January 2009: True Nobility

The past month has gone pretty well. Most of my goals have been achieved and I had a wonderful time spending the holidays with Prissy Pink’s family.

I came across a quote that I had written down from several years ago: “There is nothing noble in being superior to some other man. True nobility is being superior to one’s previous self.”  I pledge to be a better person and make this year better than last year, by sticking to the plans/goals that I have set for myself.

Below are my goals from last month and whether I achieved them, as well as my new goals for this month.

OLD GOALS

No Credit Card Debt incurred during the Holidays: (ACHIEVED) This goal was achieved with flying colors. I didn’t so much as touch my credit cards this month. Mainly because I gave them to Prissy Pink and told her to lock them away in her safe and not to give them back to me unless it was a matter of life and death. Some may see this as cheating, but I see it as knowing yourself and creating a plan to achieve your goals. It’s like forced discipline. Any way you look at it, I achieved the goal of no CC debt. Kudos to me.

Create a Workable Plan to Eliminate Credit Card Debt: (ACHIEVED) At this point it is an all out war on CC debt. Every penny that I can spare will be going towards paying my off my CCs. After carefully reviewing my budget this past month I found an extra $400 that could be used to pay off my CC debt each month. I also plan to get a lot more money back on my tax refund this year, due to me starting a home-based business and the write-offs associated with it. My entire tax refund will go toward paying off this debt. My goal is to finish paying this debt with my 2010 tax refund.

Control Spending: (NEUTRAL) In regards to Christmas spending I did an excellent job controlling my spending. I had a set budget and I stuck to it. I tracked my spending on the phone so at a moment’s notice I knew how much I had left to spend and who else I needed to buy gifts for. After all my gifts were purchased I actually had a little money left over. Perfect. I graded this goal as neutral because of other spending that wasn’t controlled to the best of my ability. After Christmas I decided to take a trip to Miami for New Years and go to the Orange Bowl with Prissy Pink’s family. We cut cost by renting a car and driving down (approx savings $150-$200 per person). Also, since Prissy’s parents are members of numerous “travel clubs” we were able to book a suite for less than half of the original price (approx savings $150 per person). To top it off Prissy’s sister is a cheerleader and was able to get us free tickets to the game (approx savings  $125-$150 per person).While my main goal was to cut cost (and what a job we did cutting cost), the fact of the matter is that this trip was not in my budget to begin with. Add that with the fact that we spent $217 each for tickets to the club on New Year’s Eve and you can see where I’m coming from. Sure the party was hosted by John Legend at one of Miami’s most exclusive clubs and had open bar all night, but it wasn’t worth the money we spent on it…just being honest. I definitely need to do better this month.

Build Spreadsheet to receive Mint.com Export: (NOT ACHIEVED) Not much to say here. I started working on it early in the month then I put it to the back-burner. Prissy told me she’d help but I never followed up. Shame on me.

Create Tool to Track Goals: (ACHIEVED) What’s my tool to tracking goals? You’re looking at it. This blog is an excellent way to track my goals as the months/years go by. It allows me to keep my goals all in one place and review them as necessary. So far I think this will be an excellent tool. We shall see as time passes.

Create Weekly Schedule: (NOT ACHIEVED) I have put a lot of thought into how to put my schedule together, but I have not actually followed thru with putting it all on paper. I believe by doing this it will allow me to be a much more efficient person.

Find an Acceptable Hiatus Lodge: (ACHIEVED) For now I am pleased with my current Hiatus Lodge. It is a quiet place that no one knows about that will allow me to focus on the task at hand.

Find a System to Review my Goals Daily: (ACHIEVED) I discovered an excellent way to be able to review my goals daily. Once again my phone is my savior. Makes me feel good about jumping ship from Nextel and signing on with the T-Mobile G1. I found a program that allows me to set reminders that pop up on my screen. I input my goals for the month, set the reminder to daily and let it do its magic. This forces me to review my goals daily because I have no choice.  

 

NEW GOALS

Start Reading again: I found one of my “brains” (my little notebook of thoughts) from when I was in college when I was heavily into reading and I was so impressed with myself because of the notes that I had jotted down. It was like I was a totally different person. I’m convinced that this was because of the books that I was reading. I have not consistently read since I was in college due to me telling myself that I do not have enough time. My goal to set aside time several times a week for reading.

Create 1, 5, 10 Year Goals: While it is a point on the agenda to review my 1, 5 and 10 year goals during at the Deliberation Hiatus Lodge, at this time I do not have any of these goals written down. My goal for this month is to create these goals to be reviewed each month with my monthly goals.

Control Spending: Although the holidays are over it is still important to control my spending. If it’s not in the budget, it’s not in the budget, period. I plan to stick to my plan this month.

Build Spreadsheet to Receive Mint.com Export: I plan to actually complete this spreadsheet this month. Time to get going.

Create Weekly Schedule: I did this in college and it worked wonders. So many times I go home from work and just park in front of the TV knowing that there are other things that I should be doing such as laundry, grocery shopping, working out, etc. But since a lot of times there is so much to do I get overwhelmed and don’t do anything. So my plan is to break these activities up, and do one per day. That way before I make it home to the couch I know that I have at least one task to do. This most definitely will make me a more efficient 21^st Century Gentleman.

Support and encourage those around me to pursue/achieve goals: I feel it is my duty to help all those around me to achieve all the goals that they have for themselves. For instance, Potter has made drastic changes to be healthier and workout more. Prissy would like to control spending more and begin to have a Hiatus Lodge of her own. While talking to my other roommate Pretty Boy, he talked about a big charity fundraising event that her wanted to put on. The list goes on. I pledge to be their support system to push them to stick to their goals.

Make a trip to Visit my Uncle: During this time of elevation to the next level of maturity it is necessary to surround myself with others that can help me get to where I need to be. While most of my friends are great assets and have a lot of things going for them, they are all around my age. I need the advice of someone who has been where I am and made it out alive, not just those who here with me. My Uncle is a great resource that I have failed to utilize. I usually only talk to him when I am home visiting the rest of the family during holidays and such. Get this…he only lives about 45 min from me. So each year I wait to travel hundreds of miles to talk to him, instead of driving 45 min. Seems backwards to me. That’s why I plan to make a trip to visit him this month.

Make $100 Profit in some Business Venture: I have always been interested in creating a successful business empire. However, so far I have not put my skills to use and started to make any money. This goal will force me to create a way to make money. There are no limitations to how I make the money (as long as it’s not against the law, lol). I expect that this goal will get my mind going and think of ways to produce residual income.