My 2024 Goals (Revealed)

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THINK

“A goal that is not written down is nothing more than a wish.”
Fitzhugh Dodson

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 🥳🍾

I hope you enjoyed the festive break.

I went offline for a week and feel all the better for it, but I’m now itching to get stuck into 2024.

Are you ready to tackle your 2024 Goals?

If you haven’t found the time to write down your goals, how will you find time to achieve them?

You deserve the best life has to offer. You are worth it.

Write down the lifestyle you aspire to, and start working towards it today.

In this week’s newsletter, I’m ‘walking the talk’ and revealing my 2024 Goals, along with my ‘why’ and the ‘how’.

This year, I’m going to build my business in public.

You’re going to see me create something from scratch. I’ll share what worked, what didn’t, my learnings and the results (good or bad).

You can watch from the sidelines, help me build in public (with feedback and suggestions) or use the findings I share to build something for yourself.

Either way, it’s going to be exciting to see how it all plays out.

Here’s to making 2024 our best year ever! 🚀

Solving The Biggest Problems

When I surveyed my audience on multiple platforms, I established the most painful problems regarding money. Here they are:

A) How to get out of debt

B) How to stop spending needlessly / living paycheck to paycheck

C) How to start investing

D) How to start a side hustle

I’ve been working through each pain point and offering solutions in my Newsletter or my content online.

I’ve written a 2-part guide (Debt 1 and Debt 2) on eliminating debt, along with a free ‘Debt Destroyer’ tool. I’m also working with an editor to publish a YouTube video which summarises everything.

A = ✅

I created a budgeting tool, called the ‘Financial Freedom Planner’, which helps people take back financial control and work towards financial freedom with a clear plan. I’ve also written numerous Newsletters which you can access for free on how to spend less and stop living paycheck to paycheck.

B = ✅

I created a YouTube video on ‘Investing for Beginners’, which helps people eliminate investment fear and get invested in the stock market. I’ve also created a Newsletter on my ‘Barbell Wealth Strategy’ which offers a simple strategy to reduce costly distractions and accelerate your wealth exponentially, but I know there’s more to cover here.

C = ❓

I created a YouTube video on how I created my $1,000,000 side hustle from scratch. I also created an in-depth guide on how to ‘Find the Perfect Side Hustle in 6 Steps’. This is the area I’ve spent the least time on (so far).

D = ❓

Overall, I’ve touched on each of the main pain points to varying degrees. I think I’ve covered A and B quite well.

C is OK, but I know that I can do more.

D is light and needs more work.

This year, I plan on closing the gap with my offering by creating 2 online courses – ‘Investing for Beginners’ and ‘Starting a Side Hustle’.

Candidly, I think the Side Hustle course is the bigger need for my audience but it’s also more complicated than ‘Investing for Beginners’.

I plan on creating the Investing course first so that I can learn how to create a course. I’m also 90% sure about what content to create (before hearing your feedback).

It’ll be easier and faster to create and provide valuable insights into course creation.

By delaying the Side Hustle course, it’ll allow me time to decide how to make the course stand out and I’ll have some experience in creating a course, making the process easier. Overall, I’m convinced the Side Hustle course will be better by doing it after the Investing course.

My Value Ladder

A value ladder is a strategic tool that helps businesses guide customers through a journey of increasing value, building strong relationships, maximising customer lifetime value, scaling revenue streams, and providing solutions at every level.

A value ladder should address the diverse needs of your customers. It’s a key element in creating a sustainable and profitable business model.

Here’s the basic structure:

Offer a product/service that solves a problem for your customer for free. (Eg. My ‘Debt Destroyer Tool’, ‘9 Tips For Financial Freedom’ or ‘Quick & Easy Cash Guide’)

Then offer an increasingly valuable solution on each level of the ladder, providing a logical progression from one level to the next. (See below)

Create a continuity program (reoccurring revenue) to enhance revenue stability, promote customer loyalty, reduce acquisition costs, and open up opportunities for cross-selling and community building. It’s a powerful element in building a sustainable and profitable business model. (See below)

Here’s my Value Ladder:

– Level 0 – I’ve launched the ’Debt Destroyer’ for free to help people eliminate debt.

