Photo Credit: lululemon athletica
Happy New Year everyone!
I’ve gotten to somewhat of a late start this year as far as my resolutions are concerned. I have plenty to accomplish in 2011 though, so here’s what I am hoping to accomplish this year.
Financial
- Save $10,000 Emergency Fund – In 2010 we had a few setbacks in the emergency fund department. Neither were bad things, just set backs. We ended up settling on our second mortgage which depleted our emergency fund by over $7,000. OUCH!! The other thing happened here recently where we decided to give a good portion of our fund to our church
- Save $5,000 for the purchase of newer used vehicle for my wife – It’s time for an upgrade for sure! My wife has been very patient so far so it’s time to hook her up. 😀
- Start saving aggressively for retirement – We are currently already saving for retirement, but not as aggressively as we would like.
- SAVE, SAVE, SAVE – As you can tell, 2011 is going to be the year of savings for us. On top of everything above, we intend on saving as much as possible for our next paid for house. There are a number of possibilities for us, but we are leaning towards buying a nice piece of land and eventually building a house ourselves. We’ll see how it goes.
We are still in a much better situation than we were this time last year so I am looking forward to the progress we will make this year. There were a few times last year where I felt we weren’t making very good progress, or actually, it’s more like we had a few setbacks along the way.
I happen to believe that what we experienced is probably fairly common. Instead of focusing on the setbacks, I compared our current situation with our situation prior to 2008. We are way ahead of the game compared to then! Still, it’s time to bring back some intensity and focus to our financial plan!
Health/Fitness
- Get in shape – If there was any one goal that I thought was a complete failure in 2010, it was my goal to lose weight and get in shape. In retrospect, it was no different than any other year, which consisted of losing weight only to gain it right back.
- Complete p90X – I started P90X with a bang and really fell in love with it! Unfortunately I had an injury in my shoulder that ended my attempt. My plan this year is to cut a few more pounds and then get back into P90X.
- Work on portion control – Eating too much is a lot like spending too much. You know it’s bad for you but for some reason you continue to do it. I sure have. It’s hard for me to look at a plate with the correct portions and feel it is enough. I’m going to work on this in 2011.
- Enter one or more local races – I have wanted to do this for years and even had it as one of my many goals last year. I want to eventually run a marathon, but before I can even think about doing that I need to enter a smaller race. I’m going to start with a local 5K and go from there. 😀
I have battled with this problem for too many years. It’s time I win this battle once and for all. I quit smoking. I quit borrowing. I quit blaming others for my shortcomings. Now it’s time I quit shaving time off of my life at a rapid rate. I’ve done all that and I can do this too!
Do any of you have iFit Live?
I go hiking a lot! Luckily for me, my four year old enjoys hiking too which makes it possible for me. He’s hiked with me on hikes just over 5 miles and at the end of the hike, he’s the one running. Haha! (Actually, I may have started that to keep him motivated. Carrying Noah on my back I will race Isaac towards the end when he’s feeling defeated.) It always works and I always let him win. 😉
Anyway, my wife and I just purchased a treadmill when it got too cold to take Noah with me. We bought a nice treadmill that had iFit Live and a free year subscription. It is totally awesome! There are many training features in iFit Live, like being trained by Jillian Michaels from biggest loser, 24 different exercise routines depending on your fitness goals. The most fun feature is being able to run any track or race in the world on the treadmill.
If you have iFit Live let me know!
Personal
- Read one book a month – This was one of my last year’s resolutions too, but I failed. Out of the twelve I was supposed to read, I only ended up reading about half of that. Alana’s parents bought us a Kindle for Christmas, so I m excited to say I have already jumped off to a great start. 12 books in 2011!! I hope to read WAY more than that though!
- Go to bed earlier and wake up before my kids – I cannot even count the number of times I have stayed up into the wee wee hours of the morning, only to wake when my kids do. (I’m usually writing, and I have seen with my own eyes that it takes me longer to write something that late at night.) I am far more productive during my day when 1) I’ve gone to bed early and 2) I’ve woke up one to two hours before my kids. I love the thought of getting up early, jumping on the treadmill, taking a shower and reading a book all before they ever wake up. The problem is the next resolution on my list.
- Manage my time better and more effectively – Sometimes my life feels chaotic and unorganized. It’s mostly when I have no real plan or organization to my day that produces these overwhelming feelings. Anyone who has lived without a budget before can tell you the overwhelming feeling that comes when thinking about money, simply because they have no idea or plan of action for managing it. The same applies to life. I’m so unproductive when I am feeling overwhelmed so I hope to get a good hold on this and build some different habits in the process.
