My 2010 Comprehensive List Of New Years Resolutions

What are your New Year Resolutions? It seems to be so easy to make resolutions but even easier to abandon them as the year passes by. My main goal for the year is to stay motivated to complete all of my resolutions for the year. I plan to do that by giving you a monthly update as to my progress on these goals below. Ultimate accountability! I would ask that you help me by keeping me accountable. You can do that by actively participating in the comments section of each “Resolution Tracker” update post. Thank you and I hope each and everyone of you have a wonderful and prosperous debt free 2010!!

Resolution

Reflections In 2009

  • Led Financial Peace University #2 at my church.
  • Mentioned on Cnn.com! (Walking Away From Credit Cards โ€“ by Jim Cavanaugh)
  • Went from 41 subscribers in May to just over 400 in December!
  • Celebrated 5 year anniversary with my beautiful wife!
  • Started writing for the Self Reliance Exchange.
  • Public Speaking appearance at Sweet Briar College!
  • Became DEBT FREE baby!
  • Bradley Isaac saved, spent, and gave for the first time!
  • Joseph Noah was born!!
  • Joined Extraordinary Life Network.
  • Guest lectured to The Psychology of Money and Wealth class at local community college.
  • Agreed to lecture at future classes as a paid guest. (Woo hoo!)

2010 New Year Resolutions

Looking for accountability for at least 8 weeks of the new year? If you are a subscriber to Enemy of Debt, I am willing to GIVE YOU $100 for going over to Engaged Marriage and signing up to complete his 8 week challenge. You only have until January 5th to sign up. Right now the chances of winning $100 are 1 in 5!! What the heck are you waiting for?? You MUST be a subscriber to Enemy of Debt to be eligible! (Follow the directions in the link provided above.)

Financial

  • Save $13,500 to complete our emergency fund of $15k! (Finish Baby step 3)
  • Fund $500 for the wife to replenish her much needed wardrobe. (She sacrificed big-time while we were paying off debt!)
  • Pave the way for aggressive retirement funding. (Goal – To start doing this by at least December of 2010.)
  • Open an ESA (Education Savings Account) for Isaac. (Have money put aside already, one of his Christmas gifts was to do this. Now I actually have to open it. My dad will also be contributing to this fund, when I stop procrastinating.) ๐Ÿ™‚
  • Save $400 to help my daughter with the cost of her school trip to Europe in the summer.
  • Stay on top of my sinking funds and fund them accordingly.
  • Limit eating out to only twice a month for budgeting purposes. (got out of hand in 2009)
  • Continue to give every dollar a name before the month begins. (fell short a couple of times in 2009.)
  • Increase income significantly!

Health/Fitness (Have you checked out Improve Yourself! 2010? I have! Dustin has come up with a great way to build community, provide accountability, and motivate us all to improve something in our lives. There are prizes, and it is absolutely FREE to join. Go check it out.)

Here are my fitness goals for 2010, and what I will be focusing on for Improve Yourself! 2010.

  • Limit eating out to only twice a month max. (also a financial goal)
  • Get back on the Weight Watchers point system.
  • Commit to at least 2 hours of exercise per week. (4 days)
  • Complete the Improve Yourself! 2010 Challenge.
  • Reach my weight loss goal before years end.

Personal Development

  • Improve my time management skills.
  • Better organize my daily, weekly, and monthly tasks.
  • Learn to Eat That Frog! (stop procrastinating as much)
  • Try and be more patient when behind the wheel.
  • Listen to 12 personal development audio books. (study one a month)

Marriage

  • Attend a marriage retreat with my beautiful wife.
  • Surprise my wife by taking her to at least one play.
  • Work harder to make my wife feel as important as she is.
  • Work harder to be a better listener.
  • Set up a regular date night at least once a month.
  • Complete the Love Dare.

Fatherhood

  • Continue to teach my 3 year old about the importance of saving, spending, and giving.
  • Take advantage of any and all teachable moments that may present themselves.
  • Go out of my way to find the good my kids do and praise them heavily for it.
  • Strive to be the example that my children will undoubtedly follow.
  • Even though I will be busier in 2010 than 2009, continue to make time for doing special activities.

Spiritual

  • Lead my family and be the example I should be.
  • Make time in the morning to read my Bible daily.
  • Give more to our church now that we are debt free.
  • Coordinate Financial Peace University #3.
  • Sign up for two Bible Study groups.
  • Continue as a volunteer, coaching people financially for my church’s Mercy Ministries Team.

