2014 Goals – December update of my 2014 goals

At the start of November, I posted my 2014 New Year Resolutions. It probably reflects my personality (I may be a little impatient at times), but I couldn’t wait to get started. I recorded my 2014 Goals (personal and financial goals) early and started working towards them straight away!

Check out my November update here.

 

2014 Goals – December update

In summary so far:

 

Year to Date progress

 Goal 1 – Increase net wealth by over 56% – FAIL – 6.1% compared to 8.0% required

 Goal 2 – Positive net wealth growth 12/14 months – PASS – 2/2 months (+0.56% in Dec)

 Goal 3 – 60% net income saves 12/14 months – PASS – 2/2 months (60¨% in Dec)

 Goal 4 – Pay £7,000 off mortgage capital – FAIL – £973.60 compared to £1,000 required

 Goal 5 – Make £700 profit from rental property – PASS – £141.12 compared to £100 required

 Goal 6 – Fill 2014 stocks & shares ISA – PASS – £2,000 compared to £1,680 required

 Goal 7 – Earn over £450 in dividend income – PASS – £89.90 compared to £64.29 required

 Goal 8 – £700 profit from moneystepper – FAIL – £93.47 compared to £100 required

 Goal 9 – Save £6,000 for our wedding – PASS – £1,000 saved compared to £857.14 required

 Goal 10 – Do 42,600 sit-ups – FAIL – 1,500 compared to 6,086 required

 Goal 11 – Eat under 2,500 calories 365 times – FAIL – 51 days compared to 52 required

 Goal 12 – Visit 5 foreign countries – PASS – 1 compared to 0.7 required

 

2014 Goals – Top 3 successes

Goal 3 – Although I only just beat my monthly aim of 60% (in December I saved 60.4%), I was happy that I was able to meet this target in a Christmas month, where I spent a week skiing on a stag do in the Alps. Despite these expenses, I was pleased to still meet this goal.

Goal 5 – Another good month for the rental property with no unexpected expenditure putting me ahead of my target.

Goal 9 – Another £500 saved towards the wedding. However, my fiancée and I have decided on a venue for the wedding and have provisionally booked it. 30th May 2015 will be the big day, so we are both VERY excited.

 

2014 goals – Top 3 Failures

Goal 1 – Although the net income saved was in line with the target, the increase in the net wealth for the month was not in line with expectation. I did manage a positive month (despite my share investments falling slightly), but this was still way below the monthly target. This month dropped me below my year-to-date target, so I will have to cut back a bit in January (hopefully supported by good market returns and additional income) to pull this back up!

Goal 10 – I would love to use the accident as an excuse for not meeting this goal, but I think that my laziness is much more of a contributing factor. I’m going to try and do 150 or 200 sit ups each day in January to start getting back in line with this goal.

Goal 11 – Again, Christmas and a week long stag do has greatly impacted my eating habits and I have missed this goal by eating over 2500 calories on 7 days in December. Hopefully, joining everyone else in their January health kick can get me back on track with this one.

 

2014 – New Year “Goals”  not New Year’s “Resolutions”

I’m really pleased that I have recorded my 2014 New Year Goals early this year. It has meant that they are documented and are something that I am viewing as a long term project.

For people starting to set their goals for 2014, I would encourage everyone to view them as “goals” rather than “resolutions”. Make them SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely.

Apparently, January 17th 2014 will be the date that most people will fail their resolutions.

Failure is an interesting word in this sense. If you do something wrong, it doesn’t mean that you have failed. This is the problem with the New Year’s Resolution. One mistake and you have “failed”. This isn’t how life works. And, it isn’t how long-term goals work.

 

So, start setting goals, not resolutions!