2017 Year End Review « Principles of Increase

Happy New Year!

I’m sharing my year-end recap of business, life and anything else I can think of.

I like sharing my goals 1) because I can look back and see what I accomplished and where else I need to go and 2) I like having accountability from my audience (that’s you) when I state follow-up goals.

To start, 2017 was a good year! I made great strides in my health & fitness journey by mastering the art of advanced meal preparation. It’s a real time saver and so much healthier than eating out. If you’ve got any kind of fitness goal, your trainer will tell you that your results are 80% diet and 20% activity.

So this year, I wanted to focus on my diet.

In past years, I had always goals of getting as skinny as possible- no matter the effects on my health, family social life or any other aspect of my life. That didn’t end well for me at all.

Well, this year, I decided to master a habit meal prep. I’m happy to say that I did well about 75% of the time. I got in enough protein and increased my strength in the gym and am looking forward to making more muscle-building progress in 2018.

This year, I’m “stacking” another habit of drinking one gallon of water each day. I’ll add that to my meal prep habit and plan to have an awesome, healthy 2018!

Next up is travel.

In 2017, I was able to visit Cuba twice! I also went to Dallas and Portland for blogging conferences. For 2018, I’d like to spend more time in Latin America so we can continue to learn Spanish as I family. Also, we are planning to go to Disneyworld because I have another conference there and I’d like to take my family. However, we’ll see if that actually materializes.

Finally, homeschool has been going well. I had the help of a great tutor who will continue with on us 2018. My kids got to participate in a great local program for STEM and entrepreneurship. They’ve been able to combine science and business to do things like 3D printing to sell jewelry and starting a flower farm.

Next up, I’m sharing my final extra income numbers for 2017 to

Turns out I brought in over $50,000 for 2017 with freelance writing and blogging:

I am almost overwhelmed with the idea that I could make back my database consulting income by 2018.

I did blogging and writing work part-time from home (many days in my PJs) while supporting my kids in their own entertainment careers, home schooling and, of course, being a mom and all that that job entails.

In 2015, I made a whopping $123K working on databases from home after building up my business for a few of years. Then in 2016, I decided to leave it all and preach the “financial gospel” around getting out of debt, increasing income and building wealth.

2016 was rough. I actually LOST money in the first few months of my media business and only made $12,000. I didn’t even cut myself a paycheck that entire year!

At the time, I thought it was a terrible decision to leave database consulting. But in my heart, I knew helping people with their finances and reaching their true potential was where my passion was. How could I do anything else and be happy?

I’m glad I stuck with it because I proved the old saying true, “Do what you love and the money will follow.”

Well, I’m happy to report that I was able to get a paycheck again in 2017 and quadruple my earnings from 2016! (Yes I started with a tiny amount, but I did it!)

If you’re interested in boosting your online income with different methods of earning income, here’s what made the greatest impact on my income along with resources that can help you achieve similar results:

Freelance writing – Check out Earn More Writing by Holly Johnson who earns over $200,000 a year freelance writing
Affiliate marketing- Check out Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing by $100k/ month blogger Michelle Schroeder
Email list marketing- I earn income from marketing to my email list. Check out Grow Your Email List, Grow Your Income
Pinterest Marketing- This is how I drive traffic to my website and earn income as well. Here’s Rosemarie Groner’s guide to Pinterest Marketing with helpful hints on driving traffic to your site for more ad network income and

Any who, I simply want to pop in as I reflect on 2017 and recognize that is was an amazing year for me. Though, I am tempted to complain where I fell short in my income or not losing as much weight or getting as many date nights or prayer time and the list goes on….I’m choosing to focus on what went well. There’s so much to be thankful for. There are so many things that went well that I’m counting 2017 as a win.

For 2018, I’d like to triple my income and max out a 401k solo and Roth IRA account from now on. I feel like all of this is possible, so I’m going to start early with strategies and tactics that will get me there.

Finally,

I also wanted let you know that you, too, can start on your dream. You can do something you enjoy, help others and earn money in the process.

I’m proof that it’s possible!

You see, I started my blog one cold January because I kept getting the question, “How did you all pay off over $120,000 of debt?” I answered that question so many times that I knew it was time to do something about it. More people have to know that financial independence is a real possibility.

If you’d like to start a blog, as well, check out my free tutorial and resource guide to get going: