Things I want to do in 2024

May 23, 2024

photo credit: @kellysikkema via Unsplash

I know, I am terribly late with this post. I started drafting it at the beginning of the year, but then the weeks just started flying by and I didn’t get around to posting it. Well, since there’s still more than half of this year left, I will put this list out now even if some of the things I put on there have already happened. I guess, this will work out in my favor when the year concludes.

Complete (another) 365 Peloton Streak.

You’re probably not surprised that this is going on the list again. I am in my 4th year and haven’t missed a “blue dot” in 1240 days (which means I have taken one class on the Peloton platform, even 5-minute meditation counts, every day since January 21, 2021.

Complete the virtual Appalachian Trail Challenge.

Tanja and I signed up for another Conqueror Challenge this year and this time we’ll virtually tackle the 1968.3 miles of the Appalachian Trail this year. In case you’re not familiar with the Conqueror Challenges, you track your mileage through your smartwatch or fitness app and log them in the Conqueror app, which shows you where you are on the map and how much distance you have accomplished at any given time (and also if you’re “ahead or behind”).

Go skiing again with my family.

Well, as I mentioned in a previous post, I purchased a flight in February and this trip happened. And it wasn’t just my parents and my sister’s family, but also my cousin and his girlfriend who went on this skiing trip. It was freaking amazing.

Celebrate my parents’ 50th anniversary.

This also happened (recap to come). When I first drafted this post at the beginning of the year, I wasn’t sure if this would be possible but I put it on the list to manifest it. And then I said “f**k it, let’s go”, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime milestone and I need to be there.

Participate in the #100dayproject.

After hearing about it from Tobia a gazillion times and contemplating participation for, oh, years, I finally put this on my list this year. The #100dayproject encourages creativity and consistency and can be “anything” you want it to be. It says that you should pick something that you can do for 5-10 minutes a day, preferably something that is portable, so you can also do it, if you are away from home. Sounds doable enough, yes? I wrote a separate post about what I planned to do here. Let’s see what happens (and yes, I know I owe you an update).

Get at least 7.5 hours of sleep every night.

I am a good sleeper. I fall asleep easily, I don’t wake up during the night and usually feel pretty rested when I get up, but I also know that I could do even better if I got a little bit more sleep than I am currently getting (according to my sleep cycle app, I am averaging 7 hours). My sleep quality, however, hovers just below 70%. (I am trying to figure out how I can improve that as well.)

Run a new race.

I haven’t put any races on my calendar for this year yet and my running schedule has been a bit haphazard due to all my recent travel, but I am determined to still run a few races. I hope to pick a race (most likely in California but I am open to other opportunities) that I haven’t run.

Establish regular budget meetings with Jon.

You know I’ve been using YNAB for almost a decade now and I used to put out (more regular) spending reports. I enjoy having control over our money and tracking where our money goes. Jon is generally on board and keeps an eye on our various accounts, but I do most of the actual “budgeting”. He doesn’t spend much money on himself so he seems generally not interested in the daily minutia of budgeting, but I’d love him to be more involved. Do you have a regular budgeting meeting with your partner (or yourself, if you’re single)?

Finish books #7 and #8 of the Outlander series.

I am still chipping away, currently 2/3 through book #7 (An Echo in the Bone). I will finish these two and then there’ll be only one more left to finish the series.

Continue the work of advocating for myself.

I want to keep the momentum from last year going and put this back on my list. As you know, I was accepted into a mentorship program earlier this year and I am very excited to work with someone whose role is to help me with my career. I feel I’ve been matched with a really great person who professionally overlaps with my interests.

What are your goals for this year? Share one with me – big or small!

Ally Bean
May 23, 2024 at 8:32 am

#100dayproject I see that hashtag on IG but didn’t know what it alluded to. Thanks for explaining.

My biggest goal for this year is to get all the landscaping upgraded around the house. After a boxwood blight last year that took out 15 bushes our curb appeal is gone, so slowly, month by month, we’re making it pretty again.
1. San
  May 23, 2024 at 7:55 pm
  
  That’s exciting. Landscaping can be a big project! Hope it turns out the way you envision it.
NGS
May 23, 2024 at 9:05 am

We have never once had a budgeting meeting. LOL. We have had a few conversations about broad spending, particularly when we move, when we bought our house, and when I lost my job, but we basically just do a check-in once in a while. I guess we could be better about this. Ha!

