A Moment To Reflect

By | October 19, 2017

Life is busy. I get up in the mornings and head straight to work. Work is never a 9-5 job. After a long day, I come home tired. Still, my evening is just getting started. Depending on the day, I may go to salsa class. Usually though, I have to go back to work, even after salsa. Then the weekend comes. I waste a lot of money Friday night on drinks, so, I don’t get up until late Saturday. Sunday, I’m usually bored surfing the internet. Maybe I’ll write a post for this blog. Or, maybe it’s one of those busy weekends where I also have to work. Then I start all over again the next week. Sometimes, it’s important to just take a moment to reflect. A moment to think about where you’ve been, where you are now, and where you’re headed. This is my moment to reflect.

Blog

The first thing I want to talk about is my blog. I’m usually very humble, but I can’t help but admit that I love my blog and the progress made in such a short time. Officially, the blog was registered in October 2015. However, it wasn’t until May 2016 that I started posting in earnest. Even then, there was a short period of time that I stopped posting because of work. Then, I decided that I was going to continue to post no matter what. And, I think it’s one of the better decisions I’ve made in a long time.

The Dividend Growth Investing (DGI) community is awesome and very supportive. I really feel like I’m part of the community. So, I want to say a big thank you to all my readers out there.

I’m definitely still a beginner trying to learn about SEO and promoting my blog while I work a full-time job. Yet, even though I blog in my spare time, Dividend Portfolio is featured on Modest Money, somehow made the Top 100 Dividends Blog list, and appears as a leader on Dividend Driven. Regarding the Top 100 Dividends Blog list, I have to give a shout out to Dividend Daze who just updated his website with a brand new theme. I saw that Dividend Daze also made the Top 100 Dividends Blog list, clicked on the link, and noticed my blog was listed too!  Somehow, I’m ranked at #19.  Awesome!!! It’s a big deal to me because I’m not tech savvy and I really am still learning.

I’m also very pleased with the design of the site. I love my theme (feel free to disagree). And every now and again I add to it. So, little by little, the site gets better and better.

Dividends

Well, at the end of the day, this site is all about dividends and dividend income. I try to follow a combination of dollar cost averaging (DCA) and the DGI strategy on this blog. So, every month, I invest the same amount of money in my Dividend Portfolio. Blogging and the DGI Community has helped me stayed the course.

A few years ago, before I ever started blogging, I was interested in dividends. I invested money in Computershare and vowed never to sell. Well life happens and, at that time, I didn’t really have an accountability system. Also, perhaps my youth and immaturity played a role as well. But, I sold all my investments, which I thought was a good decision at the time. Although I knew and was trying to follow the principles of compounding and investing at a young age, somehow it didn’t stick.

Well, now it’s stuck. First of all, I’m in a much better financial position to be able to invest. I’m making more money than I ever did before, even though I’m clearly not rich. I’ve grown a lot and feel I’m more mature. I’m closer to retirement age and don’t have the luxury of time anymore. No, I’m not quite 40, but getting there. I hate to say it this way, but I think about my financial situation literally every day. Everyday I’m on my blog, either trying to update a post, or more likely, just surfing for the latest post in the DGI community. One of my routines, especially on the weekends, is to visit every blog on my Resources page to see if I can contribute to the latest post of the bloggers I follow. If you want to get on my resources page, let me know.

Another aspect of my blog is my portfolio size, which is currently around 20k. I expect to reach about 50k in about two years (especially if I keep my current job). Also, I plan to be out of my student loan by then. But, even though I have those shorter term milestones, I really want to get to my first 100k as soon as possible. I know I’m talking years, but I was really inspired by Larry’s recent post entitled, Dividend Investment Portfolio Crosses The $300,000 Mark. I know it’s not a race or a competition, but I’m going to do everything I can to get to that 100k mark. But first, I have to get to 50k. As the saying goes, you have to learn to crawl before you walk. And, you have to learn to walk before you run.  I’m in no rush, but the faster the better.

Value For My Readers

Dividend Portfolio is primarily a blog about my journey in Dividend Growth Investing. I hope that, that in it of itself, provides value to my readers. Still, I’m exploring ways as to how I can increase value to those individuals who visit my blog. Although not readily obvious, the site does provide some value besides my regular updates.

I have a resources page which has a link to all the blogs I follow, as well as a couple of my favorite books (with affiliate links). I provide a link to a free calculator on the sidebar that I myself used to get out of credit card debt. That was very helpful to me.  In addition and also on the sidebar, I have a section that references my favorite blogs, which links to their most recent posts. Still, I think I can do more.

I’ve noticed that a lot of posts are about my progress and updates. But, I could try to make a post that mainly benefits the reader, rather than giving an update about my progress. For example, once a month, Dividend Diplomats make a post that tracks how the DGI did the previous month in terms of dividend income. That’s one of my favorite posts to look forward to. I realize it’s a lot of work, but it’s also beneficial to the community. So, I was thinking about doing something like that (not exactly the same thing obviously) to benefit the reader, beyond just posting about my progress. That is, something my readers can look forward to on a monthly basis, beyond the monthly dividend income report. I’ll be giving it some thought, but if you have any suggestions, please let me know.

