Looking Back, Moving Forward

I hate doing resolutions for the New Year.  It just seems like an arbitrary start point for something that I probably should already be doing, and if I fail at that one thing, I feel like I fail for the year early on.  For instance, one year I decided that I wanted to cut sugar out of my diet.  So, the entire week between Christmas and New Year’s Day I tried to consume every piece of candy that had accumulated in our household since Halloween (because why would I be wasteful and throw it out?).  I started that year about 6 pounds heavier and further addicted to sugar.   Lesson learned. 

So, instead of making a resolution, every year we set goals based on the Seven Zig Ziglar Wheel of Life categories.  I thought it might be fun to look back on my 2020 goals while planning out 2021.  I hope by writing these out, I’ll be able to hold myself accountable. I encourage you to look at these areas of your life and set some goals too!

Wheel of Life Goals

Work/Career – 2020 Goal: Be on stage at NSM 2020 – Top 12 finish.  Become a Field Sales Trainer. Well, this one turned out half right.  I was named a Field Sales Trainer for my company this year, but the COVID-19 situation did me no favors in trying to convert hospitals to my products.
2021 Goal:  Be on stage at NSM 2021.

Financial – 2020 Goal: Maximize retirement funding for our family.  Surprisingly, spending 6 years chasing your dreams as a college basketball coach while working for scraps leaves you a little behind on retirement planning. The last couple of years we have worked to max out my work 401k along with two Roth IRAs to try and catch up.  Not trying to work my whole life!
2021 Goal: Pay extra on our house.  Since our debt-free journey of 2015, the last thing standing in our way is that dang mortgage.  We agreed to work to pay it off early.  Small bites.

Mind/Intellectual – 2020 Goal: Read one book every 2 weeks. 3 out of every 4 books must be personal development or non-fiction.  This goal should not be so hard but tossing in a pandemic and newborn threw a wrench into this one.  I finished the year having read 15 books out of my goal of 26.  I will get there next year.  30 minutes per night instead of that extra Netflix episode will easily get you there.
2021 Goal:  Read one book every 2 weeks.

Physical/Health – 2020 Goal:  Work out 200 days in the calendar year. Make smarter meal choices. Due to the nature of my job, my mid-30’s body was taking a beating.  I sit in my car and drive from hospital to hospital, and I eat what is convenient.  And I’m a sucker for Bojangles and Taco Bell. On January 1, 2020 I weighed as much as I ever have on the scale, 203lbs. I made the decision to workout as much as I could and give up the drive through.  This morning, December 31st, when I weighed, I was at 180lbs. Movement matters, but what goes into your body matters just as much. This one actually became quite achievable due to the lockdown and quarantine.  I only count actual planned workouts in this number, since we also try to go on a walk or do some kind of movement every day.
2021 Goal: Work out 200 days in the calendar year.  Drink more water and less caffeine.

Family – 2020 Goal: Take Meredith on one getaway per quarter.  Have one-on-one time with Nora every Saturday.  We were crushing this one, having gone on a weekend wedding trip to Florida in January and a week-long work award trip to Maui in March.  But then, we couldn’t travel anymore.  The miracle was that we got to spend more family time together than we could have ever asked, dreamed, or imagined in 2020.  We also grew our family in 2020, which was quite the blessing.
2021 Goal: Date night with Meredith once every-other-month.  With two kids, this goal seems sad but is realistic.  I really hope to blow it out of the water.

Personal/Social – 2020 Goal:  Begin a blog about fatherhood/life.  Boom, done.  You’re reading it.
2021 Goal:  Say yes to as much as possible.  I miss people, I miss doing things, I miss concerts, I miss comedy shows, I miss live sports.  We are going to say yes this year.

Spiritual – 2020 Goal:  Contribute 10% of our income to causes we believe in and people in need. We were able to accomplish this goal this year, but because we weren’t able to be physically involved, it felt a little empty.
2021 Goal: Get more involved in our church and the causes to which we contribute.  We joined a new church just before 2020 and we love it, however we have felt like we are on the sidelines due to the precautions we have all had to take this year.  We are going to jump in and get involved as soon as we safely can in 2021.

Whether you are someone who does resolutions, or you are a goal-setter like us, we hope that you are able to achieve all that you set out toward in 2021.
Reminder as you set your goals:  Goal setting should be SMART. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-Bound.