Post: #1

I just chuckle to myself when I realise that I once subscribed to Celes's blog a year ago and never bothered to read her work closely. A year later I am back here and I cannot believe how inspiring she is. I am going to stick around with her as she is everything I aspire to be.

My Goals for 2012 (3 months left)

1. Quit my job and work for myself - I have already achieved this one. I walked away from a well paying corporate job with the biggest company in South Africa. Things were so bad I could no longer live a life that was contrary to the vision I have for myself. My family and my husband were very supportive. I lost a close cousin of mine due to severe stress (work related). I now see the importance of living your truth all the time.

2. Make at least 5 sales a week from my niche marketing efforts - I bought a guide to help me achieve this 2 years ago. I never really implemented what I learned and I even lost both soft and hard copies. My wake up call was to find posts in a forum, written by a woman who started a similar journey at around the same time as me. Her success became a wake up call for me as i realised that she never procrastinated, but gave it her all.

3. Create at least 50 Squidoo Lenses - this is the method I use to drive traffic to the products I am affiliated with. I am niche focused as i am passionate about the particular niche that I write about.

4. Strive to be healthier - I am struggling with my weight. I actually lost two cousins within this month, although it is not clear how the first one died (suspect heart related). This has become a wake up call for me to lose the weight and adopt a healthy lifestyle. I've been at the gym at least 5 days a week since I quit my job in April - but the battle with food is difficult for me. I have at least taken a standpoint to cut our red meat from my diet, eat lean chicken sparingly and introduce more plant based protein as well as seafood into my diet. So far so good.

5. Daily prayer - my family and I are Anglicans and prayer has always been an important part of our upbringing. I'm really lacking in this area as sometimes I forget to pray for like weeks in a row. I am a firm believer in taking care of my spiritual health so it is important for me to establish discipline in this area.

Goals for 2013

1. Cut my debt by at least 70% - This goal is linked to my income aspirations. I have already stopped using my credit cards. My husband offered to assist with paying them, but in the meantime I would rather pay for the minimum required monthly instalment. I would rather he focuses on making sure that I was basic needs are met first - seeing that I do not have a stable income.

2. Own an income generating website - Celes wrote a post about leveraging on a previous success. This goal is linked to my writing and income goals for 2012. Once those free lenses generate me enough traffic, I will have enough audience for a new website and may not have to work as hard to promote it.

3. Take the family for a cruise - this one is more of a family goal.. My husband and I have decided to take the kids for a cruise holiday. My son is already day dreaming about this one.

I have too many ideas in my head but so far these are the ones that I close to my heart.[/b][/u]