Bah! A post about New Year’s resolutions! How novel and creative!
NOT!
But tis’ the season, so I’m going to ask about them anyway. Before I do, I want to tell you how I’m approaching it.
Resolutions Suck (but…)
I’ve always disliked New Year’s resolutions. Why do we need a new year to make a new beginning? Start today, not on 1/1! Try to improve and reinvent yourself daily!
I realize that’s a lot to ask, so maybe taking stock annually is a good idea. Kind of like rebalancing your portfolio. But I’m still not going about it the typical way.
Instead, I’m dividing my year into 4 quarters. I’ll set a goal or goals for each quarter. Here are my primary ones:
Quarter 1: Improve Cardio Fitness/ Run a Half Marathon
This is the goal I announced last week. I’ll be running 13 miles with the Waffle couple and JD Roth.
Measuring success:
- Run the whole damn race: My time will not be good. If I can finish in under 2 hours, that will be a major accomplishment. So, my goal is to simply run the whole thing.
- Body fat below 14%: I hope my training gets my BMI to a healthier number.
Quarter 2: Strength Training
After my half marathon is over, I’m going to run less and lift more. I have no good reason for doing this except that I’m curious to see if I can put on muscle.
Measuring success: I’m not sure. I’ll probably attempt to put on 2 pounds per month. I’m going to see how the first month goes and take it from there.
Quarter 3: Happiness
Mrs. 1500 said something to me the other day that made me sad. Here is the story.
She showed me a picture we took the day after we got engaged. We were camping in a state park when I popped the question and the picture was one we took the next day.
Anyway, Mrs. 1500 said this wistfully:
I really like this picture. You look happy in it.
I haven’t been smiling a lot lately and Mrs. 1500’s statement about the picture was a reflection of that.
Measuring success: Dunno. Happiness is a tough nut to crack.
Quarter 4: Software
I left my job in April of 2017, so I don’t formally work as a software developer anymore. However, I still like to code and learn new programming languages, so I continue to work behind the keyboard. Mind you, I do it on my own terms.
Measuring success: When I figure out what I’m going to code, I’ll let you know.
What About You?
What do you have planned for 2018?
Will you run the half-marathon with us?
What else do you have planned?
Hey Boss. You sound a little like me. I did stumble across something the other day in my attempts to avoid social media — something about how a purposeful or purpose driven life is what leads to contentment and longevity, rather than “happiness”. NY Times I think had the article.
I bet you were smiling in that photo because you hadn’t been through years of the cubicle, screen-bound existence back then. Time to bring it back, man!
Good luck in the half-marathon!!!
“Time to bring it back, man!”
Right on!
Happiness waxes and wanes for most people. I really don’t know anyone who stays in a “happy state” consistently. There are those folks who appear that they do, but it’s likely they’re hiding something inside.
Think of how happy you will be swilling that first beer after your half-marathon….. happiness is on the way 🙂
Accidental FIRE recently posted…Comcast Raising Everyone’s Bill For Shits And Giggles
“Think of how happy you will be swilling that first beer after your half-marathon….”
Haha, yeah!
Re: happiness. I probably should have used a different word. I’ve been more stressed and too busy than I need to be. What is the fun of not having a job if life feels like a job? Anyway, I’m turning it down for 2018.
This year is all about pumping more money into savings. We have 2 Roths to max out, continue maxing the HSA, up the 401k % and increase the mortgage overpayment. If we have any $$ left it will be sent to a brokerage account!
We also are planning two trips and a bathroom remodel. Definitely have a busy 2018 ahead of us.
Now that I think about it the Ms. and I should try to get back into shape. Haven’t been running like we used to 🙁
Budget On a Stick recently posted…Simply Put Recipes: Chili
Nice plans! I hope your 2018 is the best ever!
Nice idea with the quarterly approach. It can be tiresome to write out all goals and the specific details. Additionally, so many things can change throughout the year. Your approach enables flexibility.
You need to be able count, quantify, or measure something in order to effectively gauge progress. As you mentioned, goal #3 – Happiness – can be hard to measure.
On your questions, I’m focusing on 3 goal areas:
1. Family & Friends
2. Personal Fitness & Health
3. Personal Finance
The details are still coming; some are finished though. – Mike
Mike @ Balanced Dividends recently posted…Balanced Dividends Passive Income Analysis: 2016 vs. 2017
Happy new year !
