August 24, 2007

Gotta Get Goals


Theo Johnson is the creative genius behind the Now That is What I'm Talking About blog. He tagged me with a meme on goals back in April 2007. The original meme was started by Alex Shalman. It has taken over five months ... but, the rhinos in my Electronic Village have elephant-like tendencies ... we never forget! My goals are actually quite simple at this stage of life.
  1. Be a better father, son, brother and uncle - This takes many forms. First, I recognize that I need to be a better role model, including showing my children the importance of having God in your life. African proverb says that when there is a difference between a man's actions and his words ... believe his actions. My actions need to improve drastically in terms of my attendance and support of church. It is a tangible action that would be meaningful for my young son and daughters. It would also be something that my mother and sister would like. One thing is certain, I will be a great witness for others based on the ups & downs that I've had in my life. Finally, my nieces could use a positive male role model ... and Uncle Villager is ready to take on that role for the next few decades. I plan to write, call and visit with my sister, nieces and parents on a regular basis. We are located on the four corners of the continent ... so it will take some doing ... but, this is an important goal.
  2. Become financially independent - I read with interest a post from Field Negro earlier this weekend. It reminded me of the financial roll that I was on a few years ago. Black Enterprises magazine once gave stats that showed I was in the top 2% of Black folks in terms of family income. However, that house of cards crashed when I managed to mess up my marriage ... get divorced ... and get hit with some whopper child support payments. At the exact same time, I left my corporate gig to start my own business ... and for a few years it seems that I lived off of credit cards and such. In other words, I dug a very big financial hole for myself. Over the past year I have been taking steps on a day-by-day basis to get my sh*t together. My credit score is moving up and my child support payments are timely. My new motto is ,'Start Late, Finish Rich'. I enjoy reading about bloggers that are making big bank. They are an inspiration as well. My former wife is also an inspiration in this regard. Anyhow, my goal is to become financially independent within the next five years.
  3. Grow my business - I became a full-time entrepreneur on July 5, 2002. That is when I began my business in earnest. My largest contract was signed with the Cincinnati Business Incubator about a year later. I currently have 48 clients under contract at the incubator. These are some dedicated entrepreneurs and business owners that are looking to create jobs and economic growth in the community. Our most successful incubator client is a 3-year old firm, World Pac Paper, that is now one of the top six Black-owned companies in the city. My consultancy added other contracts and clients over the past year. The joy is that I have been a 1099-brother since July 2002. Those of you who own your own business will understand what that means! Now, I need to take my business to the next level. One thing that I need to do is update and implement a revised business plan. The steps that I took to get my consulting business started have run their course. I now need to take different steps to grow my consulting business over the long-term. As such, my immediate goal is to have a new business plan in place before the end of the year.
  4. Provide four-year scholarships for BDPA students - I am the executive director for the BDPA Education & Technology Foundation. I was blessed last month to be able to hand out $40,000 in scholarships to students from Chattanooga, TN; Detroit, MI; Chicago, IL; New York, NY; and Rochester, MN. The scholarships ranged from $500/student to $3,000/student for the winning team from Southern Minnesota. My vision is to hand out 4-year scholarships to these students. If baseball, basketball and football players can get full rides from high school to competing colleges ... why can't these talented information technology students have those same benefits and opportunities. I created the BETF-Blog so that we can communicate more effectively. I hope to hand out the first full 4-year scholarship at the 30th annual BDPA Technology Conference in August 2008.
I have other goals in life that revolve around relationships and such. However, these are the ones that bubbled to the top as I typed out this post today. It is always good to put your goals in writing. We'll need to come back every once in awhile to see how these turn out. My thanx again to Theo for tagging me with this meme. I see that Vanessa and Benin were much more timely in their response to Theo's tag. I gotta get rid of this procrastination-habit!

Anyhow, I get to tag others now. My choices are:
As we used to say when we were kids ... TAG YOU'RE IT!

13 comments:

JD said...

My brother, this post is an incredible emotionaly filled display of written expression. You have bared a piece of your soul by keeping it real.Your Mom and sister sound like mine. My Mom as passed but my older sister Olivia took me to church every night when I was in New York last summer. It takes a lot of courage to share such intimate goals but going public is the best way to have it happen. I know you will suceed.

Vanessa said...

Wow, Villager, it's nice to learn a little more about you. I'm glad you posted your goals. They are lofty indeed but I know that you'll accomplish all of them.

You have my respect for your family and business goals.

Peace and Prosperity.

Anonymous said...

Villager,

"creative genius"? I laughed when I read it, but I appreciate it. I enjoy your blog and think you something special here. Those are some great goals and I hope you reach them all.

I may need to contact you about some of them. I've been 1099 since 2005. It has it's ups and downs, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Thanks for replying to the meme. Better late than never ;)

Believer said...

Where you treasure is...so is your heart! Prioritize and keep church/God near the top.

Financial freedom. WOW! That's sounds divine.

All the best on achieving them all!

Unknown said...

James - Asante sana. My blog isn't all that public as there aren't all that many folks reading it. However, I do plan to work towards each goal over the coming days, weeks and months.

Vanessa, Rosemarie and Theo - Asante sana!

peace, Villager

Anonymous said...

I would like to see more black men put their goals in writing. There is so much power in written word, and the main thing, it holds you accountable.

I think every family should have one. This is inspiring. Think of how many marriages that would be saved if husband and wife were fully aware of each others goals and dreams. Powerful stuff!

Anonymous said...

Wayne:
Reading through your goals... James (above) said it! Took much courage to post them here. Proud of you!!! I would encourage you and anyone else who needs motivation to actively succeed in setting and meeting goals to read Tony Dungy's QUIET STRENGTH: The Principles, Practices and Priorities of a Winning Life. As you know, I know zilch about football...so as I read this aloud with Dad, he would explain terms I did not know. But the impact of this book is NOT football. It is the way this man was raised (in Jackson, MI!!!-your grandmother's hometown), how he is living his life, raising his family, interacting in the community, sharing with his family, coaching his teams...just everyday, day-to day Christian living. I admire him so much! You must read it. You will not want to put it down! The libraries probably have it, but you who take this comment to heart will want your own copy, I promise. If the book is not everything I said it was, I'LL refund the cost. (Wayne knows where to find me!) Oh, for those who might not know of Tony Dungy...is there really anyone... He is head coach of the Indianapolis Colts ~ the 2007 Super Bowl... the first African American head coach to meet THAT goal. Remember now? READ THE BOOK!!!

Unknown said...

Ms. Grapevine - Thank you for the encouraging and supportive words. Day-by-day ... that is the key at this point. I hope you find reasons to visit with our village more often in the future.

Iya - I will look for the book this week. Thank you for the recommendation.

peace, Villager

esk said...

First, congrats on your successes!(owning your own business, executive director @ BDPA, back on track financially, etc.)

And kudos to you for realizing the areas of your life you would like to improve/strengthen and having a plan to make sure you reach your goals. Having a plan is key, I think, anyway.

Good luck with attaining your goals. And thanks again for checking out my blog.

Sage

Unknown said...

Sage - I appreciate your kind words and encouragement. I hope you will visit us often in the future. We would love to hear your village voice again...

esk said...

Definitely! And I hope you do the same...

http://poshsage.blogspot.com and
http://poshsagepoetry.blogspot.com

Take care,
Sage

Unknown said...

Sage - I've visited both of your blogs. You've been added to the Black Blog Rankings as well.

Unknown said...

All - Yikes, hard to believe that it has been over a year since I shared this post on my goals. I need to revisit this again for 2008-2009...