We’ve made it to the end of 2018 and it’s time to take a look at how those goals we set back in January look. In this episode I’m going to break down three types of goals that I set for myself; Podcast Goals, Personal Goals, and Side Hustle Goals.
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I set a few goals in 2018 and as I mentioned in Episode 090, not everything went as planned. I broke my goals down in to three categories: Podcast Goals, Personal Goals, and Side Hustle Goals. I liked using these goal categories so much that I am going to use them again in 2019. But, to start things off let’s do a quick recap of 2018.
2018 Goal Recap
Podcast Goals
Failed Goal – Get Organized
It feels like my goal every year is to get more organized. To put things nicely, organization does not come easy to me. So, when I made an attempt to get more organized with the podcast, I fell a little short. I made some changes to the way I schedule and plan episodes, but I didn’t get nearly as far along as I thought I would. Here’s to getting more organized in 2019.
Successful Goal – Be Nominated for a Plutus Award
I really only had one goal that I focused on in 2018 for Popcorn Finance, and that was to be nominated for a Plutus Award for Best New Personal Finance Podcast. Not only did I get nominated for the award, I WON IT!
This was for sure a highlight for 2018 and it would not have been possible without the support I received from all of you that listened and voted for Popcorn Finance. THANK YOU!!!
Personal Goals
Failed Goal – Build Up 6-Month Emergency Fund
As you might have heard on Episode 090, this did not go as planned. I think this is the first time that I have ever met and then unmet a goal in the same year. I was able to build up a 6-month emergency fund and then slowly chip away at it to attend a couple of events (not emergencies!) this year. Check out Episode 090 to hear more about this slip-up on my part.
Successful Goal – Paid Off My Car
Next to winning an award, I think this might be my second favorite goal that I accomplished. I have “purchased” many cars in my lifetime, but this is the first time that I have ever paid for a car in full. This was a great moment.
Successful Goal – Read 12 Books
I have never been a big reader as evidenced by my grand total of one book read in 2017. I was determined to do better in 2018. I set up the Popcorn Finance Reading Challenge to keep myself accountable and managed to read 17 books! I enjoyed completing this goal way more than I thought I would, and I think I might just continue this whole reading thing.
Side Hustle Goals
Failed Goal – Double Amazon Fail
I had big dreams of becoming independently wealthy by selling stuff on Amazon. As I’m sure you can guess, this did not happen. I tried out Amazon’s Fulfillment by Amazon program and realized that it was not for me.
I then tried out the Amazon Merch program to design and sell shirts and realized that I just did not have the time. These were both learning experiences and I will probably revisit the Merch program again in the future.
Successful Goal – Get in the Voice-Over Game
Even though I already spend a good amount of time behind the microphone, I hadn’t really given much thought to doing voice-over work. But thanks to some encouragement I received from some friends I decided to give it a try and found out that I really enjoy it. I completed a couple of voiceover projects in 2018 and hope to do more in 2019.
2019 Goals
I had a fun time thinking of what I would like to accomplish in 2019. When I was setting these goals my one rule was that they had to be specific. I didn’t want to give myself an out by making my goals too vague.
Podcast Goals
Win the Plutus Award for Best Personal Finance Podcast. I highly doubt that I can win Best New Personal Finance Podcast twice, so I moved my sights higher to Best Personal Finance Podcast. I initially wrote this as being nominated, but I decided to go big and make my goal of winning the award. I’ve got some big things planned for 2019 that I hope will put Popcorn Finance in a position to be considered.
Have Alton Brown as a Guest on Popcorn Finance. You may recognize this name if you’ve ever turned on Food Network. I’ve been a fan of Alton Brown for years. I loved watching his show Good Eats. He has a way of explaining complex cooking concepts and techniques in an easy-to-understand way that I could only hope to do in the world of personal finance.
One morning I was listening to The Sporkful podcast and Alton Brown just happened to be a guest. Alton and the host Dan Pashman got into an amazing conversation about popcorn. At that moment I knew that at some point I had to have Alton Brown on Popcorn Finance. I’m not sure how this will happen, but why can’t 2019 be the year that it does?
Personal Goals
So, as I already mentioned, I messed up. I pulled money out of my emergency fund for something that was definitely not an emergency. My goal is to build my emergency fund back up to 6 months’ worth of my expenses by February.
After I achieve this it’s on to saving up to purchase a home. I plan to save $10k towards a down payment by October. This is not all the money I will need. I live in Southern California and home prices are what we like to call crazy. But $10k will be nice progress towards a down payment.
Side Hustle Goal
In 2018 I dipped my toe into the world of voice-over work. In 2019 I want to stick a whole leg in. My goal is to make $3,600 in 2019 from Voiceover work. This means that I will need to make at least $300 a month. I think this is totally doable. It won’t be easy, but it is definitely achievable.
Send Me Your Goals!
I think you’ve heard enough from me. Now I want to know how your 2018 goals went and what new goals you have set for yourself in 2019. Visit PopcornFinance.com/voicemail to let me know how 2018 went and what you hope to achieve in 2019.
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