How I’m Doing On My 2018 Goals | 4 Months Check-In

by Triasha, in category College, College Life, Goals & Reflections, Life, My Life, Productivity & Organization, Self-Development, Uncategorized

 

I did quarterly blogging updates in my first year of blogging, and I loved documenting everything that happened that year. I’m excited to start doing it again (Though they will be four-month updates instead of three-month). At the end of last year, I bought a goal planner for 2018 to hold me accountable to my goals and it worked better than I thought.

I can honestly say that I wouldn’t have made this much progress if it weren’t for my Powersheets. I’ve failed over and over again the last four months, but it doesn’t feel that way because I’m seeing the progress I’m making. I’m noticing the little things, which has motivated me to progress more.

Here are a few of many things I’ve done this month:

  • Got a credit card and paid it off in full every month
  • Got my own health insurance separate from my parents
  • Journaled every week
  • Didn’t clean my room at all
  • Traveled to Canada
  • Fell behind on school work, but I caught up again.
  • Started learning how to apply makeup (which is a huge feat because I am makeup illiterate)
  • Read 25 Books
  • Didn’t work out regularly because I pinched a nerve in my back
  • Expanded my business and started making a more regular income
  • Started using Duolingo to practice my Spanish
  • Bought a blogging E-Course to learn how to blog for business
  • Drank more water
  • Consumed way too much sugar
  • Spent less time on my phone when with other people
  • Bought a keyboard and am learning how to play it
  • Got my creativity back and found my love of writing again.

So many of my goals have come to fruition in the last four months and I’ve done a lot of stuff, despite my many failures. I’ve procrastinated on work and wasn’t consistent when it comes to blogging, but that hasn’t stopped me. I’m lucky that I’m not an all-or-nothing person because when I fail, I just try again and keep going despite how discouraging it is.

Anywho, let’s get on with my 2018 goals. Every four months, I will update you all on how the progress I made on my goals. Some of my goals have changed, which is to be expected because my expectations and intentions are going to change throughout the year. The workbook has me check in on my goals every three months, but I’m going to do four-month updates on the blog because of the way this year is divided up for me (more on that later)

Related – My 2018 Goals + Word For The Year

//Powersheets Review//

When I bought the Powersheets Goal Planner back in November, I had no idea the impact it would have. I have never been this productive in my life. There have been many downfalls in the last few months, but the best thing about the planner is that I’m noticing the progress I’m making. I’m doing the small action steps that will add up to the big goals I made at the beginning of the year.

I also like that it’s not in the traditional S.M.A.R.T goals format. Every month, I go through the worksheets and figure out what I’m prioritizing for that month. A lot of my goals have been about things that I wouldn’t even think of before like practicing my Spanish every day on Duolingo (an app that I’ve never bothered to use before).

I will ten out of ten buy this again next year. Even if I could get the same amount of work done without it, I would still pay for it again because I’m noticing all the things I’m getting done instead of blaming myself for the things I’m not. This planner is definitely the biggest reason why 2018 has been such a great year so far.

//2018 Goals Refresh//

1.//Financial Stability

Progress So Far

  • Got A Credit Card
  • Paid It Off In Full Each Month
  • Increased My Monthly Income
  • Started Making A More Regular Income
  • Quickly Built My Savings Back Up After Paying For Trip To Canada
  • Went Inside The Bank On My Own To Talk To A Banker

I’m definitely making progress on this goal. I wouldn’t say that I am financially stable yet, but I’m slowly getting there. As you can see above, I’ve done a bit of “adulting” in the last few months. I researched a lot about credit cards and applied for one. Many college students graduate with zero credit (as in they don’t exist when employers look up their credit) and I don’t want to be one of them. I was actually super stressed out about getting a credit card because of all the horror stories, but I know myself and I know that I’m going to pay off the card in full every month, so I’ve gotten more accustomed to using it. My current credit score is 716 (which is good considering I started three months ago)

Another aspect to this goal is that my income has increased. The process of that is related more towards business goals that I haven’t shared on the blog, but I think they relate here too. Overall, I think I’ve made a very good start towards financial stability.