Conclusion

Life is busy and sometimes we don’t even have time to stop and take a moment to reflect. But, those moments can be good. Remembering where we came from, where we are now, and where we are headed helps us remain focused and may even enable us to achieve our goals. I know I said it in the above post, but I just wanted to thank all my readers for your support. Thank you for reading my blog, encouraging me along the way, and for being an awesome member of the DGI Community.

Let me know your thoughts by commenting below.

17 thoughts on “A Moment To Reflect

  1. singledadmoney

    DP,

    That was a deep reflection and thanks for sharing your thoughts. Reading your blog and others in the community gives me hope and inspiration that the path I’m taking is doable. The personal discussion about normal life is the biggest contribution to me as a reader, so keep up the posts and know folks come back often for an update.

    Thanks for adding me on your resources tab.

    Brian
    singledadmoney recently posted…Beat Up But Paid For – What Do You Drive?My Profile

    Reply
    1. Dividend Portfolio Post author

      Thanks Brian, and I enjoy reading your blog too. We got to inspire each other.

      Reply
  2. Mr. ATM

    Great stuff! You are doing good, just don’t stop, keep moving forward. Hard work always pays off at the end.

    When I started in dividend investing, I didn’t know anything about blogging, I don’t even recall reading DGI stuff anywhere. I was just reading analyst’s reports and that’s how I realized I needed to focus on dividend investing.

    DGI community is very supportive or I may have left blogging all together by now. We all can use some encouragement every now and then.

    Take care and all the best to you,
    Mr. ATM
    Mr. ATM recently posted…My Dividend ParadiseMy Profile

    Reply
    1. Dividend Portfolio Post author

      Thanks for the encouragement Mr. ATM. When I learned about dividend investing, it just made sense. It’s like finding that one strategy that just suits me perfectly. It’s straightforward and passive and simple to understand. So, I’m with you there. I said this in the post but I love blogging. It’s a great outlet for me. And, I get to blog about one of my favorite investment strategies, namely, dividend investing. Life is good.

      Reply
  3. Stashing Dutchman

    Heya Dividend Portfolio. Thanks for the post. Looking back at the past and reflecting at what happened is definitely important. Blogging is a great way to stay motivated and connect with other people. The DGI community is truly amazing. Everyone is motivating each other and so supportive. This is also what I experienced when I started my own blog not so long ago.

    Don’t worry too much about providing additional value to your readers. A lot of the value comes from sharing your journey. I can’t speak for others, but for me this is why I follow other DGI’ers.

    – SD

    Reply
    1. Dividend Portfolio Post author

      Thanks SD. I appreciate it. Although, I think I have something in mind though for additional value. I’ll announce it in a couple of days probably.

      Reply
  4. Dividend Diplomats

    DP –

    Very honored to be mentioned here, first off. Secondly, this community is pretty fricken awesome, learning from one another, pushing, holding each other accountable and sharing in successes/failures along the way. Third, you are on a right path and keep pushing yourself beyond your limits, as that’s the only way to find your tipping point, keep pushing and be uncomfortable, that’s what it’s all about. Get after it DP, get after it.

    -Lanny

    Reply
    1. Dividend Portfolio Post author

      Thanks Lanny. Always a pleasure reading your comments. Thanks as always for the support.

      Reply
  5. Passivecanadianincome

    Woot congrats on your achievements in the top dividend blogs. Work keeps us all busy and the more i invest the more i want to be financially free to work half as much. Haha soon enough. Just got to keep your eye on the prize. I love the diplomats monthly post as well. Cough cough where is this months? =) looking forward to what monthly thing your gonna come up with.
    U keep keeping on!
    Passivecanadianincome recently posted…Dave Ramsey – Total Money MakeoverMy Profile

    Reply
    1. Dividend Portfolio Post author

      Thanks PCI. I’m going to announce it in a couple of days. I guess I could have waited until the beginning of the year, but no time like the present.

      Reply
  6. Dividend Daze

    Thanks for the shout out DP! I appreciate it. You are truly an esteemed member of the DGI community, and we are happy to have you with us. I think everyone around the end of the year does the same thing. Takes a step back to reflect over the past year and redefine goals for the upcoming year. It is easy to get burnt out with life happening so it’s important to stick to what you love to do. Blogging is for sure a nice creative outlet, great networking with the community, and a way to be held accountable, analyze your data, and push yourself to new heights. Think we are all looking for ways to provide more value to the community and our readers. Just keep doing what you are doing! Keep up the great work!

    Reply
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  8. Dividend Seedling

    DP,

    I love your blog. You always have interesting commentary and I feel like we’ve gone on a similar journey. I read your blog often. I don’t always comment because my new job is pretty intense. But you’ve definitely built something to be proud of. Congrats.

    Reply
    1. Dividend Portfolio Post author

      Thanks Seedling. No worries about not always commenting and I’m glad that you enjoy the blog. I enjoy reading yours as well!

      Reply
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