This will be a crazy year…

2017 will not be like any other year, not for me anyway. As I’m writing my goals for 2017, I’m comfortably seated in a villa up in the mountain in the beautiful country of Costa Rica. A though crossed my mind the other day:

“For the next three month, I’ll be living in Costa Rica where I will wake up each morning on the top of the mountain, going to the beach whenever I want and explore this country like it’s my playground. For the next three month, I’ll be living like a millionaire”

Interesting enough, 8 years ago, when my partner and I founded our online incorporation, we called it M35. The meaning of this was to become millionaire by the age of 35. Today, I’m far from the iconic million-dollar net worth level. However, I’ve found a way to live like one for 12 months as I’m traveling the world and even more specifically for 3 months.

“If I can achieve such thing, I can achieve everything”

This was the second thing that crossed my mind that day. In fact, we all can achieve anything in life. The secret is to be dedicated to it. For this reason, my goals for 2017 will not be like the other years…

#1 Generate $20,000/month of online income

If you have been following me for a while, you know that my online income is already paying for my 1 year trip. Over the past 12 months, my online income jumped by 30% compared to 2015. My new goal now is to reach over 5 digits per month on a steady basis.

Don’t worry, this blog will not transform into a “make money online” blog. I intend to separate this venture with a completely different website while I continue to discuss investing on this blog.

Driven by my membership site, DividendStocksRock, I want to expand my horizon and fund more projects in order to create several money making machine.

#2 Start 2 Monthly Saving Plans

Once I reach my online income goal, I want to start saving $1,000 per month. This money will go in a TFSA account. It will be 100% invested in dividend stocks. My second savings plan will go for college. My oldest son will go to private school in 2017 and I need to start thinking about my three kids’ future. I already have closed to $13,000 invested for them, I’d like to be able to add a $500 per month plan by the end of the year.

#3 Pay $1,000/month worth of debt + clear my line of credit

In addition to my regular payment, I want to accelerate my debt repayment structure. Once I get back home in July, I want to start paying down my debts faster as I’m looking to reach financial freedom earlier. I want to setup the debt repayment plan + I want to clear a $19,000 line of credit by the end of 2017.

#4 Play Soccer in a league

Goal setting is not only about money. For 2017, I want to play in a soccer league. I’m not the best player around, but I truly enjoy this sport. I feel I can go beyond my capacities and improve myself. It also helps me getting out of my comfort zone.

#5 Weight 170 pounds

While traveling, I’ve reduced my eating habits. I LOVE eating and I definitely eat too much. However, as resources are not always easy to find, I’ve changed my eating habits already. I have no clue how much I weight right now, but I was around 185 lbs before I left. My goal is to go down to 170 pounds (I’m 5’9’’). I already have a good habit of running each morning, all I needed to do was to stop eating twice what I should ;-).

#6 Give $5,000 to charity

I would like to be able to give more to charity this year. I’m thinking jumping my contribution to $5,000 this year and increase it year after year. For this year, I will donate this money to kids related foundation, maybe 2-3 of them. Kids are our future, it’s important they all have equal chances to succeed.

Goal Setting is Fun, but there is more to it

I know you will be reading at least a dozen of bloggers telling you about their goals in 2017. This is the time of the year right? But what about the rest of the year? When I first wrote this article, I’ve setup “realistic” goals such as making a 30% jump in my online income (which I did last year), and starting savings plans around $250/month and $25 for my kids or paying down my debts by $500/month without clearing my line of credit.

Then, I looked back at my goals before hitting the “publish button” and I remembered something I read not so long ago in the 4 hour workweek by Tim Ferris (love this book, this is my second time reading it). Tim tells us that realistic goals are often no achieved as it doesn’t drive enough motivation. We don’t have to go the extra miles or think the unthinkable to achieve them. This is why we fail so many times.

This is why I’ve decided to erase my previous number and replace them by ridiculously large numbers. This way, I have no other choice but to commit to them and think how I can reach those “crazy” goals. Let’s crush 2017 instead of simply making it a good year.

 

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