Aim. Shoot. Score!
I am usually not a goal setting person, but since January is the month of setting goals/resolutions, then why not set some goals for myself as well. I almost never set goals because I usually fail at them, but last time I set goals I did pretty well… see Oktoberfest Writing Challenge.
For those of you who don’t remember, in the Oktoberfest Writing Challenge I was challenged to write at least 500 words every day for the month of October. Even though that challenge was a lot of fun and one that I completed, I will not be doing that challenge every day for 2015.
From everything that I’ve read and heard, I have to set realistic goals, and writing at least 500 words every day for 365 days straight is not realistic.
I do, however, have some pretty realistic goals that I will try to accomplish this year.
2015 Goals
1. Pay off my student loans – This is a very realistic goal to accomplish because I only have $5,400 left to pay! If everything goes according to plan, I’m on track to paying it off by the end of April… knock on wood.
Paying off my student loans will mean that I will be completely debt free. Yoohoo!
2. Exercise at least three times per week – I set this goal in October along with the writing challenge and I failed, but this year is going to be different. I don’t plant to exercise too hard. Just enough to break a sweat.
You might not think it will be good enough, but I have to start somewhere. I don’t like working out, but Kate wants me to live forever and she said she’ll be happy if I at least break a sweat walking three times a week. I’ve worked out twice already this week.
3. Climb at least one level higher – Most of you know that I like rock climbing. I’ve been doing it for a few years now, but I’ve hit a plateau and I’ve been stuck climbing the same level for what feels like an eternity.
This year, my goal is to break through and climb a higher level than what I’m climbing right now. I might have to train a little bit to accomplish this, but like the great philosophers of our time say, “no pain, no gain.”
4. Read at least 12 books this year – I am not only going to exercise this lovely body of mine, but I am also going to exercise my mind. Twelve books is definitely doable – that’s one book a month.
Some people are saying they’re going to read a book every week, but that to me it’s not achievable. I guess it’s doable if the books are short, but lately I’ve been reading some pretty long books. I just finished all the published books for the Song of Ice and Fire series (Game of Thrones) and those books are pretty long. And now I’m currently reading Gone with the Wind, which is also over 1,000 pages long.
There’s no way I can finish that book in a week.
I am not set to prove anything to anybody, I just want to set some attainable goals and I think these are pretty doable.
Other Personal Finance Goals?
As you so smartly deduced, I only have one personal finance goal for this year. And that’s the way it is going to stay. I’m going to focus all my attention on paying off my student loans since that is the only debt I have left and I already have a couple of months’ worth of expenses in my emergency fund.
Once that is done I might add a new personal finance goal, but for now I’m only going to have the one. I’m still going to continue doing what I’ve been doing during these past two years, which is maxing out my Roth IRA and contributing enough on my 401k to get the full company match. That’s not going to change.
I’ll keep my budget the same, but concentrate all the money I have allocated for paying off debt and savings towards paying off that student loan.
Just four more months and I’ll be debt free!!!
What are your goals for this year?
I like your goals Aldo, especially the fact that you will likely become debt free this year! I wish you the best for 2015.
Becoming debt free is my favorite part as well. If I only accomplish one goal, it will be that one.
I’m joining you on the book reading. I love to read but have really gotten away from it. My plan is to do one per month. I’m already ahead of pace as I’m almost done with the first one.
I think one per month is more than doable. I picked a very long book for my first book so it might take me almost the whole month to read it.
I’m proud of you for setting goals, Aldo. They look great and completely doable. I think one of things we unfortunately do is compare how our goals stack up against others. And we shouldn’t (easier said than done though!). Your goals sound right for you and that’s what matters. And becoming debt-free is a HUGE goal to accomplish this year. Good luck!
Thank you, Shannon. I can’t wait to accomplish my main goal of becoming debt free!!!
My biggest goal this year is to raise money to grow my company. Last year I spent a good amount of time decreasing the expense side of my equation that I am ready to focus on building the asset side this year.
That’s a good goal! I want to grow my blog and maybe start making money from it, but right now I have other more important things I want to focus on. Good luck on growing your company.
That’s great that you’re on track to pay off your student loans by April! I like the fact that you’ve set some good personal goals here too. I’ll be trying to get fit too this year as well as working to a few saving goals as well. Happy New Year by the way!
Thank you, Hayley. I read your goals yesterday and they are great as well. Happy New Year!
I think it’s smart your concentrating on one financial goal that is really important to you. As far as fitness, you may get to the point where you work out harder, but it’s best to start small so you can unlock that first fitness badge. 🙂 Good luck!
I know I’ll have to step it up a bit eventually, but I wanted to start small and get into a routine first.
Great list of goals. What level can you comfortably climb right now? Is that in the gym only? Do you considering going from a to b going up a level? For example 5.10a to 5.10b.
Tawcan, I’m talking mostly gym climbing. It’s hard for me to say what I’m comfortable climbing outdoors because living in NJ doesn’t allow me to climb outdoors too often.
Also, the levels I’m talking about would be bouldering level. I consider myself to be a V4 climber at the moment and want to be able to do V5s comfortably. When it comes to rope climbing, my gym goes from 5.10 to 5.11 so I guess 5.11 in my gym would be 5.10b (which I doubt since indoor grades are significantly easier than outdoor grades, but grades are all relative I guess.)
SO excited for you that those loans will be gone – yay!! Our one and only goal in the finance arena is to get seriously intense about paying off our debt. It’s time for it to GO.
Yes, Ma’am. I’m kicking debt in the face!
Hi there, you have a nice goal setting for this year (2015). I love the way you blog about your passion. You’re awesome. I hope you will achieve all your goals in life especially financial success. Nice reading your list. Quiet motivational for me as a blogger and a young investor.
Good luck with all of your goals! They all sound very realistic and achievable 🙂
Good goals.! I am hoping that you will achieve paying up your loans and all the other goals.
Wow! Congratulations to being debt-free this year! This must be very exciting for you. It’s great that you’ve kept your goals to a bare minimum to make these achievable.
#2 and #4 are very similar to goals I have. When it comes to reading, I think that has become underrated in recent years, as everyone is online all the time. But there is something to be said for how much we can learn and improve ourselves by reading a really informative book.
Lot’s of luck with your goals! I already feel like I’m behind on my goal setting for 2015 but plan on writing them down soon.