– Level 1 – I’ve launched the ‘Financial Freedom Planner’ to help people take back financial control of their finances and work towards financial freedom. The price point is £19.99+vat.

– Level 2 – I plan on launching an online course which will go into more detail than the FFP to help people maximise their control over their cash. It’ll be called something like ‘£1k in 1 Week’, which will be the challenge and the goal of each customer. I’ve already helped people in this area (the FFP), so this will parked for now. The price point will be around £49+vat.

– Level 3 – ‘Investing for Beginners’ will be my first venture into the online course world, and it’ll be launched in 2024. I’ll help people remove investment fear and make early retirement a reality. The price point will be around £149-£199+vat.

– Level 4 – ‘Side Hustle Course’ will be my second online course and will also be launched in 2024. I’m yet to define what will be included. I’ll canvass my audience to establish their biggest pain points in starting and succeeding at a side hustle. I’ll provide simple yet compelling solutions for each, along with a step-by-step process to follow. The price point will be around £299-£499+vat.

– Level 5 – I’m not 100% convinced about running a Mastermind but I’m open to it. If I do it, it’ll bring all of my content together into one premium package. I’ll not only provide all the content, but I’ll run regular coaching calls with the group to help support and encourage progression. Its value is in the comprehensive content, coaching calls, accountability and group support. The price point will be around £999-£2999+vat.

– Continuity Program – My preference is to create a Membership site before a Mastermind. I will run regular group coaching calls, have guest speakers, and deliver content (like a Newsletter), along with bonuses and discounts to my products for members. The power is in the community, where my audience can connect with fellow financial freedom fighters. All of which would be more accessible financially speaking, with a price point around £19-£29+vat per month.

I’ve currently completed 2 steps, and I plan on completing 2 more this year. Once I’ve created products for 4 levels, I can take satisfaction from offering a good range of solutions for the main money problems.

After that, who knows? 🤷

I might stop there or move on to creating a Community, 1K course or Mastermind.

I don’t have to decide now. 2024 will teach me a lot and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Speaking of which…

These products/services will be created for you.

TELL ME…

1) What do you think of the above?

2) What would you like to see and why? (The more detail the better!)

Without further ado, let’s dive into my 2024 Goals, along with the risks and how I plan to mitigate them.

1) I will easily launch the ‘Investing for Beginners’ Course by 30th June 2024

There is no outcome goal around sign-ups or revenue. I can’t control them. I like to focus on process goals.

If I release my first online course, irrespective of sales, I’ll be delighted!

RISKS

Overthinking and Perfectionism
Self-doubt or Imposter Syndrome
Not giving ‘Financial Advice’ and keeping myself safe
Allocating time to creating it
It’s perceived as average or OK
Pricing it right to make it accessible but to ensure commitment and follow-through

Here’s how I plan to mitigate each risk…

MITIGATION

Overthinking and Perfectionism

I will accept ‘good enough’. This is V1. Improvements and upgrades can be made as I receive feedback. The launch is the win, not perfection.
I will commit to deadlines on ‘Research’, ‘Writing’, ‘Recording’ and ‘Promoting’ to create urgency.

Self-doubt or Imposter Syndrome

“Outwork your self-doubt”. Work harder and do more.
Entering the unknown (course creation) is uncomfortable but it’s where growth and fulfilment await.
Fear and doubt are normal but they’re not reasonable excuses not to act. They’re the reasons why I must!

Not giving ‘Financial Advice’ and keeping myself safe

I’m not qualified to give financial advice. How are other non-qualified people wording their products and services? What disclaimers do I need to use?
Again, this is not a reason to not offer this product. People need help in this area and I can help them.

