I figure we'll give this another try. Last year, I posted my goals for 2008, of which I did a review of here. I didn't do so well, and I think the reason was that, though I was fairly specific, they may have been a bit high in retrospect.

You know, there's big dreams and goals, and then there's setting realistic timetables for those things. Where I went wrong was not evaluating where I was at that particular time, and how much control I'd have over everything else in order to try to attain those goals. For instance, if one has absolutely nothing, the odds of being a millionaire the next year are slim if they haven't started on a plan to get there.

So, this year, I've made my goals a bit more realistic, based on where I happen to presently be, and I'm going to work hard to attain these five goals that I'm sharing with you now.

1. Lose 25 pounds. Yeah, I know, I had a bigger number last year, and stayed the same. This year, though, the motivation is higher, with some of the other things in my life that I've talked about in previous posts. No, I'm not totally giving up on desserts, in case some of my friends read this. I am committed more towards not eating them as often when I'm in my own house, and of course I'm going to kick up the exercise a notch. I did work out in spurts, putting a lot of time into it the first three months of the year, and the last two months of the year. That time in between,... well, we all have our moments, good or bad. Still, I believe 25 pounds is attainable.

2. Get caught up on taxes. I've had some pretty good years since I've been in business for myself, along with some bad ones. However, the taxes thing goes back to when I got married. Since then, my wife and I have always seemed to be behind the eight ball. A few years ago, I thought I'd caught up, only to have the IRS find a $6,000 error that my accountant missed because of a misinterpretation of information I'd sent; ugh. So, this is a big goal for me, because if we can get caught up on them once and for all, and get ahead,... life just gets so much easier.

3. Present in five states that I've never presented in before, and get paid for it. I chose that wording over just speaking, though speaking would count. My long, long range goal is to be a professional speaker and presenter, and to get there, one has to start finding new venues to speak in. New York is a lovely place, but it's not the entire country. Last year, I gave a national teleseminar, and I spoke in Virginia, just outside of Washington D.C. I want to branch out this year, and I'm going to have to figure out how to do it. Any takers?

4. Finish writing at least one of my books. At least I took some positive strides this past year on two of the books. The thing about writing a book is that you have to find a way to stay focused for a period of time, and that's hard to do when you're on the go, or you're always marketing or working, especially for yourself. Still, if I can get ahead in a couple of places, I'll find the time and get a move on.

5. Find time for at least a 3 day vacation. This one is interesting because I don't usually like to take vacations. When was my last vacation? If family reunions count, my last vacation was in 1999; if they don't, 1998. I know, that's a shame. It's not that my wife and I haven't been anywhere; it's just that there's always been a work involvement of some kind. We've taken one day here and there to get away, but not very far. So, since she's got a lot of vacation time, and, well, I feel like she deserves to be able to say we went somewhere, I'm going to work on my mental state and see if I can plan something with her. Okay, there's also an ulterior motive here. Since I'm incorporated, I get to claim one trip a year as a work trip, whether I really do any work or not, as long as I have an official meeting of the stockholders, which, at this point, is myself. So, I'll just have to get it done.

There you go, the five goals for this year. I expect to do everything I can to keep them; good luck to everyone else on their goals also.