In this post, I’ll discuss:

• Habits I implemented in order to get a promotion with only half the required experience
• Productivity strategies I utilized to get a bonus even though my company didn’t give out bonuses this year
• The system I’ve used to start getting up earlier and getting into work more than an hour before anyone else
• The healthy habits I developed for my morning routine
• The results of trying to make too many changes at once
• What I learned this year from the goals I set and didn’t achieve

In addition to my financial goals for the year (as laid out in my Spending Plan), I made several personal and work goals related to being healthy, cultivating good habits, having new experiences, and being extremely effective at work (while testing out a remote-work strategy). Some of my habit-forming goals and to-dos were laid out in my 2017 dream board (above), which I kept in the front of my planning binder so I would see them every day. Others were inside the binder, on my goal tracking spreadsheet for each month and quarter.

I achieved five goals, failed to achieve three goals, and had neutral results for two goals.  Despite the fact that I only achieved half of my goals for the year, I consider 2017 a success because I made progress where it really mattered -in my career, health, and laying a foundation of good habits for next year. I also realized that I set my goals extremely high and still achieved them. The goals I didn’t achieve were lower priority than the goals I did achieve, which indicates that I properly prioritized my focus and time in 2017. However, this also indicates that I likely set too many large goals at once, leading to my failure to achieve some of the goals.

Some key takeaways from this goal setting process are outlined at the end of this article. Below is a review of how well I did in terms of achieving my stated goals for 2017.

 

Personal Goals

Eat Healthy/Plant-Based – PASS

I ate a healthy, primarily plant-based diet all of this year, and cooked almost every night at home. I also developed several go-to recipes that are wholesome and healthy, which I use as easy fall-backs when trying to think of something quick and healthy to whip up. However, I didn’t create the exact meal prep system that I envisioned this year; I have moved this goal to next year.

Other healthy habits I incorporated were drinking warm lemon water, taking a shot of apple cider vinegar, making a large cup of tea, and taking vitamins and supplements during my morning routine. To make all of these healthy actions into habits, I started waking up earlier (see below) to give myself at least one hour before work. Then I made a list of the healthy habits I wanted to perform every morning, and checked each off as I completed them. It took about 30 days for these actions to become habits, and now there are very few days I will not do them during my morning routine.

Additionally, a large project I completed this summer was building and planting a backyard vegetable garden. We got to eat home-grown, organic, fresh veggies all summer! However, I also intended to find a nearby farmer’s market, but didn’t get around to it  – this will be moved to 2018.

Lesson learned: I can still achieve my overall goal even if I don’t complete each sub-goal or action that I originally wrote out in the beginning of the year. As Financial Samurai says, there is more than one way to pet a furry koala (a phrase I find to be a great stand-in for the saying about skinning a cat).

Skincare Routine – PASS

I realized that it was kind of ridiculous that I was 23 and still only washing my face with water in the morning. I decided to take better care of my skin and incorporate a skincare routine of cleansing, toning and moisturizing both morning and night, with occasional exfoliation. Other components of this routine included taking a daily probiotic, trying some natural face mask recipes, and washing my pillowcases more frequently. I did not do as well with frequently washing pillowcases as I would have liked, and I only used face masks, like, 3 times the entire year (still counts). The most important habit I gained from this routine was drinking much more tea and water – usually 80 or more ounces per day.

Lesson learned: Similar to the above: I can still achieve my overall goal even if I don’t complete each sub-goal or action as frequently as I imagined I would in the beginning of the year.

Adventures + Fun – PASS (with flying colors)

This “goal” usually manifests as more of an “adventure to-do list” than a typical S.M.A.R.T. goal. Yes, I call my bucket list a to-do list instead. That way, the items actually get done ;). As I’ve mentioned before, having fun and enjoying life while I’m young are high on my list of priorities (and my Spending Plan), since I am not going to deprive myself while aggressively paying off my mountain of student debt.

The things on my adventure to-do list that got crossed off were: get my motorcycle license and ride a motorcycle, get my boat license and drive a boat, see the total solar eclipse, run on the boardwalk, go flying in a small airplane (without throwing up – achieved this for the first time!), go camping (once), play airsoft, go skiing, and travel domestically. Things I didn’t cross off the list included doing water sports (paddleboarding, surfing), hiking and camping more, or exploring my new area (I moved in Oct 2016) via bicycle. The things that weren’t achieved are going on the adventure to-do list for 2018.

