What are your goals for 2024?

[MaybeBabyMustache]

I'm usually pretty clear on what I want to accomplish each year, and have monthly & annual goals. Mine are typically oriented around:
-Finances
-Family
-Fitness
-Personal

This year, I'm struggling to come up with goals. Anyone have anything to share for 2024?

I'll throw out what I'm thinking of so far:
-Save enough to pay for the rest of DS17's college ($120k, most likely)
-Run 2 half marathons & Hood to Coast
-Declutter 200 items out of my house
-Help DS17 successfully transition to college
-Begin the college process yet again, with DS16
-Figure out if we can see DH's family, and if so, make that happen
-Optimize our travel rewards (miles, points, perks, etc). I track this because I find it fun, and also because I'm required to travel for work, and measuring the value in some small way helps me feel better about the pain of trips I don't want to take.
-Try five new recipes
-Follow the No S diet, lose 12 lbs

Anyone else have ideas to share?

[iris lily]

Do I have to have goals?

[MaybeBabyMustache]

@iris lily - yes, absolutely, or you will be kicked off of the internet entirely. ;-)

I find goals nudge me in the right direction & motivate me (most of the time), but some people don't need/want them!

[deborah]

A time management system I used to use broke goals up into:

Work (professional/business, personal/budget and retirement)
Learning (reading, lectures/seminars and courses)
Physical (aerobic/exercise, diet, wellness)
Social (friends, association, special activities)
Family (special activities, holidays)
Spiritual (private, family, congregational)

[Metalcat]

I would like to fully get off of crutches for day to day mobility in 2024, and although that's not really up to me, I can prioritize the PT to get there.

I start my professional praticum in January, so my goal is to learn as much from that as humanly possible before I'm on my own professionally. Granted, by choosing a site that requires triple the required hours, I'm pretty set to do that.

I want to make sure that I see my family often over the winter before I leave again for the summer, and implement bi-weekly calls with them while I'm gone.

I want to visit Fogo, and I would really like to see puffins.

I intend to finish up painting the upstairs of the summer house, but this depends on how well my legs work. I cannot kneel or crouch at all at the moment, nor can I reasonably get down to or up from the ground, so painting is a bit of a bitch at the moment.

Likewise, I'll either fix up or sell my RV, or both, depending on what my Capacity is.

[JupiterGreen]

Do I have to have goals?

Haha, I love this!

My four major goals for 2024 are to:
-get a new job
-sell my house
-buy a house
-move

If I have no luck in 2024, I will try again 2025 (I only have a small window to do this, fingers crossed things work out).

[iris lily]

@iris lily - yes, absolutely, or you will be kicked off of the internet entirely. ;-)

I find goals nudge me in the right direction & motivate me (most of the time), but some people don't need/want them!

Well, I am old. Goals are far less interesting to me than they once were.

Perhaps my goal is to be here next year observing the goal setting of you youngsters.

[Freedomin5]

I think next year, I want to continue focusing on:

- health (anti-cancer diet, average 10k steps a day),
- setting healthy boundaries with toxic coworkers and not letting them stress me out,
- maintaining healthy boundaries with DH’s family members,
- starting to wrap up loose ends wrt our time in China,
- visit must-see places in China
- continuing to throw as much money as possible into the mortgage.

[JAYSLOL]

For 2024 I’d like to get my savings back on track, I did ok in 2023, but not as well as I did in 2022.  I also really need to declutter, and significantly reduce the junk piling up in my shop, garage and basement, just been busy and putting it off for too long, probably going to start working on that in the next few weeks and keep at it through the winter months. 

[halfling]

Work: just stay useful enough to not get laid off next year... It sounds grim but it's been a very effective goal thus far. And it keeps things interesting. Hopefully, I won't have to people-manage.

Saving: Hoping to finish saving for a 20% down payment plus a generous emergency fund on a home.

Otherwise: just keep having fun! I've got some travel planned that I think will be 80% covered by rewards and bonuses!

[Otter+Badger]

I love this!  I would like to be more intentional in 2024. This seems like a good time to try them out before fully committing to them.


*I'd like to do strength training at least twice a week. And do yoga or a good walk three days a week.

*I'd like to only buy essential things and challenge myself to use up my craft supplies when tempted to buy things to try something new.

*I'd like to read a book a week.

*I'd like to focus on showing more gratitude to others in my life.

*I'd like to make progress on my garden this summer and seek help from friends/books/internet instead of giving up.

*I'd like to have enough cash savings if we want to do a six month sabbatical in 2025, we're able to that.

[EchoStache]

1)Spend 35% of what I earn.
2)Improve my cardiovascular fitness/work capacity to Women's Rx level for Crossfit workouts.  I'm not a woman.
3)Squat 475
4)Deadlift 575 (these will be tough, I'll have to gain weight...currently trying to lose 17 lbs.)
5)Lose 17 lbs(I'm down ~8)
6)Debt free other than mortgage.
7) Press handstand

[Treedream]

I'm usually pretty clear on what I want to accomplish each year, and have monthly & annual goals. Mine are typically oriented around:
-Finances
-Family
-Fitness
-Personal

This year, I'm struggling to come up with goals. Anyone have anything to share for 2024?

I'll throw out what I'm thinking of so far:
-Save enough to pay for the rest of DS17's college ($120k, most likely)
-Run 2 half marathons & Hood to Coast
-Declutter 200 items out of my house
-Help DS17 successfully transition to college
-Begin the college process yet again, with DS16
-Figure out if we can see DH's family, and if so, make that happen
-Optimize our travel rewards (miles, points, perks, etc). I track this because I find it fun, and also because I'm required to travel for work, and measuring the value in some small way helps me feel better about the pain of trips I don't want to take.
-Try five new recipes
-Follow the No S diet, lose 12 lbs

Anyone else have ideas to share?

This is you struggling with coming up with goals? Cause that is a lot of things.


Goals for 2024:
- Get back to work properly
- Fill up E-fund
- Start investing again and reach a specific contribution amount
- keep doing exercise 2 times a week
- keep eating homemade meals
- Find ways to engage with Paramour about big questions of life and discover if the relationship is viable.
- Make concerted effort to be more social.
- Meditate how to add more meaning to life and make practical steps to include it.

[cupcakery]

Financial:  Income goal that meets or exceeds our 2023 income. I have a target savings rate for both short and long-term savings/investments.
Travel:  We want to go to the Grand Canyon as long as the flights, etc. aren’t too much.  I may have an opportunity to go to Europe as a tag-along. I really hope this happens.  I’m squirreling away funds for both.
Health:  Need to lose a few pounds.  I plan to continue my never getting sick streak.
Fitness:  I would like to meet or exceed my hiking stats from 2023.  I’d like to try some classes at the gym that I haven’t tried yet.  I’ve been dealing with a minor injury, so I’d like to build my strength back.
Reading:  I’d like to hit 150 books again in 2024.
Mental:  I’m in a funk.  I need to get out of it. 

[weebs]

* Graduate to 'Race from $2M to $4M...and Beyond' thread (LNW excluding house...we're sooooo close)
* Sell my rarely driven garage queen Honda S2000, facilitating above goal, if only a little.
* Continue strength training at least 2X times per week.  Add at least 1 yoga class per week during the winter months.
* Maintain current weight.
* Snowboard 20 days (includes days hiking on the splitboard).
* Be cool at work.
* Take down at least 5 trees on the property for fire mitigation.

[MinouMinou]

-Retire from full-time work
-Write a novel
-Run a marathon

[2sk22]

One thing I have realized is that I am happiest when I'm making things as opposed to just reading. My goal for next year is to read less and do more!

[MyAlterEgoIsTaller]

Just two goals right now, both with indirect financial consequences attached:

1. Be healthier: get more exercise, lose weight, build stamina.  This will hopefully help financially by saving on future medical bills, keep me healthier to be able to work longer and take care of myself longer, and maybe I'll have lower grocery bills if I eat less. Maybe my dog will also benefit in being healthier and happier by accompanying me on more walks and hikes.

2. Read a huge pile of my unread books.  This should help financially by keeping me entertained at home more, and I'll promise myself not to buy more books until I read 5 books I already own for each new one I bring in, and I can give away most books once I've read them, so I'll have more space and won't need to buy a new house just to fit all my books, and I won't have to pay to move boxes of books in the future.

[Freedomin5]

Just two goals right now, both with indirect financial consequences attached:

1. Be healthier: get more exercise, lose weight, build stamina.  This will hopefully help financially by saving on future medical bills, keep me healthier to be able to work longer and take care of myself longer, and maybe I'll have lower grocery bills if I eat less. Maybe my dog will also benefit in being healthier and happier by accompanying me on more walks and hikes.

2. Read a huge pile of my unread books.  This should help financially by keeping me entertained at home more, and I'll promise myself not to buy more books until I read 5 books I already own for each new one I bring in, and I can give away most books once I've read them, so I'll have more space and won't need to buy a new house just to fit all my books, and I won't have to pay to move boxes of books in the future.

If you borrow books from the library, you also won’t need to buy a new house to fit your books or have to pay to move books in the future.

[rosarugosa]

@iris lily - yes, absolutely, or you will be kicked off of the internet entirely. ;-)

I find goals nudge me in the right direction & motivate me (most of the time), but some people don't need/want them!

Well, I am old. Goals are far less interesting to me than they once were.

Perhaps my goal is to be here next year observing the goal setting of you youngsters.

Lol Iris, I think it's a lot more fun setting goals now, because they can be about what I actually want to accomplish, rather than what a manager wants me to want to accomplish.

That being said, I haven't set any yet for next year and will have to give it some thought.  DH breaks out in hives when I start talking about goals and objectives.  You can take the woman out of the corporation . . .

[Metalcat]

@iris lily - yes, absolutely, or you will be kicked off of the internet entirely. ;-)

I find goals nudge me in the right direction & motivate me (most of the time), but some people don't need/want them!

Well, I am old. Goals are far less interesting to me than they once were.

Perhaps my goal is to be here next year observing the goal setting of you youngsters.

Lol Iris, I think it's a lot more fun setting goals now, because they can be about what I actually want to accomplish, rather than what a manager wants me to want to accomplish.

That being said, I haven't set any yet for next year and will have to give it some thought.  DH breaks out in hives when I start talking about goals and objectives.  You can take the woman out of the corporation . . .

I think it all depends on how people conceptualize goals.

Mine are just things that I expect will be done in 2024. No pressure, no pushing myself to do something I struggle to get done. I'm just looking forward at my year and contemplating what my priorities are likely to be. If things change and my priorities change, there will be no sense of "failure" if those goals aren't met.

I think society has made "goals" synonymous with "stretch goals," things that will take will power to add to our plates, things we have to struggle for because we "should" do them, and therefore the word now has some kind of bootstrapping, self-flagellatory connotation.

Goals don't have to be things that are hard to add to your life and that take enormous discipline to do. They can just be things you care about.

Personally, if I want to be doing something and I find that I chronically struggle to do it, I don't make it a goal to just knuckle down and do it, I look carefully at what is blocking me from doing it and then systematically remove those barriers so that the thing I want to be doing is easy.

[midweststache]

My big one is, for the first time in my life, to auto-max my 403(b). (Thanks, mid-year promotion and accompanying raise!)

If we meet our savings goals, we'll have a savings rate of 46% (nothing to scoff at, though certainly not the impressive 50%+ of some people here).

DH and I need to sit down and hammer out the other goals. We're automating everything except Roth contributions and a general post-tax savings goal, which takes a lot of the guess work out. So our financial goals will probably center around optimizing our monthly spending and reducing costs.

I'm developing some other goals that are health-related, and we have a kiddo who's expressed interest in a plant-forward diet and who we want to support in that, so developing our cooking skills around that will be a big shift for us Midwestern meat-and-potatoes eaters!

[By the River]

I'll retire in April 2024. Since that is looming large, my goals are arranged around it.  Goals are 1) be fitter at retirement than I am now, 2) take a few trips (mostly driving) next year 3) Take care of all things I have to do prior to retirement, and 4) Post-retirement: decompress and determine what's next.

Things I'm doing now and will continue..
Goal 1) At 5:00 AM on the morning exactly 6 months before retirement, I got out of bed and hit the gym.  Plan is to continue that time until retirement and then probably move workouts later in the day.  I've also improved my average daily steps from almost 9K to over 12K
Goal 2)  Noting places to go and why in a document
Goal 3)  Making sure I have insurance, email, scheduling etc. before leaving work
Goal 4)  Studying the post-fire forum and other sites to learn from the wisdom there.

[rosarugosa]

@iris lily - yes, absolutely, or you will be kicked off of the internet entirely. ;-)

I find goals nudge me in the right direction & motivate me (most of the time), but some people don't need/want them!

Well, I am old. Goals are far less interesting to me than they once were.

Perhaps my goal is to be here next year observing the goal setting of you youngsters.

Lol Iris, I think it's a lot more fun setting goals now, because they can be about what I actually want to accomplish, rather than what a manager wants me to want to accomplish.

That being said, I haven't set any yet for next year and will have to give it some thought.  DH breaks out in hives when I start talking about goals and objectives.  You can take the woman out of the corporation . . .

I think it all depends on how people conceptualize goals.

Mine are just things that I expect will be done in 2024. No pressure, no pushing myself to do something I struggle to get done. I'm just looking forward at my year and contemplating what my priorities are likely to be. If things change and my priorities change, there will be no sense of "failure" if those goals aren't met.

I think society has made "goals" synonymous with "stretch goals," things that will take will power to add to our plates, things we have to struggle for because we "should" do them, and therefore the word now has some kind of bootstrapping, self-flagellatory connotation.

Goals don't have to be things that are hard to add to your life and that take enormous discipline to do. They can just be things you care about.

Personally, if I want to be doing something and I find that I chronically struggle to do it, I don't make it a goal to just knuckle down and do it, I look carefully at what is blocking me from doing it and then systematically remove those barriers so that the thing I want to be doing is easy.

I really like this way of framing the whole idea of personal goal-setting (bolded).

[JupiterGreen]

I'll retire in April 2024. Since that is looming large, my goals are arranged around it.  Goals are 1) be fitter at retirement than I am now, 2) take a few trips (mostly driving) next year 3) Take care of all things I have to do prior to retirement, and 4) Post-retirement: decompress and determine what's next.

Things I'm doing now and will continue..
Goal 1) At 5:00 AM on the morning exactly 6 months before retirement, I got out of bed and hit the gym.  Plan is to continue that time until retirement and then probably move workouts later in the day.  I've also improved my average daily steps from almost 9K to over

This one is so important. I also do my workouts first thing in the morning otherwise they are unlikely to get done. It is something I have to plan for if my schedule changes and also something I am planning for when I retire. I have a change in my schedule coming up and I'm trying to strategize how to avoid breaking my workout streak.

[Newday]

Goals
- Work on health - highest priority (yoga, sleep, water, supplements, breathwork)
- Change job
- Clear out the basement & make it a functional space for working out and relaxing
- Plant flowering perennials in the garden

[DutchGirl]

My big goal: I've created a pretty darn good situation for myself, so my goal for 2024 is to flourish/thrive.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

I've loved reading about what everyone else has in mind for 2024, as well as how folks approach goal setting.

Similar to Metalcat, I consider my goals to be my priorities, or ideally how I want to spend my time in 2024/focus areas for the year ahead. To call them goals & assess them monthly just helps me match together my time, reminders of how I'm doing & I personally find it motivating to look at progress during the year. I often have goals I don't achieve, but that's okay, I've typically decided during the year to swap my focus & time to something else that's more important. If it's still a goal that I really want to meet, I evaluate what's blocking me, and experiment with ways of fixing it. In 2024, for example, I'm hoping to be more flexible with workout times, particularly when I'm traveling and/or jet lagged. If I'm going to keep my current job, it requires international travel. I don't like work stuff getting in the way of personal goals (training), but I've been previously pretty rigid about what time I'll work out. I'm hoping to experiment with a bit more flexibility this year, particularly the weeks I'm back from an international trip, and feeling jet lagged.

Here's where I'm netting out for 2024 goals:

Financial:
-max out 401ks
-Save $120k for DS17's college
-Max DS16's college account ($17k)

Family:
-Plan a trip to Turkey to visit DH's family
-Maximize hotel & airline status, to get the most out of 2024 travel (we'll likely be paying for the Turkey trip for a reasonably large group)
-Help teens: transition to college, DS16's college applications, APs & SATs, DS17 selection of college
-Do something fun once a month with each teen

Fitness:
-Run 2 half marathons + Hood to Coast
-Follow the No S diet
-Lose 15 lbs

Personal:
-Practice Farsi 100 days
-Get together with friends 1x/month
-Declutter 500 items from the house

[oneday]

I think my goal for 2024 will be to evaluate every possession and determine if I still need it, aside from yarn (it was done in 2018-19).

Along with continuing strength training, but without the support of a trainer. Related: get weird shoulder thing looked at so I can work out without worry.

Will probably do other stuff too, but just getting this down on paper as Dec is too hectic to think.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

I think my goal for 2024 will be to evaluate every possession and determine if I still need it, aside from yarn (it was done in 2018-19).

Along with continuing strength training, but without the support of a trainer. Related: get weird shoulder thing looked at so I can work out without worry.

Will probably do other stuff too, but just getting this down on paper as Dec is too hectic to think.

@oneday - ooooh, this is intriguing! I touched every space in our house in 2020 (COVID lockdowns) & did a ton of decluttering, but I also like your idea. I may need to be less ambitious & choose something like my closet & a few other spaces, but I like the idea!

[oneday]

I think my goal for 2024 will be to evaluate every possession and determine if I still need it, aside from yarn (it was done in 2018-19).

Along with continuing strength training, but without the support of a trainer. Related: get weird shoulder thing looked at so I can work out without worry.

Will probably do other stuff too, but just getting this down on paper as Dec is too hectic to think.

@oneday - ooooh, this is intriguing! I touched every space in our house in 2020 (COVID lockdowns) & did a ton of decluttering, but I also like your idea. I may need to be less ambitious & choose something like my closet & a few other spaces, but I like the idea!

