# Whats your new years resolution/goals/changes?



## donald (Apr 18, 2011)

Just curious what resolutions cmfers have this year if any.
-My work/business one is to work on ''trying'' to better manage my time and work on my communication skills/leardership skills
-My personal finance goal is to believe it or not(lighten-up)stick to my plan but stop watching the markets/news driven media ect(ive learned this is harmful and can induce uneeded stress....I bought alot of stocks in april/may this year and got slightly burnt....but it ended up not as bad as it felt mentally tracking everything.(im more a dividend growth investors/buy and hold/buy and sell accordingly investor)
-Lifestyle goal is try to eat healtheir and cut back on caffine(im drinking about 3 large double ds a day)not good....and trying to get into meditation to soothe the stresses of life that creep in & try better to maintian a healthy work/life/leisure balance.....thats the hard one.

Anybody have similar objectives or whats yours?


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## KaeJS (Sep 28, 2010)

1. Stop eating out.

2. Finish my diploma.

3. Move up in BMO.


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## mind_business (Sep 24, 2011)

Financial goals:


Learn a bit more about bond investing. When it makes sense to purchase bonds, and how to evaluate and purchase them.
Increase my savings rate from 39% Gross Income to 45%.
Supporting point No. 2, reduce unnecessary budget expenses.

Personal goals:


Go on an overseas vacation at least once per year.
Increase my exercising to 4 times per week.
start bike commuting to work in the spring. I'd like to commute at least 3 times per week.


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## the-royal-mail (Dec 11, 2009)

Late every year I set a savings goal for the coming year. These goals have been met over the past 2 years and so a similar goal is set for the new year.

With sufficient operating capital/cash in hand, I believe I am better able to make sound financial decisions and not have to pay all sorts of fees and bother with shell games and the like. That means if I want to do something, the money is there.

I plan to continue this strategy.


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## uptoolate (Oct 9, 2011)

Personal goals:

•	More quality time with the family
•	Exercise - get out to hockey more / lift a few weights
•	Spend more time doing ‘outside’ things.
•	Lighten up!

Work goals:

•	Play nice!
•	Slow down and transition to part-time work
•	Do the things that are really enjoyable and appreciated

Financial goals:

•	Get more of my cash back into the game.
•	Continue to help educate the kids on financial matters
•	Help my mom get her finances organized along Couch Potato lines

Thanks for the template MB.


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## KaeJS (Sep 28, 2010)

the-royal-mail said:


> These goals have been met over the past 2 years and so a similar goal is set for the new year.


Either your goals are not hard enough or you're really killing it.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

For me it's rehab and learning how to walk all over again. I had a vicious
myositis attack on December 9th..I even panicked and bought a power
wheel chair ..should my leg muscles fail to function at some point.

Sorry, I can't walk outside in slippery snowy conditions..so CMFers..Happy New Year
and carry on with the virtual New Years eve party!.....party on!


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

KaeJS said:


> 1. Stop eating out.


Yes, I would say so..you had a narrow escape recently with Taco Hell!


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## KaeJS (Sep 28, 2010)

^ Should have seen this coming.


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## Spudd (Oct 11, 2011)

mind_business said:


> Increase my exercising to 4 times per week.
> start bike commuting to work in the spring. I'd like to commute at least 3 times per week.


How far do you live from work? I started bike commuting 2 years ago (I live only 3km from work) and love it. It gives me an automatic 20+ minutes of cardio a day and is extremely inexpensive. I've gotten one flat in 2 years and my bike is still within its free maintenance period from the bike shop. 

My goals are as follows:

 Increase mortgage payments by 10%.
 Follow my financial plan. 
 Start a website.
 Do strength training 3 times a week.


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## mind_business (Sep 24, 2011)

Spudd, I live 10 km's from work. It takes me about 30 minutes to get to work, and 22 minutes to get home (bike faster to get out the frustration from the day  ). I used to commute a lot more often, however I've been slacking the last few years. If I'm going to achieve my goal of 4 exercise sessions per week, the biking will go a long way to achieve that. I agree with you that it's a great, inexpensive way to get into shape. Purchasing all the bikes I currently own was not cheap  If I could go back in time, I'd have stuck with my Hard Tail Mountain bike as my commuter, and my road bike for weekend rides.