Allocating time to creating it

I’ve allocated 9 hours of my working work, every week to focus on making this a reality.
Keep to the proposed schedule. Review daily and weekly to ensure execution. Make adjustments if necessary.
No new projects.

It’s perceived as average or OK

Work through $100M offers (by Alex Hormozi) to make my offer “so good people feel stupid for not buying it”.
Work with my audience to identify their biggest pain points around investing and offer compelling solutions in a simple, structured way.

Pricing it right to make it accessible but to ensure commitment and follow-through

Research the market to see what price points other creators have used.
Make the offer so strong (see above), that people don’t care what the price is.

2) I will easily launch the ‘Side Hustle Course’ by 31st December 2024

Once again I don’t have any outcome goals associated with this (yet!). Once the Investing course is live, I’ll have data on sign-ups and revenue. I’ll use that data to project potential sales for this course.

I’m interested in beating me, no one else.

The win is in releasing a valuable course.

RISKS

The same risks as the Investing course
I hated creating the Investor course
The Investing course was poorly received
Selecting the right niche or element to help people with Side Hustles
Differentiate myself from the market
Being seen as a ‘sell out’
Creation fatigue

MITIGATION

The same risks as the Investing course

See above 👆

I hated creating the Investor course

I know it won’t be easy, but I think this is unlikely. My drive to create a valuable product and help people is stronger than my enjoyment of completing the task.
I know I’ll be proud and satisfied to complete it, even if it’s challenging. This will help me through.

The Investing course was poorly received

I think this is unlikely. If it is, I’ll do everything I can to turn it into a success.
The success of one product doesn’t determine the success of another (good or bad).
I’ll take the learning and put it into this one.

Selecting the right niche or element to help people with Side Hustles

This is the biggest risk. I need to find the right angle.
I’ll canvass my audience to see what the biggest and most common pain points and goals are around making a Side Hustle work. I’ll let my audience guide me to the answer.
Don’t choose. Ask my audience and listen.

Differentiate myself from the market

Allow adequate market research to see how I can differentiate myself from the market.
I need to select the right niche and angle before differentiating.

Being seen as a ‘sell out’

There’s no way around it. My new offerings will turn people off me. I accept it.
Those people won’t pay my bills for hosting, editing, assistants, etc. so I must think of myself and my business. As long as I’m attempting to offer massive value to my customers, I can take comfort in that.
My goal is not to chase money. I know that. I want more money but I also want impact and to enjoy the process. If I can’t have all three, I’m not interested.
I don’t need to justify business decisions with people who don’t understand business.

Creation fatigue

I might feel burnout from the Investing course. Bake in downtime after releasing it before jumping into creating the Side Hustle course. I plan on releasing the Investing course in Apr/May. I’ve given myself until June to allow for inevitable delays and downtime after releasing.
Working on something important and valuable to me and my audience will help to reduce fatigue.
Prioritise self-care – Rest, sleep, exercise, food, focus, socialising, nature, having fun.

3) I will easily publish 47/52 Newsletters in 2024

The Newsletter started in March 2023. It makes me no money, in fact, it costs me money to run it, but I love it! 🧡

It’s helped me become a better writer, and connect with so many of you and I want to keep it going.

I’ve given myself a 10% buffer (5 weeks) for illness, holidays and life to get in the way.

I prioritise this over YouTube as it’s my platform. I don’t control YouTube. I would prefer 100,000 subs to my Newsletter than 1 million YouTube subs.

These Newsletters are also primed to be turned into YouTube videos. (More on that shortly).

I do have outcome goals associated with this one because I have 2023 data to draw from:

I would like to grow it to over 5,000 by 31st December 2024.
I would like to get my first paid advert for the Newsletter in 2024.

I have just under 1,600 subs at the time of writing. I’d like to at least 3X it.