Goal Refresh: Financial Stability

A goal refresh is changing a goal based on things that have changed in the previous quarter. I’m not refreshing this goal, but you’ll see a few that have changed later on in the post. Here are some action steps for the next three months.

Action Steps:

  • Increase income – This goes along with the financial stability goal. I have a monthly income goal for the year that I haven’t reached yet, but I’m confident that I’ll be able to reach it by the end of the year.
  • Track Income And Expenses – I use my bank account and apps like Mint to keep track of my income and expenses, but I think I would benefit by tracking everything on an Excel Spreadsheet. I plan to start typing everything out every week and keeping receipts so that I am actively aware of the money I am spending and making. I actually started doing this in April but would like to continue this throughout the year.
  • Spend Less Money (Try To Have A No Spend Month?) – I’m a chronic avoider when it comes to finance, so spending money causes me some stress (Is it worth it? Will I use it? Etc.) This has allowed me to build up my savings, but I have been spending more money than usual lately, so I want to take stock of that (by tracking my expenses) and controlling it. I don’t think that I will have a no-spend month because that seems a bit too extreme for me. I may do something like “no eating out this month” or “no shopping” for another month. This is a less limiting mindset that will work well for me.
  • Build Savings Account To “X” Amount Of Money – I’ve increased my savings goal for this year, but I’m not posting it online.

2.//Travel To Europe

Progress So Far

  • Saved enough money to go
  • Told my parents about it
  • Life circumstances changed and I decided not to go this year.

There is a long story to this goal changing and it’s quite disappointing. Back in January, I was planning on booking a trip to Europe for the summer. After telling my parents about it, I realized that it just isn’t in the cards for me this year. My brother Mysoon, who has autism, is turning 18 this year, so there are a lot of logistical things that come with that. My parents have to pay for lawyers, apply for Medicaid, and set up a lot of financial things for him, so this year is going to be a very expensive year for us.

In summary, I gave my dad half of my life savings. I’ve accepted the situation now that it’s been a few months, but it still really sucks because I was really looking forward to accomplishing this goal. I’ve wanted to do it for such a long time and I thought that this would be the year that it would happen.

Theoretically, I could still go. I still have enough money saved up, but I wouldn’t have as much of a cushion in my bank account if I were to do so. I want to travel in college, but I don’t want to be financially irresponsible about it.

On a lighter note, I traveled to Canada for the first time in March. You can read more about that decision here. I got to visit friends and family and crossed places like Niagra Falls off my bucket list.

Goal Refresh: Travel To Another Continent

There is still a possibility of me going to Europe, so I’m not taking that off the table. It’s just if I do go, I want to be able to spend a lot of time there and go to a bunch of countries at once to save money rather than only spend a week in only one or two.

That’s why my goal refresh is to travel to another continent. I haven’t decided where to go yet, but I think there’s a lot of fun in that. I also want to go on a solo trip where I don’t know anyone. My last few solo trips have been fun, but there has always been someone I know at the destination. I want to go on a trip where I am completely reliant on myself even though it’ll scare my parents to death.

  • Decide where to go (Europe? Africa? Australia?) – I’m thinking about going to Australia in December. My family members there have invited me to visit as long as I tell them two months before. I want to travel somewhere this summer too, but I haven’t chosen a country yet. I am quite new to international travel, so I have many options.
  • Save money – Because plane tickets are expensive
  • Plan Trip – After deciding where to go, I need to decide when and for how long.
  • Buy Plane Ticket – The trip doesn’t feel real to me until I buy the plane ticket. Buying a plane ticket always flips the switch in my brain giving me permission to get fully excited about the trip.

3.//Start A YouTube Channel

Progress So Far

The progress here is that I decided not to do it this year. The reason I created this goal is that I was getting kind of bored with blogging and wanted to try something new and creative. A lot of bloggers I love have created YouTube channels and it’s easier to talk about some things rather than to write them. In the last few months, my love of writing has come back a bit and I would rather do that than edit videos. (I did film some stuff for fun but have decided not to pursue it yet).

Instead, I created a completely different goal.

Goal Refresh: Create A Product To Sell On Blog

I’ve been blogging for almost two years, and I haven’t done much to grow my email list or create a product. I knew that I would eventually want to create an e-book or e-course to sell on this blog, but I didn’t know what. I currently have an idea and will be in the process of implementing it this summer. It will most likely launch it in August.

