My Two Big Goals
A large part of this blog will be about the journey toward achieving two major goals: publishing my book and owning a portfolio worth one million SEK.
I decided not to set a specific deadline for the book because what matters most is that I’m happy with the final result.
As for the portfolio, it’s also difficult to set a deadline since a market crash could happen at any time. However, with my strategy, I hope to reach the target within ten years.
The Small Milestones Keep Me Moving Forward
The milestones are broken down into such small parts that they motivate me to keep pushing forward. I like celebrating several smaller milestones regularly. So, it’s these small goals that I will share here on the blog.
Next Milestone for Writing
The reason I’m at this point is that I got stuck on chapter 6 for a long time and realized I needed to rewrite significant portions of it. I removed a character, so I had to write more in-depth about one of the main characters (Sara) instead in that chapter. Writing chapter 7 felt good; there’s a lot of dialogue, and that’s where the plot really starts to take off.
The next milestone is to finish writing chapter 8. So far, I’ve written just over 700 words. Each chapter should be between 2,500 and 3,000 words approximately.
What I’m Doing Now to Reach My Writing Goal
I try to write something every other weekday—Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The only exceptions are vacations and illness. It feels like a realistic goal now. I’ve cut down on my screen time quite a bit this year. For some drafts, I write by hand to avoid getting stuck in front of the screen. So far, it’s going well, and by the next time I write about my milestones, chapter 8 should be finished.
Next Milestone for the Portfolio
My current goal is to have a portfolio worth 200,000 SEK and to get more dividends than last year, which means more than 9,315 SEK.
What I’m Doing Now to Reach My Investment Goals
It will take a while to reach 200,000 SEK since I’m not adding new savings at the moment. I’m only reinvesting the money already in the portfolio, so it’s slow progress. It may be challenging to reach 200,000 SEK this year, but hoping for 180,000 SEK.
Things look much better when it comes to my dividend goal. As it stands now, this year’s dividends are expected to land at 10,781 SEK.
My Biggest Challenges
The worst thing that could happen to my writing is getting writer’s block. If I get stuck again, I need to think about removing things rather than adding more. I also have to prioritize writing on days when I’d rather procrastinate and do easier things like watching TV or reading a book.
If there were a major downturn in the stock market soon, it would be hard to know how to act. I don’t have much spare cash to invest, so I would mostly have to wait and see. We’ll see what happens.
There’s a lot going on in my life as well, since my dad has fallen ill, and I’ve been helping him wind down his business. He’s had a photography store since the late ’70s, so there’s quite a bit to sort out.
Stress is my biggest enemy after all, thinking about everything that needs to be done. It has helped a lot to talk to family about how I feel. When they know that I prioritize writing, they don’t judge me. A lot of it comes down to communication and prioritization.
The Most Important Thing Is to Have Fun
The most important thing about my two projects is that I enjoy the process. I’ve gotten much better at rewarding myself and taking breaks. When I worked full-time, I don’t know how I managed, because a large part of life revolved around work. I had different ambitions back then and a mortgage to pay off. Now I want to own as little as possible to feel free. I need the freedom to focus on my dreams.