Whoa. 2008 is a blur of political ads, Hank Paulson’s face, Apple logos, and rambling pundits. It was a good year for me on a personal level, but the country suffered. We enter 2009 anxious for better news, but many speculate it will be worse than 2008.
The Weakonomist has a knack for the silver lining though. At least we aren’t under the threat of nuclear war and invasions. We aren’t in a plague, we don’t seem to be actively pursuing religious persecution of an sigifacant population, and we’re getting a new president. Things could be MUCH worse. I’ll take the USA any day of the week over any country in the Middle East, Africa, and even South America.
The tradition of making resolutions, ignoring them, and then forgetting them is kept near and dear to my heart. However in 2008 I did resolve to get a new car and pay most of it off, and get engaged. I actually only went about 2 for 10 on the resolutions. Instead of calling them resolutions for 2009, I’ll just call them goals. I do much better at goals. So here are some personal goals and then goals for Weakonomics in 2009:
Personal:
Lose 20 lbs and get back to my college freshman weight
Grow emergency fund 20%
Clear all outstanding debts
Get married
Take career in slightly different direction
Buy new iPod
Read 12 fiction books
Weakonomics:
Write 10 page outline for “Project Hedge”
Start the re-write of “College of Weakonomics” for book publication
Get published in a traditional media publisher (magazine, newspaper, etc)
Grow readership
Get 1,000 followers on Twitter
Read 8 business books
Some of these goals require an explanation. Long before I became The Weakonomist, I was Simply Philip. Simply Philip was fat. He weighed 245 lbs at one point. Thankfully the Sheconomist had no idea of my chunkyness and when we met I was 180 lbs of Simply Philip. In total though I had lost 75 lbs and then I started working out to build muscle. I still have the muscle but as soon as I learned I didn’t have to keep my figure to impress the Sheconomist anymore I let myself go to the pits (well actually I went to the grocery store and bought candy and ice cream). For her, and myself, I want to get back to the good ole days when personality didn’t matter in a relationship.
Things like growing the e-fund and clearing debts will be no problem. These are set on auto-pilot.
I make decent money in my day job as Simply Philip, but I’m not on the exact career path I envisioned for myself. Weakonomics will probably always be a side thing, and my personal career is important to me. This will likely mean a job change or some other means of making myself more useful to potential employers. If there is a change, I’ll let you know more about it and how it might impact my responsibilities to the blog.
Apple released the original iPod Nano in September of 2005. That was an eternity ago in technology years. I bought mine in December of that year and still use it today. The battery is a joke, and I would like to buy a new device. However there is a catch: I’m not going to pay for the new Nano by traditional means. The cheapest Nano is $149. I will raise the funds by selling things I own online, taking surveys that pay money, and whatever else I can think of to make the money. Should I reach this goal, I’ll do a post about it. I’m open to other devices like the Microsoft Zune. But I really enjoy iTunes integration and I use the Nike+ technology for my jogging. If the Zune were to get bluetooth (maybe), iTunes integration (never), and a cheap running technology emerges to rival Nike+, the Zune would be worth the switch.
“Project Hedge” is the name of my plan to write a fiction novel. I have enough to do a two page outline at this point, but over the year I’d like to grow the story enough to do ten pages. I have no intention of even trying to get it published in the next couple of years, it’s simply an exercise to challenge my analytical mind to work more creatively.
Sure you know about the College of Weakonomics. As I write many of the posts, I insert random thoughts and comical comments to make the material more entertaining. I plan to make a (free) printable reference guide for you to give to friends that might need something like that. In the guide I’ll try and remove most of the opinions and just give you the facts. Someday I hope to hook-up with a publisher that will give me the resources to create graphs, charts, and pictures to make the guide more appealing.
Everything else is self-explanatory. Let me know in the comments what “goals” you have for the next year. Your money related goals would be best but if you have anything more random please share.
 By The Weakonomist |
The Weakonomist is the founder of Weakonomics. Clicking the picture of the puppy will tell you more about him. If you like what you're reading consider subscribing to the blog, following him on Twitter, and checking out the related posts below. Please consider a donation if you really enjoy Weakonomics. Also keep in mind that nothing I say can be construed as financial advice. |