Action Steps:

  • Work through E-Course – I bought an E-Course last month that I’ve had my eye on for almost a year. When the launch window opened for two days, I was on the fence about enrolling because it’s rather expensive, but I took the plunge. It’s a good investment in the long run and it will teach me a lot (creating an email course, starting a webinar, guest posting, creating a product). I didn’t start it in April because I’m focusing on school this month, but I plan on finishing the entire course by the end of May (It’s really long.)
  • Grow Email List – I created a MailChimp account awhile ago with the intention of growing my email list and sharing free and more exclusive content, but the interface is terrible. I plan on figuring it out or switching to Convert Kit before growing my list.
  • Create Product – This is a broad action step encompassing many little goals that will lead to its completion.

4.//Make $1000 From Blog In A Month

Progress So Far

I didn’t focus on making money through this blog for the first four months of the year. I focused on writing more and posting consistently. I got a lot of my love for writing back because I was in a rut near the end of 2017. I also did a lot of behind the scenes stuff like improving SEO and organizing the navigation. The first four months of the year definitely weren’t blog-oriented. After doing this for two years, I know that late winter and early spring are slower traffic months, so my time would be better spent elsewhere. I mostly enjoyed writing less technical guides and writing more personal blog posts, but blogging is definitely going to change during the summer.

Goal Refresh: Make $1000 From Blog In A Month

(My goal hasn’t changed. By the end of the year, I want to make $1000 in a month)

  • Apply for sponsored posts – I’ve already started doing that in April. I haven’t published a sponsored post in almost a year.
  • Blog more consistently – This summer, I want to post on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday every week consistently.
  • Reread & Edit All Blog Posts (Fix SEO, Add Affiliate Links, Related Posts, Etc.) – If you’ve read my April Goals, you know that this was one of my goals for this month. This three-month refresh is where it came from. In the past, I had a terrible habit of publishing posts before rereading them, resulting in a few spelling errors. I also want to update the backlinks and SEO.

5.//Be More Intentional About My Friendships

Progress So Far

This goal has come to fruition in many strange ways. I didn’t write this down as a goal in my powersheets to make my friendships into a project. I added it to keep my friends at the forefront of my mind. The idea originally came from the fact that I don’t make birthday cards anymore. When I was in middle school, I would make really thought out handmade birthday cards for my friends with long notes inside. I decided that I wanted to do that again. But not only that, I wanted to be more intentional about my friendships in general.

I didn’t really have a well-thought-out plan for this. Even so, I’ve seen a lot of progress on this goal. I’ve started calling or video-chatting my friends more often. Whenever I’m at Bengali dawats, where I usually sit to the side and avoid small talk, I’ve started socializing and actually being present in the conversation.

The most extreme example of this goal is of me taking a spontaneous trip to Canada when my childhood best friend postponed her flight back to Bangladesh.

Work and school have been my priority the last few months, so I haven’t been spending as much time with my friends as I usually do, but whenever I am grabbing breakfast with them or at a party, I’m fully present and enjoying my time with them. That’s definitely the biggest change.

Goal Refresh: Be More Intentional About My Friendships

6.//Wake Up Early

Progress So Far

This goal had been an absolute and complete failure at the beginning. The first month of the year, I was jetlagged, so my sleeping schedule was all over the place. In February, I just couldn’t wake up with my alarm. I would wait until the absolute last minute to get out of bed. I got slightly better near the middle of March, but not by much.

I have an alarm that goes off at 11:00 PM that signals me to start getting ready for bed, but I stopped listening to it. During the week, I would continue studying or working because I wasn’t done yet. When I go to sleep later, I wake up later. That is just a given.

It took me awhile, but I finally got my act together in April. I’ve started waking up before my alarm and getting out of bed before 9:30, but I would like to push that back by an hour. It’s still progress I’m proud of.

Goal Refresh: Be More Intentional About How I Spend My Time

Despite all of my failures, I’m adding to this goal. Even though I’ve been having trouble waking up early, I’ve been much more intentional about how I spend my time. I’m not spending as much time on my phone and am more present overall. I want to continue making progress on those aspects of my life too, so I’m refreshing my goal into being more intentional about my time.

Action Steps:

  • Wake Up And Get Out Of Bed Before 9 – I’m not giving up on this goal yet.
  • Work At Desk – I get so much more done and am more focused on the task at hand when I’m sitting at my desk.
  • Procrastinate Less – I’ve improved somewhat in the last few months, but it’s still a problem.
  • Stop Multitasking – This is more of a tip for you guys. In the last few years, I have stopped multitasking. I don’t even listen to music while I study. I get so much more done and am intentional about everything I’m doing instead of trying to do a lot of tasks at once.
  • Spend Less Time On Phone – This goes along with with the action step of procrastinating less because I usually procrastinate on my phone. After almost a month of practicing this, I’ve noticed a difference.

7.//Read 12 New Books; Watch 12 New Movies

Progress So Far

By the end of March, I had read 15 books. Before this year, I had never tracked how many books I read, but it’s a nice feeling to write down the title of the book I’ve finished on the page in my goals planner. Keeping track of how much I read has shown me how much I’ve progressed. It’s also shown me that I can read a lot more when I prioritize.

Reading one book a month was a light goal I added after considering my bigger goals for 2018, but these last three months have shown me that I have enough time and energy to push myself to read more books.

Goal Refresh: Read 50 Books; Watch 20 New Movies

These fifty books don’t necessarily have to be new books because I enjoy rereading books and those should count on my list too. I was going to aim for forty because that’s what a lot of people I know aim for, but forty seemed too doable. I wanted to push myself a bit farther.

As for the movies, I just made the goal a bit bigger because I enjoy watching movies and it’s a fun recreational goal.

Action Steps:

  • Make a list of books to read – I already have a running list, but I’m going to need to add more now that my goal has grown.
  • Keep track of new movies I’ve watched – I somewhat keep track of this in my monthly favorites post, but I’m going to start using a page in my Powersheets to write them all down.
  • Make time to read during the summer – During the school year, I always read on the train, but I have trouble making time to read regularly every day during the summer. Since my reading goal has increased, I will have to schedule a time to read every day.

8.//Write Everyday

Progress So Far

  • Journaled Every Week
  • Wrote More Blog Posts
  • Spent more time writing for fun

This was a goal that has surprisingly been fulfilled. I normally put creative things on the back burner but because I’ve been intentional about it, I’ve started journaling regularly, posting more personal blog posts, and actually writing things that have nothing to do with this blog. I will hopefully continue to write every day throughout the year.

Goal Refresh: Write Every Day

Action Steps:

  • Journal Every Week – self-explanatory.
  • Write A Fiction Story – I’m not going to publish it here. This is more for myself because I haven’t really written a fiction story since middle school. I’ll also have loads of time this summer, so why not.
  • Continue Blogging Every Day – This summer, I want to start posting three times a week, consistently.

//My Word For The Year Progress//

My word for 2018 was Initiative. I wanted to take initiative in all my endeavors instead of letting life happen to me. Instead of waiting and planning all of my ideas, I wanted to start.

I think I’ve only half fulfilled this goal this year because I wasn’t always taking initiative on things. Some of the awesome things that happened in the first three months of the year just fell into my lap. For example, my childhood neighbor who moved away a few years ago called me to talk about life and I invited her to grab breakfast with me the next morning. I did take the initiative to be intentional about that friendship, but I had been thinking about calling her for weeks to catch up. Her calling is what stirred me into making plans with her. The end result is the same, which I have no problem with, but there are many examples of this whether it relates to school, work, or my blog. I definitely want to do better in the next few months.

At least I can say that I started. That’s more than I can say for 2017, where I let things happen to me instead of taking enough initiative on my goals. That’s progress.

Well, that post was a doozy. I’m going to do another yearly goals update in August. Originally, I was planning on doing quarterly updates, but my year is naturally divided into three sections: the first being this update, the second being summer break, and the third being about life after transferring schools and working out.

I hope you guys like posts like this because I love it when bloggers reflect on their goals. It motivates me to do better with mine. Until next time!

 

Can you believe we’re already a third of the way through this year?!? What have you been doing the last four months to reach your goals?

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *