Goals for 2018
I’ve got a lot of plans for the year. Financial, professional, personal and blog. They are all in there. Here is a quick breakdown of what I’ve got planned.
Financial
- Put £50 a month into premium bonds
- Buy £100 shares in the company I work for
- Set up an Stocks & Shares ISA
- Clear Credit Card
- Cash out from Amazon in 2018
- Cash out from Adsense in 2018
None of these are earth shattering but by the end of 2018 I should have £1800 saved between the premium bonds and the shares. That’s if the shares stay stagnant and the premium bonds don’t win anything. The Credit Card will be cleared by June at which point I hope to be able to put more into the Stocks & Shares ISA. I do know that premium bonds aren’t be biggest earners but I’m happy to just keep building it up and forgetting about them.
Professional
2018 I hope to get the formal qualification in my profession. I’ve already completed 2 of the required 4 exams and so hope to have this completed by the end of 2018. It sounds easy, especially as I’ve got the 3rd exam in January, but after the 4 exams I then need to have a interview and only if I pass this interview will I get the qualification! I hate being interviewed but I’ve been offered some guidance and support for the interview so we’ll have to see how it goes. There aren’t any promotions available in my office at the moment but I think once I have the qualification, it will make the discussion more relevant.
Personal
- Read a book a month
- Do at least 6 phone-in Facebook Live shows.
- Lose some weight. Always on here every year but maybe this will be the year it works.
- Write a book
- Learn to code (unsure which language yet)
- Cook from scratch more.
- Play LESS Playstation
- Cycle to work
Some hard ones here. Not sure if losing weight or writing a book will be the hardest! I have a kindle and so reading a book every 2 months should be easy. I want them to be interesting books and not necessarily fiction. I’ve got a few queued up on my Kindle so there is little excuse to not read.
I play a lot of Playstation, currently CODWW2 is burning all my time away, and I think I should reduce this. I’m not enjoying COD that much – the guns are slow (well it is during WW2) and the maps feel tiny. Hopefully they will improve with the season packs but I’m really not feeling this game.
I have a bike. I work about 2 miles from where I live. Currently I take a bus to the office and I generally walk home. I’m not going to cycle while the weather is rubbish but I really should when the weather improves.
Blog
- Post 1 blog post a week
- Have 10 blog posts queued up at all times.
- Get a guest post on someone-else’s blog.
- Accept a sponsored post
- Increase Twitter Followers to 250 by Easter (works out about 1 extra follower a day)
- Increase Blog pages per session
- Post 1 video on Youtube a month
The first one should easy. I didn’t manage it in 2017 but I should be able to do it for 2018. Getting 10 blog posts saved and ready to use will be harder but it is another one that should be possible. Guest posting on someone else’s blog is going to be hard as I don’t really promote myself much online. Hopefully someone will take me under their wing and offer me a post. I could do it on a quid-pro-quo basis which would be more than fine with me.
Accepting a sponsored post is something I’ve avoided in 2017. 2018 I plan to be a little more open to the possibility of sponsors. Increasing my Twitter followers should be ok. I need to be engaging and have people want to follow me. This also relates to my increase in blog pages per session – have people come for the link but stay around to read other posts. Youtube videos will be more of a challenge as I want to have them look better than something thrown together with string and sellotape!
The Reverend’s Final Thought
2018 will be a great year building on the successes of 2017. I hope to have lots to keep people updated with throughout the year and hope that you enjoy the journey with me! What are your plans for 2018? Link them in the comments and I’ll come visit you for a read 🙂
Wishing you all the very best for a positive, productive & lucrative 2018! I’d be interested to know how much you manage with Adsense (seems like 2p a week is a high for me..!)
Hi Caz,
I’m getting about a penny a day from Adsense. I’ve had it for years (based on a couple of old youtube videos I uploaded). It really isn’t a massive earner for ‘normal’ blog posts and I’ve seen some posts from other bloggers who use a different advertising partner and get paid more. I don’t know the rates but even 2p a day would be double and so you could make £60 a year which would easily pay for the hosting/web address.
It has a £65 pay-out threshold which means you might hit payout in a year. It is super easy on a WordPress blog to add and you’ve got a bit of control over what is displayed.
HTH
The Reverend
I like that your goals are grounded, all very achievable. Good luck!
Thanks MSH,
Hopefully they are all achievable. I guess we’ll find out in 2019!
😀
The Reverend
This is a good list of goals. Good luck with all of them. It’s a good idea writing them all down so it’s easier to stick to them 🙂
Hi Alison,
Thanks – Writing them down certainly does help. I just need to get on with them now!
🙂
The Reverend
Like your list of goals – you have given me some food for thought as well, especially around the blog ones
Hi Rae,
Some goals are good to work to as you get a psychological benefit from ticking items off.
🙂
Thanks,
The Reverend