I see the year 2009 as kind of a bellwether year in my personal and professional life, and therefore I figure I have to have goals that help me get to places I want to be eventually in both of my lives. Though I’m still working on coming to grips with it, I’ll be turning 50 at some point this year, even though, overall I don’t feel any older than 19 or 20, which is what my dad used to say to me all the time.

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But I am older; I feel it when I get on the floor for something and then have to try to get back up. I feel it in the mornings when my body aches and creaks as I try to get out of bed. I have a disease that I’m fighting all the time and not winning the battle, unfortunately, but I keep working on it, in my own way. Yet I’m always optimistic about life in general and my life, and my mother said she sees that as my strongest point.

So yes, more goals. I’ve been writing goals for years, probably starting in 1999, the year I turned 40, but I didn’t start putting them on the internet until 2006. I haven’t always reached my goals, but I don’t let that stop me from writing them and putting them in public, because one, we still have to have goals, and two, one is more apt to at least give a better effort to goals that they share with others than goals they keep to themselves.

First, I’m going to address last year’s goals, but I’m also doing something a little bit different this time around. In previous years, I’ve only put five goals together, and only written it on one blog, this blog. This year, I’m putting the same beginning on each of my three blogs, then I’m putting different goals on each of those blogs, which means I’ll be accountable for 15 goals rather than just five. Talk about pressure! And yet, it’s no pressure at all because I should be able to achieve at least half of them this year, with some renewed faith, more and better planning, and of course all of you looking at me and saying “hey, what’s going on there?”

So, let’s look back at last year’s goals and see how well I did.

My first goal was to lose 25 pounds. No, that didn’t happen, and I’m ashamed that it didn’t happen, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying, at least initially. My weight stayed pretty much the same while I was home at the early part of the year, though I was exercising at least 4 days a week. I continued on my exercise plan and my eating plan, where I had a major change in February that didn’t result in weight loss, but did result in a drastic decrease in my glucose level, which was very important.

Then I started going out of town more, and on the first go-round I started gaining weight and my glucose went out of control. When that contract was over I came home, lost that extra weight and got my glucose back under control again, but didn’t lose any more weight than the bit I’d gained. Now I’m on a new consulting assignment all the way across the country, and even though glucose has gone up I haven’t gained a single pound since I’ve been gone.

I also haven’t exercised. So, I will be working on fitting exercise time in when I go back out of town, and work on modifying how I eat while I’m in a hotel room, especially now that I have a room with a kitchen in it. I’m sending back containers to pre-cook and measure some meals, which I’ve not been able to do before while on consulting assignments, so hopefully this will help me get everything back under control.

My next goal was to get caught up on my taxes. No, that didn’t happen, mainly because my consulting assignments were so spread out that I couldn’t put anything consistent together.

My next goal was to give speaking engagements in five states that I didn’t give one in before. That didn’t happen because the person I’d hired to help me book speaking engagements decided to get out of the business.

My next goal was to finish writing one of the many books I’d started. That didn’t quite turn out the way I had intended, but I did write an ebook on using one’s website as a marketing tool and started selling it online.

My final goal was to find the time to take a 3-day vacation. I haven’t had a vacation since 1998, or taken any real time off since 2001 (when I was still employed with someone else), and I had hoped this would be the year. I get to claim one trip a year as a business expense, but I didn’t get an overnight trip in this year, so no vacation. That’s not good, but I guess that’s my life to date.

Anyway, that’s a quick recap of my goals for last year. At this point, my goals will be different on each blog of mine, and I’ll be giving the links to each blog post so the most intrepid of you can check them all out to see what I’m hoping to do with myself in 2009. A couple will be repeated from what’s above, but not on the same blog; at least not all of them.

On this blog, I'm going to list my top five professional and personal goals for 2009. They are:

1. Work on finding more ways to earn money from home rather than being on the road so much. This year I traveled less than I usually do, but my biggest contracts were out of state. That's not the worst thing in the world, as it pays well, but I'm reaching an age where I'd like to be able to work smarter and, well, be home more. There are plenty of business services I offer where I should be able to work from home more, and once my current consulting contract is over, I need to start exploring more of those. Doesn't mean I won't go on the road again, but I need to start taking a more serious look at it all.

2. Lose 25 pounds. Yeah, I had this on last year's list, but I didn't get there so it's on here again. I pretty much have said it all already, so I'll leave this one as is for now.

3. Figure out a way to reduce my glucose level when I'm on the road. Above I posted my link showing how one can bring their glucose level down if one is home and able to plan meals. It's much harder to do on the road, even when you have your own kitchen in the hotel. Yet, I know I need to try to do something, and I've already said what I was going to be doing, so hopefully I'll figure it all out once more.

4. Present in five states that I've never presented in before. Another one that was on last year's list, but also another one I didn't achieve, so it stays on the list. This is one where I wouldn't mind traveling so much, because you're basically in a place, then out, and based on my normal rate, if I could give do five speaking engagements a year, I'd be living pretty nicely. But in other states that I've never been to, well, that would work just nicely. Then again, I'm going to throw New York City into the mix, as I've always wanted to give a presentation there.

5. Finish writing another book. I didn't actually complete last year's goal, even though I did write a book; well, an ebook anyway. But that's two more than many people write in their lives, and I've put both of them out there and actually sold some books, so who knows, right? I still have a bunch of projects on the table, and all I need is the time to work on them.

And that's that. you'll have to check out I'm Just Sharing to find out my online goals for 2009. To learn about my financial goals for 2009, you'll have to check out Top Finance Blog.

So, I've stated my goals. What do you think of them? What are your goals for 2009? Share them, if you dare. 🙂