So here it is, January's almost over and I've yet to make my New Year's Resolutions. What kind of insanity is that? In this entry I look at how I did last year, take a look at what I'd like to do this year, and where I'd like to be next year.
First off, how did I do last year? Looking back through the Archives, I see last year's resolutions properly filed under the “Kaylin” category under the title of “Whirlwind Holidays come to a close“…well played 2006 Brian, well played indeed.
Now, what did I say last year:
New Year's Resolutions:
1 – Work out at home (getting into shape is a nice bonus).
2 – More home renovations (paint and trim the living room, upstairs hallway, and build some things in the office).
3 – To build All New Comics into a viable business.
4 – Pursue the next phase in HeadsDown.
Hmmm, looks like I batted about .500.
#1 didn't really happen. I did join a Gym and I went for a few months until it got too tough to juggle. It's a new year, so I'm going to put that back on the docket.
#2 was done. I painted the whole house, did some trim stuff, and totally built a kick @ss garage storage system.
#3 All New Comics ended 2006 with a 1000% increase in monthly revenue and went from having 5 subscribers to nearly 30. That's a pretty good increase.
#4 I pursued it, and I made a plan, but I haven't followed through on it yet.
Maybe I should have added one last year “Totally upheave my family's life and move from Ajax to London”. That would put my average way over .500
Here's five things for this year (and by “five” I really mean “seven”).
#1: Move
#2: Eliminate unecessary things
#3: Only pursue projects that make money
#4: Learn to say no
#5: Get a doctor. Go to doctor. Look after your health.
#6: Go away.
#7: Be better
#1: Move from London to Ajax
Simple enough resolution, I should be able to stroke this one off completely by March 3rd or thereabouts.
#2: Eliminate all the clutter in my life
Our basement and our garage are both perfect examples of how quickly little things can get out of control. I went through a few boxes last night, and there were dozens of books that I've carried from our apartment to this house, which I will never read again. They need to be sold or donated. I'm going to cut my comic collection back to 5 boxes max, and pare my Graphic Novel collection down as well (luckily I know a place to sell the excess stuff…smile). Old computers, tech, etc, needs to be sold, given away, or donated. Lean and mean baby, we're paying by the pound to have this stuff moved, so we need to take that all into account.
#3: I resolve to only make all of my side-businesses make money. If they don't make money this year, then it's time to move on.
HeadsDown, All New Comics, neither one of them are making me any significant money. HeadsDown brings us in a little bit of cashish, which frankly for the amount of effort required is good enough, but it should be bringing in a lot more money considering how long it's been around.
It needs a few tweaks to be fully ready for the next level, and I should make the time to make those changes.
All New Comics has been in business for about 19 months now (about a month longer than Kaylin's been around). It's making a little bit of money for us, but we've kind of stalled. We need to get over that hump, and I'd like this to be the year that we turn a small profit. Not much, just a little. A profit with some extra that we can donate to a charity…even better.
Getting these two making me some money will allow us a little more flexibility and maybe even result in a trip or two for the family.
#4 In keeping with #3, if it won't make me money, I need to say no to it
This is pretty self explanitory, but I do a lot of little side things that don't make me any money. Reasonably at this point there's very little portfolio work I need to do, I've worked for two of Canada's largest media companies, I am one of a half dozen people in Canada with the breadth of experience I have, if that doesn't sell someone on why they need my services, then doing yet another website for free isn't going to tip the scale. Saying no to more stuff from other people will mean I can do the other things on my list.
#5 Get a doctor, get healthy
It's been a couple of years since I was at a doctor, there's a few nagging things bugging me, I want to get them looked at, and I need to take care of my fitness. I know I'm out of shape, and I'm definately overweight. With our new lifestyle, I should have more time to do these things, and I need to make them a priority.
#6 Go Away
We didn't really do anything last year, we need to go somewhere this year. Just because we have a child doesn't mean that we should stop living.
#7 Be better
I want to be a better dad, husband, son, friend, business guy or whatever. I need to write more. I need to draw more. I need to read more (regular books…not just books on design/CSS/webstuff). I need to play more. I need to build more websites. I need to do more, and do it faster. I know all of the stuff I need to do…now I just have to do it.
There we go. Seven resolutions. Some are easy, some are big, all are attainable. Let's see where I am in a year!