One of the best pieces of advice my father passed down to me when I was a child was to always set realistic, yet challenging goals. The goals I have set for myself over the years have helped shape me into the person I am today.
A few years ago, I made the decision to jump back into my childhood hobby of collecting sports cards. At first, I was casually buying a couple of packs here or there. Nowadays... I'm trading on at least three forums, spending way too much money on cards, and dedicate at lease a few hours each week to writing articles for this blog. This hobby has become a huge part of my life and that's been both a blessing and a curse.
Simply put, when I break it down... I realize that these tiny pieces of cardboard with pictures on them have:
a. entertained me
b. helped me stay young at heart
c. built new friendships
d. kept me busy
However... it's also:
a. taken a huge chunk of change out of my pocketbook
b. cluttered my office (along with my parent's house & my buddy's garage)
c. kept me busy
Hopefully... the following ten goals will help bring balance to the Force... or at least my life.
Goal #1: I absolutely need to maintain and stick to my spending budget in 2011, which is $150 for cards & supplies. I've decided to document my spending on an Excel spreadsheet to keep me honest.
Goal #2: I will not add any additional PC's to my collection in 2011. Unfortunately... I cannot afford the space, time, or money to focus on anything else. I'm sure that ten sports team PC's, five player PC's, and six additional random PC's will entertain me plenty this year.
Goal #3: I want to complete at least 60 more trades on Sports Card Forum in 2011 and raise my trader rating of 195 to at least 250.
Goal #4: I also want to complete at least 15 more blog trades.
Goal #5: I would like to complete at least one of the nine sets that I'm currently building.
Goal #6: I will donate more cards to Goodwill this year.
Goal #7: I want to build at least 15 more Sports Card Trifectas in 2011.
Goal #8: In March of 2010, I created this blog. Since then, I've authored 158 posts (this is my 159th) and have been fortunate to have 56 followers on my blog. My goal is to continue posting two to four posts a week and bring that total to over 300 total articles by the end of 2011. The overall quantity may drop a little, but I assure you I'll do my best to deliver quality posts.
Goal #9: I'm want to hold at least three contests this year on my blog to thank all of you who support my blog. One of them will be a multiple prize contest, similar to the one I held last summer.
Goal #10: I want to continue building friendships and maintain a positive attitude towards this amazing hobby.
So... there you have it. My hobby goals for the upcoming year. Thank you to all of you who helped to make 2010 a year to remember in the hobby. Let's keep this ball rolling into 2011 and I'll do my best to document it in The Chronicles of Fuji.
The first "question of the day" in 2011 is...
What are some of your hobby goals for this year?
Happy New Year!
5 comments:
My goals are here: http://greatsportsnamehalloffame.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-years-resolutions-last-years.html
I should have made a budget one too - those are hard. Do you count shipping in your budget limit? I usually do but it's still hard to stick to my limites. I try to go $20 a month, which would be $240 over a whole year. But last year it stretched far beyond that thanks to a few very expensive months. I hope to corral back down to $240 or lower this year, which should be easier since trading is going so well lately and my stuff is more focused than it used to be.
Your blog is less than a year old?
Wow...I did not know that. I'm surprised. You're doing a great job for a blogger that's been at it less than a year.
Though I don't read your blog every day, I think your writing is good, and you add a lot of pictures which helps much more than people realize.
I know this does not answer your question, but just wanted to drop a compliment.
So, if you are putting the kibosh on adding new player collections, you no longer are looking for Chris Chelios cards, correct? I've accumulated a stack I was gonna send your way eventually.
SpastikMooss - best of luck with your resolutions.. the budget resolution is hard to keep... but I need to this year. I am installing a little rollover plan where if I don't use my budget for one month, it carries over. We'll see how that goes.
Sal - I picked up a Chelios autograph.. but I don't think I'll do a PC for him. One of these days, I'll pick up a memorabilia card and a rookie to form a trifecta.
It's just too difficult to keep up with so many teams and players. Thanks for keeping me in mind though.
You've got a great list of goals! Good luck in 2011!
Great goals Fuji. I hope you reach them...I'm going to rein in the budget and spend less on new stuff this year. Happy New Year!
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