As my list continues to grow, it will attract attention from companies who want the space to advertise. It would be great for the Newsletter to cover its costs and eventually produce a profit.

RISKS

It becomes a drain on time for creating courses, YouTube, social media posts and running my other businesses
Run out of things to write about
People stop reading or start unsubscribing
The Newsletter Ads put people off

MITIGATION

It becomes a drain on time for creating courses, YouTube, social media posts and running my other businesses

I’ve allocated 7 hours per week to work on my Newsletter, every week. I believe this is sufficient.
Keep to the proposed schedule. Review daily and weekly to ensure execution. Make adjustments if necessary.
No new projects.

Run out of things to write about

🤣🤣🤣
You might get bored of hearing me write about it, but I don’t think I can run out of things to write about. I could do a whole year on Investing alone.

People stop reading or start unsubscribing

This is more of a concern. I don’t want it to become ‘meh’.
The continued commitment will help me write more and inevitably get better at it. My newsletters should get better over time.
Ask my audience for topics to write about (HINT!).
Keep learning how to improve as a writer. You’re never ‘there’.

The Newsletter Ads put people off

It’s possible but unlikely. The ad space won’t be significant. (Keep to top and bottom only)
Be receptive to the audience’s feedback. If they mention it being an issue, establish why and attempt to fix it.

4) I will easily publish 6 x long-form and 52 x short-form videos on YouTube, Meta and TikTok in 2024

I published 2 x long-form videos in 2023 and 36 x long-form videos in 2024.

It’s not enough to grow.

I’ve continually struggled to produce YouTube videos in volume. If I want to scale to weekly or every 2-4 weeks, I’d need to drop my Newsletter, script writing or editing quality.

I’ve now mapped out an entire day for filming every week. I used to fit it in on weekends or where I could. I have several potential scripts in my Newsletter. I just need a little time to convert them into scripts and consistent recording time.

I think I could benefit from scaling back on the editing and style and focusing more on volume and impact.

Having said that, I don’t want to jump on the YouTube hamster wheel and make it my priority. I enjoy it, I’d like to do more of it, and believe one video every 1-2 months is achievable. If I publish 6 LF videos in 2024, I’ll be satisfied, so long as I’ve hit Goals 1-3. If I publish 10-12 LF videos in 2024, I’d be delighted!

I don’t have much of an excuse for creating more Shorts. The designated recording time should make a difference.

I don’t have any outcome metric goals for YouTube. I cannot control the algorithm. If I continue to produce the content the views, subscribers and revenue will take care of itself.

RISKS

It becomes a drain on time for creating courses, Newsletters, social media posts and running my other businesses
People stop watching or start unsubscribing
Overthinking storytelling or making it entertaining
I start hating the process

MITIGATION

It becomes a drain on time for creating courses, YouTube, social media posts and running my other businesses

I’ve allocated 6 hours per week to recording videos, every week. I believe this is sufficient.
Keep to the proposed schedule. Review daily and weekly to ensure execution. Make adjustments if necessary.
No new projects.

People stop watching or start unsubscribing

This is always possible. Like my newsletter, I don’t want it to become ‘meh’.
Like writing, the more videos I create, the better I should become. My audience should also grow over time meaning more people will naturally watch, which should push future videos. The key is creating content consistently.
Ask my audience for topics to write about (HINT!).
Keep learning how to improve as a YouTuber. You’re never ‘there’.

Overthinking storytelling or making it entertaining

Presenting solutions to money problems is easy. Doing so with the use of storytelling and making it entertaining are the big challenges. It slows me down considerably, but it’s also why my videos are well-received for the small following I have (25k).
Balance is achievable. Reduce the painstaking overthinking and slightly lower my standard to produce more volume consistently.
I think I care more about the quality than my audience. Test that theory.

I start hating the process

If I didn’t have other businesses and desires with my brand, I could go all in on YouTube. I chose not to because I could imagine getting trapped in the Hamster wheel and hating it.
I must continue to enjoy YouTube to make it sustainable. Ultimately, it’s not my priority. It’s an extension of my offering.
I believe I can create more, continue to enjoy it, maintain consistency and still see reasonable results.

