2024 New Year's Resolutions & Goals

New Year, New Goals.

Mostly, at least. A lot of the goals my wife and I set for ourselves we roll over from year to year.

This will be the seventh year I’ve made a post with these goals. Here’s the previous six:

• 2023 New Year’s Resolutions & Goals
• 2022 New Year’s Resolutions & Goals
• 2021 New Year’s Resolutions & Goals
• 2020 New Year’s Resolutions & Goals
• 2019 New Year’s Resolutions & Goals
• 2018 New Year’s Resolutions & Goals

Generally, I organize my goals by abstract, non-SMART goals. Each abstract goal has a concrete, SMART, or at least semi-SMART component.

My typical abstract goals are Improve Our Finances, Improve My Health, Improve Personally & Professionally, and Improve Our Parenting Skills. You can see them below under the same headers.

For the most part, this post (and all the other goal posts) focus on me; I’m not one to post my children a lot on social media, and I am also respecting my wife’s privacy.

Improve Our Finances

• Max out our Roth IRAs ($7,000 each in 2022)
  • Roughly $583.33 each per month, or $1,166.66 total per month.
• Max out our employer Roth 401(k) accounts ($23,000 each in 2022)
  • I make over six figures, so I set my payroll deductions to 23%.
• Max out my i401(k) account (roughly 20% of any self-employment income)
  • I’ve still got around $30 to contribute for the 2023 tax year, but I have until tax day to do it.
• $40 per kid per month to their 529 accounts
• Max out the Ohio tax benefit for the kids’ 529 accounts ($4,000 per kid)
  • That’s roughly $333.33 per kid per month, or $666.66 per month total.

Improve My Health

• Weigh between just under 200 lbs and 190 lbs
  • I intend to keep an average weekly calorie deficit of 3,500 calories.
  • Workdays, that is, Monday through Friday, I intend to average a 700 calorie deficit
  • Weekends I intend to average at-maintenance (i.e. no deficit and no excess).
  • Once my weight is fluctuating between 190 lbs and 200 lbs, I’ll re-evaluate.
• Run a 5k non-stop
• Run a 5k in less than 30 minutes
• Run non-stop for 30 consistently
  • I run every work day during my lunch break. Towards the end of the year last year I was walking five minutes, running thirty, than walking another five, and I was starting to be able to do this regularly. However, I got sick between Thanksgiving and Christmas, plus watched the kids between Christmas and New Years, so I’ve gotten a little behind.
• Do some sort of at-home strength training (push-ups, crunches, squats, etc) every work day around 2pm.

Last year I had a more measurable strength goal (namely, bench press 50%, 75%, and 100% of my weight). I am able to bench press over 100 lbs (which is about 50% of my weight). I need to rethink if 100%, or 200 lbs, is reasonable.

Improve Personally & Professionally

• Finish at least one book a month
  • I’m not going to increase this because I don’t want to mark a book read just to meet this goal.
• Attend at least one conference or other networking event
• Donate blood as much as possible
  • Last year I donated 5 times.
  • In 2022 I donated 4 times.
  • I just donated on January 4th.
  • That means I’ve donated 10 times so far.

Improve Our Parenting Skills

• Read to the kids everyday
• Hike as a family at least twice monthly.
• Volunteer at church at least once.
• Seven or more date nights
• Eat out no more than once a week as a family.
  • We’ve been eating out less than this recently.
• Maximum of two hours of screen time a day for the kids - and only on weekends.
  • We go a Nintendo Switch for Christmas - so far the timer on the Parental Controls is working well to encourage my son to stop playing when the time is up.
  • Plus, I always play with him.
• Improve parenting skills by reading a book or taking a parenting class

So there you have it. Is there anything you’d suggest I add? Do you have any goals for this year?