Last night I published my 100th article on eHow.

According to Dan Miller, author of 48 Days to the Work You Love, only 3 percent of the general population have written goals. I have always thought of myself as part of that 3 percent but, to be honest, I have more in common with the remaining 97 percent. I have basic goals floating around in my head, but I never seem to get around to putting them on paper.

When I started writing for eHow, I wanted to have 100 articles published by the beginning of 2009. Obviously, I failed to achieve that particular goal. Additionally, I have posted a current goal of writing one article everyday during 2009. This particular goal may have been a bit unrealistic considering my hectic work schedule, but never-the-less it is something I want to achieve.

Ultimately, I think I need to break my goals down into smaller, more realistic opportunities for success. Feeling like a failure simply does nothing to encourage me to work any harder. My mom always told me that success favored the prepared mind. What she meant by this was that I should work hard, plan for where I want to be and then to seize the chance when it was presented to me.

I find it funny that in my “work life”, I plan out every minute of every day. I know what I am going to work on, how much time I can spend on unplanned items and whether or not I am where I need to be. It is a very structured approach that keeps me from forgetting important issues that may otherwise be overlooked.

So why don’t I do this for my online business as well. I do realize that the passive income I am creating now will not be fully realized until much much later. I have no delusions of making a killing now, but I do expect great results 12 months from now. As such, I need a better plan. What I need is a clearly defined set of goals, broken down at least monthly.

Here is what I have come up with for the month of March:

eHow: I will publish 15 high-quality articles. Additionally, I will go back and re-tool a few no-earners so that perhaps they can start contributing to the fun.

Today: I will publish 20 short posts about passive income on Passive Streams of Income. Additionally, I will drop 50 or so Entrecards for that blog to generate a little extra traffic. It is not much, but it helps.

Article Marketing: I will publish 5 articles promoting a product that I have not yet picked. I want to do a small article marketing experiment based around what I have learned thus far. I am going to use a new product in a completely unrelated niche to see if I know what I am doing, or if I just got lucky and picked a few good products.

eBay: I am going to sell at least one unused item around my house each week. This is also a yearly goal (not just a monthly one).

What about you? What goals have you set for yourself? Do you set action goals or income goals?

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