There you have it folks. This is my TO DO list for 2011!
I will be creating a page to keep track of my resolutions. Check back soon.
- What do you have planned for 2011?
- What will you do each day in order to reach those goals?
- Write it down…
That’s a great list, Brad, and many areas look similar to my own goals for the new year. We’re back to savings mode financially, I have committed to becoming an early riser for the same reasons you noted, and my time management needs to get better.
Fortunately, I am now in great shape physically and now we’re in a position to help other busy folks do the same with our projects at Fit Marriage. I may have a program that you’ll like better than P90X, and it is much less likely to result in overtraining or injuries. But we’ll save that for a different discussion. 😉
Thanks Dustin! I am certainly interested in hearing about your plan over at Fit Marriage bro! Thanks for stopping by and good luck with your own resolutions. We’ve come a long way since last year so I look forward to seeing where we are next year this time.
My goals are to:
1. Go to bed earlier (and wake up earlier)
2. Keep my room organized
3. Run a marathon
4. Strengthen spiritual life
5. Pay off half my credit cards, increase savings, decrease debt (its more specific but I don’t want to bore you with details.)
6. Eat heathier – avoid: sugar, fried food, refined carbs and cheese. add: friut, veggies, fish, whole grain
7. Work out more often
8. Loose weight
We sure have a lot in common Kiki! Good luck with these great resolutions! You can do it! 😀
I’ll do my best to inspire everyone by reaching my own goals for all to see. 😀
Awesome goals. My boyfriend and I are going to enter a 5K race… I think running is so much easier when you have a buddy to keep you on track.
Thanks Well Heeled!
I am going to do it too! I have this cool new toy called iFit live which makes running on a treadmill the bomb! 😀
Yesterday I ran from the Lincoln Memorial, along the reflection pool, around the WWII Memorial, to the Washington Monument and back…on my treadmill…while watching the street view on my computer. LOL
The best part of that is that out of the 1.87 miles it was, I ran the whole thing except a quarter of a mile. I was stoked!
Nice goals Brad!
Why do you think “you were a complete failure” in your weight loss goal in 2010? Have you ever thought perhaps there’s no need to lose weight, and you are actually just happy the way you are?
Well the easy answer is because I didn’t lose any weight at all when it was all said and done. haha! 😀
Nope, not happy the way I am either. I haven’t been overweight most of my life and this has been by far one of my biggest obstacles in life. My health is affected which I believe to be the single most important reason to be successful in this venture.
I definitely dig your positivity dude! I look at it more like this. Every day I shave off my life is one less day I will be here to spend time with my wife and kids. That’s why I have declared war on fat!! LOL
See my previous comment about my treadmill. It’s time to rock it bro! 😀
Thanks for sharing your resolutions and past progress! I’ve been following off and on for the past year but am always to shy to post. I’ve been mulling around what my resolution may be but hadn’t resolved to write it down until reading this post. So here’s my basic outline of My New Year’s Resolutions for 2011:
Financial-
1. make a budget and review it every month
2. begin small emergency fund
3. make a plan for paying debt and review monthly
Health-
1. play Wii Fit
2. measure serving sizes
3. ride bike to work (when snow is gone)
Personal-
1. continue to declutter home
2. create rather than procrastinate (reduce online gaming–no “ville” games!)
3. journal
Hi Katie and thanks for reading Enemy of Debt! 😀
I love it when something I do inspires someone to do something they might not have otherwise done! Thanks for that and I think it’s great you now have a list for your own review.
Your goals are completely awesome! You have just increased your chances of actually accomplishing this stuff. Brian Tracy says that a goal not on paper is just a wish because it has no power behind it to cause action. We’ll keep each other motivated! 🙂
You must have been hit with the City-ville stampede! Haha! It’s addicting like Sims.
1) Pay off all debt
2) Save more money to either go back to school or start a business
3) Start an animal food bank
4) Continue improving fitness level and run a race
5) Start planning on getting a non-profit going that helps people pay for medicines.
LB – I can’t tell you how much I love that first one! Seriously…rock it out of your life in 2011!! It will be one of the best things you’ve ever done!
Love the animal food bank idea! I’m hoping to sign up for a race as early as March…possibly earlier. lol
Good luck!
Hahaha! I said 3K! I’m sure there’s no such thing.
I will be running a 5K, a 10K and if I am feeling exceptionally awesome, a half marathon would rock!
There are 3k races out there and are good for beginners.
Hmm that’s interesting. 1.86 miles huh? That’s cool. I just ran almost that far the other day on my treadmill. Thanks for sharing LB! 😀