Each month I stay accountable to my goals by reviewing the goal, the strategies, and progress.

2022 Goals

Overarching theme: “Promotion”

2022 Goals

Goal 1: Who am I as a writer?

Obstacles

• A track record of success in the real estate niche
• Hard to break into new industries
• Not sure what will ignite my spark

Strategies

• Make time to “write for fun” and explore new topic niches

Progress: I haven’t had time to write for fun or explore new niches. My workload increased quite a bit this month. Grade: F

Goal 2: Increase my knowledge base and writing skills.

Obstacles

• Balancing the need to generate income and acquiring new skills. 
• Classes cost money, which eats into revenue.
• Finding the time

Strategies

• Read the free resources that come into my inbox
• Create a “learning” budget I can use on courses
• Dedicate a set time for industry reading and learning.
• Create themes for the month to focus the learning

Progress: I did read some industry articles this month, mostly in the first few weeks. I did set a $500 budget for professional development. I did not spend it yet. Grade: C because I could do more reading

Goal 3: Promote me.

Obstacles

• Time spent prospecting for new work
• Competition may be fierce
• I’m a shy person who doesn’t like to talk about myself
• Finding the byline writing opportunities on the immense World Wide Web

Strategies

• Launch a “how I edit” series on my website blog
• Find byline opportunities
• Make my website even easier to see my writing
• Dedicate a time to job hunt

Progress: I did upload the first “how I edit video” and I made two other practice videos. I found one byline opportunity but it hasn’t published yet. I cannot take on new work; too busy. So no job hunting! Grade: A

Goal 4: Maintain income stream of [confidential) through 2021. That’s an average of [confidential] per month.

Obstacles

• Limited time to work
• Reduced need in the market for writers
• Managing my time wisely

Strategies

• Reduce Upwork dependance so more money comes to my pocket.
• Charge the rates I’m worth..
• Work at least 5 hrs on my working days. 
• Track each month how much time is spent writing on projects versus time invested and rate earned. 

Progress: I’ve had a few 5-hour days but I seem locked in around 4.5 hours. I’m still working on squeezing more minutes from the day. Less of my work is on Upwork. I raised my rates on Upwork. I haven’t done a time tracking assessment yet. My January income was 71% above the target. Grade: A