2016, oh how I look forward to you. For my entire life, each year truly gets better than the last. Cliche, maybe. But truly I am amazed by how much more incredible each year gets! So hey 2016, you are my new favorite year (until next year).

My goals last year were pretty weak, although I did accomplish far beyond what I set out to do. Just to give you a glimpse of how lame my goals were, the ones I completed were:

• Go to 10 new cities (I think I went to exactly 10 new cities!)
• Get approved for TSA Pre-Check (which I ended up getting Global Entry too)
• Try 10 new restaurants on my Austin to-do list (far exceeded this)

The ones I did not complete were (1) Finish first 3 levels of Rosetta Stone, & (2) Open an IRA Roth account. You see both of these repeat themselves on my 2016 goals because they actually are very important to me. The only two other goals I had were personal ones, one of them I met and one of them I did not (but realized halfway through the year that it was not important to me).

I’m really excited about my goals this year because they all serve immense purpose in all areas of my life. And my reasoning for this blog post is to put it all out there so that I HAVE to accomplish all of these. So you better hold me accountable!

I am a firm believer however about continuously setting goals for yourself throughout the year and not using the start of a new year as the sole excuse for setting these goals, but instead finding ways to improve upon these constantly. In a few months I could have met all of these, and I am not going to settle for that to be enough for the year. Always strive for better, but also always celebrate your accomplishments.

Well, here goes nothing! My goals for 2016 are…

Go to a new continent.

So as much as I travel, there are still 5 continents I haven’t been to: Africa, Antartica, Asia, Australia, and South America. Crazy, huh? In 2015 I visited Central America for the first time, 4 new states, and over 10 new cities. This year I would love to cross off 1 (or more!) of those 5 continents. I also would love to go to new countries even in continents I have already been to. One place I know I am definitely going to is the Dominican Republic!

Earn 20% more income than in 2015.

Without disclosing how much money I made last year, I definitely think this goal is very attainable especially given the recent advancements in my business. Last year I contracted for 7 different companies and this year in the first 2 months alone I am contracted with 3 new companies. I hope this growth continues and as it does, typically my income does as well.

Invest more in myself & my quality of life.

That brings me to my next goal: investing more in myself. I am a HUGE saver. While I still think I let myself experience a lot of amazing things in life and spend money on trips, I want to improve the quality of my day-to-day life. Allowing myself to spend more money on going out to eat with my friends and attending more concerts or events locally that I want to attend are high on my list. Also, I want to invest more in my physical self. I’m your typical Target beauty section gal, but I want to start buying more quality products, getting my nails done, etc. To accomplish all of the above, I’ve added a beauty budget line item to my budget (yes, I keep a very detailed budget each month and you should too!) and also up the budget amount for other line items. Weird that my goal is to spend more money when most people’s is to save more, but hey we’re all different.

Open an IRA Roth Account.

What’s sad is that this has been on my goals list for the past year and a half. Why have I not actually done it? Who knows. I sure save enough for it! I think it is so important to start saving for your future early on in life, so I gotta start following my own advice.

Attend classes at 50 different ClassPass studios.

Last year I took 156 ClassPass classes at 36 different studios. Although I still find that pretty impressive considering I traveled 253 days, I would love to increase the number of studios I go to but not necessarily the number of classes. The thing I love about ClassPass is the variety, so I want to embrace that more. It is hard sometimes because when I am home in Austin I just want to go to my favorite studios, but every time I try a new studio I gain another new favorite and am so happy I tried it.

Finish the next 2 levels of Rosetta Stone (Spanish version).

One gift I asked for on my college graduation was Rosetta Stone Spanish. I took 3 years of Spanish in high school, but definitely lost a lot of it along the way. Especially with how often I go to Mexico with my job, this is an extremely useful skill. In 2015 I finished the first level (out of 5), but in 2016 I want to finish the next two levels. This has been tough for me because I thought I could do Rosetta Stone on the plane but quickly learned (the hard way) that I look interesting and am an annoyance when I’m talking to my computer the whole flight. Also since I work out of coffee shops, I can’t do the program there either. I have been trying to do about 15-30 minutes of it before bed each night, so let’s hope I can finish out the next two levels!

Start the Certified Meeting Planner application process.

In the meetings & events industry, obtaining your CMP certification is very valuable and greatly respected. Not only do I think this CMP designation will help advance my business and establish validity even further, but I also think it will be great education. There is a lot of information to study and luckily I am immersed in it every day at my job. While I have done well on the practice tests I have taken, I have also learned so much from them and realized I don’t know it all. It is a fairly expensive cost however, so I want to make sure I am fully prepared before I actually take the plunge and apply to take the test!

Finish Atlas Shrugged.

This book is so good, but it is over 1000 pages. I am not sure why this is so daunting to me, but for some reason it is so I haven’t been able to fully commit to finishing it. Well this year I am!

Monetize Passport To Friday.

Full disclosure, I have in fact made $1.94 through affiliates on this blog. BALLIN’. But in all seriousness, I would love to explore the monetization side of blogging and see what opportunities may be there. I started this blog as a creative outlet and to share my experiences and travel hacks I have learned along the way. Little did I know, people truly build businesses out of blogs. While I don’t have any desire to quit my job, it would be fun to take this blog to the next step alongside my current business.

 

Well now that I’ve put it all out there, I guess I gotta accomplish it! What are your goals for 2016?

Safe travels y’all!

Best,

Chelsea Rose Martin