Not sure if anyone else has any, but I have a few little personal goals for 2024:
Continue to eat healthier and exercise regularly. I have lost a fair amount of weight in the last couple of years, and it feels good. I plan to continue.
Write in my journal daily. I’ve be doing it semi-regularly for a while, and while it’s something I enjoy and looked forward to, I’ve never been consistent.
I enjoy reading, but this year I resolve to read at least one biography, one book about science, and one book on art.
Use my best things. We all have a habit of when we acquire nice things, we’re reluctant to use them. So they sit in a drawer, on a shelf, or in a closet, waiting for that “special occasion”. This year, every day is a special occasion and there’s no reason to not use the good china on a Tuesday night.
As some of you know, I am newly married (Dec 6), and my constant goal will be to let her know each day by words and/or deeds what a loving and selfless person I think she is. We traveled to Europe shortly after our wedding on a trip I booked for myself in 2022 long before I even heard her name. On the last day of the trip, Brenda said “The trip is ending but the honeymoon will never end.”
That is an achievable resolution for all of us: treat our partners every day like it is the beginning of our honeymoon.
my wife and I are eating better. Nothing big like joining some system or counting calories but just cutting out bread and pasta and measuring serving sizes. So far I’m down 3.6 lbs and the goal is 20 for the year and 30 overall.
focus on spending smartly and replenish savings/emergency account (2023 hit us hard a completely depleted it)
All 4 people in the house (wife, 2 adult daughters, and myself) have the same jobs they do now on next new years day. Thats never happened before.
Continue to organize and build my Astros and HOFers baseball card binders. I have several different projects.
A) every Topps ( basic run) Astros and Colt card 1962-current. I have about 60% of 1962-1977 and 97% of 1978 forward.
B) 1 random card of each player in Astros history (baseball reference lists 975 of them) in order of appearance from Bobby Shantz (SP because home of game#1) to Bennett Sousa and keep it going. This is a new project and I don’t know how many I have yet.
C) update binder(s) of every card I have for HOFers for new class and cards I have acquired.
Like a lot of folks, my resolution is to improve my physical fitness through diet and exercise. I’ve been lifting weights half-assedly for the past two years and will push myself to get more serious about it. I’d like to get my overhead press to a consistent 135 this year. I got up to around 120 before the holidays, then got sick and took a few weeks off, but I want to hit a plate at least. I’m sure I should be focusing more on my squat, but squatting is a chore, and I find it much more enjoyable to lift things over my head. I’d also like to get to where I can do a good set of pull-ups a couple times a week. But that means building up my back strength through deadlifting more, which I also don’t love.
I have neglected cardio for… well, my entire life. That’s another focus for me this year. I hate running and get bored out of my mind on machines, so I’m hoping to get back into racquetball (which I played a tiny bit in college recreationally and really enjoyed). Anyone know a good place to play within a quick drive from Montrose?
Stick with diet/exercise. I generally do well, but the last half of 2023 was a bit of a fall off for me.
Set a budget. Or at least keep better track of things to stop pissing money away with various fees/subscriptions
Take my youngest on a good fishing trip
Prepare for my own trip diligently
Declutter. Easy for me. Hard for the wife. Be supportive but not bossy but not wishy washy because we have to get rid of a lot of this crap.
There are 2 trips I’ve kicked around for a while. One is a winter trip to Jackson Hole. The other is a a trip in search of GTs. I’m gonna plan/book the Jackson trip for 2025. The GTs will have to wait but I’m gonna get specific in my preparation. Neil, I’m counting on you for a scouting report.
I forgot one critical item: clean and organize my garage. I’m not sure why it gets so cluttered over the winter. Perhaps because I got the magnets wet.
I’m going to go the whole year with my new dumb phone and see if I can make it stick. So far so good.
This is the year of salads. I ran all year last year and did a half marathon and still gained 11 pounds. Do I finally start drinking less beer this year? It’s “possible.”