meme: Gotta Get Goals
JD over at the Black In Business blog tagged me to respond to his meme on goals. The original meme was started by Alex Shalman. I told him, I’d have this at the beginning of the week, but things have been pretty crazy and I wasn’t able to get it out. I’ve found it works for me to put goals in writing because I’m able to come back later to see how much I’ve accomplished. JD had a good post about being able to measure the goals you set, so I’m going to do that for some as I list them.
In no particular order.
- Be a better husband, father, son. Although I’m not listing this in any particular order, I’d have to say this is one of my top goals. I can always rely on my family to be there for me, so I want to make sure I do the same for them. I feel I do a good job at this, but there’s always room for improvement. My measure for this is my wife (you married guys know what I mean). If she’s happy, then everyone in the house is happy
- Grow business and clientele. I’m a contract computer programmer, so I’m always looking for ways to expand my business. It’s small now, but I can see it being bigger. Some of the most successful business ventures started as a vision/dream. If you can see it, then you can achieve it. My measure for this is increased business through referrals. If you are getting referrals, then your current clients must be happy with your services.
- Be an effective role-model. There are a lot of good role-models out there, but how many are really making a difference in someone’s life? An effective role-model causes people to change for the better. It’s not about show or for publicity. It’s about one person, doing the best they can to help others.
- Be more active in the community. Life gets busy and time is limited, but I want to do more. Even if it’s just an hour or two a month, I urge people to give what time they can. Just think if everyone in America donated one hour of their time a month to help someone in their community.
- To have friends from every part of the world. I might be closer to this goal than I think. But wouldn’t it be cool to be able to travel around the world and have someone to visit. I love learning about different cultures and meeting new people. I think that’s why I enjoy blogging so much. Someday I’ll have to map out where my friends are from to see how far along I am on this goal.
- Financial independence. I’ve been trying to get out of debt since I made my first dollar! I think I’ve finally come to the realization that I am the cause for my debt. That’s changing this year. By the end of the year I plan to be done with credit cards. Delayed gratification is key. Then I can really make some moves through investing and making my money work for me.
- Close the digital divide in Black America. I can’t do this by myself, but I do have plans on shrinking that gap a little. The key is to get to the younger kids. Catch them while they’re young and willing to put the time into learning about computers and technology. They just need the access and someone willing to come teach.
- Travel to Africa. I don’t know where I’m going, but I’ll make it one day. My wife and I got a passport a couple of weeks ago and I can’t just let it sit in the desk drawer.
- Conquer fear and uncertainty. I’m going to measure this based on the amount of risks I take in life. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about taking dumb risks. I’m talking about stepping out of my safety zone. There are opportunities out there that I miss out on because I’m always letting the “What If?” hold me back.
- Keep God first. I told you, this is in no particular order. This is one of the things I strive to do, but sometimes lose focus on. I was raised in the church and it’s made me who I am today. My belief in God is important to me and I hope that others can see that in the things I do. I’m far from perfect, but each day I pray to get another chance to do better.
Whew! That’s all I got. I want to thank JD for tagging me to reply to this meme, so I guess it’s my turn to tag someone else.
My three choices are:
The Villager - The Electronic Village
Vanessa - Vanessa: Unplugged
Benin - The Benin Epiloge Part 1
Tag you’re it.
April 5th, 2007 at 11:42 pm
Theo - i caught the tag. it may take me a minute to put my response in writing … but, I’ll get it. Most of your goals are on my list as well. I look forward to meeting u in the RW some day.
peace, Villager
April 6th, 2007 at 3:17 am
Cool. I was just going to send you a message.
April 6th, 2007 at 8:35 pm
Got the tag, Theo. It will take a minute but I’ll respond this weekend. Peace.
V
April 7th, 2007 at 6:51 pm
Your goals are very aggresive but important, you are already a role model by placing your family and God on your list. I have seperate personal goals from business goals but if your person goals are not met the business one will not matter. my biggest challenge has been balance and assuming my goals were my wife’s. I felt all for the cause of making money and I discovered, my family would rather have less money and more me. They say that but my expenses continue to grow.But it is true, you have to keep moma happy!