Perhaps I’d already be an FI blogger if I took the time to solve problems rather than write for myself.
On the other hand, success comes naturally if you can attract enough eyeballs to your product or service.
In the case of RTC, I write for the purpose of documenting.
I frequently publish blog posts about goal-setting, dividend income, and blogging. And I occasionally scatter in creative blog posts when I find the time.
But even the creative posts are written out of personal interest. In fact, most of them are just over-edited, therapeutic venting.
Albeit, blogging has a very specific purpose for me – personal fulfilment.
Blogging has become a creative outlet to document the power of consistency.
I get to write articles on subjects I’m enthusiastic about. And I have the chance to be creative through style and presentation.
It’s also an opportunity to motivate by sharing how small steps lead to success through goal-setting.
And documenting progress happens to be the reason why I publish my goals each month.
Here are the FI goals I’m working on in November:
[bctt tweet=”Week-off Recap and FI Goals for November ” username=”reversethecrush”]FI Goal-setting for November
- Publish 7 Blog posts. Including this post, there are 4 blog posts already published in November. The reason I’m aiming for 7 is based on the remaining recurring blog posts. The plan is to publish the blogger analytics for October, the Clever Articles of the month, and the dividend income update for November. I do have a few more creative posts planned, but I’m not sure when I’ll get the chance to schedule those in.
- Save 12% of my net income. I understand that 12% is not a number that jumps off the page. Nor is it a number that will help me achieve FI. However, you’ll have to bear with me this month. The holiday season is upon us and I have some catching up to do. Furthermore, December is planned to be big month for savings. Stay tuned.
- Increase dividend income by $15.00. Once the new year roles in, I plan to readjust and take more control over my savings strategy. My goal is improve my habits so that I can get the minimum monthly dividend increase back up to $25. For now, I’ll have to keep it at $15 per month, which is about what I’ve been averaging.
Accountability for October
Begin a new stock position – Fail. I only added to existing positions during the month.
Save at least 15% of my net income – Fail. I only managed to save 12.3% of my net income in October.
Increase dividend income by $15 annually – Fail. But I was really close. I added $14.26 in annual dividend income in October.
Update 5 Images and Create a Resource Page -Fail. I updated 2 or 3 images on older posts. However, I failed to complete a Resource page.
Publish 6 blog posts -Fail. I ultimately ended up publishing only 4 blog posts in October. Admittedly, the anticipation of the vacation caused me to slow down. The 4 blog posts published in October are included below:
- Clever Articles on Blogging, Investing, and Financial Freedom #11
- A Blog Post about Sponsored Content that’s not full of S–T
- Annual Dividend Income Projections – Q3 Update
- Increase Income, Save Money, and Blog Better
Recap of my week-off
I chose the photo above as a reflection of where my mind was at prior to these last 9 days.
I needed to get away from everything and completely unplug for a week. Otherwise, I was probably headed for a breakdown.
As the last few hours of my staycation are coming to a close, I find myself wishing for another week.
It honestly feels like I’m just getting started. I just love this blogger lifestyle, and it’s easy to visulize spending my time managing investments and publishing 3 blog posts per week.
With that said, I’ll sadly take one last late night shower to remember what it feels like to shower after working on the blog all day.
I’ll stumble over to the local grocery store in shabby AF clothes one last time to reminisce.
It never hit me until this past week, but mini-retirement has completely shifted how I view vacations and time off.
Although I’m beginning to crave a warm, tropical vacation again badly, I find myself longing to emulate the lifestyle I had during my year off.
This past week has felt like a time capsule. Even though the days cruised by, they passed by as if they were in slow motion.
In fact, the writer behind this blog was off work for long enough to begin to see signs of life.
Though I won’t get the chance to experience an FI lifestyle again in the near future, I think that I got enough juice to keep me going for a while.
I was able to see the full vision of what day to day life looks like as a dividend investor and blogger. And it has reinvigorated me until further notice.
Concluding Thoughts
Another positive note about my week-off was that I earned Google Adsense income every single day.
Though it was only a small amount of income, it’s never been consistent this many days in a row before.
Hopefully that’s a sign of things to come if I keep putting in the work.
In regards to my failed performance with last months goals, I wasn’t too far off with 3 of the goals, and at least page views increased over September.
But the failed performance is also why the goals are being kept simple and precise for November.
The 3 goals are achievable and are targeted towards the fight that matters – reaching FI through blogging and dividend investing.
Questions for the readers: What goals are you working on in November? Have you taken any staycations recently?
Here’s the 5th Dividend Income Update, Old Sport!
