Back a few weeks ago, I was approached by Rebecca Thorman about a new idea she was starting, the Monthly Goal Meet-Up. Seemed easy enough, right? Set some goals and complete them. I get a lot of shit done, so this should be straight forward. Right? Not so much. To recap, here’s the 3 goals I set out to complete in September:

September Career/Life Goals

1. Finish 3 more pieces for online portfolio
2. Set up separate savings account for return to full-time school
3. Set up DBA for consulting / IT business

So how am I looking? Not bad, but not fantastic. Let’s lay them out one by one.

Portfolio Pieces

I’m almost here on that one. I have 1 completed, and two that should be done by the end of the week. So there’s a good chance that this one will be done without fail. For those asking, my personal portfolio site can be found here. And if you’re looking for WP-related work, feel free to ask.

Savings Account

My wife and I have a savings account that we don’t use. So I kind of cheated on this one. But have I actually put any money into it? No. And I’m not sure I will before the month is through. I can say that I’ve made a decent amount of side money freelancing to pay off some outstanding bills, so it’s a start.

Set up DBA

I completed this one completely, and then some. In addition to setting up my DBA (which mean ‘doing business as’, or a sole proprietorship) with the state of Florida, I also got the business tax receipt for the city I live in. So I’m legal. I then went and opened a separate business account in the name of my ‘company’, so I can begin to track income and expenses separately. Now don’t pat me on the back just yet: I did this because someone paid me with a check in the name of the company I set up. Since I hadn’t done any of this yet, I couldn’t cash the check. So this was more of necessity. I had been meaning to do this for over a year.

So after all is said and done, I have done OK. Not great, but OK. I’m actually looking forward to see how this progresses, with everything coming my way in the next few months.

We’re all goal-oriented, even if we don’t realized. It’s just that some of us don’t have goals that really matter, or they are so far-reaching and ambiguous that there is nothing to hold them up against. I’ve been guilty of doing that as much as anybody. So when Rebecca Thorman IM’d me about a new project she’s started, the Monthly Goal Meet-Up, it caught my attention. With my pending return to full-time academia and all that comes with it, I think it would be a worthwhile venture. So here goes.

September Career/Life Goals

1. Finish 3 more pieces for online portfolio
2. Set up separate savings account for return to full-time school
3. Set up DBA for consulting / IT business

So let’s see what happens.