Goals 2017Goals. Once again. *sigh*
Check out my first goal-post from 2014 to see what I feel about goal setting. Ambivalence is a mild word.

In the last post, I revealed how well—or not, I achieved my goals in 2016. As usual, when it comes to me and my goals, it wasn’t a pretty picture.

My goals for 2017 are almost a direct response to what happened in 2016.
This time I won’t make a difference between personal and business goals. As my coach likes to say, it’s never “just a business”. But this time I’ll do something different: I’ll prioritize my goals. This time numbers are not just for order, they mean what they mean. First thing first, so the first goal is…

1. Prayer.

“When God is at first place, everything falls into right place”. I want to put God first in my life, because I really want everything right. In the last few years I pursued personal development and success a lot and came dangerously close to a place where I would have breached my values. This is not the way I want to live my life. I don’t want to notice in ten years form now that I put my ladder against the wrong wall.

So, this year my #1 goal is prayer.
I won’t brag how much I pray on a daily basis. It’s enough that I know my prayers. Many would say I pray too much, but I know it’s doable with my lifestyle.

My measurable goal for prayer this year is to say them all every single day. I’m writing this post in the morning of the 10th of January, but I didn’t need this post to start me off. I’ve already begun. For the first nine days of 2017, I’ve put prayer first. This action has reminded me that it’s not so hard, I just need to prioritize this goal.

2. Quality time with my family.

I go directly back to my resolution from the last year. My wife may be wary of the word ‘date’, but I don’t need to call our time together a date. I just need to ensure I prioritize it.

I need also to communicate to my children that I want to spend time with them, maybe even reserve time for that in their calendars.

And, whatever happens, I need to track this goal. Quitting my tracking was my biggest pitfall in 2016.
My measurable goal is to spend at least an hour of quality time with each of them every week.

3. Growing my email list.

I still need those 10,000 folks opening and reading my emails. I have about 400 of them now.

Last year, I figured out how to rapidly grow my email list. Now I need to implement that knowledge. The basic idea is to feature one of my books on InstaFreebie at least once a month. If necessary, I’ll organize relevant book events. I know how much hard work that is as I’ve done it in the past, but it’s worth it.

I will also look for more similar platforms, where I could upload my books and get subscribers in exchange. One new platform a month is a good idea as well.

A contributing effort to growing my list will be to keep publishing answers on Quora. Quora traffic is high quality. It was my 2nd source of subscribers in 2016 after InstaFreebie giveaways. And I like writing for that crowd. I put this only as a reminder, because I publish on Quora fairly consistently; this has become one of my daily habits.

4. Digital coaching.

I’m a coach on Coach.me and with zero effort on my own I have got several clients there. This is more a reliable source of income than a way to increase book sales. However, one client is roughly 1% of my day job’s salary. So I need only 100 of them. 😉

I have taken the necessary steps to be certified as a digital coach and I’ll be keeping on it till I obtain the certificate. The qualification should elevate my profile on the Coach.me platform enough to get a steady trickle of new clients.

Otherwise, I will have to figure out how to get new clients. If I bring my own clients to the platform, it’s more profitable as well.

5. Contributing.

I have already published my writing in many magazines, and on blogs and platforms. I’ve also given more than a dozen podcast interviews. I need to make this activity more consistent. I’ve already promised one magazine that I will contribute a new article every month.

Quora also opened my eyes to repurposing my content. I started to republish my answers on Medium and after almost half a year of publishing an article a day, I’m finally gaining some traction there.

I also became a contributor to a new platform -XGen- and I can repurpose my content there as well.

Plus, I made a deal with my sons and they are doing some paid work for me. For example, transferring Quora answers to Medium is my eldest son’s job. Thanks to their help I have more flexibility in sharing my content.
I only need to figure out once how to publish on a new platform and train them.

6. Publishing.

This last is more a philosophical viewpoint than a goal. However, if all goes well, I will have more things to tick in the ‘achieved’ column come year end, so I am recording my thoughts on Publishing in this goals statement.

I have two books all-but finished, that have been in the almost-ready state for over a year.
Last year, I put publishing on hold, because it was costing me too much emotionally, in time and money. Well, money started flowing, so I am reconsidering that decision.

If I find the time and if this goal will not endanger in any way goals #1 and #2, I would like to publish those books.
If Amazon ads continue to bear fruit like they are now, I can stop worrying about whether my books will sell. Directed by Purpose, my latest book, published in September 2016, had a very meager launch, but it’s one of my top sellers at the moment, despite that.


