I’m super late on this post, but better late than never (I think that’s what I said last year, as well…)
One of my goals in 2012 was to keep better track of my goals… well, that’s going to have to carry over to this year, because I only did goal recaps for the first 3 months of the year (yes, I am counting January in that!). Oops.
Anyway, even though I want to stick my head in the sand and pretend that I didn’t forget about my goals (again), I’m going to look back and see how I did. Having said that, I still think it’s important to set both long tern and short term goals, and re-evaluate them constantly. Too many times, I set a goal, and don’t look at it again until the end of the year. Goals can change, as we change, and it’s okay to update them or tweak them. Not a big deal. I need to remember that this year.
2012 Life Goals
See my friends at least once a month.
Pass! I don’t see all my friends once a month, but I have been seeing different groups of friends more often, which is very positive. The older I get, the more I realize that good friends are hard to come by, and I can not take them for granted.
See my parents every other week and call once a week.
Fail. ish. I haven’t been seeing my parents every other week, but we also have a better relationship now. They’ve also gotten more used to the empty nest and have started making plans on their own for travel and general life enjoyment, which makes me happy.
2012 Finance Goals
Reach a net worth of $115,000
Fail! I ended off the year with just under $100,00 to my name. Having said that, my circumstances have changed quite drastically since I wrote this goal last year. I moved downtown ($$$), went on a 3-week trip to Italy with my sisters ($$$$), have been traveling to Boston to see BF ($$$), and have been trying different treatments for my acne ($$$$). If it wasn’t for the recent upswing in the markets, this might be worse!
Get a 10% raise and find a side hustle
Pass! As you may recall, I switched jobs mid-way through this year. My previous had (yet another) salary freeze, but more importantly, I wasn’t enjoying my job, anymore. It wasn’t exciting and challenging, but just long hours, which made it truly mentally and emotionally draining. When I switched jobs, I negotiated a 10% raise in my base salary. In terms of total compensation, my compensation (includes bonus, education allowance, pension, share ownership matching, etc.) increased by almost 30%.
I didn’t find a side hustle, although I did go to a self-hosted website!
Streamline my RRSP to TD e-series funds
Fail. No excuses, I just didn’t make the time for it. I’m going to get on it in March 2013 after RRSP season is done.
Invest in 3 dividend paying stocks
Pass! I bought Canadian Oil Sands, Bank o f Montreal, and Husky.
Make a shopping list and stick to it
Fail. I blame the heaven that is online shopping in the US of A and my weak self control. When BF moved to Boston, I just went nutso and sent abut $800 worth of clothes to his house. Of course I returned most of it, but then I find more stuff as I was returning. Well, at least I’ll have some wardrobe posts coming up!
Save <60% of my income
Fail. I can’t do this now that I pay a “normal” rent. But I want to be able to save 40 – 50% of my net income. I need to crunch the numbers before committing to something. It needs to be reasonable, and sustainable.
$0 budget monthly tracking
Fail. And remember in October when I was trying to reconcile all my receipts from July onwards? Yep. Complete fail.
2012 Career Goals
Get my Professional Engineer Designation
Fail! So, I signed up and paid my membership fees and wrote the test. Then I started my application…. and never finished it. It’s sitting on my desk as I type. Must get back to it.
Update my Resume
Pass! And got a new job so I think it’s a good one!
Research the Job Market
Pass! I researched it prior to going to my performance review with my previous boss, and it was a great exercise. I was able to use that information for my negotiations for my current job.
Write the Canadian Securities Exam
Fail. What exam?
Write my GMAT?
Fail. I’m lazy, so I wasn’t going to write it until I was pretty sure I wanted to do my MBA. And right now, I don’t want to do an MBA.
Verdict: 5/15 (33%)
Going forward, I need to make fewer goals, but more importantly, make sure these are goals that I want to achieve. It’s not just a list of maybe-to-dos.
I did want to end off on a positive note, though. I present you with my data for my annual net worth summary since I started tracking my net worth in 2009! It’s so encouraging to see it inch upwards 
What are some tips you have for setting goals and seeing them through? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Cheers.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
1. You did really well in net worth increases. That’s awesome, almost $20K a year.
2. My only tips for goals is to not do too many that are concrete.
Thanks, girl!
Well, you’ve written the ethics exam so you’re one step ahead of me! lol. Oh dear, I really need to get on that.
I agree with mochiandmacarons, you’re doing really well with the networth increases
You’ll ace that ethics exam, Cassie, if it’s anything like the one in Ontario – which is about a million years old. Practice with previous exam questions and that’s about 75% of the exam.
The hardest part was sitting down and studying. How did I do that in University, again?!
Your Net Worth increase is great considering how many things you have going on – well done!
Thanks, Laura. The recent upswing in the markets don’t hurt, either
You had A LOT of goals. Try to keep it down to a few manageable reasons. Real ones. Ones that you could do but it’d just stretch you a little bit in terms of your comfort level. Try to also include a few fun ones. From what I could see, you had ONE fun one which was to see your friends more often. In my 2013 goals, I had about learning & applying make-up. That’s fun!
Finally, my last tip? Don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t complete your goals. It’s only a self-imposed goal to help you grow. Not to make you feel bad.
Thanks, AP. You raise some very valid points!
I will be sure to include more FUN in my 2013 goals, and be more concise about the goals I want to achieve, so I don’t overload myself.
I would say that you did much better than 33% because you got a new job that you like. Great job on your increase on your net worth.
Thanks, ND. I do feel that landing a new job is a pretty big achievement, as well!
Wow, you saved 25k between 2009 and 2010. That’s amazing! You go girl!
I’m going through my budget, and maybe I can swing that again, this year, since I earn quite a bit more than what I earned in 2009. Will crunch the numbers and update it here