2008 New Years Resolutions/Goals

A lot of people think that New Years Resolutions are lame and studies show that most people don't keep them. I think of them as goals, write them down, set measurable standards, and then review them at the end of each year. I've found over the years that I accomplish about 75% of the goals and some of the goals have become habits. Here are my 2008 goals and the results.

1. Read "Intelligent Asset Allocation". I'm about 100 pages into the book so I didn't complete the goal but having it on my goal list got me to reading it.

2. Find a way to help others with financial planning. I started a financial planning company, started the Certified Financial Planning certificate program, and began working working with 8 different people.

3. Exercise at least 20 minutes 3-4 times per week. Last year I exercised 245 days. This year it was 255 days and I've changed my lifestyle such that I don't need to have this goal to motivate me. This has been a goal of mine since 2001 and I've attained it for the last 3 years.

4. Lose weight to 160 pounds. I got down there for 3 months but I'm back up to 167 . I've been unsuccessful at this goal for seven years. Bummer.

5. Ride bike outside more than 300 miles. I only rode 225 miles. Oh well.

6. Run a half marathon. This one took some work. I trained for a half marathon that was in May and two weeks before the race I was diagnosed with a stress fracture in each leg which kept me from running the race. After not running for 7 weeks I started training for the Fox Cities Half Marathon in September. I completed the race in 2 hours 5 minutes.

7. Take two major backpacking trips. Hiked in Death Valley in March and the Northern Cascades in September.

8. Read 24 books (4 non-fiction). Read 36 books but only 3 non-fiction.

9. Vacation in Hawaii. Yeah-two weeks in July with my wife and Ed and Sue Tucker.



Beautiful sunset in Hawaii taken by Lori Fisher