Goals for 2010

Goals for 2010

Happy New Year everyone!

I’m not a huge “resolution” person, but I’m definitely goal oriented. This year I want to try to follow through on more of my ideas and goals. So, I’ve decided to post them on my blog instead of writing them on a piece of paper that I’ll probably lose in 3 months. Plus, I’m hoping putting them out in public  will help keep me motivated–due to more of a sense of accountability. If I can complete 50% of these I’ll be an extremely happy guy. Anyway, enough talking about them, here’s what I’ve got so far…

Personal Goals:

1. Be a Great Dad – This is the single biggest goal I have in my life. We’re having a baby this year, she’s due May 2nd. This is my first child and I plan on being the best father I can possibly be to her. This may very well mean not accomplishing some of my other goals, but that’s is fine by me. This is far more important.
2. Project 365 – In an effort to do more creative projects for myself, I’m going to try to take a photo every day in 2010. I’m no pro, but I really enjoy photography. Hopefully, I’ll improve my skills in the process.
3. Blog Regularly – Start a visual blog where I post stuff I’m working on, graphic concepts, illustrations, photos, or ideas. Luckily the 365 project makes for daily content.
4. Start Playing Guitar Again – Not much more to say in this one… It’s been collecting dust for far too long.
5. Be More Present – I want to focus more on being in the moment and experiencing my life. Maybe it’s the creative curse, but my overactive imagination sometimes has me missing some of life’s most wonderful experiences while I’m planning my next “big idea.” With my daughter on the way, I don’t want to miss a minute.

Career Goals:

1. Career Growth – This year I plan to focus on growing in my career. Specifically in the interactive space.  Taking advantage of my experience and moving forward,  I want to leave 2010 with some excellent work in my portfolio that I can truly be proud of.
2. Brand Myself – Not literally, although that would be pretty badass. This year I’m going to develop a brand for my freelance web design business. Which leads nicely into goal #3.
3. Freelance Business – This year I want to really establish my freelance web design business. I’ve been working on jobs periodically on the side. I hope to develop this into a more viable business for me. I have a sales number In mind for the year,  75% of it is my goal.
4. Redesign This Site & Build New Portfolio Site – After I develop a brand for my freelance business I’m going to move my portfolio (which I really need to update) over to it’s new respective site. Then I want to transition JustinL.com into more of a personal site to aggregate all of my online social identities.
5. Design a WordPress Theme – Done a couple for myself. This year I want to design a theme and set it loose in the wild.
6. Learn a New Programming Language – Thinking about learning Ruby on Rails or another comparable framework. I really want to build a web app but don’t know all the hardcore back-end programming to get the thing working.
7. Build a Web App – Got a few ideas kicking around I think might be cool. This one really depends on weather or not I complete Goal 5.

Retail Business Goals:

1. Growth – Serious focus on growing Unleashed Pet Shop,  me & my wife’s business this year. We’re expanding to a new location 3x the current size. I hope to at least double our customer base and year end sales.
2. Focus on our Social Media Marketing -

• Twitter tips 2x per day
• Blog weekly.
• Monthly email newsletter campaigns.
• Start a podcast on pet supply product reviews and pet care tips.

1. Launch Ecommerce Site – Been in the works for awhile. Hit a little snag on the legal side of things that put a hold on this project. Hope to launch in March.
2. Hire an Employee – gonna need some help, especially with the little one coming.
3. Manufacture a Product – I want to develop a private label product and manufacture it to sell in our store.

That’s it for now. I’d love to get some feedback on this. Let me know what you think by leaving a comment. I’d love to hear about some other people’s goals too.

What are some your goals for 2010?