As for coding, are you developing your own projects or are you free-lancing since you FIREd ? If you free-lance, where do you look for interesting projects ?
cheers
I”m working on my own projects. A freelance project sounds too much like a job, although I might do it if the project was really interesting.
Which languages do you use in your projects ? Have fun bro !
Happiness isn’t that hard. You just relax and enjoy yourself. 😉
I made a bunch of goals this year. It works for me so I’m still doing it.
For health, I’ll focus on getting to the gym in Q1 and Q2. Then relax more in Q3 and Q4. Summer is really tough because the kid is out of school and winter is tough because of holidays.
Enjoy 2018!
Joe recently posted…What if you always maxed out your 401(k)
I agree with Joe. Happiness isn’t that hard, just decide you want to be happy, don’t sweat the small stuff, spend time with family and stay away from negative people.
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Thanks for that!
I have the same philosophy as you – when I want to do something I do it. So I use New Year’s as a time to reflect on the year, the changes, good and bad. It’s a good time to take stock. One realization I made is that I’m not making enough time for my writing – allowing myself to get sucked into too many social engagements. So instead I will be focus more on my writing and limiting (but not eliminating) my social time.
I’m going to enjoy my life a bit more and quit my day job in May of this year, next we go travel around Europe for 2 months. Not FI, but I’m going to try some new things on my terms instead of my boss’. No idea where the rest of the year will bring me (Mrs. will continue to work).
Team CF recently posted…December 2017 Dividend Update
I hope you still do some strength training this first quarter while you are training for the 1/2. It will help protect your bones and joints for all that running, plus muscle burns more fat than just doing cardio. I have a feeling you’d do great with any goals you set! Best of luck this year!
Tonya@Budget and the Beach recently posted…2018: The Year of Taking Chances
Yep, still doing weights, just not as hard and my diet isn’t focused on weight gain. Are you coming to Portland? Come on, do it!
Just one simple resolution…
Be in the moment.
See and feel what life is.
That’s a pretty great one!
Happiness, so true. I have found with work, traveling for work, a new house that I have also lost some happiness. I plan to focus on be happy this year.. I had started to run again last year and gave in up before winter came. I plan on starting it again, Although I don’t see a half marathon in my future, maybe a 5K. I also have my overall financial goals, but still need to hash out a few details around them.
Best of luck on your 2018 goals.
FIbythecommonguy recently posted…December 2017: Net Worth Update #9
I like the item “Happiness”. One of my goals for this year is to smile more, and enjoy more about my half-glass full. It won’t cost a penny, and is good for myself and my family. I’ll try to push my Spanish to the next level. Losing weight is on my list, a tough one, will give it a try.
Please move happy to quarter 1, 2, 3 and 4. Everything else will benefit from it.
I find my happiness on the Pickleball court and think everyone should try it. Usapa.org for locations I’m sure they are playing near you. Exercise, competition and laughter. All you need are flat bottomed tennies and a borrowed racquet to start. Email me if you want more info.
I am doing my resolution a little different this year. It keeps me in-check daily and can change daily also. My resolution is to write down and accomplish my top 3 of the day. So far running, alcohol free days (I work at a brewery), and no food after 7 have topped the list most days. It has felt so GREAT to cross them off my list each night. The extra energy I get from accomplishing my daily goals so far ripple down into achieving goals that didn’t make the list. I LOVE the flexibility of being able to change my goals each day. I can format my goals to accommodate my daily schedule.
Alcohol-free days at a brewery! Talk about temptation!
I like your idea of the daily list. Crossing stuff off always feels good!
“Please move happy to quarter 1, 2, 3 and 4.”
I thought of this about 2 seconds after I published the post, but your statement reinforces it. Completely agree.
Pickleball looks like fun. I know they have it at my rec center, but I think it’s only for seniors…
Happy new year, 1500s! When it comes to happiness, I don’t think you should put too much pressure on it. Do things you enjoy, hang out with people you love. Not everything has to be measured 🙂
My goals/resolutions this year are to read 100+ books (I read 135 in 2017, and I’ve already read 6 in 2018, so I fully believe I can do this!), write stuff not related to my day job, max out my 401(k) again (I’m on track to hit $100K in retirement savings by age 30 if I keep maxing that out), get another tattoo (or two!), cook more than I eat out (which is not going so well so far), leave my apartment more regularly (which will be easier when it isn’t negative a billion degrees), and donate more $$. It’s all stuff I actually want to do, I’m so done with setting goals/resolutions of shit I think I should do, even though I don’t want to.
