Goals

Last year I didn’t set any goals for the year because I knew I wasn’t likely to meet them. This year I’m more confident so I’m setting a couple of goals now and I might set some more later.

My first goal is to lose weight. I’ve tried to lose weight many times. I’ve had some limited success. Yet, I always end up gaining back any weight lost. This year I’m trying something different. I usually lose weight by eating less and exercising more, but I don’t actually change the way I eat. I still eat junk food, just a smaller amount.

To change that, I’m going to change the composition of my diet. I’m starting by cutting out chips and french fries. I’ll also have at least one fruit or vegetable every day. That doesn’t sound like much, but I usually don’t have any, so it is an improvement. I’m also going to have salads at least three times a week. I’m going to keep track of my daily calories. I’m not going to limit my calories yet. For now, I’m just trying to see what number of calories seems right.

I’ll also exercise daily. I bought a walking pad last month and I will use it every day. When I want to watch a show, I’ll do so while walking on the walking pad.

I now weigh 210 pounds and my first goal is to weigh 188 pounds. I got down to 188 pounds in 2022 so it should be possible to do so again. If I achieve this goal, my next goal will be to get my weight down to 170 pounds.

My second goal for the year is to fully fund my Roth IRA with money from bonuses. Since I’m over 50 years old I can contribute $8600 this year. I’ve been lazy about doing bonus deals and haven’t been making nearly as much money as I should. This goal will give me a little more incentive to do bonus deals. I will count money from bank bonuses, brokerage bonuses, sportsbook bonuses, and casino promos toward this goal. This also give me a reason to track how much I’m making from bonuses.

I’ll update at least once a quarter on how I’m progressing towards these goals. Depending on what else is going on in my life I will add some more goals. These seem like enough for now.

I made three goals for this year and I intended to have a monthly post detailing my progress on these goals. Since it is now November and this is only my second post on my goal progress, you would be correct to assume that I haven’t done well on achieving my goals.

My first goal was to add $10,000 to my savings. I have actually met this goal. I fully funded my Roth IRA for $8000 and I have added more than $2000 to my cash savings. This was easy to achieve since I have had full-time employment since May. Now that my wife is here in the United States with me I can work on long-term projects. My income will be quite a bit higher this year than the past few years.

My second goal was to lose weight. I’ve made negative progress on that goal. I started losing six pounds in January, but since then I have only gained weight. I now weigh a few more pounds than when I started the year. Working full-time I feel like I don’t have time to exercise. I know millions of people manage to work full-time and exercise so I need to do something. A lack of time can’t be used as an excuse for eating too much. My original goal of weighing less than 188.2 pounds is no longer realistic. Instead I am aiming to get my weight under 200 pounds. I’m setting some exercise and eating rules for myself that will help me do that.

My third goal was to run a half-marathon, with a stretch goal of running a marathon. It is too late for me to meet this goal this year. I would still like to get back into running, but I never make it a priority. I’m not going to make a new running goal for this year. I’ll think about making a new running goal next year.

One out of three isn’t very good. Maybe I can get to two out of three before the year is over. If I can manage that I will feel okay about my progress.

I have set three goals to achieve in 2024. I’ll review my progress towards the goals monthly. This is the second review.

My first goal is to add $10,000 to my savings. I made a little progress on this last month. I intend to eventually use most of these savings to max out my IRA for the year. For now, I’m keeping the money in a cash account in case I have unexpected large expenses with my wife’s visa and bringing her to the U.S.

My second goal is to lose weight. I did manage to lose six pounds in January, but I gained it all back in February. I have gained even more weight since then. It is easy for me to lose weight in Thailand, but I can’t seem to lose weight in the U.S. I have made some small changes to my diet and exercise. They haven’t been enough. I need to make some big changes. Unfortunately, I am having some anxiety over getting my wife’s visa and that makes me want to eat. I need to get in a better mindset before I can make big changes to my diet.

My third goal is to run a half marathon or marathon. I made only a tiny bit of progress on this goal. I have been having trouble sleeping, which leads to me being too tired to run. I’m hoping I can get on track and start running regularly this month.

I’m off to a slow start on meeting my goals. Last month, I did better on my financial goal and poorly on my other two goals. For the first two months, I am only making progress on one goal a month. I’m off to a poor start this month as well. I will try to make these goals more of a priority and make progress on at least two of my goals this month.

I have set three goals to achieve in 2024. I’ll review my progress towards the goals monthly. This is the first review.

My first goal is to add $10,000 to my savings. I haven’t made any progress on this goal. I’m hoping that I will find a job this month and be able to make at least a small contribution to my savings to get this goals started.

My second goal is to lose weight. I did manage to lose six pounds in January. I’m satisfied with that progress. I’ve gone backwards so far this month, but I feel confident I can get back on track and make more progress on this goal

My third goal is to run a half marathon or marathon. I didn’t really make any progress on this goal last month. I have joined a gym this month and aim to run on the treadmill most days. I’ve got a long way to go on this goal. I will make progress this month.

I’m off to a slow start on meeting my goals. That was expected since I was in Thailand in January. Living there helps my goal of losing weight, but it doesn’t help my other two goals. I will make better progress this month.

As 2023 comes to a close, it is time to make some goals for 2024. I haven’t accomplished a lot the past couple of years. I plan to change that in 2024.

My first goal is to add $10,000 to my savings. I intend to put most of that in a Roth IRA and the rest in a taxable account. Since I’ve been spending half of my time in Thailand the last couple of years, I haven’t made a lot of money. My wife should get to come to the U.S. sometime this spring. Once she is here I will focus on making and saving more money.

My second goal is to lose weight. In January 2022 I got my weight down to 188.2 pounds. My goal for 2024 is to weigh less than that. If I manage to get under 188 pounds with quite a bit of the year left I will shoot for a secondary goal of weighing under 180 pounds. I’m not sure when I last weighed under 180 pounds. It was probably sometime in the early 90’s. Getting my weight down that much would be a big accomplishment. I would have to get my weight down to 176 pounds for my BMI to no longer be in the overweight range. I currently weight 204.6 so I’ve got a long way to go.

In January, I will walk 5000 steps a day, cut out potato chips and other salty snacks, and increase my consumption of salads and fruit, in order to make progress towards my weight loss goal.

My third goal is to run a half marathon or marathon. I will start with training for the half marathon. If my knees hold up, I will train for a full marathon. I used to like running and I want to get where I enjoy running again. I won’t start training for this goal until the end of January when I return to the U.S.

There are some more goals I would like to accomplish, but for now I will just leave it at three goals so I can concentrate on them. If I have too many goals, I end up not working on any of them. With just three goals, and the second and third goal being complementary to each other it shouldn’t be difficult to focus on my goals.

That is what I have for now. I will provide updates as I make progress. What are your goals for the next year?