One of my quarterly goals is to take a day off of work this quarter with nothing to do on that day – just sleep in, read, and relax. I don’t know if I can do it, but I’m going to try.
1. San
  May 23, 2024 at 7:57 pm
  
  It seems like you have your expenses split up and as long as you don’t spend above your means and have agreed on future goals, a regular check-in might be all you need ;)
  
  I hope you get to take a day off and have a “shouldless” day, as Lisa would call it!
Elisabeth
May 23, 2024 at 11:44 am

I loved this post! What a great mix of goals – personal growth, fun, relationships, career, reading.

I’m not setting any goals for 2024. Of course, there are many things I hope to do, but I’m trying to hold those “hopes” more loosely than goals in the past.
1. San
  May 23, 2024 at 7:57 pm
  
  I love that you’re NOT setting goals (I mean, I don’t really call my list “goals” either, just aspirations :)
Tina
May 23, 2024 at 6:20 pm

I think those all sound very doable, you’ve even completed a couple, so bonus.
I worked on some goals at the beginning of the year and am behind on blogging my progress, which basically is none. It’s an extremely ambitious set of goals and I knew I wouldn’t get them all done so I aimed for 50%. Well, we’ll see if I can get that. Thank you for reminding me to get off my backside and get going on accomplishing a few of my goals.
1. San
  May 23, 2024 at 7:58 pm
  
  I think sometimes it can help to set ambitious goals to get started, even if you know you won’t get them all done in a year. I am curious to hear about your progress!
Stephany
May 24, 2024 at 5:17 am

I, of course, have lots of goals for 2024 and have already checked some of them off. I think my biggest goal is to move into a 2-bedroom apartment. Hoping the prices won’t be astronomical when I start looking in late fall!
1. San
  May 24, 2024 at 11:56 am
  
  You’re the queen of goal lists :) and I really do hope you find – and are able to move to – a 2-bedroom this year!
Nicole MacPherson
May 24, 2024 at 5:25 am

These are all such great things, especially since you’ve already accomplished so much! I too am on a Peloton streak, I have a blue dot every day since Dec 27, 2020. I’m so so so happy you got to go and visit your family! What a wonderful thing.
Goals, I do have them! I am very close to accomplishing a big one which I’ll talk about later. We just finished the majority of landscaping, so my goal this summer is to enjoy my garden to the fullest.
1. San
  May 24, 2024 at 11:57 am
  
  That is so cool that you’ve always kept up a Peloton streak for over 3 years (only a few days ahead of me!) That’s amazing, Nicole!!
  
  I am very curious to find out more about your big goal that you’re close to accomplishing!!
Daria
May 24, 2024 at 10:01 am

Loved reading your list! Most of my goals are medium/small because big overwhelms me. Two international trips (one is done, another is in August), camping- soon, and daily movement.
1. San
  May 24, 2024 at 11:58 am
  
  I like that you keep your goals manageable! I do not have big goals either… just keep chipping away at the smaller ones that I can manage more easily ;)
Michelle
May 24, 2024 at 12:47 pm

Oof, I don’t have any goals at the moment. I’m taking 2024 day by day. I kind of like it!
1. San
  May 24, 2024 at 5:21 pm
  
  I think this can be a great approach. Keep it up!
Cynthia
May 24, 2024 at 1:09 pm

These are really great goals! I would like to establish a conversational Czech hour about once a week to improve my conversation (level: dismal) and get my yoga class participation back up to where it used to be :) Hard to find time but counting on summer to give me a surge of energy.
1. San
  May 24, 2024 at 5:22 pm
  
  Oh, I like the idea of a conversational Czech hour. I hope you can do it :)
Rachel
May 24, 2024 at 10:19 pm

These are great goals! And it’s great to read a goals post in May too!
I keep a budget spreadsheet where I record everything we spent against categories, and then Andy and I look at it together once a month or so. It definitely helps keep us on track, especially with our personal spending.
I love a good sleep goal! I wonder how sleep quality is measured? I may have to start wearing my watch at night – is this from your Apple Watch?
I am looking forward to hearing more professional wins for you and am really enjoying hearing about your profession successes. So glad you have a Mentor too – yay San!
1. San
  May 25, 2024 at 11:04 am
  
