Happy New Year! Mike and I brought in the New Year as we have the past several years: In the back-country trails of Colorado, on skiis, in the snowy quiet. Brainard Lake was the perfect skin in-skin out location, a trail that was flowy and quiet, where we both could reflect on the beauty around us and the year (and decade) coming to an end. Last year was an epic one, in every sense, and we accomplished so much – together in our business, and personally (check out my highlights of 2019).
When looking back on past years, the goals I’ve made, plans I’ve set up for myself, I realized there were some fundamental faults with them. First, many of my past goals were broad statements, without deadlines or quantifiable metrics around them. (Here are my 2018 Intentions – Here are the 2017 Goals – Here are 2016 Goals) Don’t get me wrong, the previous bars I’ve set have guided me, helped steer me towards greater, albeit a lazy river kind of steering. Yes, I was still moving, but with a broad focus and not really a sense of urgency. Now, not all of my previous goals have been so lackadaisical, in fact many have been extremely audacious and bold….and I’ve been able to accomplish them! Hell, last year’s financial goals set me on FIRE for a life I get to control, a life that will be full of meaning and purpose.
So this year, with the help of my Money Minded Mavens Financial Group, I’ve gotten very specific with my goals, the why behind them, and the metrics around completing them. I’ve focused on the important areas of my life, the areas I value the most and want to have the most movement. One of the things our group gave as ‘food for thought’ was to think about a word that would help summarize what you want to manifest in the coming year, a word that will motivate and propel. A word that would steer you forward during times of questioning or doubt or lulls, when things aren’t uber exciting.
Having gone through multiple exercises, listening to a number of podcasts around goals, I came up with the following action plan for 2020. Cheers to an amazing year!
My Word: Focused Motion
Ok, so it’s two words…but I need them both for the big year ahead! Focused motion speaks to how I want to achieve my goals this year. I have huge goals and the only way they’ll be accomplished, is by focusing in on my priorities, high ROI goals, clearing distractions, and moving forward. Many things I want to get done this year require small amounts of planning but will require huge focus in one area. Without focused motion, my plans are just scattered dreams! Anytime I become scattered, or pulled in a different direction, or feel like I’m aimlessly drifting along, I will come back to focused motion and settle back into the rhythm of my goals. Paula Pant says that every choice that you make is a trade off against something else….your time, your energy, your money. This year I want to be extra mindful of where I’m putting my focus.
Business
I have three major business goals for Happy Homes, with an action plan that will help me achieve them.
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- Purchase another Rental Property by end of year (2020)
- Get Zephyr rented by 3/1/2020
- Get my real estate license and start setting up my next steps by 5/2020
- Action plan:
- Set up a monthly business meeting, where Mike and I sit down and discuss our business, what’s working, what’s not, expenses…you know, all the good stuff.
- Complete 3 real estate classes a week to complete the 168 hours of classes before taking the real estate exam
Financial Goals
I won’t reveal all of my financial goals (booooring) but I do have a few things I’ve been doing that I’ll carry over into 2020.
- Continue to track expenses
- Save an extra $100-$300 a month
- Action plan:
- Input spend on the 30th of each month
- Try to drink less during the week, eat out less, be extremely mindful of where my money goes each month (especially because we have some big plans in the coming months!)
Family
The past few years, both Mike and I have spent great amounts of time with family and I’d like to spend even more time with our family this year, be mindful of the precious time I get with them.
- Put together a will by the end of 2020
- See my family once a month. With my taking real estate classes, adding an extra 12-15 hours of studying to my week, this will be tough, but think it’s important
Fitness
This area is crucial to my success as there are so many adventures I want to do in the coming years that will require strength, endurance and can-do. That means putting in the work now. Plus, being physical every day helps decompress, focus and keeps me energized.
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- Continue to strength train once a week at least and log it in Strava
- Be outside, active, as much as possible – I know goals should be specific, but this one is built into my DNA, so I’ll use the metrics from last year as benchmarks.
- Action Plan: Beat my stats from last year & schedule a strength training class once a week.
- Last years stats
- Bike: 225 miles
- Run: 22 miles
- Hiked 148 miles
- Back Country Skied 30 miles
- Walked 123 miles
- Last years stats
Mindfulness
Live more meaningful around that which brings me peace and calm. Being mindful of the thoughts and
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- Do 15 min of yoga a day – track via strava
- Journal daily – I created a journal based off of one a girlfriend uses, that prompts questions, has weekly goals, areas to reflect on and celebrate. I started December 31st and I’ve loved it thus far.
- Assign a day for myself, to do something new, something that brings me mountains of joy
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Friends & Fun
This area doesn’t need much work, as the crew I’ve found in Colorado so aligns with my soul, it’s unreal! But, I do have some goals around strengthening these relationships, as there are so many areas my friends and I see eye-to-eye on, I’d like to invite them to be accountability buddies. If you’re interested in this concept, here’s a great podcast about accountability buddies. Some of these goals will need to be implemented in the next quarter of the year, as I’m laser focused on my real estate license right now, but they are on my mind for this year.
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- Get an accountability buddy and schedule time to meet with them.(Some of these are already in place!)
- Writing/Business work/learning – Aaron
- Guitar – Mark, Ryan, Matt (1X a month) – Wednesdays
- Physical – Stacia/Amy – go to Motion Fitness – up my stats from last year
- Financial – Money Minded Mavens (1X a month)
- Romantic – need a date night once a week – with zero tv/something new/romantic we can do together – Puzzles, Walks, make dinner together, ski day/skin, Play in Denver
- Plan an international trip for my 40th – this is a big one, and there are a ton of places on the list! I’d like to have our plane tickets sorted by May – so the fun of planning can commence!
- Get an accountability buddy and schedule time to meet with them.(Some of these are already in place!)
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So, those are the big goals – when I boil them down there are 14 – too many to focus on for this first quarter of the year – so I’m focusing on my business, fitness, family, mindfulness to start the year. Michael Hyatt, a wonderful resource and thought leader around this space, states you shouldn’t have more than 10 goals at a time – it’s just not feasible to concentrate on all of them at once. His advice is to have a goal queue, that when you finish one, you can add another. I think this is a great way to outline when you’ll have the capacity to actually work on what’s most important.
Have any goals this year? Would love to hear about them – and your action plan around completing them!
Cheers to an amazing 2020!