Lesson learned: Enjoying life to the fullest deserves its spot at the top of my list of priorities. This year also illustrated that for each new thing I experience, there will be two more waiting to take its spot on the list. And that is a wonderful “problem” to have :).

 

Wake Up Early – NEUTRAL

In 2015, when I first started my full-time job, I was struggling to get out of bed before 6:00 am. Since the earliest I ever woke up in college was 7:30, my internal clock was resisting waking up any time earlier than 6:30 am. I realized that waking up earlier would make me better at my job – namely because I would get into the office earlier than everyone else and have some quiet time to bang out my most important work for the day. So in 2016, I made it my goal to get out of bed each weekday morning by 6:00 am, with a decent success rate. Still, I struggled to wake up with my first alarm, and I was only getting into work 15 minutes early.

In 2017, my goal changed to include getting out of bed the first time my alarm went off, and waking up by 5:30 am. I knew I needed to wake up earlier not only to get in to the office earlier, but also because I had a longer morning routine and a commute that was twice as long as it was in 2016. In order to increase my odds of achieving this goal, I set a related goal to be in bed each night by 9:30 pm. I also went out and bought a small, battery operated alarm clock to put on my dresser all the way across the room to force me to stand up when the alarm went off. This alarm also doesn’t have a snooze button, I have to manually change the time if I want it to go off 10 minutes later. This was a significant improvement over using my phone’s alarm and leaving it on the nightstand next to my bed, within an arm’s reach for a sleepy swipe of the 10 minute “snooze” button.

Throughout 2017, I struggled with getting out of bed the first time my alarm went off. I mean, I had to get up to turn off the alarm, but then sometimes the allure of the warm, comfy bed drew me back in for another 10-15 minute snooze. The fact that the alarm clock didn’t have a snooze function actually made my over-sleeping worse in some cases.

Despite my struggles, I created a habit of waking up by 5:30 on weekdays. I also ended the year with a habit of being in bed each night by 9:30 pm. I noticed this got easier in the winter, as it got darker earlier, and the cold weather drove me towards my warm bed earlier in the night. We’ll see if I can keep it up this coming summer. I still need to work on waking up earlier, ideally at 5:00 am, and improve my consistency with getting up the first time my alarm goes off. Those will be goals for 2018.

Lesson learned: For this goal, I found it really important to have a “why”. I was motivated to get out of bed early in order to perform better at work, which would in turn positively affect my financial situation. I also needed to approach this goal progressively, in small 5 to 15 minute increments, rather than cold-turkey or an hour at a time.

Blog Consistently – FAIL

I set a big goal this year – to post once a week on this blog in 2017. This was particularly ambitious because I had only posted 3 or 4 times since I started the blog in August of 2016 (at a rate of about once a month or less). In the end, I failed really hard at this goal.

I think three things led to my failure.

1. I set a huge goal (one post a week) that was a significant transition from my previous actions (less than one post per month).
2. I brainstormed how to set aside time each week to achieve this goal, but didn’t follow through.
3. I prioritized other goals and tasks over this one every time I had to choose.

Knowing what I know now about why I failed, I think I am in a stronger position to achieve this goal in 2018.

Lesson learned: The three reasons I failed above. Also, when I fail, the most important thing to do is analyze the reasons. Then incorporate strategies to overcome these challenges the next time I set out to achieve the goal.

Paperless / Digital Declutter – FAIL

I consider myself an aspiring minimalist. One area I’m not minimal in is paperwork. I intended to change this at the beginning of the year by scanning in all of my paper files. Then the next step would be organizing and backing up all of my digital files. I started working on becoming paperless in December, when my parents were moving and needed me to get a lot of my old papers out of their house. I scanned and recycled a lot of papers, but I still have more left to do. I also did not make any strides towards decluttering digitally, as I had viewed that as a follow-up step to becoming paperless. These goals will both move to 2018.

Lesson learned: I need to review my goals more. In the back of my mind, I knew that I had intended to get this done, however I didn’t set myself up for success by starting in December. Next year, I will consciously review my goals more frequently, and make sure I am taking action early in the year in order to make significant progress by the end of the year.

