So 2012 draws to a close and many people, including myself, have been reflecting on both personal and professional achievements over the past 12 months.

At the end of 2011 I’d set myself a few personal goals which were 1) read a book a month 2) do a some sort of sport 3) learn about 2 non-marketing related things. The first two goals were things I did a lot of a while back but then somehow kind of stopped.

To be honest, I think I achieved all three goals to a certain level which I am proud of. It’s the first time I’d really set myself some realistic goals which would try and take me out of may normal routines and comfort zones and expand my knowledge into other areas.

It was a start. I prefer goals rather than resolutions.

A book a month

I used to read quite a bit a few years back, but then for some reason I stopped (since I got married I think). I wanted to make some time to get back into reading and 2012 was the year to do it.

I read a few biographies of political and business leaders (Gandhi, Steve Jobs and Richard Branson).

I read quite a few marketing/business related books (Starting with Why, Rework, Good Strategy, Bad Strategy, The Long Tail and The Marketing Agency Blueprint).

I also tied goal number 3 with goal number 2. I learnt about the financial crisis, money management and (some) economics by reading 3 or 4 books around the subject (Boomerang, The Naked Trader, Reading Company Reports and Rich Dad, Poor Dad). This subject was all new to me but I wanted to learn something completely new. It was all fascinating stuff.

Take a swim

I used to love swimming. So I started swimming. Everyday for 6 months. It was a great way of getting some “me time”.

Then, all of a sudden, somehow, I grew fondly of gardening and this new pass time ate into my swim time. I couldn’t do both from a time and money point of view.

This then fulfilled the second part of my “learn something new” goal. Learn about gardening and growing your own veg. I didn’t intend to learn about this, I just fell into it.

My wife and parents were shocked to hear that I’d taken up gardening as I’ve always hated it but the one thing gardening taught me was patience.

Laying grass seeds in April, nurturing the lawn, failing a few times, replanting and then finally seeing a perfect lawn grow in the summer to growing veg ready to harvest in September – its all about having patience and keep trying even if you fail.

Best part of it is when you can say “I did it all by myself” when others ask “Did you get professionals in?”

So I read a book a month, I went swimming and I learnt about gardening and some financial stuff which I’m carrying on into 2013.

Not bad. But there was no professional goals in 2012. So for 2013 I’ve added a couple if professional goals.

My professional and personal goals for 2013

I’m going to be carrying on with my ‘read a book a month’ goal now that I’m in the routine. Learning about two new subjects was refreshing so I think I’ll be learning about a new topic or two along the way next year.

GOAL 1: Get my personal finances sorted

Having read quite a bit about money management and finance during 2012, it has become quite clear to me that I need to increase my own financial IQ. So much stuff to learn about and apply to my own life (life hacks). Somehow I feel like I should have already known about this stuff.

So this year is about automating finances, budgeting and saving and giving myself some financial goals. I’ve come across a personal finance tool called OnTrees which I’m about to try out so if anyone has this goal for themselves then go check it out.

GOAL 2: Speak at 3 events

2011 was a pretty good year for me when it came to speaking at events and conferences. All of them were within the niche area I work in (B2B) and it taught me so much about my presentation style and how to keep improving.

Then 2012 kind of dried up for speaking engagements. Just as I was getting into it.

I was asked to replace a couple of late cancellations but I’m not one for repeating old presentations. I like to take some time to personalise depending on audience type and ensure presentations are at their absolute current state. Digital marketing changes do fast.

I need to get back into a few stand up gigs.

GOAL 3: Attend 6 events that are not SEO or Analytics related

This year I made quite a bit of time to attend digital marketing networking events and conferences and met some very clever folk along the way.

Majority of the events I attended were SEO and analytics related due to all the developments going in the space within the last 12 months and it was an opportunity to keep in the loop.

But this time around I’d like to try and add something new to the events mix, broaden the horizon.

Probably a few subjects which I think I could do with learning more about. The speedy developments in mobile marketing is one. Behavioural economics is another. Maybe this goal can be tied into another ‘2 new things to learn’ goal.

So there it is. My 3 achievable professional and personal goals for next year.

Have you set some goals? Any the same as above? Let me know what your goals are and maybe we can all help each other out?