Closets and other deep storage would be a good way to get 80% of the effect without going full monty.

[Serendip]

Will be mulling this question over the next week but off the top of my head..

-dedicate time daily to my creative practice, be in an art show (and feel prepared and confident about it), learn new creative skills and create at least 4 mini films.

-get into the best shape of my life (I have a very-active, new rescue dog...this is happening whether I want it to or not so I might as well emphasize it, enjoy it and try to stay healthy)

-continue training ^ Cuddlepup and try new sports with her as she is ready

-minimize unnecessary spending. Grow EF from $5000 to $10,000. 

-Prioritize connections with people I admire and care about.

-revitalize our house..by cleaning, clutter-cleaning and other simple methods.

[Omy]

1. Go on a 7 day+ vacation at least quarterly.

2. Track net worth quarterly.

3. Spend more. We're FIREd, have plenty of money, and need to splurge on items that improve quality of life.

4. Improve diet, health, and fitness. Have made lots of improvements in this category already, but we're old enough that this should be continually optimized.

[getsorted]

I'm usually all about goals, but my head is a mess this December and it's very hard right now to feel like anything is possible?

I did not meet my savings goal for 2023 of getting my emergency fund account up to $15,000-- I am $3,000 shy. I should meet that by March. Once the emergency fund is topped up, money starts going into the master's degree fund-- I want to have $5,000 there before I start classes, which I would like to do in August.

[Log]

1. Prepare rigorously for my upcoming auditions - record myself playing a mock audition round 5+ times per week, get external feedback at least once per week.
2. Read 50 books (again)
2.5. Re-reads for the year: The Inner Game of Tennis, The Grapes of Wrath, Cannery Row, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Wisdom of Insecurity, and And the Mountains Echoed.
3. Try to sort out an interval for meditation practice that works for me - making it a daily obligation was too much, but I've recently gone too far in the other direction by abandoning it entirely. Will start with 20 minutes once per week.
4. Continue going to twice weekly volunteer trash pickups, as much as scheduling allows.
5. Try to spearhead the organization of social gatherings more often.
6. Go on some dates.
7. Minimal savings goal is to max the IRA again. More than that should be easy if I win one of these auditions, but just maxing the IRA is a good goal in a hypothetical worst-case if I am still just free-lancing.

[Zikoris]

The only type of goals I have are reading goals. I can't really set financial goals since my finances are automated - it would seem kind of dumb to set a goal that literally involves me doing nothing. My reading goals for this year are:

1. Read 365 books
2. Including the full Harvard Classics 71 volumes
3. Including 50 nonfiction books (for simplicity I'm not counting Harvard Classics nonfiction books towards this)
4. Including all older unread works by three favourite authors (Brandon Sanderson, L.E. Modesitt, and Cassandra Gannon)
5. Including The Daily Stoic, read on a daily basis

What I normally do is make a weekly reading list including some books from each category. So for 2024 that's one nonfiction book, one or two volumes of the Harvard Classics, and two backlog books. The rest of the slots for the week are whatever I want. I'm also starting to work through some of the r/fantasy "big lists", starting with the 2020 and 2023 top novellas. I also have a loose goal of reading more classics this year overall, though not a specific numbers goal. I may do a classics challenge in 2025 with a firm goal. I also want to have a look through the Goodreads Choice Awards winners and longlists from 2023, and of course stay on top of new releases by all the authors I follow.

[RetiredAt63]

I like the idea of goals as things that are not stretches, just things I want to do that will make my life better.

In no particular order (except #1. In a way everything else depends on this).

Health:
Get my lung function back - Covid nailed me.
Get back into routine of doing my PT exercises - Covid killed that.
Get back to daily walks.
Go lower carb and bring blood glucose lower
Persuade doctor to continue with our small increases in my levothyroxine dose until I feel optimal, not too little, not too much thyroid hormone.
Continue physiotherapy as needed (a lot less than 2023!)

Family:
Continue being the best grandmother I can be for Mango, and a good mother and mother-in-law to DD and SiL.

Activities:
I finally have found in my new location all the activities that make my life good - so goal is just keep going and doing instead of hibernating in the apartment - it is always easy to find an excuse not to go out, but I am always glad when I push myself to go. This is nothing new, btw, I could have said this 10 years ago, or 20.  Or do something in the condo instead of just crashing and web-surfing - weaving, spinning, knitting, these things.

General life:
Sort things, find homes for things, declutter. 

Travel:
Most of the planning is done for the trip to New Zealand, now I just have to get tickets and stuff.  And get healthier.
More day excursions.

[Fru-Gal]

News fast for all of 2024!!!! Let’s GOOOOOOO