LateFIRE 2019 Goals

Categories

Tags

DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE EMAIL LIST


Share this:

What a year this has been! Thanks for the memories, 2018; it was another continuous 12-month adventure with so many things learned, both outside and inside myself.

Looking ahead to 2019, I am excited. I have been thinking about this for months, and like Dom, have already started my actions towards these goals. Why wait?

My plans and goals strategize four categories: Health, Finances, Business, and Personal Development.

Health

S-goals: stronger, smaller, sweatier, sleepier, sippier. My mom has Alzheimer’s Disease, which is one of the reasons I take my health seriously. I want to take any and all steps to reduce own my risks for developing AD. To that end, I am focusing on improving these five factors of health. Already begun!

  1. Stronger. I bought personal training at our new gym from a bit of money my dad left me and will work out safely with weights three times a week.
  2. Smaller. I’m not that concerned about what I weigh (body composition over weight), but I do feel better at a size 6 rather than my present size 8. I will consciously limit quantity and quality of food choices, eating shy of “full,” and especially limiting processed foods and sugar.
  3. Sweatier. Burning out glycogen from my brain is top priority. I hew to the description of AD as Diabetes Type III, so am hyper-conscious of sugar hanging around. I will complete two high intensity interval training (HIIT) cardio workouts per week.
  4. Sleepier. This has been a big issue for me for years. Recently I received results of a Micronutrients test that revealed more than a few major deficiencies. This was a big shocker to me, as I already take nutritional supplements, and I eat very consciously: organics, and at least double to triple the recommended daily servings (and variety) of vegetables and fruits. However, I have “bad runs” where I suffer interrupted sleep for weeks on end, which seriously increases the cortisol response of my body, and turns the “bowl” of my capacity for retaining nutrients into a “colander.” The workouts are already helping this, but I am adding “sleep hygiene” to my routine: 15 minutes of sun in the morning, 10-3-2-1-0 routine a la Craig Ballantyne, and maybe most importantly, digging hard and breathing deep to let go of things I cannot control (my mom’s worsening condition and her move into a board and care facility, and dealing with the “committee” of my siblings played a big role in this, 2018).
  5. Sippier. Drink four 16 ounce glasses of water, at least five days per week. Minimum 16 ounces of water before any caffeine.
  6. Bonus item: getting my remaining amalgam tooth fillings removed in Q1 2019. (less “silverier?”)
Finances

“Up and to the right.” Net worth, that is. This and the next category are less “systems-defined” than the others.

  1. Add to the income side with substitute teaching and credit card hacks (we earned over $2800 in rewards 2018). Utilize substitute teaching also to see if I want to return to teaching full time (I’d apply for school year 2019 – 2020).
  2. Subtract from the expenses side by:
    1. Limiting eating out to seven times per month (we have a standing Tuesday lunch work meeting that I am counting here, plus allowing two more for the hubs and me). Restart our discipline of food shopping Thursdays, and cooking Sunday for the week (pot of soup, stew, sauce – things that iterate for dinners the next five days).
    2. “No buy” policy implemented for clothes, shoes, “stuff.”
    3. Line item examination of our expenditures on a weekly basis as a couple.
  3. Fund tax-sheltered vehicles via sale of single-stock fund that has done really well (this will also serve to diversify our holdings).
Business

Add to the top line in revenue. Subtract from the middle lines of expenses. Net add to the bottom line.

  1. Utilize 2018 reports of new bookkeeper to home in on expenses and cut where possible.
  2. Add digital product(s) and optimize affiliate relationships.
  3. Add at least one service item (already conceived).
  4. Raise prices in September, as done in 2018.
  5. Seriously communicate with our CPA of ways to optimize (reduce) our tax burden. We got hammered in 2018.
Personal Development
  1. Write every day, in at least one of the following categories:
    1. GYFG edits and posts
    2. Business blog, materials, email updates
    3. Restart my personal blog and finish my book (written but needs final edits and overall completion).
  2. Complete my 12 Steps in AlAnon by 12/31/2019.
  3. Travel to one new place this year.

It’s so tempting to go on and on and make a million “resolutions.” But in keeping with Team GYFG, I am trying to focus on systems rather than resolutions or even the end-goals. Of course, there are a million things not enumerated above that I will spend time and energy on in 2019; I am a wife, friend, mother, grandmother, and daughter. Nonetheless, I feel like I have a great road map in focused direction as laid out above. I do feel excited for the fresh white blank calendar pages of this coming year!

In 2018, I experienced a huge light bulb moment when I said “no” to several things that I would have probably said yes to in the recent past (service opportunities, social events, etc). What I found was a surge of energy from saying “yes to less, and no to more.” Sometimes I spent that time on another activity, and sometimes in contemplation, which is meaningful to me. I want to continue my conscious examination of this. I want to be the version of myself that is excellent, not mediocre; I want to redeem the minutes and years left of this life. I have realized that spreading my life force over many things rather than fewer things thwarts that aim.

So, as Dom says, “onward and upward!” The year is dead; long live the year – 2019, I hail thee!

Lin


Lin

Lin is the voice of LateFIRE, and our resident copy editor. She believes in the power of the semicolon, and a dash properly placed. Her life mission is world peace: can’t we all “just get along” by using contractions properly, and placing punctuation marks firmly inside quotation marks?

RELATED CONTENT

JOIN NOW TO THE EMAIL LIST


Share this:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Did you grab your toolkit yet?

Build wealth fast with my Financial Freedom Toolkit.

…and get the top ten lessons I have learned from increasing my net worth by 24,150% in 7 years!


FROM “AHA” TO “OH CRAP,” I’M SHARING EVERYTHING ON MY JOURNEY TO A $10M $25M NET WORTH.

Learn How to Build Wealth and Reach Financial Freedom!


P.S. If you join now you also get to download the Financial Independence Toolkit to track your own wealth building efforts!