Career/Education

  • Complete 6 classes debt free.
  • Read at least 12 non-fiction books. (one a month)
  • Start saving to become certified as a financial counselor and an ELP through Dave Ramsey.
  • Work on comprehensive business plan for EOD Financial Coaching.
  • Grow my Logos4You side business.

Enemy of Debt

  • Engage subscribers more actively.
  • Reach 2000 subscribers.
  • Reorganize and update the “New To EOD” page. (Any ideas?)
  • Become a household name amongst people wanting to get out of debt.
  • Build an active and supportive EOD community. (currently taking notes from Dustin at Engaged Marriage)
  • Publish EOD Deluxe Budget 3.0

Series To Expect In 2010 On Enemy of Debt

  • The Great Credit Card Debate (I am SUPER excited about this one and already have people lined up to participate.)
  • Christmas Stimulus 2010 (gonna require quarterly participation from readers to be eligible to win $300 in December)
  • “I’ve Become Debt Free” Questionnaire Series
  • Take Action Series (monthly but possibly bi-weekly)
  • Net Worth Series (Budgets Are Sexy is the man in this area, I will be following his lead!)
  • 2010 Resolution Tracker Series. (monthly)

Next resolution post update will list the milestones that I will have for each month of the year! These milestones will provide me with some quick wins along the way to keep me motivated. Just like with the debt snowball, I believe the motivation received from accomplishing a goal or paying off a debt is priceless and essential to success.

What are your financial resolutions? milestones? Get a plan!

About Brad Chaffee

31 Responses to “My 2010 Comprehensive List Of New Years Resolutions”

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  1. Great comprehensive list of goals Brad! Well done! U should go watch Vice Vaugh in “Couples Retreat” and have a blast!

    Good luck in 2010!

    • Brad Chaffee says:

      Thanks for the recommendation man! It looks funny! Looks like I will get to rent it the day after my birthday. It releases on February 9th. I wish it was playing at the theaters here. We are considering going to see Avatar. ๐Ÿ˜€

      • “Vice Vaugh” lol… oops.

        BTW, what is your exact weight loss goal? Curious since you put it out there.

        • Brad Chaffee says:

          Umm, well I was slightly extremely embarrassed to mention it here but okay.

          I want to weight 210 by the end of the year. After many failed attempts, and some temporarily successful ones, I plan to make 2010 different. Right now I am 6’1″ and weigh 280 so I plan to lose 70 pounds. (eeeek!) ๐Ÿ™‚ Did I just say that out loud. LOL

          It doesn’t matter though my friend because this is the year it will happen right? I am gonna need some support for sure. Losing weight has been harder than quitting smoking. (did that FINALLY, and FOR GOOD, just over two years ago.)

  2. the Dad says:

    Wow! I feel totally inadequate now. Thanks, Brad.

    Just kidding! Great list and very inspirational.

    • Brad Chaffee says:

      You’re not inadequate I’m just a freak. LOL Now I just need to be a freak about accomplishing them and 2010 will be a great year for me! Thanks for checking them out! Happy New Year!

  3. Wow at this list, I thought I was doing good with 3 goals lol. Good job, be back I need to go revamp mine lol

  4. Sam says:

    Wow! That’s quite a list of goals! Good luck with all of it! ๐Ÿ™‚

    • Brad Chaffee says:

      Thanks Sam! I know if I do it, success will be mine. There are some bold goals and items to accomplish but even if I only complete 3/4’s of it, life will be pretty awesome! ๐Ÿ™‚

  5. b trader says:

    wow i’ve never had that many goals in my life i think. makes me think about trying a lil harder

    • Brad Chaffee says:

      My homeboy Brian! What’s up man? So good to hear your thoughts man! I honestly have never had a list like that myself. This is a first. I have made goals, but never have I decided to put together such a detailed list. You have not seen anything yet. On Monday I will hit you up with part two to this goal setting post. Trying to give people clear ways to make things happen!

      Can’t wait to hang out with you again man! Modern Warfare 2 anyone? ๐Ÿ™‚

  6. Angie says:

    Whoa – those are some lofty goals! Good luck with all of them.

    • Brad Chaffee says:

      Lofty is my middle name…haha. LOL Sorry I am a goofball and I couldn’t resist! Thanks for the good wishes. I will be sure to keep you updated throughout the year.

  7. Sweet, man! I am very excited for you and VERY ready to help you be accountable for the next 8 weeks and then through your monthly updates.

    You have a LOT of great goals here. Have you broken them down to smaller chunks of time like you did with your fitness goals in the challenge at my site? It seems like it would be more attainable and easier to track if you had mini-goals each month or even week. For example, it would seem super-useful to know what exactly you will accomplish on your EOD business plan in January, February, etc.

    I don’t have as many goals as you written down (though you have me thinking now ๐Ÿ™‚ ), but the ones that I do are very specific. For instance, I really want to write an e-book that I’ve had rattling around in my head the past month or so. You could sort of think of it as an Engaged Marriage approach to The Love Dare idea (more practical and specific, less time-intensive and geared toward younger couples that already have good marriages). Well, I have specific dates for when I HAVE to have different steps done. Look for it ready to launch on June 1st!

    You are very inspirational…keep it up!

    • Brad Chaffee says:

      Oh yeah Dustin! that is Monday’s post! ๐Ÿ˜€ Brian Tracy taught me well, I have just never made myself do it so now the test is making myself. I even considered starting a spin off blog called http://www.myself-improved.com. (first name that came to mind so that may change.)

      Anyway I plan to talk about how to break those down into bite-sized pieces to make them more manageable. This is just the blueprint. ๐Ÿ˜€

      Thanks for checking out my goals my friend! We are going to have a great year!

  8. Julie says:

    I just completed my goal list for 2010 thanks to you. I want to lose weight , I want to stop using credit (So hard for me), I want to pay off 4 credit cards, spend more time helping my children in school, Eat out less, & go to church more.

  9. Bucksome says:

    Wow! That’s quite a list. You can’t procrastinate with that much to accomplish. Let’s be WW buddies and keep each other accountable. I’m heading off to weigh-in in the next hour; it’s not going to be pretty!

    • Brad Chaffee says:

      That is so true…well, I could, but none of it would get done. LOL I hope your weigh-in went better than expected. Totally on board for doing the weight watchers thing. I no longer am signed up with weight watchers but plan to implement the point system that absolutely works! Today is the first day that we have started using the points again. So far so good! ๐Ÿ˜€

  10. Arturo says:

    It is awesome how you Brad can respond to every comment the folks write; you may have too much free time in your agenda (jajaja just kidding); and you will be surprise to know that I read you since some months ago from Dominican Republic, which you were not surely waiting to be read so far and from a Spanish speaking country.

    I have to prepare my list of goals but surely will be around these: preparing an annual budget and stick to it, creating an emergency fund, begin to write a blog and learning to create some different source of income through internet.

    Hope to continue reading you and learning from you.

    • Brad Chaffee says:

      Hey Arturo!

      LOL man, usually that’s not the case. Most of the time I feel I am neglecting the comments section even when I do my best to get over here. I am on an extended holiday until the week of the 20th so yes I have WAY too much time on my hands. hahaha!

      Arturo those are some great goals and I know you can do it! If you want to you can make yourself! ๐Ÿ™‚ I usually do not make myself but this year I hope that changes. Like I said I may even start another blog to keep up with it. Thanks for leaving your goals here and I hope you continue to come back to learn more and stay motivated my friend! ๐Ÿ˜€

      • Arturo says:

        So you are beginning another blog !!! Have same goal as me; but you know know everything about opening, positioning and developing a blog, and even profiting from your blog.

        Any idea of a way I could learn how to do so ???

        • Brad Chaffee says:

          The best resource for learning how to blog is ProBlogger. Darren is an excellent resource!!

          Good luck Arturo!! ๐Ÿ˜€

          • Bucksome says:

            I just bought Darren’s 31 Day to a Build a Better Blog and am ready to tackle day 3. Nice to know that your blog is an example!

          • Brad Chaffee says:

            That is a great resource for sure Bucksome! I read Darren’s book and would recommend it to anyone as well. I signed up for the better blog challenge when he launched it. I still have a lot to put into action but from what I have been able to implement has worked great!

  11. J. Money says:

    Holy crap if you can just accomplish 1/10th of those you’d be The Man! haha…great work my friend, it’s nice to see people really gearing up and taking control of their lives like that. Much better than some lazy ones like myself ๐Ÿ˜‰

    • Brad Chaffee says:

      I got news for you J, lazy people do not accomplish what you have accomplished. But maybe if you did have some specific challenges written down you could do more? ๐Ÿ™‚ I got your back man!

  12. Brad, my wife won’t be seeing your list of resolutions, otherwise it may raise her expectations for me!

    I strongly recommend the bible studies. I’ve been in a men’s bible study group for over 8 years, and it changes you’re whole perspective on life and everything in it. There’s real illumination/revelation in bouncing interpretations!

    • Brad Chaffee says:

      LOL Kevin!!!!

      I’ve done one bible study on leadership in parenting and it was great! Wished I would have done more of them by now. Better late than never right? ๐Ÿ™‚

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