Get After it!

Well, if you are reading this then you made it to a new year. As I said to someone the other day, anything that happened in 2022 is in the past. It does not wipe away any mistakes you made or failures, but you can choose to release those burdens and focus on this year and the goals before you. As you begin the New Year I hope you have some key goals in mind. If you run your own business you better have some goals for your business, if you are a leader within a company you better have some goals for your team, and if you are an individual contributor you better have some career goals. Those are all important goals to have, but more important than those goals are your life goals. These are the one that only you are accountable for, only you can decide what they mean and why they are there. I focus my personal goals on a few key areas, Spiritual, Physical, Family, Financial and Career. It seems like a lot but the key is that some of these are maintenance of what I have built over the years and others are going to be increasing as you progress in other areas. With all things there is a balance that you need to maintain as you focus on your goals.

Spiritual Goals

For me this is the foundation of all things. I can do nothing without Christ, BUT Phil. 4:13 (I can do all things, through Christ who strengthen me), his word, his teachings and his leadership in my life. If you are not growing in Christ, then your ability to achieve success in other areas is impossible. In this area I will continue to grow in his word studying and praying daily. I have been faithful to read through the bible now for the last 5-10 years (I forget when I started, but I know it has been a while). As I go into this year, my goal is to dig deeper into his word, spend less time reading and more time studying it. In other words, I’m not going to to read it all the way through, rather I’m going to slow down and meditate on it.

Physical/Personal Goals

I believe if you do not take care of you, then you cannot possibly be of any use to any one else or anything. Too many times we try to be everything to everyone and forget ourselves along the way. Set some personal goals for yourself, whether it be health, study, growth… For me I spent last year getting back to my blogging and occasional journaling, in addition to taking coaching classes and spinning up this new coaching business. This year I want to spend more time enjoying the moments. Time with my family. My kids are growing fast, as as much as you are told to enjoy it while they are growing up, that time goes by like lightning. Now, I will say, I have enjoyed the years, but I want to take some extra time this year to just slow down. Many that know me, know that I like to just keep going, keeping busy and knocking things out. But I really want to take the time to enjoy those moments. No athletic goals for me for the year, or book reading, just put the phone down more and spend more time making some moments. Whether it be playing video games with them, building something or just something they want to do, I want to do it. Normally I would set a number for this, but I’m going to step away from setting a number and just make as many as I can, then journal about them.

Family/Friends Goals

These are important!! Do not forget this. So far you have your Spiritual goal, then your personal goal, and now it is time for what are you going to do with the family. For us, we already have 2 vacations planned, which is great, but I need to make some time for at least one more. It will be a bit crazy, with my son going back and forth to college, but I did not get to spend enough time with my parents this year (I know you are reading this, but that is not why I wrote it). This past year I played zero rounds of golf, which was awful, plus did not make it down to visit them. So we will make time to go visit them this year for sure. I will also make it a point to take my wife on a date more often. We fell off this a bit last year, so we need to get back to a real date at least once every other month, but better to do it at least 1 day a month. With our kids older this is much easier for sure.

Financial/Career Goals

What kind of financial coach would I be if I did not direct you here. Now this one should be a mix from career to financial. Maybe it is time to re-examine your career, maybe you need to look to make more money or start some side hustles, or build a business of your own. You should be thinking about that as part of this section. Or maybe you are in a good spot and just want to improve in that area, set some targets for yourself and some small wins to make progress. Maybe you just need to make progress on your path to debt freedom. Set a target for how much you want to pay off and by when.

Then if you are debt free, it time to commit to some savings goals, realizing there are some retirement increases this year. The new 401k limit is up to 22,500, and the IRA limit is up to 6,500 (if you are within the income limits), not 50+ have increases above those, so know your limits. For me, I’ll max out my 401 at 22,500, that is goal one and then look to add another 16,000 to a bridge account to enable me to retire early, last year I fell way short, so I’m getting back on it this year. Additionally, I want to teach at least 2 FPU classes and possibly a 3rd, depending on timing with things going on right now.

Now to close out my goals I like to pick 1 word to look at throughout the year, this year I added to that a bit y adding a scripture verse to go along with it. My word….

Persevere!! Galatians 6:9 KJV - And let us not be weary in well doing. For in due season we shall reap if we faint not.

I chose that because right now I have a lot going on, and it can seem like the days are long and the end is no where near. But I know that I am in the center of God’s will right now, so my goal for the year, in all that I do is to persevere, because I know that there is a greater reward waiting when I reach heaven, and really that is all that matters.

All the best, here is to a great 2023! Stay after it and know that you can do it if you set your mind to it.