Yesterday, I focused on what did and did not go well in 2012. Overall, I have to say that it was a good year. Now, it’s time to look forward to 2013, and specifically goals for 2013. There are only a few more hours to pull out my dancing shoes and hit up the dance floor with my smooth (or not so smooth moves). I plan to dance and drink and eat the night away with my friends to ring in the new year… before I go into full party mode, I want to focus on the year ahead.
Last year, I came up with 12 personal goals for 2012. This year, I was debating coming up with 13 goals, but finding myself stuck at 10, I decided to keep it a bit more concise. Here is what I have in store for 2013 … in no particular order.
1. Run in four races.
This year, and particularly the last few months, I have really fallen off of the exercising bandwagon. I started out strong at the beginning of the year, as I was doing CrossFit while I was still in Rochester. Unfortunately, once I moved, I decided not to join a gym. I was meh about running throughout the fall and now I’m lucky if I even get a run in every two weeks. Now that my overall goal is to make room in my life for things that are important to me, I’m going to be running more. I’m one who does well with goals and things to work to, so I’m going to try to run in at least 4 races before the end of 2013.
2. Cross off five flux list items.
I didn’t realize how many items on my flux list that I’ve crossed off prior to the end of the 2012 until I started actually going through the list to see what I want to focus on this coming year. I accomplished buying a dSLR, winning a large sum of money, and speaking in front of a large crowd. I don’t want to lock myself into any flux list items in particular, but a few seem likely (or at least possible), such as breaking my habit of biting my nails, reading a book a month for 12 months (see below!), or fly in first class (using points or miles). At the very least, I’ll continue making progress of the multi-year items, such as paying off my student loans and visiting every country in the US.
3. Read 13 books.
At the end of the day, I’m a reader. Unfortunately, I don’t get to read as much as I would like, as I fill up my time with other things these days. Well, that will change in 2013. I’m now armed with a Kindle, thanks to a very fabulous Christmas gift from my boyfriend. Going forward, it will be much easier for me to pick a book and subsequently read it. I don’t always make the best use of my commute time, so now I’ll be able to easily get my read on while getting my public transport on.
4. Understand my camera.
As I briefly mentioned in my November monthly recap, I now am a proud owner of a dSLR. Back in the old days in college, I took a digital photography class where I was able to use one for the semester. I started to learn how to use it, but I know that I certainly haven’t learned to use its full potential. I’d love to learn the ins and outs of my camera before the end of the year, so that I can unlock its true potential.
5. Redesign Living in Flux.
I spent a lot of time building Living in Flux over the summer, but as I’ve been actually using it, I’ve seen some things that I’d like to change. I’d also like to work to add additional features that I didn’t quite get to the first time around and spruce things up a bit. I don’t think I’ll change anything drastic, but I do feel like a bit of a fresher look is in order.
6. Start a side business.
Starting a side business is probably the goal that I have defined the least for myself. I’m still trying to figure out exactly what I want to do, but I’m getting closer and closer to figuring it out. This year, I’d really like to nail it down and launch something cool. I’ve always had this overwhelming desire to create. At the end of the day, it’s what I do, whether it be creating some sweet code, knitting something, or even building this blog. I’m looking for something that hits the sweet spot of profitability, personal fulfillment and flexibility. Getting something going may take a while, but I’ll be sure to share my thoughts and decisions as I go through this exciting (and daunting!) task of achieving this goal.
7. Become a better writer.
Becoming a better writer on Living in Flux is one of my goals for the year. Add to that being a better blogger. I don’t necessarily think I’m a bad writer, but there is always room for improvement and ways to make web content more engaging, interesting and readable. I’d love to spend more time actually planning and producing content for you and making it a more fun endeavor. Because I mean, hey, if it’s not fun for me… I can’t imagine it’s fun for you.
8. Pay off 20% of my student loans.
As you’ve probably figured out by now, student loan debt is a topic on the top of my mind. I’ve been trying to aggressively pay off my student loans and, ultimately, I would love to have them all gone from my life by the time I turn 30. That’s a little more than 4 years from now and I’ve been making a lot of progress, but there is much more progress to be made. I’d love to put more towards my loans in 2013 than I did in 2012 and this goal reflects that desire.
9. Build a $10,000 emergency fund.
The general personal finance advice these days is to sock away 3 – 6 months of living expenses in an emergency fund to help cover your butt in case you lose your job, experience some sort of medical issue or experience any other type of emergency situation. I’ve put a lot of money away in my emergency fund this year, but I’m not quite up to five figures. Since I already have quite a bit in my emergency fund, this won’t be my biggest focus this year, but I do want to beef it up a bit more.
10. Visit 4 new states.
I plan to cover this more in a separate post, but one of my goals is to visit all 50 states in the United States. I haven’t decided by what age I would like to do that, but I do want to chip away at that goal this year. I’m not sure exactly where I’ll end up this year, but I’d like to cross off at least four new states. Likely contenders are Delaware, Louisiana, Washington, New Hampshire or Maine.
Do you have goals for 2013? What are they? What do you want to accomplish?
