2022 Goals and Resolutions – Q3 Update

For those of you that are new to this blog, I have been setting annual goals and resolutions and publishing them since 2019. I then publish updates every quarter. These quarterly updates have kept me honest and motivated. Sharing these updates on the internet also kept me accountable.

I believe the most rewarding thing about tracking these goals is that I have improved as an individual. Furthermore, setting challenging goals and accomplishing them feels extremely good.

In Q2 I continued to work on my yearly goals and I continued this trend in Q3. I should have published this post back in October but it’s better late than never right?

2022 Goals and Resolutions

I’m a self-proclaimed Excel nerd. Therefore, it shouldn’t be surprising that I use a spreadsheet to track all my goals and resolutions. To make things easier to track and see, I grouped my goals into four categories. I then check my progress regularly, usually at the end of each month.

When I accomplish a goal, I’d colour the box green and high-five myself. To keep me motivated, I also give myself a letter grade for each goal that I’m still working on. Pretty straightforward, right?

Financial Goals

In 2022, I created two financial goals:

Dividend Income over $36,000 -> $31,394.43. A++

Well, we’re totally blowing this goal out of the water, aren’t we? At this point, I’m 100% certain that we’ll end up with more than $40,000 in dividend income, crushing the $36k dividend goal completely. This was certainly a lot of hard work – saving and investing money regularly and letting our money work hard for us so we don’t have to.

I’m quite excited to see where we may end up for 2022. Who knows, maybe there’s a chance we may exceed our 2023 projection of $41,500 dividend income. Do I dare to dream?

Use up WestJet travel bank & free companion vouchers -> Done.

We used our WestJet travel bank and free companion vouchers by booking a 2.5-week vacation to the Maritimes in August. We had a ton of fun and enjoyed the area, in particular, PEI. Below are some pictures from our trip.

In case you want to see more pictures from our trip, feel free to take a look at the August dividend income update.

Blog Goals

Publish a blog post every Monday -> WIP. A.

This goal has kept this blog alive, literally! I’m really proud of myself for keeping up a consistent publishing schedule for the past few years. It would have been easy to give up and just publish whatever I feel like it. But I feel I owe it to the supporting readers by publishing a blog post every Monday.

I also really enjoy whenever readers give me potential post ideas. So, if you have any article ideas, please leave them in the comment section or contact me via email.

Re-construct blog menu and sort articles into categories -> Done

I finished this goal last quarter and grouped published articles into the following three categories:

• Beginner Articles
• Intermediate Articles
• Advanced Articles

Beginner articles cover easy-to-understand investing and FIRE topics to get readers started on their DIY investing/FIRE journey.

Intermediate articles cover topics that readers may come across along their DIY investing/FIRE journey.

Advanced articles cover topics like decumulation, withdrawal strategies, and tax efficiency. These are topics I’m still learning as we get closer to reaching financial independence.

Hopefully these groupings have made it easier for readers to navigate through all the different articles I’ve written so far.

Finish Ahrefs blogging course -> Done

The Ahrefs blogging course was interesting but I knew most of the lesson topics. I might consider looking around for more advanced blogging courses later this year and learning more about the marketing side of blogging.

Personal Goals

The COVID-19 pandemic showed me that mental health and personal well-being are extremely important. So I wanted to put emphasis on these two important topics with my personal goals.

Work out at least two times a week -> WIP

I’ve been working consistently at least twice a week. More often than not, I’d end up working out four days a week. There have been a few weeks where I’d work out five times a week.

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What I really enjoy is using my kettlebells and challenging myself by doing different KB movements and complexes. The workouts in Q3 felt especially good considering I went through a series of injuries throughout Q2.

Read for 10 minutes before bedtime -> WIP. 19 books read. A++

I’m very impressed with myself on this goal, after reading so many books. In Q3 I read a total of six books, bringing up my total to 19 books.

The books I read in Q3 2022 were:

• Great leaders have no rules by Kevin Kruse: I decided to learn more about leadership and Kevin’s book was an eye opener for me. The book itself was easy to read and I kept having aha moments as I went through the chapters. The idea of “no open door policy” was completely different than what I’ve always been taught. After digesting the message, I think it made a lot of sense.
• Think like a monk by Jay Shetty: I’ve been wanting to read the book for years and after being on the waitlist for months at the library I finally got my term. The book did not disappoint! Jay provided frameworks to live like a monk in the modern world. If you haven’t read it, I’d highly recommend it.
• Leaders eat last by Simon Sinek: this was another book about leadership for me. I think the key message I got from this book is that we should all treat each other with respect regardless of what situation we might be in. I found it particularly interesting Sinek was able to tie what we do and how we react to chemicals like endorphins, dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin. That was an eye-opener for me.
• The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett: Mrs. T got this book at our local neighbourhood street library because she read The Pillars of the Earth previously. After she was done with the book, I decided to pick it up and read it. At 832 pages, it was one of the longest books I’ve read (War and Peace, The Lords of the Rings, and Count de Monte Cristo were the other ones I’ve read). I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Follett did a fantastic job at character development, so much so that I felt really connected with the three main characters of the book and felt the pain they went through. I plan to The Pillars of the Earth one of these days.

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone: Mrs. T has been reading Harry Potter books to the kids. When they finish a book, we’d watch the movie. Since I have only watched the movies and never read the books, Mrs. T told me I was missing out on a lot of details. Hence I decided to start reading the Harry Potter series. The Philosopher’s Stone was a good book and the movie definitely cut many parts from the book.
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: after finishing the Philosopher’s Stone I decided to continue the Harry Potter series. I can see why people are so attracted to Harry Potter books!

Body fat <=15% -> 17%. B.

I was pleased to see my body fat percentage go down to 17% at the end of Q3, a drop of 0.7% compared to the end of Q2. Would I ever get to 15% body fat? It’s certainly a little harder than I thought it would be.

Fun Goals

Go to Disneyland -> WIP

Our planned Disney trip in 2020 was cancelled due to the pandemic so I thought it might be nice to head there this year. However, at this point in time, we don’t set any travel plans to Disneyland. It’s very likely that I won’t be able to accomplish this goal. Maybe Disneyland for next year?

Go camping at Goldstream Provincial Park -> Not Done.

Last summer we camped at Goldstream Provincial Park and had a blast. Originally I thought it’d be great if we were to camp at Goldstream Provincial Park again this summer. However, due to all the different summer activities, we couldn’t find any suitable dates to go camping on Vancouver Island, so this goal is a failure for me, unfortunately.

Summary – 2022 Goals and Resolutions Q3 Update

Overall, I thought I had a great Q3. Despite accomplishing many of my goals in Q1, I was able to continue to work on my yearly goals. It felt nice to finally get back to working out with KB.

Dear readers, how did Q3 treat you?