Well the end of the year is very fast approaching. I've been doing a lot to prepare for next year like getting my business bookkeeping complete and ready so that Jan 1 I can print off my Schedule C information and send it over to my tax man. I've also been doing a lot of thinking about what I'd like to change for next year both in the business and my personal life. It's kept me pretty occupied trying to prioritize everything and at some point I need to sit down and write it all out.
I picked up a free copy of an audio book called "People Are Idiots and I Can Prove It" by Larry Winget. He does a lot of "self-improvement" books and his titles are pretty catchy. Some of his other titles include; "You're Broke Because You Wanna Be", "It's Called Work for a Reason!: Your Success is Your Own Damn Fault", "Shut Up, Stop Whining, and Get a Life: A Kick-Butt Approach to a Better Life" and "Your Kids Are Your Own Fault: A Guide For Raising Responsible, Productive Adults." As the title's may suggest, he's got a rather "tough-love" approach to self-help. I like the style, because it fits my personality and I've found myself laughing at several of his comments in the current book I'm reading.
So far, the book is great. It has maybe a chapter about why people are idiots, but it's very concise. The rest of the book is some discussion on why or how you should improve things you feel you need to improve and lists that you should make to help you figure them out and or actions you need to take to do so. The areas of life that he covers encompasses all aspects; relationships, work, money, happiness, health, etc. It's definitely got me thinking about a lot of things but I've not gotten around to writing down my lists. Mainly because I listen to the book while I'm driving and that's not a very safe time to be lost in thought nor writing down lists. So, my plan is to listen through the entire book, think about it as I can while I'm driving and then when I'm sitting still go back through and complete the exercises he gives you. While I know that's procrastinating, which I've identified as one of my problems I'd like to fix to become more successful, I think it's a fair compromise considering my profession. I could dedicate some time each night to doing it, however I spend a good portion of my time before bed either talking to Paula about the day and checking on the kids, planning my next few loads or doing something with the business. I'm sure I could find a time while I'm stopped each night to do the lists but that time is reserved for my relaxation, not detailed self-analysis.
One of the things I have identified I need to start doing and I've told myself a hundred times I need to do, is start writing my goals down. I listen to a radio program on SiriusXM's trucking channel that covers how to become a better owner-operator and whatever other topics the callers decide to talk about (the host takes questions from callers on any topic and he gives them his advice. Mostly on trucking but politics and money come up from time to time.) That's actually where I heard about Larry and the audiobook via cellphone app concept (I'll explain that at the end). One of the things Kevin Rutherford, the host of the show, always talks about is setting goals and how to accomplish them. The number one thing he says on the topic is to write them down, keep them where you can see them on a daily basis and to write them down every day. The later of the two seems a bit extreme to me but I do have a very big windshield and once I get off my arse I'm going to write down my goals, prioritize them and put the top three goals on my windshield off to the side so I see them 10 hours a day. I'll put one short-term, one long-term and one never-ending or daily goal on there.
If I was to write a few of them down right now they'd probably include the following (not prioritized);
- Become debt-free
- Be able to spend more time at home with my kids (requires Goal 1 to be complete)
- Expand my business to a small fleet of 3-5 trucks (5 year goal, requires Goal 1 to be complete and will help with Goal 2)
- Improve some of my relationships in my life
- Find time for a hobby
- Learn more about the mechanics of my truck and how to fix them
- Read/Listen to at least 5 non-fiction books next year. One on each area of my life each goal would fit into
- Increase next years revenue for the business (which this year I've surpassed last years)
- Increase profits for next year (I've also done that this year)
- Take a trip to FL with the kids, most likely around Christmas, so my family and friends can meet my kids.
I'm going to stop at those ten for now, but I'm sure I could go on and on if I wanted to dedicate some time to it, which I need to be getting to bed soon. Kevin talks about S.M.A.R.T. goals. S.M.A.R.T. is an acronym for Smart, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. A few of the ten goals are specific and I'm sure I could complete the rest of the acronym for them now if I wanted but like I said, it's getting close to bedtime. I could definitely make a few of those much more specific which I plan on sitting down to do soon.