  I am glad to hear you’re also tracking spending and having regular check-ins with Andy! Jon and I had a check-in last night and it was very productive ;)
  
  Re: the sleep quality, it’s currently measured through the Sleep Cycle App (because I charge my Apple Watch at night)… but I am contemplating wearing it to see what insights it gives me.
  The Sleep Cycle App apparently measures sleep quality by time asleep, movements during the night and moments that I am fully awake. I am still trying to learn how exactly I can influence that.
  And thanks for the encouragement regarding my professional wins… I always think of you when I tackle these challenges in my work place.
Kyria @ Travel Spot
May 25, 2024 at 5:17 am

Ah, now I know the answer to my question that I asked you in response to your comment on my blog! You are reading the Outlander series! Are you reading anything else at the same time or are you all Outlander all the time? I read book 1 and have book 2 waiting in the wings, but I have other books that are due earlier so will be reading those first, so it’s not all Outlander all the time. I did not know you were reading them! Are you going to or have you already watched the TV series?

Re budgeting, I do a quarterly net worth update and a monthly budget look back for myself. I don’t overly stress about the monthly one, I just use it as a guide, do a few tweaks if needed and then I do a yearly thorough review to see if my monthly tweaks worked and/or what I should do instead.
Lisa’s Yarns
May 25, 2024 at 12:24 pm

I’m envious of your ability to fall asleep easily and stay asleep. That has long been a struggle for me and it’s been especially bad lately since I am on steroids which have a side effect of impacting sleep.

We have a quarterly financial review but it’s less about budgeting and more about reviewing our various investment accounts and deciding what changes we might want to make. We used to use mint to track spending but they converted to another ap and it doesn’t track spending. So we are in the process of converting to fidelity full view since it’s free and tracks spending. But we will have lost the first 5 months of the year which is annoying but so it goes. My spending post will be for half the year in 2024 but it’s not like our spending vastly varies so it’s probably fine.
Tobia | craftaliciousme
May 26, 2024 at 9:11 am

I love LOVE a good goal post. And yes, I want to hear how your 100 day project is going. Mine is currently stagnating and despite my May goal to finish it it won’t happen this months.
So happy you decided to be at your parents 50th wedding anniversary. Definately milestone celebration you needed to attend.
We don’t do budget meetings really. With two moves and crazy times financially it might be a good idea though to get some grip on finances. I have tried to handle a few things move money around in our accounts but not sure it’s all done.
One big goal for me this year is to get in shape. And while I am chipping away and have increased all tracked settings in my Apple Watch I can not see it in my appearance which is a bit frustrating to be perfectly honest. I guess I just need to keep going… or increasing workouts…
Ernie
May 27, 2024 at 4:56 pm

This is a great list. I don’t mind that it is posted in May. It is as good a time as any to revisit lists of goals. the 100day project sounds very interesting. I’m so glad you made it back for the 50th anniversary and for the ski trip. Awesome. My goals for this year: Um, finish my book? (the memoir I’m writing). Get parts of my house more organized. Declutter and get rid of lots of stuff.

Oh, also – no I don’t sit down and review a budget with my spouse. Great concept. I try not to spend when I can avoid it. Does that count? Ha.
Anne
June 12, 2024 at 4:03 pm

I love this, as you probably know. What I love MOST is that you’ve had TWO trips to see your family. <3 I love how your goals align with your priorities.
I'd like to find some kind of challenge thing that is about 1000 miles… or maybe, to start, 500. I will have to look into the options!
I have a pretty long streak in my journaling app, as well as in closing my rings. I don't have the Peloton app, otherwise, I could do the blue dot thing, too.
You, Stephany, Engie, and Lisa have inspired me to have more regular (for me, weekly) check ins on my spending. I do a detailed list of expenditures now, and categorize them. So, thank you. You're a good influence on me, in many ways.
1. San
  June 12, 2024 at 6:58 pm
  
  Thank you my friend, I always appreciate your thoughtful comments.