Three Goals for 2009

I hope you are not making New Year’s resolutions. You know you never keep them. Instead, write down three goals for 2009.

These goals need to be:

• Achievable
• Something you are passionate about
• Measurable

What do you really want to accomplish in 2009? Maybe it was something you did not achieve in 2008. Don’t let unmet goals from the past keep you from reaching them in the future.

You should be passionate about these goals. Examples of goals that do not qualify:

“Going to keep the garage clean this year.”

“Will call my mother more this year.”

“Will be less grumpy.”

These are worthy goals, but probably not ones that really get you fired up.

Pick three goals that you can measure and say “yeah, accomplished that one!”

So here are my three goals for 2009:

1. Finish my children’s picture book and start to shop it around.

2. Finish my options trading training and trade and make some money in the market in 2009!

3. Take a great vacation with the family somewhere.

My first goal is something that I have been giving birth to for about a year now. I have a very rough draft and now I need to fine tune and get it ready for publishers. It is a tough market, but noting ventured, nothing gained.

My second goal is not to get back the money I lost in the market this year (although that would be fantastic). This is something that I have wanted to do for three years now. If there is one thing that the market of 2008 has shown me is to take investing into my own hands. My mutual fund manager hasn’t done it for me. I love to trade stocks and I want to do it like some of my financially smarter friends.

My third goal is one that I am deeply passionate about. You may think that it is hardly a goal. However, in this economic climate, spending money on a nice family vacation is something I have had to think twice about. I have not renewed the lease on our condo at the beach this year. Maybe we will end up back at the beach, or maybe somewhere completely different. My goal is to have a blast with the wonderful family God has blessed me with.

Happy New Year!