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Why 2014 Is Going To Be The Best Year Yet

by Johnny Bravo · 3 comments

I’m sure you are sick of seeing all the new year resolutions floating around the internet.

Whenever I think of New Year’s I remember how crowded the gym is from January to February. I’ve never looked at real statistics but I have read numerous times that January is one of the biggest months for gym memberships.

The #1 goal is to get in better sharp. The problem is that goals are not about planning it’s about behavior and passion. Saying you are going to do something means nothing if you don’t plan out how you’re going to do it and keep yourself accountable.

It’s not the what, its the why. Would you be willing to make less (the what) if you loved what you were doing and changing the world (the why)? Absolutely.

With that in mind it’s imperative you set S.M.A.R.T. goals which means your goals, or in this case resolutions, need to be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

So to expand on that you have to have a clearly defined goal (specific), be able to measure your success in attaining that goal (measurable), it has to be realistic (not “I am a plumber and will walk on the moon in 2 years as a NASA astronaut”), it has to be consistent with what you are trying to achieve and help you achieve the goal (relevant), and it has to have an end date to be finished (time-bound)

Below are my personal goals for 2014. I hope my plans for the future give you some insight into the kind of person I am, want to be, and give you some incentive to do the same.

Johnny Bravo’s 2014 Goals

It’s 8:51pm on December 30th. I just finished dinner with my wife and she is in bed (she goes to sleep most nights around 8-9pm). This post already had a good portion done and was ready to post on the 31st.

…and then I finished reading Start by Jon Acuff.

Originally I had my goals separated into three categories: Sales Pro Blog, Career, Life. The area’s I thought my goals should be focused on.

But as I came across page 224, #1; I remembered that there are more area’s in my life that I needed to set goals for. Especially if I was going to set S.M.A.R.T. goals. I had already neglected the first aspect of setting reachable goals, making them specific.

I was being too general in the parts of my life the goals fell into. So I took the categories from his book and have realigned my goals to fit within those areas.

In total I’ve separated my goals into the 8 sections below. Click on anyone of them to be taken directly to that section.

  1. Physical
  2. Spiritual
  3. Financial
  4. Family
  5. Social
  6. Intellectual
  7. Career
  8. Sales Pro Blog

2014 Physical Fitness Goals

Log 30 Miles A Month: I love running. In 2013 it was my main form of exercise and one I plan to continue for as long as my knees let me (I’ve had two knee surgeries).

I came up with this number based on my 2013 Nike+ numbers (links to a picture of my Nike+ profile page). I ran 74 times with an average distance of 3.1 miles and in total over 230 miles. Based on a 52 week year I averaged more than 4.4 miles a week but only averaged 1.4 runs a week.

My problem was consistency so my plan in 2014 is to increase the consistency of my runs

The way the math in my head works, 30 miles a month equals 360 miles a year which seems like a huge increase (50%+) however if you break it down it is very doable.

30 miles a month is 7.5 miles a week assuming 4 weeks a month. That means I only need to run 2.5 miles 3x a week to meet this goal. Since my average distance in 2013 was 3.1 I’m not worried about being able to run the distance.

By they way if I simply increased consistency but kept the same average of 4.4 miles a week, I would run over 630 miles in 2014…

Reduce Average Mile Time To 8 Minutes: My average mile in 2013 was 8:30 minutes. Believe it or not I am 100% content with that number. However I don’t think I pushed myself enough in 2013.

I feel that by running more often and varying the runs I do I will be able to reduce that number by at least 30 seconds.

My plan for 2014 will be to to increase variety into my runs. 

In addition to running more consistently I’ll include other types of runs into my exercise program. Specifically more hills, sprints, and stairs.

I’m lucky enough to live in a great area in beautiful sunny Southern California. There are miles and miles of up and down hilly streets to run. I have a sports park within about 200 yards from my apartment. And there is a large field that allows for straight sprints as well as a steep hill nearby that will allow for hill sprints. Oh and a staircase that currently winds me after one up and down run.

Assuming my location doesn’t change drastically I see no problem in adding more variety to my runs.

Do Weights Twice A Week: In 2013 I stopped doing weight workouts for the most part. I rediscovered running and made that my main focus for the year. And when it averages in the 70’s year long, its hard to not be outside.

Before my wife and I married I did a lot more weight training, especially compared to running. And it is not uncommon for fitness levels to decrease on some level when you get married.

The realization that I need to start doing weights again came from a comment my wife has made a few times in the last 7 months. Being pregnant with our first child she has realized that she is getting bigger (no way around saying that, she is pregnant) while I have been getting smaller (running with very little weight training).

I figure that between the 3x a week runs I’m planning I will be able to include 2x a week weight training. I will do this following the TNT Diet which I am an avid follower of. Before I was married I loved it and it worked very well for me. The main premise is to have a high protein, low carb diet while doing full body workouts.

Although it recommends working out 3x a week, I don’t think I’d be able to support that along with running. And since running is my mental release, I will give precedence to getting outside to run.

I highly recommend you check it out if you’re serious about fitness goal which involves body shape (losing weight, decreasing waistline, increasing mass, increasing muscle size, etc).

Run Six 10k+ Competitive Runs: I didn’t run a single competitive run in 2013. I miss doing them. For those that aren’t familiar with the running industry a 10k run equates to a 6.2 mile run.

In 2011 I ran quite a few competitive runs and then took some time off in 2012 because my knees weren’t holding up well. After some new shoes (see picture above) and strength building exercises I feel I am back on track.

I’m really looking forward to this goal. Probably because of how competitive I am. When I was a martial arts instructor I was also very into competitive competitions. I earned the title of State Champion and was invited to compete at the World Championships. I no way do I feel I’ve lost that competitive itch. 

Running in races will make me a better runner. I run so much faster when there is someone on my ass trying to beat me. I need the competition to push me to the next level.

2014 Spiritual Goals

Find A Church We Love: My wife is a very religious person. I, to be honest, am not. We were both raised in religious households. All of our parents are active in their respective churches. And yet we both have different views of religion.

When we moved to San Diego our lives kind of got into a flux and we have yet to find a church we attend consistently. This is a goal we’ve both decided to change in 2014. My wife Loriane has much more experience in vetting churches so I will leave a large portion of this goal to her but it is one she is very passionate about.

Any passion my wife wants to focus on I will proudly stand by her.

And although I would be completely fine not attending church every week I recognized long ago that this part of Loriane was part of the whole package. I realized that her views on religion are a big part of who she is. It’s why she is so caring and giving which is one of many reasons I feel in love with her. We are polar opposites in the religion field but are still drawn to each other like gravity.

Another big push for this goal was because we want to raise our baby boy (Bailey Bravo) to be christian. This will probably lean more towards my wife side of the activities but I still have to be 100% committed to the decision which we made together.

Read The Duck Commander Devotional Daily: My parents sent me this as a gift for my birthday. When I got it I looked through a few pages and concluded that it is absolutely something I could read. A page a day with less than 100 words. No problem.

As I’ve mentioned above I’m not the strongest supporter of religion so books like these can deter me. But it looks interesting and whether I believe in where the words came from or not, they are still words to live by.

And to those who are thinking about the recent media attention Phil Robertson has been getting I’d like to remind you that I’ve read Mein Kampf and yet I have no Nazy Germany views. Phil expressed his opinion based on how he was raised. He was not facilitating any hatred and aggression towards any group. He was merely trying to put his views and is life into context based off the question that he was asked by the interviewer.

2014 Financial Goals

Financial goals were the #1 area I focused on in 2013.

And because of that my wife and I were able to pay off over $56,000 in debt. I’ll go into this a lot more in my next post but believe me, it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.

But look to the left. It was 100% worth it.

We are well on our way to building substantial wealth and bringing our baby into a healthy financial life.