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## mind_business (Sep 24, 2011)

uptoolate said:


> Thanks for the template MB.


You're welcome. I'm a bit of a list nerd. I find I can organize my thoughts much better in point form


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## uptoolate (Oct 9, 2011)

Agree with you there. Points beat prose when it comes to organizing things. 

Happy New Year and thanks to Donald for making me think about those and put them down.


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## Toronto.gal (Jan 8, 2010)

I have too many goals to list here; most are of a personal nature, but for sure one of them needs to be strength training and maybe sky-diving too [NOT!].

Good luck with achieving all your goals; here are 7 tips to help you: 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life...ng-your-new-years-resolutions/article1850207/

*Carverman:* hope all goes well with the physio.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

Sorry to hear about your health carverman and hope you have full recovery in 2012.Hope you bought a outside chair as not all wheelchairs are made for snow and ice


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## Jungle (Feb 17, 2010)

Some great goals here. 

Personal:

Focus energy on positive things and self improvement 
Improve productivity with everything. 
Improve time management. 
Improve relationships with friends and family. 
Work out more.

Financial:

De-leverage
Increase income
Meet financial goals (equivalent to climbing mount everest lol)


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## newbie (Dec 12, 2009)

carverman said:


> For me it's rehab and learning how to walk all over again. I had a vicious
> myositis attack on December 9th..I even panicked and bought a power
> wheel chair ..should my leg muscles fail to function at some point.
> 
> ...


ur post caught my attn.
there is absolutely nothing worse in life than not being healthy.
u r a winner already in my book .
i know because i experience that with a very close person to me on a daily basis.
u just inspired me to have a resolution for this year.
and as many other years all i ask is that G'D keeps me healthy to carry on with everything else.
may the holy one bring u peace and health , the rest will come.
happy new year


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## ddkay (Nov 20, 2010)

I don't think I would change much about what I did this year, overall it has been good to me. Regardless I'm going to re-quantify my strategy tomorrow and put more hours into my work. I involuntarily slip out of routine sometimes, I have to reduce some external commitments to avoid that. I'll be globetrotting a few months this spring as I've been planning for awhile now. Happy New Years to all.


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## the-royal-mail (Dec 11, 2009)

Kae et al, I like goals that are attainable and not there simply for their own sake. I've been financially fortunate lately and so I have been able to meet the goals that were set out. It won't always be like this. My goals are usually based on the projections indicated in my financial tracking excel file.


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## ddkay (Nov 20, 2010)

carverman like the saying goes, if you don't have health you don't have anything. I wish you a speedy recovery, to you and yours something good next year!


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## Daniel A. (Mar 20, 2011)

Resolutions I rarely need 2011 seemed to go as it was.
I'm down in the markets holding Uranium stock so may sit on them for awhile.

Being retired suits me well  I do manage fine on my DB pension and would be in Mexico but am already going to the UK in the spring for a few weeks.
Next winter the plan is Mexico for four months.

I have health so I'm good.


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## Barwelle (Feb 23, 2011)

ddkay said:


> I'll be globetrotting a few months this spring as I've been planning for awhile now.


Where are you headed to?

My resolutions:

- Get good nights' sleep more often (i.e. stop lurking CMF and PF blogs late at night)

- Get back in touch with old friends since I've been away quite a bit in the last few years

- Master the art of baking sourdough bread

There must have been a thread on last year's resolutions. How did everyone do for 2011?


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## Jon_Snow (May 20, 2009)

I will post more resolution details later... Right now I'm sitting in a forest clearing, sipping MGD, eating kettle chips, a campfire crackling happily beside me, trying to visualize where I want to build my cabin. Detest posting from my Blackberry, so I will sum up by saying that despite my occasional complaints about my job, my life is quite wonderful and I do appreciate all that I have (health included)... And CMF is a great online community. Happy New Years to all from the BC Gulf Islands!


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## KaeJS (Sep 28, 2010)

Mr. Snow, Green doesn't look good on me.

Just thought you should know.


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## Jon_Snow (May 20, 2009)

Nice one, KaeJS... 

