We’ve officially hit the halfway point of 2010 and although I’ve been doing income reports every month I thought it would be worthwhile to do an update on my goals for 2010 and how close I’m tracking to them ($150k goal being one of them).

My Professional Goals for 2010:

1. Earn over $150,000 across my network of websites

This is a goal I’m currently not on target to hit if I replicate the same numbers from the first half of 2010. After the first six months of 2010 I’ve earned $34,361.11 based on my monthly income reports. So if I replicated the first half of the year I’d end at $68,722.22. Fortunately, I know that the second half of the year will be better than the first because of the power of the holiday shopping season and several other things I’ve been working on with my business that should at least put me into the six figure range if not help me hit my goal.

The other thing to consider is that I’m not earning a paycheck here. Yes I’m paying myself for living expenses etc. but the $34k I’ve earned in 2010 so far has been from creating income generating assets. So if I ever decided to sell my entire network of websites yes I’d be technically “out of a job” but unlike the last time I got fired and received a measly 3 weeks of severance in this case I’d probably get about $200k+ for selling everything.

This is the difference between working for someone else and working for yourself. You’re either building a business for yourself or building a business for someone else.

Note: When it comes to the accounting practices for my business I actually don’t count the money I’ve made until it deposits into my bank account so I have actually earned more like $50k in 2010 (based on deposits from November / December earnings). For the income reports it’s easier to display information based on what the last month has done though.

2. Spend at least $50,000 on quality domain names to be developed

I’ve spent about $8k on domain names so far this year with the bulk of that amount being in after market high quality domain names. I believe the right domain name can be the difference between moderate success and big success. I still need to earn significantly more this year to spend more on domain names but I am currently looking at buying several names right now in the five figure range for a new niche I’m working on.

3. Work at least 5 hours a day for a minimum of 25 hours per week

I shared this goal because at the time I wrote it I had struggled with playing way too much Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. I love FPS shooters (if you’ve read my full story than you’ll know about how I was a professional Halo player for a while), but for some reason Call of Duty was unusually addicting for me. I have since stopped playing the game but not before racking up close to 10 days worth of playtime. To help solve the issue now I don’t play any video game unless it’s after 5:00 PM and I have been doing a much better job of avoiding addicting games as well. Every now and then I read this article which quite literally changed my life and outlook on whether I had a hobby or was building a business. If you’re addicted to anything that sucks up your time (i.e. TV, video games, etc.) I highly suggest you read it – Do you really want to make money online?

On average I’ve been working well over 25 hours per week and will continue to do so for the remainder of the year.

4. Hire at least one full time writer

This is the first professional goal I can already call a success. I hired my first full time writer / assistant in mid June and she has worked for about 3 weeks for far. She’s doing excellent work and the only regret I have is that I didn’t hire someone sooner. It’s difficult to build a six figure business without any help and in fact I will probably shoot for having 3 – 4 full time employees by the end of the year.

My Personal Goals for 2010:

1. Buy a house (No longer pursuing)

My wife and I haven’t purchased a house yet and this is primarily due to several reasons:

a. I’m the only one working right now
b. I don’t think the housing crash is over (see this)
c. There isn’t enough history with my business to get a loan

We may buy next year but probably will wait until the Summer. I don’t want to buy something just so that I can say I’m a home owner. I think that’s stupid. Instead, I’d prefer to wait and buy a house I’d truly love to stay at for 10+ years. The ideal house for me is sized around 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and a big basement so I can build out a private movie theater i.e. this guy and I know this ideal house would be a big first time home purchase so I want to make sure I buy when prices hit the bottom.

2. Donate at least $10,000 to charity

Sadly this goal is sort of tied to my goal for $150k this year. It will be difficult for me to pull off donating $10k unless I have $10k to give. (More on this later though)

3. Cook an entirely brand new healthy meal once per month

I’ve done this once so far; however, I made it 3 times (lol). I need to make some more meals to meet this goal so we’ll see if I can still make it happen.

4. Work out at least 2 times per week

Haven’t done this, but as all lazy people say – “I really should.” I was actually thinking of trying out P90x. I know it sounds ridiculous but I’ve heard some good things from a couple friends. Anyone try P90x out? Share below.

5. Re-Learn Spanish well enough to carry on a conversation with a native speaker

Haven’t started this. I need to set aside time to do this because so far I haven’t made any progress at all.

6. Go to Disneyworld with my wife

We ended up going to Hawaii instead and it was awesome! Turns out surfing is pretty easy if you’ve been snowboarding for over 15 years.

7. Read the Bible at least 30 minutes a day (I love me some Jesus)

This is the most disappointing goal update of the list for me. I haven’t been reading my bible as much as I’d like to, but my wife and I did finally find a church we like attending (Mars Hill Church in Ballard). I need to come up with a schedule to fit things into the day that I sometimes forget. So I have a feeling that this (along with working out) is something I should do in the morning before I start the day, so I’m going to try that this week.

Overall Summary

I still believe it is possible for me to meet all of my goals for 2010. I know that I should at least hit 100k for the year and I still can meet my goal of $150k (especially if I end up selling some of my websites as well). I believe it’s very important to set specific and measurable goals and to keep track of them regularly so that you can ensure you meet them. If you haven’t set any goals for the year I suggest you do so now and take steps towards achieving them.

Upcoming – As I say almost every month I have more exciting stories to share so be sure to stick around, but every time I really do mean it! I’ll be releasing my free Amazon eBook later this month based on your feedback and it will only be available to newsletter subscribers and Facebook Fans. You should also follow me on Twitter though.