Work 25% Harder Than I Did In 2013: I put this goal under financial because to me it based on finances. I work for money, that’s all I need to say about that.

When I was in Ohio training with MRI Software, I had a meeting with my Director who was helping me plan out my financial and career goals for the next year with the company.

We laid out my prior year numbers, salary,commission, bonuses, etc. and came to what I wanted to make in 2013. My expectation was to make 20% more than what I made last year.

He asked if that was a reasonable number and if I was willing to work 20% harder this year. That was an interesting concept to me and a way at looking at sales pay differently than I ever had before.

As simple of a concept as it is, it is one that many fail to recognize. Many salespeople go into a new position wanting to make $200,000 a year. This is immediately after they left a position where they made $65,000. Commissions can vary between companies, products, and industries. But usually not by that much.

Income in sales is directly related to effort. Would I physically be able to increase my work effort by 300% ($65,000 to $200,000)? Absolutely not! But can I increase it by 20%? Absolutely!

I’ll be dissecting that 20% increase in work effort in my next post so stay tuned.

But based on my income from 2013, I want to make 25% more in 2014. That will put me well into the 6 digit mark for the first time in my life. Based on my current situation in the company, my experience, and up coming opportunities I have I feel extremely confident I can make that number.

Invest $15,000 For Retirement: As of 12/27/13 the Bravo family is 100% debt free (see above picture). No credit cards, car loans, “same as cash” loans, student loans, etc. EVER AGAIN!!!

We follow Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps and they have served us very well and we plan to continue that journey. So my goal is to set aside $15,000 into various retirement savings accounts including my company 401k and a new Roth IRA I will be opening.

We are 31 and time is on our side. What we put away now will become multiples of the original in 30-40 years. Thank God for compounding interest.

Build A $15,000 Emergency Fund: This one is pretty straight forward. When the baby is born my wife will have to take some time off of work. We know he will have special needs since he is missing a complete right arm. However we do not know how extreme those needs will be. If it’s just a missing limb, I’m not worried in anyway. If it’s more, we’ll have to figure it out.

The point is that it is a very real possibility that my wife may have to stay home permanently to take care of our child. If that is the case we will take a huge hit to our income.

Because of that we are building up our emergency fund savings to protect us from…life….

Flat tire…broken TV…new computer…unexpected travel….job loss…medical bills…

These are all things that can happen without notice. We are building a financial buffer to make sure those are just inconveniences and not major hits to our financial freedom.

Save $30,000 Towards A House Down Payment: Buying a home is our next major goal. The problem with Southern California is that the average house costs $400k-600k for a 2-4 bedroom house in the area’s we are looking.

Yes we could look at other areas which are less expensive however we’ve decided to do this whole home buying thing right. We are going to take our time and save up. Our plans are to save up like crazy for a down payment and be ready to move into our first house by 2015-2016.

To be honest I believe there will be another market pull back in 2015 which should help us get into our first home. I may be wrong but all that will mean is that we have to save more money.

Our ultimate goal is to save a 20% down payment and avoid any PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) which can add hundreds of dollars to your mortgage.

2014 Family Goals

Date Night Twice A Month: My wife and I have a great relationship and one we want to continue having. So we realize with a baby coming it’s going to be much harder for us to have the alone time we were use to.

Because of that we are going to make it a regular practice to have two date nights a month. Maybe even more once we get things figured out.

These could include a dinner out, a movie, a sporting event, or something special.

The point is that it is just the two of us spending time to talk and get to know each other better.

I plan to spend my marriage getting to know her the whole time.

Eat Dinner At The Dinner Table 4x A Week: For some this may seem like an odd goal but in the Bravo home we eat dinner at the table most nights. Even though it’s just the two of us for now.

We’re having our first son and I have every intention of passing that ritual on to him. I understand that we all have things to do but until this kid is able to walk and drive on his own, he’s stuck with what we feed him and where we do.

fwahahahahaha!

We feel it is important to have those face to face interactions as often as we can. We were recently with her family for the holidays and during one meal our niece and nephew asked if they could play with our phones.

Not this time suckers!

Believe it or not we actually made them talk to us. My nice is being home schooled and currently working on her multiplications #1-6. So we spent a good amount of time with me asking problems that require those numbers to be multiplied. I think she’s better than I am at multiplications of 6.

That’s obviously not all we talked about but the point is we talked, face to face. They were not face deep into a iPhone screen.

My generation can’t be helped but there is still a little hope for the next.

2014 Social Goals

Spend More Times With Friends: When we moved to San Diego we knew it would be hard to see our core group of friends with a 3 hour drive now in the way. We’ve been able to go up to Los Angeles a lot but still not as much as we would like.

So in 2014 I want to try and reconnect a bit with some of my friends who I haven’t been able to hang out with as much as before. It will be hard, especially if we still live in SD but we can do it.

Nothing too fancy, a dinner or two here or there. Meeting out for lunch or drinks. Just getting face to face with people I haven’t in the past year or so.

Hold Two “Bring A Friend” Parties: You may not have ever heard of something like this before but it is similar to a networking event with a social mindset.

The concept is that I invite ~3 friends to a dinner party of some sorts and the only requirement is that they bring a guest that I have never met.

I’ve never done this before but have seen things like it. UCLA holds a “dinner with strangers” every once in a while. I thought it was a great idea and decided I want this to be a goal for my own life.

This will be a great way to meet new people who are connected to my network already but whom I’ve simply not had a chance to meet yet.

2014 Intellectual Goals

Sales readers are sales leaders. That is a mantra I will continue to believe in until I am proven wrong. And I made it my mission to have others help me with the below goals.

Read 12 Books in 2014: The #1 thing I asked for as a gift for Christmas was for books. And I was blessed to get a lot of them. In total I was I was given 10 books for Christmas that I plan to read.

This goal came to mind because my book reading had slipped a lot in 2013. I was distracted by the new job, being married, having a first bun in the oven, and by trying to stay in budget and get out of debt. Not to mention I spend a lot of time on the Sales Pro Blog writing and trying to make this the best resource for sales professionals possible.

Overall I think I only read 3-4 books this year. No bueno. I have bigger plans for 2014 and want to up my reading like never before.

As soon as I find two more books I want to read I’ll update this post. But as you can see they are all focused on helping me be a better professional.

  • EntreLeadership | Dave Ramsey
  • David And Goliath | Malcolm Gladwell
  • To Sell Is Human | Daniel H. Pink
  • Killing Jesus | Bill O’Reilly
  • Selling To Zebras | Koser
  • Contagious | Jonah Berger
  • A Whole New Mind | Daniel H. Pink
  • Drive | Daniel H. Pink
  • Quitter | Jon Acuff
  • The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt | Edmund Morris

I can escape in a book in ways my computer can’t let me when reading online. And I like the tactile feel and smell of books.

Additionally I want to one day have a whole library of the books I’ve read. I have never thrown away a book and am fully committed to that lifetime goal.

Write Two eBooks: I wrote my first eBook Top 9 Tips For Using LinkedIn Like A Sales Pro in 2013 and it was a great success for my first attempt.

This year I want to go even further into writing eBooks and put out an additional two resources.

In terms of topics I think I will write one based on sales and one around property management software. This is up for debate but the ideas I have been working on are leaning towards those topics.

One to help the Sales Pro Blog and one to help my role as a property management software sales rep.

Publish A Book To Sell On Amazon: This is where I am going to take my writing to the next level. Writing and publishing a “real” book that I can sell on Amazon.

I’ve got one idea in the pipeline that I think could work out really well. I still have some research and testing to do obviously but I feel good about it. It has to do with working from home which I have become an expert in this past year.

I’ll keep the Sale Pro Blog community posted as that gains traction.

2014 Career Goals

Be A Sales Manager: This should come as no surprise. I endeavor to lead a team of sales reps at the company I work for, MRI Software. It was discussed that after a year of working with them I would be eligible to be considered for a position.

