiness is progress. I started taking a weekly class to keep me motivated.
Fun Posts You Might Have Missed
It’s always fun for me to look back at what I’ve written over the last twelve months as each year comes to a close. Here are a few fun and helpful posts you might have missed:
- Don’t Follow Your Passion: Bring It With You For Success – I really enjoyed writing this post and getting a new perspective on “passion” and success.
- One Thing Done Is One Thing Less To Do – This post got picked up by Lifehacker, which was a wonderful surprise. I love the title too!
- How To Make Faster Decisions – I’ve been quite an indecisive person for years but have gotten better at making faster choices.
- The Best Things In Life Are Free – I love free! Don’t you?
- The Top 5 Reasons To Invest Your Savings – Investing is so important to building wealth over the long term. Invest your savings for the chance at a better future.
- How To Make People Happy All The Time – Some people are so hard to please. Learn how to make your life easier.
- Seven Unexpected Aspects Of Freelancing – There are lots of things I’ve learned in freelancing this year, included several things I didn’t expect.
- Year End Checklist For Financially Wise People – Who better to get financial advice from than the Financial Samurai. Make more money in 2016 with the tips in this post.
Untemplaters, how did you do on your 2015 goals? Are you ready for the holidays yet? What’s at the top of your wish list?
Congrats on hitting many of your 2015 targets and good luck with 2016! With this new year I am following in your footsteps And will aim to make my full living writing! It’s scary, but I love the atonomy and flexibility. So we’ll see what happens. Have a great end of your year!
Thanks Rob! That’s very cool to hear you are going into writing. It is a challenging and competitive path but also quite a rewarding one. Best of luck and keep us posted on how things go!
Many years from now you will look back and realize what a great choice you made in 2014/2015.
Judging from your income reports you should be more than fine. Especially since you are able to continue to save for rainy days that will hopefully never come. Of the misses I’d worry most about not having been able to exercise enough this year. Combined with a decent diet and a nice social life it is crucial for our overall health.
So please focus on that because I would love to read your blogs well into the future.
Thanks! It really will be neat to look back on this year in the future. I’m looking forward to more excitement and things to accomplish in 2016. Best of luck to you too.
Thanks for posting Sydney. Keep up the motivation in 2016.
2015 Reached Goals:
-Started a blog
-Paid off all debt
-Started Investing
-Full Disaster Fund built up
Thanks DM! That’s fantastic you paid off all your debt and started investing. Throwing a blog in the mix is awesome too. Sounds like you were quite busy. Happy New Year!
Thanks Sydney!
My Main 2015 Goals:
Hit:
1k Twitter Followers
1k IG Followers
Travel 15 Countries
Spend Quality Time With Each Member Of Immediate Family
Down To 10% Body Fat
Missed:
1k YT Subscribers
$10k Per Month Revenue
Increase Weight To 80kgs
It’s been an awesome year but got more to do next year.
Thanks for your honesty and I’m sure you’ll have an awesome 2016!
Tom
Thanks for sharing your goals Tom! Great job on your followers, family and health goals. That’s awesome you’ve now been to 15 countries too! Any particular favorites? Best wishes into 2016!
These are my fav kind of posts. Congrats on a great 2015, I’ll be watching to see how you dominate 2016.
Thanks a lot Dustin. Happy New Year!
Howdy Sydney!
2015 has to go down for you as one of your monumental years of your life after 10 years at one firm! Not many folks nowadays stay for 10 years at one place first of all. And then to successfully SURVIVE the first year after (go severance!) is the hardest part! It gets MUCH easier the 2nd, and 3rd year. I’m now finishing up my 4th year out of Corporate America come March, 2016 and it has been a blast.
You know everything there is to know about SEO skills, so don’t worry about it! I don’t know how this industry still survives!
Here’s to using your watch more for better exercise routines!
Sam
Thanks! Yes it’s been a big year for me that I will remember forever. I’d classify a lot of these experiences as “core” memories that have really changed my lifestyle and perspectives on a lot of things.