We’re almost at the end of January, so it’s a perfect time to revisit my goals to keep myself accountable. You can read more about my 2021 goals here.
Financial Goals: I want to read two books this year on investing. I downloaded and read If You Can: How Millennials Can Get Rich Slowly. It’s quick read that is more like an extended syllabus. The author, William Bernstein, a neurologist and finance enthusiast, discusses the key hurdles that get in the way of saving. Each hurdle is discussed in detail and then Bernstein gives homework to read specific finance books. I read the first book assigned years ago. It definitely had an impact on my thinking. Right now, I am waiting on the second book from the library to become available. If I follow through with his assignments, I will have read many more than 2 books. Poking around on the internet, I think I found the reading list on his website here (although not in the order presented in the book).
My second finance goal was to invest $50 a month in the Robinhood app. I’ve already set up the automatic investment which takes place at the end of every month.
Career: My career goals are pretty simple this year. I have not yet applied to the post grad program. Although I am thinking about it every weekend, which means I need to just sit down and do it. The other goal was to post to the blog 6 times per month. I’m on track to meet that goal.
Health: So far so good on the health goals. I am consistently working out (albeit less intensely than I hoped) and I’m staying on top of my medical appointments. Lastly, I am monitoring my stress levels and being very cognizant of what is causing me stress. As I’m getting older, I am more worried that the negative health impacts of stress are going to catch up with me.
Love/Relationships: My main goal was to spend more one-on-one time with B, my son. We had our “Mom and B” date earlier in January. We set aside an evening to play Minecraft together. It was a success, but I am looking forward to, hopefully, going places in the future. I also had the goal of establishing additional traditions, but January already had enough family traditions, so nothing new was added.
I also want to send more cards to friends this year. The pandemic has prevented us from seeing so many people on their special day but a card is a simple gesture that show we care. I sent out my first round of cards and will send out a second round this week.
My last goal, make time for friends/create friendship opportunities, is a failure. I have reached out to a few friends to check in and make sure that everyone is okay but besides that I have not done much. I’m not going to abandon this goal because I think it’s worth working on (even if every year I perceive myself as falling short).
Fun: Eek. I absolutely have not danced three times per week. Maybe once a week, but I’m sure I even missed a week in there for something. This one may have been too ambitious.
My second “fun” goal is to create something at least one time per month. I am planning on completing our yearly family photo book, so that will count as my item.
Lastly, I haven’t attended any events but since I need to only attend 5. I’m hoping that life will start returning to normal later in the year and I can GET OUT OF THE HOUSE. 🙂
Overall, January has been productive and I’m happy with the progress. Clearly there are some things for me to work on (uhm…dancing and friends).
Leave a Reply