There you are: my goals for 2017. I still feel I have too many. But I have renewed purpose and direction, derived from the lessons of 2016. I fully expect to do better this year.
I hope you have a great 2017 too.
What are your goals for this year? How can I help you to achieve them?

Goals for 2017

14 thoughts on “Goals for 2017

  • January 15, 2017 at 4:36 pm
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    Sounds great, Michael. My base goals this year are to also keep God & His Word first, exercise everyday, & get more into online business. I know those are broad on the surface, but I go into more detail with them personally. Sounds like you’re doing awesome. Cheers to a great New Year!

    Reply
    • January 15, 2017 at 4:47 pm
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      Thank you Brian.
      It’s not so broad. I’m broad. See above? Six goals.
      I have dozend of daily habits. I’m all over the place 😉

      Reply
  • January 15, 2017 at 4:50 pm
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    I like the list. It is very comprehensive. You put your family very high on the list. This placement is very important as far as I am concerned. We are all in your corner and will encourage you in any way possible.

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    • January 15, 2017 at 10:49 pm
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      Thanks my friend.
      You’ve been in my corner quite a chunk of time. I appreciate this.

      Reply
  • January 16, 2017 at 12:32 am
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    Thank you again Michal. I agree with you absolutely with the 1St goal especially. The rest of our lives revolves around our relationship with God.
    Family – an hour with each like, I like that too 🙂
    All the best towards your publishing
    goals, knowing you I’m sure you will achieve it…. Good luck my friend.

    One fine day, I will register with your Coachme. 😉

    Reply
  • January 17, 2017 at 10:00 am
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    Wow
    I’m impressed about your first two goals for this year they somehow similar to mine because of my second goal: I want to relocate from my place I have been working and staying which was far from my family. But this year that has got to change.
    On my third goal I want to find a new and better job which is closer to my family.
    My fourth goal – I want to broaden my career by completing a certificate or in my field.
    My fifth goal is a secret one between me and my wife.
    So there you go.

    Reply
    • January 18, 2017 at 6:46 am
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      Thank you Brian for openness.
      I’ll be checking on you during the year, I promise.

      Reply
  • January 17, 2017 at 10:35 pm
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    Great goals Michal. Your consistency is admirable….you just keep doing the things that need to be done and you understand Jeff Olsen’s “power of time”. Our number one goals are the same……to put God first in our lives. I have become increasingly aware of His importance in my life and how he honors me when I honor him. Recently I re-read Dr. Norman Vincent Peale’s book “The Power of Positive Thinking” and it cemented this goal. I am committed to making God a partner in all of my endeavors – especially my second goal of getting my fitness book published by mid-year. This is the year I am going to make that goal and a few others a reality. Thank you again for being an inspiration for me and so many others. Best of luck in reaching your 2017 goals!

    Reply
  • January 21, 2017 at 11:04 am
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    I like that you gave prayer the number 1 priority. I’m not religious, but I do something similar (a morning ritual) and now I realized that it’s a game changer.

    It consists of 5 parts:

    1) Meditation
    2) Stretching the imagination: Invent 10 crazy things that I may want to do, but seem totally impossible now.
    3) Visualizing my most important goal
    4) Gratitude: Write down 10 things that I’m grateful for right now (they not be new every day)
    5) 3 empowering questions

    Parts 1 and 3 are probably most similar to a prayer. Both are important because they give my day a good start and make my thinking (hence acting) clearer.

    Item 2 is important because it allows you to develop a skill of imagining things you haven’t experienced. This is essential, if you want to achieve something, which you haven’t had in the past.

    Gratitude (4) tells the brain what to look for. If you, for example, are grateful for the food and shelter you have now, the brain will look for opportunities for you to have more of those things that you are grateful for. Same applies to more important things such as love or intelligence.

    Finally, by asking yourself 3 empowering questions you direct your brain (which always works in the background, even if you are doing something different) to finding information that is most important to you here and now.

    I noticed that doing this routine every morning prevents me from falling back into old, “wrong” thinking patterns. When you set a goal that changes your life, the first couple of weeks you may have the energy to pursue it. Then, other people and other influences may nudge you back into your old habits. The morning ritual makes you concentrate on what’s important to you (your higher self, intuition etc. is activated during the meditation and the goal visualization reminds you of your goal). That’s why I think it’s a game changer.

    Reply
  • January 22, 2017 at 7:32 pm
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    Awesome morning ritual Dmitri and great explanation.
    3 of those points are also a part of my routine.

    My prayers are distributed about evenly for the whole day.

    Reply

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