Erin! Long time, no talk!
“a negative billion degrees!” Hilarious!!
I love your goal of 100+ books! I love reading, but 2017 became so busy, I don’t think I even made it through 10. So yeah, I need to back off a bit and start making time for stuff I truly enjoy.
$100,000 by 30 is awesome! Keep killing it!
I hope your 2018 is your best yet!
I am moving away from quantifyable goals and focus on changes in behavior (one at a time) which should lead to the desired big goal but in a more sustainable way. Big goal this year is losing weight.
Old approach would have been: I want to lose 20 kg this year, so that is 2 kg a year (with 2 months buffer). Then starting to do more exercises and watching the diet all together. Weighing myself every month, then losing motivation because I do not meet my monthly goals and after three months just quitting.
New approach is goal 1: get swimming back to 3 x a week for 2km, goal 2: stop drinking soda drinks (stopped coca cola completely) last year. Once those behavior changes are well ingrained I will move on to the next ones, … one or two at a time and normally the weight loss should follow from those changes in behavior …
financialfreedomsloth recently posted…2017 full year recap
Hmm… nice picture of some pelicans. It’s almost like your hinting at something Carl….
Anyway, I’m not a New Year’s resolutions kind of guy. I think most people give up on them after a month or two. I think they lack discipline.
So my big thing is finding something I can be disciplined about — Financial goals are pretty easy because I’m always tracking the numbers. But other things (like eating better) aren’t so easy to be disciplined about.
How are you going to measure your happiness Carl? Is there a tape-measure for that?
Mr. Tako recently posted…December 2017 Dividend Income And Expenses
I suggest staying away from any goal involving “weight”. Any weight loss or gain should simply be a secondary result of another healthy lifestyle choice. A better goal would be to gain 20 pounds personal best on your back squat or bench press rather than “gain weight”.
Makes sense. If I manage to run the half in under 2 hours, I’m sure I’ll have met my BMI goals anyway.
I do New Year’s Resolutions every year. I have a decent batting average on them, so I find them useful/helpful for thinking about where I want to go/what I need to do/focus on in terms of improving myself.
So this year?
1. I have some professional goals that I won’t get into, but basically all focused on improving organization/record-keeping.
2. For the past 2 years, I’ve quit alcohol for January (“Drynuary”). I’m doing that again, but really trying to carry it on longer — I need to cut back on drinking for a wide variety of reasons, so once Drynuary ends, I’ll move to keep my drinking much less in volume and frequency (still not sure exactly of the parameters here, though).
3. I need to drop some weight, so I’ll be hitting the gym more/cutting back on bad foods. Again, need some more focus here in terms of making the goals actionable/measurable, but I figure Drynuary will give me a jump on the losing weight part and I can spend some time coming up with a good plan on working out/fitness/eating to get in place by February/March.
4. Quitting Twitter. I’m sick of how much time I waste there, and the type of person I am when I’m using it. So I quit when I went home for Christmas, and I’ve been legitimately happier ever since.
5. Read books on my commute, listen to podcasts only when running errands/doing chores/working out. I found that I was doing a lot less reading because of my podcast addiction — so time to focus more on reading and less on podcasts. Making decent progress here.
6. I also have a net worth target I’m shooting for. I missed my goal last year (though it was a bit ambitious, and we ended up pretty close — despite my wife being on maternity leave for 6 months, I would have hit it but for a year end bonus being a bit lighter than hoped for, a situation that should remedy itself in 2018), but this year I’m/we’re going to blow it out of the water.
Nice goals. With the exception of a couple friends who are visiting, I’m quitting alcohol too until my half-marathon.
Best of luck on all of your goals!
I highly recommend you check out Jeff Galloway’s Run Walk Run method to complete your Half Marathon Goal. I’ve used it now after being a non-stop runner and it is amazing what you can accomplish without having the long history/background training in running.
Here’s my podcast on my meeting him and taking one of his Running Schools: http://katenesi.com/jeff-galloways-run-walk-run-llp007
Kate recently posted…Frugal for the Holidays (Part 2) – LLP011
I’m running half marathons in April, June, and October! I’ve been running for 9 years now and my goal is still to crack 2:10 in the half….I like to think I’m getting more out of my entrance fees, compared to faster people.