5) I will easily complete 330 x Daily Reviews in 2024

One of the most powerful habits I’ve identified in my life for the past 5 years, is the importance of regular reviews. I’m most consistent with weekly reviews, but I’m inconsistent with the Daily ones, which naturally feed into the weekly reviews.

I end up skipping daily reviews mainly due to ‘time’, which as we all know is horseshit.

The time saved and the insight derived from daily reviews far outweigh the 15 mins.

In reality, it’s just laziness and procrastination, which are not acceptable excuses. As such, I’m making myself accountable by announcing it here.

Like my Newsletters, I’m giving myself 10% grace for ‘things’ getting in the way. So, I must complete 330 x daily reviews to meet my goal.

This is one of those ‘beautiful big boring goals’. To you, it might seem dull, but I know this one might be my toughest challenge because I need to step up EVERY SINGLE DAY.

But the downstream benefits from completing it are huge. This is a classic keystone habit which will help all of the goals above and keep me on track.

RISKS

I’ll forget to do it some days
I’ll be too busy to do it some days
I start hating the process
I lose track of the ongoing number
It ends up not being useful and I waste more time

MITIGATION

I’ll forget to do it some days

Nope. I’ve set up a calendar and email reminder every day at 3.30pm.
If for whatever reason I forget, I’m allowed to retrospectively fill it in the following day.
I’ve created an online tracking sheet to sign it off every day.
No excuse.

I’ll be too busy to do it some days

As a keystone habit, there are few things more important than this. I don’t skip the gym or brushing my teeth. This will be treated with the same importance.
Again, I can do it retrospectively the following day if I’m really too busy.
I can make it 5 mins and tick the box. It hasn’t got to be life-changing, just keep the habit.
I’ve also baked in 10% grace for things to get in the way.

I start hating the process

Distinct possibility! 🤣
This is all about perception. There are times I don’t feel like working out or meditating, but I do it. Why? I love how it makes me feel. From my experience, a daily review is the same.
(Tell myself a better lie) I GET to do them. I CHOOSE to do them and I’m GRATEFUL for the value they provide. I LOVE doing them. I LOVE LOVE LOVE doing them.

I lose track of the ongoing number

Negative.
I have a simple tickbox tracker sheet, which tallies up a total at the bottom.
No excuse.

It ends up not being useful and I waste more time

I’m open to this possibility but I don’t think it’s likely. If it really isn’t valuable, I will of course get rid of it. I only do what’s useful and what serves me.
Like working out or meditating (again!), a single session would yield life-changing results. It’s about the accumulation of sessions over time that makes the difference. The win is in the consistency.

That’s me.

What about you?

Reflect and share this with someone.

ASK

“A goal that is not written down is nothing more than a wish.” – Fitzhugh Dodson

If you haven’t found the time to write down your goals, how will you find time to achieve them?

“Am I willing to commit to my goals and become the person I deserve to be this year?”

“How will I make that commitment?”

Write down what comes to mind.

TRY

There is no tomorrow. Only now, in this present moment.

NOW is the time to step up, commit and make this year your best yet.

Playing small does not serve you or the world.

We’re all meant to shine. All of us!

2024 is the year you stop holding yourself back and start living the life you deserve.

There is no room for anxiety, guilt or regret when you’re attempting to become the best you. Only space for something more than happiness, a profound sense of joy.

As you allow yourself to dream big and face uncertainty, you give courage to those around you to do the same.

Commit to writing down your 2024 Goals, along with the potential risks and how to mitigate them.

I invite you to share them with me.

I read and reply to every email, and remember I’m rooting for you!

Remember: Little by little, a little becomes a lot.

Reply to this email and share how it went for you. Let me know if you’d prefer to remain anonymous.