My Approach to 2024 Goal Setting
I’ve had mixed results accomplishing New Year’s resolutions. Envisioning my future self, I normally pick too many goals, thinking “all I have to do is complete this list of things and I’ll be where I want to be.” However, life rarely works that way. To start, my future self will always be a work in progress. Secondly, as an evolved tool user, I’m a big believer in building upon your goals to make future success more likely. I need to focus on what goals will move all of my aspirations the furthest ahead. And lastly, I have responsibilities with family and work that need to take precedent sometimes.
So I plan on taking a more structured approach this year. Documenting my goals on Medium (albeit anonymously) will help keep me on track and fulfill my need to write more. So let’s get started.
Current State
Before discussing 2024 goals it is first important to document my current state. I could write mountains on this. However, I’m going to approach this by answering a few questions:
How is your health?
I’m 51 years old, so my health has been a prominent topic for me. I’m 5’8” and weigh about 200 lbs. I suffer from a bad knee, which ended my running workouts 10 years ago. One of my goals last year was to swim better. I’ve been going to the local pool about 3 days a week and it has done wonders for my knee and general well being. However, I haven’t lost any weight with this exercise.
I also suffer from chronic heartburn and ultimately pneumonia caused by acid reflux or GERD. This is caused by an imbalance in my gut bacteria as well as carrying too much weight. In the past I have found relief from these symptoms in following a FODMAP diet. This also helped me lose some weight as well. However, for the past few years I have been using Omeprazole to manage these symptoms, like so many others. I really want to stop relying on this drug.
Other than that, I’m starting to feel my age with stiff muscles, the random chronic ache, and a few varicose veins. Doctor also says my cholesterol and related lipids are elevated just out of acceptable range.
How is your career?
I work from home running a small business. I love my job and the people I work with. However, I sometimes have trouble keeping my energy level up. One thing I enjoy about exercise (swimming) is it makes me more productive for the rest of the day.
How are your finances?
My finances are OK. I make good money. My wife and I own a nice home. We bought a sailboat a few years ago and enjoy being on the water. I have a decent 401k saved up from a previous job. However, I’m horrible at saving as new bills keep showing up. My house account has about one additional month of expenses it could cover without any additional paychecks and our credit cards always have a hefty balance on them. So while I’m making everything work, I’m not really ready for the unexpected.
I do have a family inheritance I’ll be receiving at some point this year. I want to be smart about what to do with this money. We either want to invest it in our kid’s education, or something that will allow us to help pay our children’s college loans throughout their twenties.
How is your home environment?
I spend alot of time at our homestead. We built it about 12 years ago and I work from a home office. We have a modest garden, some chickens, and a few acres of land. The one thing I can say is my home isn’t new anymore and requires constant upkeep. Finishing projects; drywall mudding; painting; adding another bathroom; building a pantry; tractor repairs, installing a pond; maybe building a barn/airbnb These are all projects my wife and I talk about and slowly make headway on. We have a workshop and are somewhat handy with tools. However, it’s difficult to find the time to work on house projects.
How is your family?
My wife and I have two children. The oldest just started college, but is nearby. Our second is in highschool. I wish we had more time and money for family adventures while they are still relatively young.
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My extended family fell apart this past year with the death of the family patriarch, my father. Let’s just say all his children couldn’t agree on his care during the last few years of his life. So I don’t have a great relationship with my siblings. However, my kids do have relationships with their cousins. I want to help foster those connections.
What do you do for fun?
I’m a guitarist and used to be an active singer songwriter. However, with the last decade focusing on my kids, I’ve lost most of my playing friends. So now I play at home, alone. I also enjoy sailing in the summers. My wife is my copilot and the children (sometimes begrudgingly) join us. Sailing and being on the water is absolutely my happy place. In 4 years when my youngest goes to college, my wife and I hope to spend part of our years in the Caribbean.
Desired Future State
Now that you know a little about me, I want to back into my 2024 goals. To do this, I’m going to envision what the future looks like.
5 Year Vision
In five years, my wife and I will have an established routine of spending 4 months of the year traveling the world on our sailboat and the rest of the year at home managing the gardens, reaping harvest, and spending holidays with family on our homestead. While we are traveling, we will make money off our property as an Airbnb. I will continue to manage my business in a reduced capacity, author a few books (my form of immortality), and play and record music.
3 Year Vision
In three years, my wife and I have completed the majority of our home projects and instead focus on maintenance schedules for our property, our vehicles, and tools. We owe no money on credit cards, have 6 months of expenses in savings, and a robust vacation fund to enjoy time with our children. Improved health and reclaimed athleticism makes these vacations extremely enjoyable. We have developed the skills and certifications to charter and sail boats anywhere in the world and completed one sailboat charter vacation. Anytime we are on vacation, we rent out our house. In addition, I will maintain a leisurely music performance schedule (one show a month) and publish an article each year.
1 Year Vision
In one year, I will be at my ideal weight of 165 lbs, balancing a healthy diet with hiking, swimming, and *hopefully* running. My workshop will be fully set up to manage all property projects efficiently (without having to look for tools). All credit card balances will be paid off and we have two months of expenses in savings. We built a large pond on the property to support wildlife, swimming, and flood mitigation. We are finalizing our plans and ready to break ground on a barn/airbnb building on the property in the spring. I will also complete recording all of the songs I have written to date to keep a record and showcase my work to other musicians.
And that brings me to my goals for 2024. To achieve all I want to accomplish, I will need goals that transform into habits to build on in the next year. So I’m focusing on changes that will create the most efficiencies for the future vision.
My 2024 Goals
- Achieve and maintain a weight of 165 lbs through diet and exercises that allow me to have more fun and not take GERD medicine anymore.
- Make Sunday “project day” to organize, repair, and build anything on the property.
- Establish Wednesday music night to record one song a month with home studio and self publish “album” locally by end of the year.
To measure my success this year, I’ll be writing more about each of these goals and my progress. I hope this is useful to anyone reading.
Until next,
E