Now all I have to do is show stellar performance and showcase the skills I’ve developed that will make me a strong team leader.

There are a few attributes I plan to work on professionally that I feel is valued by my company. I plan to dedicate a whole post to what areas I think they value and how I plan to showcase my development in them.

Create A Landing Page For Property Management Software: This page will be similar to the Top Sales Sites I recently launched.

My goal will be to focus in on the decision making process that most real estate investment and property management firms use to make a transition to a PMS.

There is a lot to know, many competitors, and a hefty investment needed to start using one or to switch from a current one.

I’ve been brainstorming the concept a bit but until I start writing the page we’ll see where it goes. Although I think I have the programming knowledge to do it myself I may bring in an outside freelancer to help out.

I’ll have articles about each of the major PMS systems as well as answers to commonly asked questions. Overall this page will not be an advertisement for my current company MRI Software. It will be a knowledge base for anyone who is interested in buying property management software and needs some more information.

I want it to be helpful not forceful.

Be A Mentor At MRI Software: When I was in sales training I had a mentor who showed me the ropes of the company. They were the go-to-person when I had a question about products, services, processes, or people.

I got a lot out of having a mentor and look forward to being able to be one myself now that I have the experience to back it up.

Attend 10 Networking Events: Networking is a necessity for any business professional. Since my move to San Diego I have been much more limited in what events I have been able to attend.

I plan to change that in 2014 and make an effort to attend many more networking events this year.

I feel that 10 is a reasonable number which is absolutely achievable.

Make 12 Business Introductions: In my post The Best Way To Get Referrals, Give Them I talk about a great way to get business referrals is to give them first.

I want to back that claim up with real world experience that is measurable. I am still working on the format of how I will do this (e.g. CEO lunches, invite to company events, bring someone to a networking event, etc) but will have my plan of action laid out soon.

The point is that I want to make introductions to people I know who can benefit by knowing others in my network.

Write 9 Posts For The MRI Blog: I’ve written over 100 posts for the Sales Pro Blog and figured it’s the perfect time to branch out and start writing for my own company blog.

I will be in Ohio for our Sales Kickoff in a week and will have access to the entire company. I’ll touch base with the marketing folks to see where they are planning to take the blog and what I can do to help.

2014 Sales Pro Blog Goals

Add 2 More Online Sites To My Author Portfolio: As it is I currently write a monthly post for CareerAttraction.com and have had discussions to possibly do something similar for Business Insider.

What I plan to do is add two more online sites that I submit monthly to. This will help me get my name out there as an expert in my field as well as spread my influence.

I’ll use resources like HARO and LinkedIn to connect with these sources and find one that fits my expertise.

Start The Sales Pro Blog Podcast: This is a goal I mentioned earlier in the year but have yet to fully realize.

I’ve done some preliminary work including writing out the topics for the podcast. But have yet to fully script or record them. My goal for the next couple of months is to record a few while trying different formats and styles and then go full blown into posting regularly.

Preferably once a week.

What I am still working on is if I want this to be short (5-10 minute) sales tips, interviews that last 30-60 minutes, or a mixture of those are similar to that.

Start The Sales Pro Blog Videos: Another goal I have yet to start yet. Videos are a great medium to express information and one of my favorite ways besides writing.

However videos take time to record and edit with a one man team. I expect to start video taping a few episodes soon to get a feel for the style I want the videos to have.

As of right now I picture my videos being similar to Jim Keenan’s over at ASalesGuy.com.

What To Expect In 2014

As many surprises there are in store for me in 2014 I am very excited about this coming year.

My wife and I are super excited for our baby boy to come into this world. And even if he doesn’t stay long we know he will feel nothing but love from us.

We’ve done an amazing job preparing for him financially and will bring him into a debt free house.

I realize that this year is the last year I am making goals for myself. Because 2015 will be the year where every decision I make is focused around how that will affect my family.

And I can’t wait!

~ Johnny Bravo


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Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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