zahnster

With my recent announcement that I’ll soon be leaving Zenbe and the comforts of New York City for a dream job with Apple (and warmer climates), I kick off what I know will be a truly exciting year.

In celebration of this, and in light of many others’ posts about their new year’s goals, I present my own list of goals that I will be striving for in 2009.

1. Become financially prosperous
Raised by a single mother, I come from a very working class background. As a child, I watched my mom fight to stay afloat in the financial waters, running into things like unemployment, gender equality, and the general obstacles of life. When I grew up, I knew that I’d have to work my ass off to make it in this world, and my hard work and perseverance are starting to pay off. This year, my primary focus will be on saving money and making investments which will help ensure a financially prosperous future.

2. Have more adventures
This is actually going to be a pretty attainable goal for this year. As I am going to be working remote for a while, part of my money-saving strategy includes moving back home – and home for me just happens to be Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. My dad and stepmom have a well-established life there, having been there since 1999 selling real estate, and by going back, not only will I gain massive benefits from Mexico’s low cost of living, but I will be able to go on tons of adventures and weekend road trips. Mexico is a seriously beautiful country, filled with jungles, mountains, rivers, and valleys, and exploring them has been something I’ve dreamed about for a long time.

3. Keep building my online persona
Someone once told me that my online persona was, “a bit much,” well I’d argue that it’s not enough. This is the web generation, and for anyone who makes their career out of Internet-based means needs to have an online persona – the bigger the better. That’s how people like Chris Prillo and Ted Murphy thrive in this market. I know that I’ve gained much benefit from my online persona – it’s how I get people interested in my work, and it’s how I find out about interesting, life-changing things (I found my gig with Apple through Twitter). I just passed 200 followers on Twitter – and by the end of the year I better have at least doubled that count, if not tripled.

4. Expand my writing beyond this blog
When I first went to college, I was an English major. I’ve always been fond of the written word, thanks to an enormous amount of reading I did as a kid, and people like my Aunt Sandra, who have written and published books professionally. This year, I need to change that in some shape or form, whether it’s by co-writing a book or even publishing an article in a magazine (online or offline).

5. Build something new
This is the most interesting goal, as it’s success depends heavily on having the 4 other goals in place. When I was a teen, I made sites like Operation Blackout, and Dark Angel Online, which gained serious, international attention and were pretty innovative for their day (I was blogging back in 1999). However, since turning professional, I haven’t made anything significant on my own. Not to say I haven’t had ideas, because I have, but I’ve been lacking the time and drive to keep building after a long day of work. This must change this year, as I’ve had an idea floating around for a while, and will not rest until it’s a reality.

2009 is going to be huge – possibly the most important year of my life. I feel like I just won an Emmy, but I also know that this year will be a lot of hard work, and will require new levels of discipline and responsibility.

Good news is, I feel ready, I feel empowered, and I can’t wait.