Goals & Outcomes, MY FIRE JOURNEY

2020 Was A Dumpster Fire, 2021 Will Be…

Last year I had so so so much hope. I set out to accomplish “20 goals for 2020” and I was just sure I would crush them all.

Spoiler alert: I did not crush them all.

This year for 2021, I am doing things differently. First of all, I am shortening my goal list to 10 goals for the year.

Secondly, I now have the hindsight of what is really important to my life i.e. will be cutting out distractions.

I made a video version of this post as well for my channel – Black Millennial Finance.

Financial Goals:

This after all, is primarily a finance blog so let’s dive in with the finance goals.

1. Max Out My 401K

My main goal for 2021 is to max out my 401K – for the first time ever!

I feel like I am finally being paid at the rate that is more competitive with the market. This means that I will be able to put more money aside for retirement. I have calculated how much money it would take per paycheck to max out my 401K and the magic number is $812.50.

2. Pay Off My Car Loan

Okay so I bought a brand new car in 2018 for $21,123.23. Chances are that I will most likely never forget this number because I spent so many days regretting the purchase of this car.

I had just discovered the FIRE movement and I was not sure how getting a new car would fit in with my financial goals.

I hope to finish paying off this loan by the end of 2021, because there is about $10,085 left on the loan.

3. Continue Donating

So, there are a few organizations that I support on a monthly basis. My goal for 2021 is to continue doing so. Primarily, I need to find ways to increase my income so I can increase my contributions.

For 2020, my donation rate was 5%. So that means I donated 5% of my take home pay.

Here are the primary orgs I support.

I use Givewell to donate to the following:

Educational Goals

4. SQL Certification

While I am in Corporate America, I would like to get paid. Getting this certification would mean an increase in my income and make me a more competitive candidate.

My company provides some money for educational endeavors (classes, courses, certifications, etc.) . I am going to utilize the money to pay for both my training as well as the certification test. #HollaForSomeDolla

5. Complete My Duolingo Course

I have been “learning Spanish” for an incredibly embarrassing length of time. My goal for 2021 is to finish my Duolingo course and to give myself freedom to practice more.

My accent sounds horrible so I shy away from speaking Spanish to others. However, I know practice makes perfect. Thus, my goal for 2021 is to immerse myself fully into the language.

Physical Goals

6. Get My 5K Time Down Under 25 Minutes

Pretty straight forward here. I need to find a new running location and commit to training for this goal.

Hopefully races will become a thing again. If not, I can also just run and record my time using the various apps available.

7. Complete Bright Angel Trail

Last year I did 55 hikes in total. I also hiked the Grand Canyon South Kaibab Trail (8ish miles).

I fully think Bright Angel Trail (12 miles round trip) is doable and I hope to explore new trails in 2021.

Other Goals

8. Be Consistent With YouTube

I really want to give YouTube an honest try. My goal for 2021 is to do 2 videos a month. I have loads of ideas, I just need time to record the videos.

9. Create 250 Items Across My Shops

I have several e-commerce stores.

Etsy 1: Bachelorette Games, Etsy 2: “Funny” Shirts and Mugs, Amazon Merch and Zazzle.

Right now I am averaging about $300-400 a month across all the platforms. My goal is to make and market 250 items across all of these outlets.

10. Be Consistent With My Blog

Not much to say here. In short, this means two or three blog posts a month!

What Are Your Goals?

What 2021 goals do you have for the upcoming year? Share them down below.

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