Now that I am back on a real keyboard (Blackberrys are terrible, sorry RIM) I'll expand a bit on my 2012 goals. We wust decide on what to do with our mortgage when April comes... if I can get a sub 3% rate, I will likely keep a minimal mortgage.... I'm thinking $300 mortgage payments would be nice.  If I'm not happy with what I'm being offered for rates, we might just suck it up and write a 90K cheque and be done with it (my wife REALLY wants to pay it off).

As for investing, I'll likely keep a toe in the water with my usual mix of index ETF's, dividend ETF's, REITS, with some thought to adding CDN bank preferreds in there... but I won't be in a hurry to add more $ to my holdings early in the year. I confess to being sorely lacking in my investing saavy compared to many others on this site, so I will tread carefully in this area.

Yet in one area, my wife and I feel we are quite accomplished. We are good savers.... perhaps even OBSESSIVE savers. Going over the numbers, we were saving about 60% of our take home pay in 2011. I'm hopeful that we can hit 70% in 2012. That would mean saving an average of about $5500 every month. If we can pull this off... it might finally be time to break ground on our island cottage. Having researched what a typical 1000sq ft cottage costs to build on a small island, with septic field installation, well hookup, electrical servicing etc, I can safely say that our cash stash will be dented severely. Will just have to see how the year progresses.

2012, here we go!


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

I want to go to bed much earlier than I do now ,have a neater desk as my desk has several stacks of papers all the time .I know what they are but people tend to clean around me and mess up my filing system lol.

I cut my carbs and sugar and lost 15 pounds in last couple months so hope to stick to that although today I had not one but six cookies lol

I finalize papers for sale of a website in less than a week
which will result in the largest amount of cash I have ever had in my life.So really want to improve my investment knowledge in 2012.


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## hboy43 (May 10, 2009)

Hi:

I'd like to spend less time on the net and more time getting things done. Hopefully I will disappear from here for the most part.

The big goal is to make some progress in boating. Not necessarily get a boat this year, but at least hang out at the yacht club and learn on other people's boats. Might get a boat too, but not going to force the issue if it isn't the right time. The biggest problem is my height. I can't stand up in about 95% of boats under 45 feet in length, so decision one is to either insist on headroom, or abandon the idea. For now I want to be able to stand, but this criterium will likely cost me $50,000 over what would be possible if I were 3 or 4 inches shorter. If it is true that tall people earn more, they need to in order to buy a boat they will fit in.

hboy43


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## Jon_Snow (May 20, 2009)

Hboy, I'm 6'4" myself and have whacked my head many a time on friends and families boats.... I'm sticking to my sea kayak for now... although a "real" boat is on my wish list... along with an Audi, a timber frame cottage etc... unless I can supress these "wants", ER is probably a pipe dream.


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## mind_business (Sep 24, 2011)

Jon, if I ever get a large enough windfall, my first purchase will be an open post-and-beam cottage. Doesn't get any better than that  Do you have some land to build it on yet?


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## Jon_Snow (May 20, 2009)

Yes MB, I do indeed have about 6 acres of gorgeous island property here on the west coast... nothing on it yet except lots of trees, an outhouse (wife insisted on it) and a free standing deck with a couple of adirondack chairs on it. My wife and I spend countless hours dreaming about what our dream cottage would look like. Post and beam, timber frame, log, straw bale etc... I will probably have to wait at least 5 years until I stop working full time so I can do much of the work myself (I work in construction) and save a bunch of money.

Pre-packaged cabin kits look like a good approach these days...


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## atrp2biz (Sep 22, 2010)

For me, I'd like to:

1. Get back to high school weight (less 15 lbs)--no no/low carb thing has worked for me too, Marina. I've lost ~15 lbs since the spring. I've plateaued (bottomed??) by not watching my intake, so time to cut the carbs again.

2. Prepare our wills.

3. Do some volunteer work.

4. Sell condo in Toronto. Buy house in Calgary. We've narrowed down the neighbourhoods--time to pull the trigger.

5. Get promoted at work.


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## RichmondMan (Jan 31, 2011)

- still hard working in my job
- watching the "world" around me carefully
- a little bit more traveling, mainly across the Europe
- spend more time with my lovely grandson


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