Progress – PD Blogger Progress for March | personal development goals | blogging | Investing | goal-setting to reach finanancial independence.
Over the past year, this blog has largely become a reflection of my most current thoughts, and this post is no different.
Although I wouldn’t consider myself a PF blogger—I’m a PD blogger—personal finance and investing have been increasingly on my mind lately.
Without any consistent cash flow coming in during my year off, my savings habits and investment portfolio became secondary to adventure.
It was totally worth it, though. It was a memorable experience that was fun AF.
However, aside from working on the blog, my time off was basically an elongated stay-cation.
Though, it did provide me with some much needed time to think, which is an underrated pleasantry nowadays.
It allowed me to step back and take a look at who I had become.
It caused me to realize that the more I age, the more I like where I am.
The more I distance myself from my twenties, the more felicitous my life becomes.
The time away exposed the qualities that remained from my past, and helped me gain an understanding of where I was headed.
Further, as I have continued to proclaim on this blog:
I am headed towards FI through a combination of blogging, dividend investing, and freelancing.
Being successful in those three areas would provide me with the freedom, lifestyle, and the ideal work to be fulfilled.
I feel blessed to have such a defined direction.
It may take me 5 to 10 years, but I promise you that it’ll be accomplished.
Though it is true that people change, I have come to realize how appropriate being a blogger and dividend investor is for my progress orientated personality.
But now that I have such a specific vision of how I want life to look, and I have the knowledge to get there, I MUST take action.
Hence why I publish these monthly goals. It’s all about breaking things down into steps and reverse engineering my way to FI.
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Goals for March
📊 Increase dividend income by purchasing a new equity.
There’s only one mode happening in 2017—increase cashflow.
While 2016 was a year of leisure, this year is planned to be quite the contrary. I aspire to push the envelope in 2017 in terms of building cashflow.
More specifically, out of any income I earn, I will save a minimum of ten percent. It will most likely end up being a lot higher of a percent, though. I low-balled it to make sure my lifestyle is comfortable.
That said, out of the ten percent minimum saved from my salary and freelance work:
- 10 % will be put in an emergency/slush account that is easy to access.
- 90 % will go to income producing equities.
Every time the amount of cash in the equity account reaches a certain threshold, it will be invested in to the best valued North American dividend paying stock on my list.
My goal this month is to invest some of the cash in that account in to a new asset. Although, I haven’t done my research yet on what to buy.
If I don’t find a stock that is fairly valued, then I’d wait and let the cash build for a more opportune moment. But hopefully I get to invest this month.
👨🏻💻 Publish 5 Blog Posts.
There were four blog posts published in February, and since content is king, I want to produce more content.
There are usually a few ideas for posts a month that I let slide, but I want that to stop. Rather than make some type of misguided goal like doubling my blog posts from 4 to 8, my aim is to get closer to 8 by adding an additional post per month.
So this month, the goal is to publish 5 blog posts.
💻 Update Blogroll and fine tune the branding.
I have received a few emails awhile back from other bloggers requesting to be added to the blogroll, and I’ve been meaning to clean it up too. I’ve wanted it to possibly include a tagline or a little about each blog.
In regards to fine tuning the branding, I just want to renew the focus to match what I am tryna accomplish. Also, it needs to be unified across all platforms (Twitter | Pinterest).
📲 Comment on 1 blog per day.
I focussed on this goal last month and was successful, as you will read below. I have developed the routine of waking up at about 6 to 6:30 in the morning to enjoy a coffee, check my business emails, and to comment on another blog. It has been a great way to catch up with other bloggers and find other interesting blogs along the way. I wrote in more detail about why this is beneficial in my last post.
💰 Save a minimum of 10 % from all income earned.
Of course I would like to be proclaiming a much higher rate of savings, but I’m starting here.
Once I get some data behind how these goals are going, I can increase or decrease according to the situation. However, the main thing to remember is why you are saving. In my case, any money I save can be put towards income producing assets to propel me closer to FI.
📚 Read on the Subway.
I take the subway home from work everyday after 5:30. When I first get on the subway, there is a 10 minute stretch where I don’t have access to the internet before reaching my subway connection point.
That said, I want to use that time for reading. I’m too groggy to read in the morning and too tired to read before I go to bed. This ten minute subway ride makes for the perfect opportunity.
🏋🏻 Exercise 4 times per week (16 times total).
As you’ll read below, I narrowly failed to meet the 3 times of exercising per week I set for February. However, I think the reason is because 3 days per week is not habit forming enough. Hence why I am aiming for 4 days a week in March.
Review of the Goals set in February
I used to write a brief recap in regards to what happened with each goal, but that doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is the results. Numbers don’t lie. I didn’t go to the gym 3 times per week and I didn’t publish every Saturday. There’s no excuses.
✅ Complete Freelance Project: Pass
✅ Comment on at least one blog per day: Pass
❌ Write a minimum of 4 blog posts and publish every Saturday: Fail
❌ Exercise 3 times per week: Fail
✅ Personal Development habits: Pass
Total: 3/5 = 60%
📜 Concluding Thoughts
If the theme for February was about focussing in on building better habits, then March is about strengthening those habits and becoming more precise.
Now that more of a foundation has been formed, and a vision has been set, I can begin to narrow in on what it will take to get there.
Actually, to be frank, it’s extremely crystal clear now. That’s why I’m beginning to attack these goals more intentionally lately—my ideal life just seems so obvious.
Moreover, I can only wish for betterment to come through writing these posts. Since I have done so, they stay top of mind, and I can compete with the only person I should be competing with—myself.
Questions: What goals are you working towards? Any equity recommendations on quality dividend stocks at a fair price right now? How has your 2017 been so far in regards to progress with your goals? Any suggestions to help me make progress towards being a full-time blogger/dividend investor/freelancer?
Financial Goals for 2017
