Most people overestimate what they can do in a year and they underestimate what they can do in a decade.
Tony Robbins
I launched The Florida Explorer in 2013 with grand hopes of making this THE FLORIDA BLOG.
The plan was to write a ton of posts about FL history, culture, camping, outdoors, theme parks, literature, things to do, etc. and to build a fun, active community around it so we could hang out doing Florida-y things, like canoe trips, camping trips, geek out on FL history, meet up at theme parks, and volunteer our time helping out at Florida improvement projects–like cleaning up state parks, saving the manatees or taking a stand against water companies that think sucking Ginnie Springs dry is okay.
Obviously, this blog has not even come close to meeting those aspirations and that is 100% my fault.
A blog cannot be built without making a commitment! And I did not commit! Which is a real shame–because my life and many other lives could have been deeply improved–all us Floridians that desire a deeper FL community of like-minded individuals could have connected long ago.
I also wanted to go beyond the list of Florida things that I wrote above. Because, deep down, this isn’t just a blog about Florida, it is a blog about Florida improvement, for the state and all the people that reside within its boundaries.
There are so many great things about Florida. There are also so many things that can be made better.
And the more people explore Florida, the more they will want to preserve what we have and to find ways to improve this great state of ours. There is so much to do!
I am now making the commitment I should have made in 2013. For a better blog and a better Florida!
Here are my goals for 2020:
1. Post 3x Per Week – The #1 thing on my list is to keep this blog active. I am making a commitment to post three times per week because that is how blogs grow, how I will be able to learn more about Florida and how I can grow this online platform that will eventually create the FL Explorer community that I envision.
2. Explore 5 New State Parks – It is my ultimate goal to explore all 175 FL state parks. At the time of this writing I have been to 12. If I really wanted to I could take a week-long road trip and knock off 50 parks this year, but that’s not the point. I want to have a thorough experience of all of FL’s state parks, preferably through camping trips.
3. Take 5 Camping Trips – I love camping and the more I camp the more I realize that I need to camp more. Last year, as far as I can remember, I only went on one camping trip which was to Myakka River State Park. I need to ramp it up this year to get more of the Real Florida!
4. Read 10 Florida-Themed Books – There is a ridiculous amount of Florida books that I need to read and there is a ridiculous amount of Florida authors that I have barely even explored. The #1 way to get a deeper understanding of Florida is to read about it. Not to mention reading about Florida will give me good fodder to deliver more articles for the blog!
5. Go To Busch Gardens 10x – Busch Gardens is my favorite Florida theme park and it just so happens to be in my backyard. I slacked off my attendance the last couple years and need to get back in the game! Every time I went to BG over the last couple years I always think to myself I should come here more often. Well, I’m gonna make it happen this year. Not to mention it will help me with goal #6…
6. Update My Busch Gardens Guidebook – I wrote and self-published a BG guidebook in 2017. It was really fun and, through the book, I’ve been able to help a lot of people optimize their BG trip. From the time and money I spent on it, I’d estimate I’ve made less than a dollar an hour. But that doesn’t matter! The book was/is a labor of love and it is time for an update. I feel a little bit guilty when I see a sale of my book nowadays because I know that it is woefully out-of-date. It is still packed full of good information, but it could be much better.
7. Have 10 Beach Days – People fly in from all over the world to hang out at Florida beaches and I freakin’ live in Florida–I MUST GET TO THE BEACH MORE OFTEN! Same thing as going to BG–every time I go I say I need to do that more! So I shall.
8. Go To St. Augustine and Explore – St. Augustine is Florida’s (and America’s) oldest city. It is full of history and things to do and I have never been. Going to St. Augustine has been on my to-do list for a very long time and I have never pulled the trigger on it. This is the year to get it done. All it takes is setting aside a single weekend to make this happen. So I will make it happen in 2020.
9. Go to SeaWorld 5x – I’m going to get the family SeaWorld passes this year, so I better get my money’s worth. I figure 5 visits is the bare minimum to make me feel like I got my fill of SeaWorld for the year.
10. Create A Side-Business That Earns At Least $1k Per Month – Currently, to make ends meet, I work M-F and my wife works weekends. It’s nice that we aren’t living paycheck to paycheck, but it kinda sucks that we hardly ever have days off together. Creating a side-business that generates $1k per month will be enough to keep our finances under control and allow my wife to only work one day on the weekend–more quality family time and more time to explore Florida!
11. Get Trained Up For The 2021 Clearwater Marathon – “Run A Marathon” has been on my bucket list for the last 15 years or so. About four years ago I actually was all trained up for the Clearwater Marathon but it was cancelled due to weather, which really sucked. The marathon will happen in January 2021, so training needs to happen now. It’s time to get my lazy bones a-moving.
12. Be In The 5am Club – For 2020, I joined a forum / mastermind group called the 5am Club. The premise is simple: wake up at 5am and get after it. The rules are to wake up at 5am at least 5 days a week and work on a project that will improve your life–whether that is getting to work early, working on a side-business, building a blog, etc. It’s about doing hard work now for a payoff later. During my 5am Club time I will be working on this blog and also a side-business meant to generate $1k per month.
I’m really excited about 2020 and I hope you are too. I set some goals that are ambitious, yet not so far out there that they become so intimidating that I don’t even take the first step.
This post started with a quote by Tony Robbins: Most people overestimate what they can do in a year and they underestimate what they can do in a decade.
The above goals have been made with the game-plan for the entire 2020 decade in mind. Quickly, the decade goals include:
- The Florida Explorer being the #1 Florida blog IN THE WORLD
- Exploring all 175 State Parks
- Read hundreds of Florida books to vastly improve my FL knowledge
- Write and publish books on Florida
- Create a side-business that will allow me to explore FL full time and to also be able to dedicate a lot of time to worthy, charitable causes
- Complete the Florida Ironman competition
- Financially secure myself and my family
- Regularly visit all of Florida’s theme parks
- Create a vibrant, Florida Explorer community
Then I even have multiple decade goals:
- Section hike the Florida Trail in its entirety
- Buy my Florida Dream House (not yet sure if that is a beach house or a house with a lot of acreage on wooded land)
- Give back–particularly in the FL child-welfare system, but also to preserve the best parts of FL and to make FL better.
But right now I am focusing on 2020, even more specifically–I am focusing on today, taking action now to work towards those 2020 goals.
