Wow, 2019 is gone. The Teens are gone. Time for a new decade and a new chance to start a new path. We have talked about paths but at the end of the year is when I really like to get specific and talk about goals. WE have to work towards something. You know how I like sayings and there is one that fits this topic right now.
If you aim for nothing you will hit it every time.
In other words, if you want to be something you have to aim for something. If you want to sit on your butt and talk about how life ain’t fair to you. IF you want to complain about how the good things in just won’t magically fall in your lap. This post isn’t for you. I am writing this post to you. Yeah, you, the one who is tired of the excuses. I am talking to the man who is tired of spinning his wheels and getting nowhere. When I talk about setting goals it is so you know that setting goals aren’t an easy task but a job that is required if you want to get out of the rut you are in. If you want to do more in your life goals are the map to get you to where you want to go.
Also at the end of the year, there is another task that is just as important. This task many people don’t ever take the time to do, and that is review. This is something I learned this year is the after-action review. But not just to review every action but review your full year. We often have an end of year review in the news. This shows us all the big changes that happened this year. Who did we lose to death in the celebrity world? It is good to review your year.
Why do you want to review your year? For the biggest reason of all so you can learn from it. What nuggets of knowledge are you able to glean from your year? Then look back on the last decade what did you do in the 2010s? Ask yourself those questions and learn. You learn and you will grow from that experience. So it is time to review my year and I thought since I shared my goals last year let see how well I did.
Goals
Here is the list of my goals and what I was able to accomplish for the year 2019
100 visitors a day
I was pushing hard for this one goal. I firmly believe that I can get more people to my site. I want people to be able to find that life is great. It completely depends on how you look at it. You can be a shrinking violet and be nothing but a walking bag of anxiety. I want to tell people that you don’t have to be anxious about everything. I try to profess that your worries are not that important. We as people wonder what’s wrong with us if we are not happy and full of joy 24 hours a day. That is simply unrealistic and you want to actually embrace the suffering you will face so that the happiness you experience is even more appreciated.
To be able to do that I need more people to my site. I appreciate every visitor I get. At the beginning of the year, I was averaging around seven people a day. That is fantastic. Yet I would cringe as I hear other people who would complain that they were only getting 10,000 visitors a day. I was aghast at their numbers. Therefore, I needed to get my numbers up. I wanted to just attain the level of 100 people a day. Was I able to reach that? Nope. However, I did get over 100 people in a day twice. In addition, I am now averaging 15 people a day. For me that is awesome. How did I do that? I set a goal and I make steps to achieving it.
The first time I figured it was probably a fluke. Since 90% of the visitors came from Facebook. I figured that it was just a new Facebook bot that was running rampant because I reached 124 people. Then 2 months later, I did it again with 115 visitors.
So did I fail at my goal? Nope, I didn’t reach my goal but I am so much closer to it now than I ever was beforehand. I am still tweaking my strategy and will be adding a few new channels that should bring in more people to the site. We will see. This goal is still going to carry on for the year 2020
Attend 2 Camping Expos
This one I dropped after my first one. Why? Because I am not able to find any camping expos in my area that are actually about camping. There are many expos around RV’s and fishing boats. Yet sadly, there are no expos for tents and sleeping bags and other camping gear. I saw that there are shows in other states and I will be going to some of those as soon as I have the budget. Therefore, after my first outdoor expo, I went to I dropped this goal.
Have 12 Camping Product Reviews
This one I thought I had. I was getting new products for camping each month and was doing great! Until something unforeseen happened. My main source of income is from the oilfield. In late March, something unforeseen happened. The Oilfield started to get soft. March was alright so it was April and May, but June was not OK. I was starting to eat into our savings. Moreover, the budget for camping supplies quickly dried up. Therefore, the reviews stopped. Now they have started back up but I will be about three reviews shy of hitting my goal.
What did I learn from this experience? First off, those review videos are very popular on YouTube. This is the main way people find my YouTube channel. I also have so much fun getting new pieces of equipment and testing them out. Granted sometimes I am a bit long-winded about a new piece of equipment. Yet I still enjoy making reviews. I have realized that reviews really do nothing for my overall brand I do like to make them. I just am not sure if I want to keep making them because it really doesn’t fit in with my overall message. Yes, I want men to get outdoors and experience the benefits of nature. So I don’t know yet. I may do one more year of reviews and go from there. As I said, I do enjoy making the reviews.
Walk And Review 4 Hiking trails
Wow, I did fail at this one. I walked one trail but never made a review on it. Making these reviews never became a big enough importance to me. I do want to make the videos but there is too much that I can make excuses for not doing it right now. The biggest issue I have is that we are down to one vehicle and there are three people in the house using the Jeep. So If I go out for an extended trip the other two folks would be without a car. Therefore, it is easy for me to just not go. Maybe this coming year I can start reviewing hiking trails. Who knows but this is a failure because I didn’t even start.
Camp outside 6 Times
So close. I got to camp 5 times this year. I would have had more times but the oilfield got in the way. As you heard before the oilfield went very soft so to be able to make some money, I spent the summer and part of fall in Odessa, TX. Now I don’t know if you have ever been to Odessa but it is often called Odesolate and that is because there is nothing there. I was not about to camp at a truck stop so there were no camping places for me. When I did get to go home, it was normal for a day and then I was heading out once more. I enjoyed the camping I have to do again and I will be able to do more next year.
Make $50 – $50,000
This never came about either. Why? Because I need to learn how to market. I am learning that I severely lack the skill to market myself or my products. It could be that I use my content creation as an excuse for not having to sell but that is going to have to change for next year. That is because one of my camping events is the Live Camp and Coach event. I want to see this event full I want to be able to help men find a path and start making strides to accomplishing their dreams. That is because their dreams never really died. They were just packed away.
Save 10% of my income
This was going good that is until as mentioned before the oilfield slump. Now that is just an excuse because I could have still saved 10% but the wife and I never made the needed changes to our lifestyle. We still spent just as much and had stuff shut off and all. We fell into the scarcity mindset that I warn you about. Instead of making the changes, we just worried about what we didn’t have instead of focusing on what we did have. I did make a large change here recently in that I left the oilfield. So soon I should be able, get back to saving.
Replace my Fence
Total failure. Never even got around to starting to save for a new fence.
Other events
Job change
The biggest event in 2019 is that I left the oilfield. Now I am still trucking but instead of sand, I am hauling sheetrock and Solarboard. The change I nice I don’t have any complaints. Yet I know I am not destined to be with them for 10 years. I will have this coaching business up and running but to do so, I had to make an adjustment.
Death of a friend
I was hit with another reason as to why I do this blog. I don’t know why men are still killing themselves. I really am not sure, if the rate of suicide is increasing or if we are just becoming more aware of it. Yet it is now the second time in November that I had a friend kill himself. Then add that it’s been 2 years in a row. This friend was my best friend in High school and the first in my class to pass. It brought my classmates together at least for a short time hopefully we will be able to stay connected and live life intentionally with each other.
Oilfield went soft
Wow, the dip that nobody is talking about. Frack companies are laying people off and I hardly see anybody talking about it. Why has it softened? I don’t know but I know the company I worked for is diversifying. They are no longer dedicated to just frack sand. They also are hauling other materials. Good for them I would hate to see a good company with incredible people go under.
I started mending family fences
Now I am far from perfect. One of the biggest issues I have is my family from my hometown. My dad’s side I get the impression that they really don’t have any interest in me, my sisters, and that could be the case, or it could be the victim mindset talking. The only way to know is to start working on those relationships. The other side of my family is my step side. These folks raised me and though I am grateful, my pride and victim mindset drove a huge wedge between me and those I was very close to. I made many poor choices and told myself stories about actions I perceived as being that they didn’t want to talk to me. It had been 10 years since I had seen my stepmother and my sisters. The man who is the most influential in my life I had cut out of my life. My pride and arrogance kept my children from knowing the man I called papa. I realize that now and so late this year I took my first steps to mend the fences to the people who knew me when I was young. I like the results. There is a lot of being reacquainted with nephews to do, but I am up for the challenge.
Started a Live event
As mentioned before I have a live event I am planning. This is going to be interesting. It is an outdoor coaching event where we are also going to have mastermind sessions going on. If you are interested, please go to the live event page for the Camp and Coaching Event. This even is started because a mastermind member kept hearing me talk about having a live event. Therefore, she laid down the challenge and start making plans because there is no time like the present. She is right and so I now am trying to figure out how to market this awesome event.
Joined a Mastermind
I joined a new mastermind. Therefore, now I am apart of three different masterminds. One has been going for almost 10 years and this one I started with three other people in July. This new group is focused on each of us has a business that we want to get to the next level. Therefore, we have a different objective than my other mastermind.
Produced 3 products
Finally, I have created three products to help men to overcome the fear and anxiety of not know what they want out of life.
I have my core coaching services. This helps men to create goals and coach them through the different challenges they will face as they change their mindsets. I want to be able to help men see that their dreams are possible.
I have the Conclave of Men which is a mastermind group that helps men on a different level. By using the power of a mastermind setting. Each man can help each other man achieve their goals,
Then I have the live event which will help men to slow down and focus on their needed tasks.
Therefore, that is my year. Very busy and I still have a few weeks left, Yet I am ready for the next year with my new goal journal I think I will be able to make bigger strides to accomplishing my goals. So make your goals. You may not achieve all of them but you will be so much closer to your goal if you start. Remember if you reach for the stars you will never come up with mud. Have a great rest of the holidays and Talk next week.