My dad, a long time ago, decided he wasn't going to create "New Year's Resolutions" and I adopted that idea in high school. Part of his reasoning, as he explained it to me, was that almost all resolutions are never kept. Technically, a resolution is a goal that people would like to complete during new year. The top reason people do not accomplish their goals, as Kevin has said, is because they do not write them down nor are they S.M.A.R.T. After about three months of Kevin talking about goals off and on and now listening to Larry's book (he mentions writing the goals down in his book, which includes exercises doing exactly that) I think I'm going to do this for the new year. I'd like to have this goal of setting S.M.A.R.T. goals completed by the end of Jan. This will allow me to get through the holidays and get most of my tax stuff completed to tie up this year before taking on the gigantic task of improving myself next year.
I know some of my changes for next year that I've thought about are going to be extremely difficult to make or adjust to. A few depend on reactions from other people as to what I ultimately decide. All I know, is I'm not where I'd like to be in my life and the current system of just "winging it" is not working for me. Like Kevin says often, "If you want different results you need to do things differently." I'm too often stressed out because of my finances, running into situations where I wish I knew more about a certain topic and generally just not happy with the state of my life. When I think back on what I've accomplished and where I'm at in life it always ends with disappointment in myself. There are a few things I wouldn't change at all that I feel I've done right. My kids being the most important of those and the fact that I've been in business for myself for two years come mid-Jan. However, I've lost and or sacrificed a lot to accomplish those two things. They're sacrifices and losses that I don't necessarily feel should have happened to get where I am and are part of the reason I'm not completely satisfied with where my life is.
I'd hoped six years ago when I first started trucking that by now I'd have had my own small fleet, living in my own house with no debt and being able to enjoy my life more so than I do now and that is definitely not where I'm at.
One of my steps to help keep me on track is to blog my progress and or failures. I'm going to start with the next few blogs being my S.M.A.R.T. goals and the exercises from Larry's book. My hope is, that the few friends and family that read this blog will help keep me accountable for them. Yes I know, I need to be have personal accountability but to be successful in any aspect of life you need support. Kevin said today on his show that a true friend is hard on you. They tell you when you're screwing up because they know you're potential and can see when you're not living up to it. I'm trusting that I have a few of those that read my blog.
Well, it's probably past my bedtime so I need to get off here but before I do, I said I'd tell you about the audiobook and cell phone app deal. Audible.com is Amazon.com's audio book site. They have an app for mobile devices and I believe for the computer, just like the Kindle apps. It's conveniently called Audible. What's great about this app is you can listen to the book on the computer, your phone or your tablet devices. It syncs your progress in the book and they've got a technology called Whisper Sync. Whisper Sync allows you to purchase the book for your Kindle (or Kindle Apps) and for an extra fee (not sure exactly how much) it syncs both the book and the audio book to the same page. So, if you're relaxing on the couch reading your Kindle and you need to get some housework done or go somewhere like the grocery store or work or wherever, you can fire up Audible and it will start reading the book too you. This technology pretty much eliminates anyone's reason for not reading books and growing. Another great thing about Audible is they're running a deal, not sure for how long though, that if you sign up for their 30-day trial of their Gold membership, you get one free credit and you don't pay the monthly fee until after the 30-day trial is complete. Just about every book on Audible's site is 1 credit. That's how I managed to get Larry's book for free. If you want you can cancel the trial before the 30 days is up and you pay nothing. I'm going to try to keep the membership active because it's only $14.95 and most of the books I've looked up that I'd like to get are anywhere from $18-$25 or 1 credit. So I'll be getting the books for $14.95. I can probably also claim this on my taxes as most, if not all, of my books will be on improving my business. If you're really into books or can't wait till you get a new credit for your next book, the gold membership gives you a 30% discount on the books. They have a few other levels of membership, including one that gives you 12 credits a year (which you pay the membership fee yearly.) Depending on how my taxes turn out, I plan on switching to this plan. That'll ensure that I can at least read my 5 books plus give me a few extra for some fictional reading. I think this is a great gift idea for people who are busy all the time like myself that would like to read more.
I hope everyone enjoys their holiday season. I'll be home for Christmas and I'm hoping I'll be able to stay home until after New Year's but I'm not sure that's going to be possible.