Good luck with your run!
Nice! Come run one in March with us too! 🙂
I like to make goals, but I think for my personal goals I’ll be moving to more monthly goals this year instead of new year’s resolutions. I find it so hard to predict where the year will take me, and this year (with baby on the way) I especially don’t know what the future will hold for me, so I’m going to take it month-by-month as much as I can…
Good luck in the half marathon. I haven’t broken the 2 hour mark yet, but that was always my ultimate goal… In the meantime, my goal was to run the whole time, except when I made it to a water station… Figured that choking on my water and not being able to continue because I wasn’t allowed to stop would defeat the purpose… Or maybe I’m just lazy…
Jena recently posted…Financial Goals for 2018
“Figured that choking on my water and not being able to continue because I wasn’t allowed to stop would defeat the purpose… Or maybe I’m just lazy…”
Hilarious! I hope I don’t accidentally choke on my water and have to stop too! 🙂
I usually have a running list of SMART goals… anywhere from 1 – 4ish at a time…as one is accomplished and/or a new habit is formed, I add in another one…
I’ve found that having too many new things all at once is distracting (unless I’m relocating & switching jobs, then I can trick myself into doing a whole lot of new habits all at once)….
Just before Thanksgiving, I started with a personal trainer 3 days a week (5:30-6:30am) for weights, balance, etc… so now that I’ve had six plus weeks to make that a habit, I’m layering in cardio the other 3 days a week (1 rest day) since I’m up early anyway, using the Couch to 5K app. I have about 13 weeks until the Portland race, so I figure I will be able to run at least half of the 10k and walk/run the rest.
January is no alcohol, because I got tired of seeing my hard work training being offset by mindless empty calories… I want my alky to be a treat again that I savor, not something I mindlessly consume whilst reading.
And because it’s fun, I’m following Liz’s Uber Frugal Month Challenge again from Frugalwoods, to dive deeper into spending optimization and focus harder on needs vs wants… David on Raptitude recently wrote about going deeper not wider into interests in 2018 and I think that’s my overarching theme for goals for the year.
Along with lots of other folks above, I encourage you to keep happiness always in your present list… maybe start with how you define it for yourself… utter joy is arguably impossible to maintain day in / day out, but contentment, well being, peace, calmness, (pick an adjective) are all part of happiness…
Yep, “happiness” wasn’t the best word to use. “Contentment” is much better. In any case, defining it is a wonderful idea that I’ve never thought about.
I like the no alcohol goal. I’m going mostly without alcohol until 3/31. I say “mostly” because I’ll make an exception when beer-obsessed friends visit. Even then, I’m going easy. I hope to consume no more than 10 drinks between now and the half marathon.
Best of luck to you in 2018!
Oh, and here’s an article you all might find interesting by David DeSteno
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/29/opinion/sunday/the-only-way-to-keep-your-resolutions.html?_r=0
It’s about keeping resolutions, not by will power alone, but by framing them as acts of sacrifice or gratitude to ourselves or others, compassion, etc….the argument being that we evolved as social creatures where that was important vs will power alone….
Those are some solid goals! You’ll be happy once that half marathon is behind you 🙂
This year I’m committed to only doing work that I”m happy to do. Kind of a quasi-retirement with training wheels.
Hey Carl – I am surprised not to see any money goals 😉 being a finance blog and all. I guess the coding thing could eventually turn into money. Whatever happened to the software project you were working on a while back?
I think I will pass on the half marathon, but good luck!
Here are my goals for 2018:
(1) Strengthen my relationship with Mrs. GYFG
(2) Dress the part. Since getting promoted to the C-Suite earlier this year, I have been slowly making a transition to level up with my professional appearance.
(3) Increase net worth to $825,000 (stretch goal is $1M).
(4) Weigh 203 lbs (I currently weigh 233 lbs and need to lose 30 lbs).
(5) Negotiate $25,000 to $75,000 pay raise. COMPLETED; ENDED WITH $75K INCREASE
The only other big plan is to try to make a baby GYFG in 2018.
Happy New Year!
Dom
p.s. I would also like to find a way to get half the amount of comments you get on my own blog.
Gen Y Finance Guy recently posted…December 2017 – Detailed Financial Report #36 – Net Worth $664,391 | Income $30,682
Dom!