 

Work Goals

Productivity – PASS

Waking up earlier allowed me to get into work as much as an hour and fifteen minutes earlier than everyone else that I worked with. This made me look good, and helped me be extremely focused because the office was quiet and no one was interrupting or distracting me.

Additionally, I significantly increased my productivity at work by decreasing distractions. I turned off the email notification ping and symbol on my computer so I wasn’t constantly reacting to emails and interrupting my workflow. I also kept my phone in my drawer on vibrate to avoid reacting to text messages or being lured into scrolling through Instagram. I started using the StayFocusd and RescueTime extensions on my computer and the Quality Time app on my phone. These apps helped me track where I was spending (and wasting) my time, and prevented me from accessing distracting apps and websites during work hours.

I also implemented an effective four-quadrants time management matrix (a la Steven Covey), and started working more effectively within my energy levels (as dictated by my circadian rhythm) by scheduling meetings and appointments during my low energy times when I would be less focused at tasks such as writing.

Lesson learned: Many goals and habits are interrelated. Waking up early really helped me achieve in this category. I also looked to many experts to see what tried and true methods worked for them, and adapted those to my own situation. Finally, I put a focus on deep work by limiting notifications and distractions.

Expert Status – PASS

I became an expert on key topics this year, and will be highlighting this in my upcoming performance review. I also made myself a resource to my colleagues by sharing my expertise and creating resources such as walkthrough documents and SOPs. Since my actions to achieve this goal were very industry specific, I won’t go into detail.

Lesson learned: You can stand out from your colleagues by being an expert at something no one else knows much about. I am sure this helped me get my raise and promotion in early 2017, and will assist with getting another raise in 2018.

Work Remotely – NEUTRAL

As part of my independence strategy, I’ve decided to do a bit of a test run for working from home. My intention was to determine how productive I would be working from home, while at the same time testing the waters with my boss’s willingness to allow me to work remotely. The flexibility was certainly there on my boss’s and company’s side. However, I worked remotely from home a few days and struggled with productivity, since there were so many tasks to be done at home like laundry and errands. I also tried working remotely from a satellite office (which is 45 minutes closer to my home) and found myself more productive there than at home, but less productive than at my normal office. I will need to implement more strategies, such as the ones listed in my productivity goal, in order to be more productive in my home office.

Lesson learned: It is helpful to try a slow transition into a different type of work situation. I don’t anticipate working remotely full time any time soon, but I do want to be working either from a satellite office (that is 45 minutes closer to my home) or from home, productively, for at least two days a week in 2018. This little experiment helped me realize that I would be better off working from the satellite office for now.

Paperless – FAIL

Becoming paperless at work was a goal because it will facilitate my ultimate goal of working remotely part-time. Unfortunately, I did not achieve my goal of going fully paperless at work either, because I didn’t make it a priority. I made some strides in 2017, and will continue to in 2018.

Lesson learned: If a goal is not a priority, I likely won’t achieve it. There wasn’t enough incentive for me to focus on going paperless, because I was not planning to work remotely very often this past year. However, in the future I will likely be forced to go paperless in order to make my life easier when working remotely.

Other Achievements

• I reached my 2 year anniversary at my company.
• I had a higher income than projected due to about 6 weeks worth of overtime work.
• I earned a solid raise and a promotion, for a position that typically requires twice as much experience as I had at the time.
• I received a good bonus, despite the fact that my company announced that no one would be getting bonuses this year.
• These achievements can be credited to my focus on achieving the above goals.

 

Takeaways

1. I pursued too many goals at once, which diminished my ability to achieve some of them.
2. I set my goals high, and pushed myself to achieve them. There were no easy wins here, and that’s a good thing!
3. Goals that required me to significantly change my behavior all at once and/or in a short period of time tended to get poor results. It helps to be incremental and realistic.
4. Having a “why,” or a reason you want to achieve the goal, is integral to finding the motivation to achieve it.
5. If a goal isn’t a priority, it’s likely I won’t achieve it.
6. Many goals and habits are interrelated, and achieving some in turn helped me achieve others.
7. I didn’t review my goals often enough, so I lost focus on many of them until the last few months of the year.
8. I need to get better at tracking my progress towards my goals. I didn’t track my habits daily (which I attempted to use the Streaks app for), so the data I did collect was not a full, reliable representation of my performance.

 

Your Turn:

Did you achieve all of your stated goals for 2017? What did you learn?

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