Each month I stay accountable to my goals by reviewing the goal, the strategies, and progress. This month was interesting because I had unexpected surgery on my hand. How do you write when your primary hand is bound and splinted? Thanks to dictation and hen-pecking, I made it work.

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: My workload has intense this month, but I did do one for fun writing exercise. I intended to do more, but failed at being consistent. Grade: D-

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 attended a “State of the Industry” digital summit. It was free, so I still have funds for professional development. I’ve also done some reading through email newsletters. Grade: A-

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 failed at creating and publishing a “how I edit” video because I was too busy with work. I cannot take on new work. So no job hunting! Grade: D

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 averaged about 6.5-hours a day for the month due to a tight deadline on a massive project. I really squeezed as many minutes as I could, but I was so stressed and not meeting some outside personal goals.

My March monthly income was 109% above the target. I may need to adjust the target. Grade: A