The coding project is still going on! It took longer than I expected, but it’s almost done. Thanks for remembering!
A 75K increase? Whoah! Congratulations! Can I have some money? 🙂
And man, your observation about not having money goals is a good one; one that even I failed to notice. This is a good thing though. As my net worth has gone up, the amount of time I spend thinking about money has faded into the background. This is a good thing because I used to be obsessed with it.
I’m going to have to disagree that the picture has nothing to do with the post. Whenever you’re looking back to see how you’re coming on your new year’s goals, just ask yourself… “Am I a peli-CAN, or a peli-CAN’T?!?”
Mrs PoP recently posted…PoP 2017 Spending Summary
Haha, awesome!!!
Glad to see you’re setting yourself up for this. Goals are great to have!
Let’s start knocking the miles out.
No beer? Oh they taste so good after the long runs.
No beer. Yep. I really want to get down to a solid weight. During the week, I see my weight steadily decline, only to rebound when I have beers on the weekend. There isn’t any way I’ll be able to run the thing in 2 hours unless I’m near 150.
Someone shared a goal setting document with me, it was 167 pages! My first goal of 2018 is to find a shorter goal setting document!
I’m serious though. I’ve never set personal goals. I’ve set plenty of financial goals but not really personal goals. I know setting financial goals can be super powerful but for some reason I never took the same approach with my personal life. Something I’ll change this year.
Owen @ PlanEasy recently posted…Break Bad Spending Habits: Do A No Spend Month
167 pages! Come on now!
Whoops, I exaggerated a bit, it was 120 pages, still though.
Owen @ PlanEasy recently posted…Break Bad Spending Habits: Do A No Spend Month
Still, waaaaaay too many pages!
My goal is to find creative ways to paying down my Line of Credit (HELOC), instead of taking 30yrs to pay off. After this has been paid off, I can focus on using my LOC to purchase my next income producing rental property. I purchased my first investment property last year (Dec2016) and so far have been doing just fine. I plan on having a total of 3 investment properties before I turn 30 (currently 28 as of Oct 2017). Wish me luck!!!
3 investment properties by 30? That’s awesome! Imagine where you’ll be when you’re 40!
I am intrigued by your idea of dividing your year into quarters. I think it reduces the stress of having to think of a big goal for the entire year, which forces us to sometimes set unrealistic expectation. By breaking it into quarters, you are more likely to set realistic goals since you are only looking at three months. One of the things that has helped me a lot is learning the skill of forming habits. In my opinion, it’s one of the most underrated tools in helping you achieve success. If you can will yourself into starting something and sticking with it, for at least 21 days until it becomes a habit, you will find that taking on challenges become an exercise in trying to get a habit to stick.
“By breaking it into quarters, you are more likely to set realistic goals since you are only looking at three months.”
Yep. It also allows me to pivot and make adjustments to future quarters.
And hell yeah on habits! A one-time cost for a lifetime of change.
So true. Definitely going to adopt that for this year and see how it goes. I am sure it will take the pressure off and let me focus more on the short term goal ahead. And those can sometimes add up into a long term goal. I guess it’s all about how you wrap you mind around it.
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This is a great help to start 2018! thanks for sharing this tip, I might do the fitness marathon for number 1 goal or
hiring a personal trainer to help us boost my fitness goal! thanks for sharing!
This year, I’ll be focusing on these things in order: health, family, career and finances.
I have a bad case of a migraine, and my stomach acts up a lot but exercising, getting enough rest and having a balanced diet helped me stay healthy most of the time last year. I was into circuit training, yoga, boxing and spinning classes. Everything was going perfectly until the holidays. I enjoyed myself too much and now it’s a bit of a struggle for me to get back on track. I swear, I’ll start getting back in shape next week.
Regarding finances, I plan to stay on a budget this year, pay more debts and use my credit card less. Also, I will update the status of my life insurance. I didn’t pay my premiums for a year and I hope I can continue paying for my policy. I’m also starting my research on long term care insurance. It’s too early for me to get one but I just want to explore my options and be ready.
Anyone here who has invested in cryptocurrency? I have mutual funds and stocks, but I’m curious about BitCoin. I think I’m going to try it this year.
Thanks for this inspiring post!
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I read somewhere that to be truly happy you need three things: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.