Bill Barnett

Progress Report

OK, so…, not a stellar start. Since May 2009 here is what I have AND haven’t been able to accomplish:

Short Term Goals

• Double the BudgetSketch user base by August 2009
  Done but it took two month longer than expected. Of course the user base has since increased by more than 3,000% in a year. Not bad!
• Read a technical book by August 2009
  FAIL!
• Read a book for leisure by August 2009
  FAIL!
• Read “Body For Wife” by August 2009
  FAIL but with an excuse. The site isn’t complete and the book has not yet been published.
• Pay off a credit card, any credit card (does not include transferring any portion of its balance to another card/loan) by November 2009
  FAIL but another excuse. All cards are now managed via Trinity Debt Management whose services I highly recommend if you need them which I hope you do not.
• Loose 20lbs. by November 2009
  FAIL!
• Save 2 months cash reserve in my business account by November 2009
  FAIL!

Long Term Goals

• Work full-time for Finagilous LLC by December 2010
  This one is tracking fairly well but I am feeling less pressure to see Finagilous profitable since Gaslight Software is doing so well.
• Become debt free (except for the mortgage) by June 2014
  Unless I learn to but everything after this goal there is little chance that I’ll meet this goal. Some of these goals seem diametrically opposed to one another.
• Receive a clean bill of health from my physician by June 2011
  I am walking in training for the 2011 Walt Disney World Half Marathon in January 2011. I’ll be running in two 5K’s and a 10K prior to the half marathon. We’ll see.

Next Steps

I think I’ll reconsider some of my previous goals. The long term goals remain the same and my new short term goals (due by June 2010) are:

• Read one business development/technical book in each of the next three months (March, April & May)
• Read one leisure book in each of the next three months (March, April & May)
• Read the bash man page from end to end and create a bash tutorial
• Make emacs my everyday editor
• RUN a 5K by the end of June 2010

Clearly I’m off to a poor start but you can help… The next time you see me, give me a rough time for my poor performance!

Thus it begins.

I consider it a beginning of sorts because I have never really set or tracked goals but really it is just a continuation of an ordinary, average existence. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that but inside I feel like I’m settling for that.

I have always been moved by exceptional people. Some have hidden in the shadows for years only to burst upon on the public stage to serve as a wake up call. Others are true heroes who never sought the stage and were eager to return to the wings as soon as their celebrity wore off. Most though are just ordinary people doing exceptional things on a daily basis because they’re passionate about what they do (check) and are laser focused on the tasks before them (unchecked at the moment).

I do not expect to become the next Susan Boyle or Lenny Skutnik. My desire is a simple one you’ve heard a thousand times before but which so few of us ultimately seem to achieve. I want to look back on life one day and know that I left my corner of the world a better place than I found it. Cliché, right?

None of the goals listed below are aimed at helping others, at least directly. I must first clean up my own mess. With that said, here are my first, unremarkable goals.

Short Term Goals

These 3-6 month goals which should lead to one of the long term goals below.

• Double the BudgetSketch user base by August 2009
• Read a technical book by August 2009
• Read a book for leisure by August 2009
• Read “Body For Wife” by August 2009
• Pay off a credit card, any credit card (does not include transferring any portion of its balance to another card/loan) by November 2009
• Loose 20lbs. by November 2009
• Save 2 months cash reserve in my business account by November 2009

Long Term Goals

These are 2-5 year goals toward which the short term goals should be aimed.

• Work full-time for Finagilous LLC by December 2010
• Become debt free (except for the mortgage) by June 2014
• Receive a clean bill of health from my physician by June 2011

One cool benefit of this whole goal setting thing is that it gives me something to blog about on a fairly consistent basis. Hmmmm, I’m seeing benefits from this already!