Tuesday 12 June 2018

My 2018 Goals



This year I decided to simplify the goals I set for myself, in an attempt to focus more on the things that matter most to me. Here are the 4 goals I set:

1. Grow my new book publishing and digital marketing business to achieve £4,000 in profit this year

  • To be achieved through a combination of activitites such as publishing, blogging, podcasting or any other income generating activities which present themselves throughout the year


2. Focus on my well being to achieve optimal health this year

  • I will know I have achieved this goal when I am happy with the diet I am following and with my fitness and relaxation levels. I am eating an organic diet and taking quality supplements. I am regularly having treatments such as chiropractor, massage, acupuncture and reiki. I am using mediation and yoga to keep me relaxed and in touch with my spirituality


3. Continue my learning

  • I will know I have achieved this goal when I have read or listened to at least 6 further books
  • I will also have participated in any courses or events that offer learning opportunities, which present themselves throughout the year
  • I will have watched TED talks, educational films, youtube and podcasts to learn new things


4. Create a philanthropic strategy for this year and implement it

  • I will know I have achieved this goal when I have decided upon my charity giving strategy for 2018 and beyond. I will have a charitable target to save toward which could be something like funding a new school or providing sanitation/toilet blocks or helping a homeless person get off the streets

At nearly halfway through the year I've been making good progress. I've been reviewing my goals everyday so that I keep them clear in my mind.

Here's a quick run-down of how I've been doing:

1. Grow my new book publishing and digital marketing business to achieve £4,000 in profit this year
  • I'm behind on this target, with £839 profit made by the end of May 2018
  • Now that I am working full-time on my publishing business I hope to see profit increase
2. Focus on my well being to achieve optimal health this year
  • I've been doing great with this:
    • Chiropractor treatments x 3
    • Acupuncture treatments x 8
    • Reiki treatments x 2
    • Eating organic food and grass fed meat
    • Taking daily supplements
    • Meditating daily
3. Continue my learning
  • I'm happy with my progress on this one
  • I've read 3 books:
    • Headstrong (by Dave Asprey)
    • Unshakeable (by Tony Robbins)
    • Conversations With God Book 1 (by Neale Donald Walsh)
  • I've attended Tony Robbins' Unleash The Power Within event for a second time, but this time volunteering as a crew member
  • I'm booked to go to the rebooted Coventry TEDx event later this month which I'm really excited for
4. Create a philanthropic strategy for this year and implement it
  • I have not done well at this goal so far. I have started doing some research into what charitable goal I might like to work towards, but I have not yet picked my goal
  • For now my pre-existing monthly charity donations continue until I make a decision on my new goal


Did you set any goals for 2018? If yes I'd love to hear about them and how you're getting on with them. The end of June will be the halfway point through the year, so it's a good time to take stock on how you're getting on and make any revisions you think you need to...

Tuesday 5 June 2018

It's Been A Year - Did You Miss Me?


It's been a long time since I last posted. Nearly a year in fact. I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm sorry for the long period of absence and that I'm doing fine - I'm still on my path to financial independence!

The truth is I realised some time ago that to hit my FIRE target of retiring by age 50, it was going to take some concerted effort - more than just saving as much as I could each month. I also got so fed up of working in an office that I couldn't bear the thought of having to continue doing that for the next 8 years or so.

So I started looking for ways to supplement my income. I think I previously mentioned that I'd been getting into online publishing - this is where the majority of my time is now spent. I'm focused on launching books so that I can build up an income stream which will ultimately cover my annual expenses - therefore allowing me to step away from my freelancing work.

Alongside this, I am continuing to save into my Freedom Kitty and into my Personal Pension, with the same targets as I previously discussed.

Here's the latest standings as of the start of June 2018:

Freedom Kitty

£58,691 of £190,000 saved (31%)

Personal Pension

£147,581 of £446,300 saved (33%)

I've been updating the progress bars in the sidebar from time to time even though I haven't been writing posts and I will continue to do so.



So for both savings pots I'm at the 30% point, or a third of my way to goal. I now have just over 7 years left to squirrel away the remaining 70% (although I will be helped by the effects of compounding). If I assume a 6% annual investment return, to hit my targets I need to be saving the following every month (until the month before my 50th birthday):

Freedom Kitty: £1,006 per month
Personal Pension:  £650 per month

I would say that this is feeling do-able. The Freedom Kitty savings target is harder than the Personal Pension target.

I'm currently paying £1,000 per month into my Personal Pension so there's no problem there. I don't have regular payments set-up into my Freedom Kitty yet this financial year as I have not yet decided which stocks and shares ISA provider I will be using. However my intention is to max my ISA out this year which will be the equivalent of £1,666 per month which easily covers my goal amount.

The only risk to my plan is that I have just started a year's sabbatical from working in IT so that I can concentrate on building up my publishing business. This means that I am living off the savings I have accrued in my business account for the next year. If I don't manage to build my publishing business up to the point that it covers all my expenses (including Freedom Kitty and Personal Pension savings), I may need to reduce how much I'm paying in, or *gulp* head back for another IT contract.

I will be re-assessing where things stand in a year's time to see whether I need to return to IT, or if my publishing business has reached a point where it can sustain me. If I achieve my publishing income goal this will be a game changer because it will mean that I'll no longer feel the need to "retire" by age 50 as I will already be doing something that I enjoy with the freedom to choose when I work and where from.


If you have any questions or comments on the above do let me know. I'd also love to hear how you're getting on - do say hi in the comments...