Each year I create a list of goals and resolutions, and I publish them here to keep me accountable. I’ve learned it doesn’t actually matter if other people read the posts, just *me knowing* that I’ve publicly stated my goals and will review them at the end of the year helps keep me accountable. You can read last year’s goals here and find out how I did here.
I managed to complete all my financial goals for 2020 successfully, which feels weird to say in the face of economic stress all around me. I was working three jobs for half the year, and a full-time job plus a business for the entire year, and I can 100% say I do not recommend that for your mental health or your schedule. I kind of felt like I was treading water all year, time-management-wise. It felt so precarious, I was always about 5 days away from one part of my schedule breaking and it all coming crashing down. I de-prioritized my mental health and physical activity goals in pursuit of doing work.
It had financial payoffs, I made things I’m proud of, and I’m full of gratitude I had such work. But I do not recommend working the amount of hours I did this year long-term.
I also gave myself a LOT of grace to just “not care” about goals in the face of a global pandemic. Especially things like figure skating (obviously) with the rinks closed. I also wanted to utilize my income and privilege during this awful Year of 20Pandemic that I worked to donate money and produce content that served people. It wasn’t a great year for me personally, but I had a pretty good year compared to many, many people around the world.
So…here’s how I did on my 2020 goals.
Pay taxes on time ($1K-$2.5K, April 15)
Success, my taxes ended up being quite reasonable due to some smart accounting and high COGS last year, and I even got a small federal refund.
Save 20% of my income
I did it! I actually saved 71% of my post-tax income, and close to 45% pre-tax.
Get Patreon to $600/month by July 31
I managed to hit this in April, next goal is $1,000 per month.
Rebuild emergency fund to $8,000
This was completed in March, this is now restored to $14,000 which is approximately one year of expenses.
Stretch: Save $20,000
This was completed in September.
Super-Stretch: Save 50% of my income
My post-tax savings rate was 70% of my income, though I am writing this in mid-December, so there’s a possibility that something comes up between now and then. But it’s very likely I will hit 70% post-tax income, and something like 46% of my pre-tax income (taxes are extremely complicated when you have 3 jobs, one of which is self-employed).
Keep publishing monthly reports
Yes! Every month.
Publish 26 episodes of Oh My Dollar!
Managed to hit and exceed this number.
Run + support challenges on OMD forums
Thanks to help from community members, we managed to keep these going though I wasn’t always prompt with the stickers.
New aircheck & reel
I did this, but it is already time for a new one.
Teach 5 workshops with foster/homeless youth
Though there were some covid hiccups with having to switch to remote workshops, in the end, I pulled off 6 of these.
2x month livestreams for patrons
We actually switched to every single week once lockdown started and we opened them up to everyone, not just patrons. This has been a real highlight of the year for me, especially as someone who is no longer hosting morning radio and misses it dearly. We’re keeping it up in 2021.
Keep sleeping an average of 7-8 hrs a night
My 2020 average is 8 hours, 2 minutes per night.
Keep meal planning
I actually switched to meal prepping which is the like the super grown up version of meal planning, and I’m pretty much in love with it now.
Have a very real check-in with self about the sustainability of 3 jobs by June 31
I did this…and guess what? I quit my third job effective June 15th.
Manage my schedule working 3 jobs without losing my mind or too much sleep
I didn’t lose sleep but I felt like I was losing my mind and my grasp on everything else. But…I succeeded?
Kick butt at my day job
I managed to keep my job but I’m not sure I “kicked butt”. This is an example of a poorly defined goal.
Publish a 2019 annual report by January 31st
I made most of it…then I started working 3 jobs and it just was not a priority.
Publish 20 youtube videos
Same as above. This was NOT sustainable in concert with working three jobs I do not know why I thought it was, there was no way.
Kick butt at day job #2
Umm….we’re not going to talk about this too much, but let’s say this job was so poorly set up for success that I ended up in the press talking about it.
Covid-Canceled
[Secret Event Project]
Obviously, this was not the year for events.
Breakfast on the Bridges volunteering
Only did 2 breakfast on the bridges this year before it became clear they needed to be canceled.
Travel to at least two new-to-me countries
Lol.
Everything under Skating
Yea, skating was a mess. I skated a total of 24.5 hours the ENTIRE YEAR of 2020 rather than the 25+ hours per month I was skating in the second half of 2019. The rinks were closed. It wasn’t safe. What can I say?