I lay in bed last night planning out one of my next big ventures, and this morning decided that I need to write down my New Years Resolutions, as I have quite a few things that I want to achieve. I then stopped for a moment and realized that it wasn’t new years, I thought, is it January still?
When I thought some more I realized it was actually July, so should I wait until December 30th to pen this and start working on those goals? One of the things about living in a whirlwind, and working 7 days a week, is that you lose all concept of time. I did recently get in trouble from a reader who didn’t like that I announced the ticket sales to our next major event on July 3rd, since July 4th was a holiday and he was out of town already. After my initial, child like outburst I realize he has a point, and I am sorry for upsetting him.
I am not one for New Years resolutions for these reasons. I hate to have to contrive things that seem important, however I recently read one of those facebook posts on Ramadan and it’s importance to young Muslims. The month of fasting makes people appreciate things that they were taking for granted, forces a time of reflection, and I see the same for New Years, so maybe it isn’t such a bad thing after all. Being given the opportunity to have the time to reflect is a good thing, especially in a busy world where we may otherwise forget.
Luckily, I reflected last night, so here are my New Year Resolutions:
- Open a Fee Only Financial Planning company – I have some hurdles as the next few months we will be bouncing around from rental to rental as our new home (should it close) won’t be available until October. I’ll need to pass the Series 65 and register with the state, set up compliance, and do all the other standard things, incorporate correctly, market, build etc.
- Finish the CFP- easy enough to do from a workload perspective, but I elected to do the class based course and that means getting into NYC to wrap up these night classes.
- Gut renovate the new home (fingers crossed) We are already planning this loosely, which is dangerous as we are not in contract. We want to raise the roof to add a second level, winterize an outdoor area, install Solar and generally spruce up the place. With winter coming it is important to prioritize what can be done and what should be deferred.
- Get a new hobby, it looks like after 8 years of training martial arts almost every day that I won’t be able to for a while, I need to decide whether to open up a place here, or just take on something else for a while. Despite being quite active from that I feel my cardio is lacking, so perhaps working towards a triathlon would be a good goal (and it would get me in that beautiful lake!)
I have a few others too, but I think that too long a list makes it too wishy-washy, so will start with these ones. What are your New Years Resolutions, and are you going to wait til December to get working on them?
Did u just drop a Game Of Thrones reference ? Winter is coming. Nice !!
I think that I just internalized that reference and I drop it far to often now! But when you look at my new place and think about winter you will realize it’s pretty important! 🙂
Assuming that you will soon be the proud owner of a signed and dated sales contract for your new home, be sure to have a member of Remodelers’ Council of the National Association of Homebuilders go through it with you. You don’t have to hire him/her to do the work. But someone who has taken the time to join the professional organization can save you big time and bucks by letting you know what DOES need doing now, and what can wait.
I say this as the daughter of one of the founding members of that organization–when my dad started his business, “remodeler” was synonymous with swindler, and he, and others, wanted to change that.
I love renovation, myself, but, even though I absorbed a lot just from being my father’s daughter, I know when to call in the pros. Ask me about staining and painting, and replacing sinks and faucets. Even changing out chandeliers. But don’t ask me to do the actual wiring for a new chandelier.
Former triathlete now trail runner here. Tris are all about the gear, man, while soul runners are all about the love and being out in nature. I’m considering trying to qualify for Boston in fall 2015 if certain plans fall properly into order in 2014-15.
That’s interesting- I’d not heard much of that side, but will certainly look into it- frankly not sure about the biking part!
It might be worth exploring a Unincorporated Business Trust model for the fee only financial planning company rather than incorporating… then again maybe not… just putting the idea out there.
Sounds a fancy, do you mean splitting revenue?
Where do I start with this post? New Year’s resolutions are useless in my dictionary unless you are following up on those resolutions. Why bother with a resolution when deep down we know we are not going to keep up with it after a few days/weeks/months? And why should all resolutions be treated the same way? What is a resolution anyway?
I think I’ll post on this subject in the forum. It’d be an entertaining topic on ….(hint: habit formation).
Incorporating your operation might be absolutely the best bet. I am no expert in this area!
I simply mentioned an unincorporated business trust because it may, or may not, be useful depending on the kinds of activities you’ll eventually undertake. Essentially it’s the same as a Massachusetts Business Trust (which belies its name and can be operated in other states). It’s a form of organization that has some popularity amongst mutual funds because it can be drawn up more specifically and flexibly to reflect operating requirements unlike corporation rules and requirements.
I’ll certainly look at it, but was thinking about LLC and using the operating agreement to structure requirements. Certainly something to ponder – thanks!