J M Wetherington Sr

It is a day that focuses on resolutions, but (and if you want to say it’s just semantics, I wouldn’t argue with you) I’ve never been a fan of resolutions and prefer to set goals for the year. Psychologically, the term goals works better for me in setting up a sense of accomplishment.

The first of those goals is to get back to writing these blog posts on a more regular basis.

So, elephant in the room; this is my first post in quite a while. My last post was in July of 2019 when I wrote a tribute to Michael Schornstein and his tragic passing. And the one before that was back in September of 2018. Needless to say, I have not been as prolific in posting as I was when I started this blog many years ago.

My intention is for that to change in 2020.

I’m writing this a few days before Christmas 2019 and by the time you read it on New Year’s Day 2020 I’ll be in the process of enjoying a few days of rest and relaxation at a first class resort (thank you, hotel points earned through my travels for my employer) on Amelia Island with my wife. I’ll post some photos from the stay in an upcoming blog entry. But writing some posts ahead of time like this will be part of my plan to post more often and more regularly.

I hope you’ll be with me. If you like to have your information gathered in one place via RSS (like I do), you can add this blog feed to your reader. If you prefer to be notified of new posts via email, you can sign up in the area on the right for notification of new posts to your favorite email client. Or, you can just drop in once in a while and see what’s new here. Whatever method you choose, it will be fun to have you along.

My second goal is a combination of several goals that end up resulting in one over-arching goal. My end goal is to retire in 5 1/2 years. Truthfully, I’d prefer to retire in 1 1/2 years, but I don’t want to be bagging groceries or eating dog food in the winter of my life, so I’m stretching out my work years to maximize my SS, 401K and retirement benefits, while paying down a majority of my debt. To that end I’m:

• A. Aiming for a promotion at work. When I reached the position I’m at now 3 years ago I thought I’d remain there until retiring. I really don’t want the added responsibility of the position above mine. But I’ve been asked to work toward it and the increase in salary would result in an increase to my eventual SS benefit amount, as well as my retirement fund, and allow me to put more into my 401K and investments.

• B. Reducing debt. This is something we’ve already been doing, but our plan is to kick it into high gear this year. We need to sell one of our homes. The taxes, insurance, and associated expenses are rising every year and since we rent it out we no longer have the homestead exemption to offset. We’ve been reducing our credit card debt and hope to eliminate it this year, only using them to gain travel points and only charging what we can pay off entirely each month to avoid any interest charges.

• C. Planning for Cindy to close her business. This is something that will most likely happen in the next two years at most. Cindy loves her business and does very well at it, but it is exhausting work and we’re hoping that she’ll have more opportunities to travel with me on the road while I’m working over the remaining years.

My third goal this year is to improve my overall health. That involves being even more conscious of my diet (which I’m pretty good at after the past two years) and increasing my exercise, which I do not have a strong inclination to do, lol. But, I have two chronic conditions that would ease up if I did, so I NEED to work on those things even more.

My fourth goal is one I have every year, spoken or not, and that is to be a better person. If we can’t continue to grow and improve in our lives, what is the point? I want to be a better person than I was in 2019.

Those are the big four for this year. I have other, smaller, ones such as my photography, learning some new technology, minimizing possessions, travel hacking, etc., but those four are what I’ll be prioritizing.

If you’d like to share yours in the comments, I’d love to be inspired by them.

Happy New Year, 2020!