Christmastime and the end of the year is a time for reflection and a time for looking forward.

Reflection can be painful or pleasant.  I set some goals for myself in 2008 and, though a couple of them were met, the others weren’t.  This is the painful part.  Here are my 2008 goals, and how I did:

• I want a closer relationship with God.  I do indeed have a closer relationship with God.  I didn’t make it through the Bible as I had planned.  I did listen to my copy of Johnny Cash reading the New Testament.
• I want to track my finances better.  This worked for about a month and then I fell off the wagon about it.
• I want to lose fifty pounds.  Hah!  Next.
• I want to become a licensed auctioneer.  Nope.  There’s nothing to see here.
• I want to develop and expand the reach of this blog.  Ok, this one I actually made my goal.  Over the past thirty days, Mighty Bargain Hunter has had an average of over 3,000 subscribers.  (To my subscribers:  Thank you!)
• I want my side businesses to cover my mortgage payment again.   I’m earning more than I did before but it’s less that half of what I need to cover my mortgage.
• I want to develop the habit of getting things out of my head onto paper, and doing them promptly.  Mixed success with this one.  I’m better than I was, but it’s not habit yet.

So, I’m further ahead than I would have been without the goals, but not nearly as far ahead as I had hoped.  I think that what hurt me is that I made the goals, but didn’t identify actions to take toward the completion of the goals.  Follow-through is 90% of achieving goals.

For 2009, I’ll try something different.  I’ll focus on tracking my progress on just two habits.    My goal will be to track these two habits faithfully throughout the year.  Here’s what I’ll track:

• Did I read my Bible?  Each day, yes or no.  This is really one I should do without fail each day. 
• Did I work out for at least a half-hour?  Each day, yes or no.  At least three times a week is a good goal, but I’ll just track how often I work out for now.

That’s it.  No set goals for my finances.  No set goals for my blogging, my income, my alternate career.  I figure my relationship with God and my health are the two most important things I can improve, because without God, I have nothing, and without my health, I won’t be able to do as much with what God has blessed me and my family with.

Money can easily dominate much of our thoughts, especially now that the economy is souring.  I focus too much on money.  I fear that it’s becoming a master, and I cannot serve two masters.  Money is an important component of how we get through life, but it’s not the most important thing we need.

I may add some other goals along the way, but I’ll do that carefully.  Some of them might even be financial goals.  But, first things first.  God works in mysterious ways, and He may decide to work out some of the other details as I listen to Him more carefully.

What goals do you have for the new year?

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