I’ve never been one to follow through with resolutions. I think, as a rule, no one really follows through with them. Most resolutions are something like “work out more” or “stop smoking”. And then when people inevitably fail by mid-January, they call the whole year a loss. No judging here, I resolved to quit smoking like 3 times. I ended up quitting mid-week in the month of June (2012).
That said, I am setting goals for the new year. Goals that cannot be derailed by a couple of slip-ups. Goals that are cross-off-able. It’s my blog, I’ll make up words if I want to. I am also keeping my goals list super short this year (only 3!) as to not overwhelm myself.
FINANCIAL — Increase net worth by $25,000
For my net worth calculations I am using retirement accounts less debts. After talking it over with my favorite hardass, Johnny Moneyseed, I decided to exclude the value of my car and my cash savings, as the value of the car is not guaranteed and the savings will eventually be spent (mostly in the short-term).
My net worth is really negative now and will continue to be really negative even if I reach this goal. That’s cool. It will be less negative and we celebrate small victories around here. Usually with wine. And Chipotle. (For which our next 3 and a third visits will be free thanks to a Christmas gift card! Thanks, Aunt Peg!)
Break it down: average of $2,083.33 a month (less any interest and dividends earned on retirement accounts)
EDUCATIONAL/SELF IMPROVEMENT — Read 36 books (12 must be non-fiction)
I love reading, but I tend to gravitate towards fictional books. While I will never stop reading fiction (nor should I), I also want to get a good balance of non-fiction books. Mostly I’d like to focus on those dealing with productivity and finance.
Break it down: average of 3 books a month — 2 fiction, 1 non-fiction
HEALTH — Walk an average of 10,000 steps per day
I am the worst person in the world at keeping up with any sort of exercise plan. Mostly because I hate the majority of exercise. However, I do like walking and I walk pretty much everywhere. I would like to make sure I’m walking the recommended number of steps daily, which is 10,000 (or about 5 miles), especially since I work at home and it’s really easy to just sit on my butt all day.
To assist me, I used a Christmas gift card to buy a pedometer on Amazon.
Break it down: average of 10,000 steps a day (obviously)
So those are my three goals for 2014, all easy to quantify and cross-off-able should I achieve them (although the last one won’t be cross-off-able until the end of the year). I’ll use the “break it down” amount of these goals as my monthly goals this year and update you on a monthly basis whether or not I’m on track. Wish me luck increasing my net worth, getting educated, and walking my ass off.
To quote anyone under the age of 10 or over the age of 70, “See you next year!”
[Image from WiffleGif]
