Goals for 2009 – First Update

I recently read a post by Alan Perlman on his blog, where he revisited his goals for 2009 and gave his readers an update on where he is in achieving them. This inspired me to put down my goals for the remainder of the year, so I can keep track of them and keep myself accountable by making it public and following up on them periodically.

This is the first update, 12 days late, but better late than never.

1. I will have 1,000 RSS/email subscribers to my blog

I know that is an ambitious goal for someone who currently has a total of zero subscribers, but I know myself, and I know that reasonable goals don’t motivate me. I am always unreasonable. I will keep you updated, as I learn and experiment with different ideas and techniques, on what worked and what didn’t. I am starting off with Corbett Carr’s 21 tips.

update: In addition to Corbett’s tips I have started working with Problogger’s 31 Days to Building a Better Blog. I have 6 subscribers now. But I think I am going to switch from RSS to email registration for marketing reasons and better info about the readers.

2. I am going to complete a Half Marathon in under two hours

I don’t jog or run, but I do walk briskly every morning and I am currently walking five miles everyday. I did that in one hour and fifteen minutes this morning. I consider that pretty good given the fact that I started a month ago, and all I could manage was little over half a mile in 20 minutes. Just a week ago I was doing three and a half miles in an hour. As the weather cools down and my muscles get stronger, I will start jogging. So I know that I will make it. Again, I will keep you updated.

Update: The major challenge here is to work on getting faster. I walked for almost 18 miles while I was in Albuquerque, NM. So, I know I can go the distance. I just need to focus on cutting my time down.

3. I will climb the Guadalupe Peak, the tallest mountain in Texas

The Guadalupe Peak is 8,749 feet tall and is the tallest mountain in Texas. This is one of the preliminary steps for my five year plan to climb the Mt. Everest

Update: Well, I took a trip to West Texas at the end of July, with the espressed intent of climbing the Guadalupe Peak, but it seems that it wasn’t meant to be this time. I checked the rates for rental cars out of El Paso, but didn’t make the reservations. When I got to El Paso, the car rental company wanted to charge me three times as much because they were “in short supply” of cars. As much as I wanted to climb, I could not justify paying almost $200 for a rental car for just a few hours. I learned a valuable lesson in the process, and moved on.

4. Take a minimum of three one-week road trips

The first one is planned to include a trip to Chicago on July 26th to attend the Travel Blog Exchange 09 conference. I am also going to visit a friend in Northern Georgia and do some Appalachian Mountains trail hiking.

The second trip is planned with the family to go see the Yellowstone National Park. My son has been wanting to go for the last four years, but we haven’t been able to make it. This year my daughter’s going away to Turkey for a year, so we decided it will be a good idea for the family to take a trip. That should be in the middle of August.

The third trip is not planned yet, but it will be most likely a Discovery Trip on Greyhound.

Update: Well, I found a conflict on my calender that made going to Chicago null and void. Instead, I took a one-week trip out west to climb Guadalupe Peak, which incidentally did not happen either, but, one trip down, two more to go. Yea!!

5. I will be consistently earning $1,000 or more per month in Passive/Residual income

I have a few irons in the fire. This will be a good idea for a post in itself.

Update: The irons are still there, getting hot. I’ll let you know when I pull them out to brand a cow.

6. I will be doing 100+ pushups, 3-4 times per week

Again, Thanks to Alan Perlman for turning me on to the 100 pushups website. I started the program on Monday, so I don’t have any updates on that yet.

Update: Week four was successful, despite the fact that I was on the road. Week five was not that good, and back to week four routine till I get strong enough to complete week five routines on a regular basis and go pass it. I did 31 push ups last Sunday, which is bare minimum to get into week five, but I am going to do week four one more time to get stronger.

7. I will get rid of ALL the clutter in my closet, bookshelf and the storage. I’ll work on clearing my mind of the clutter of negativity.

I will make a post within next week listing ALL the things I am willing to give away. Anybody who wants any of these things can simply pay for the shipping and have it. Anything left will be either taken to a Donation drop off place or thrown away.

Update: I have sorted out all the books I don’t want or need and will be posting a list here for those who want them. What I can’t give away will be either put on Half.com or taken to Half prices books for whatever I can get for them. I am going to put that money aside to finance my next one-week excursion.

I am sorting out my clothes as well, I have a couple of suits that I think will bring me some dough and a bunch of dress shirts that I have no more desire to wear. Two pairs of trousers, four pairs of shorts, and a bunch of t-shirts is all I’ll have left. I am back to being a hippie.