Wow, it’s hard to believe that Q3 is already in the books. For new readers, I have been setting goals and resolutions since 2019 as a way to challenge and improve myself. Long time readers will probably recall that I provide quarterly updates on how I am doing with these goals and resolutions.
This annual tradition has done quite well for me. I learned that this is a good way to challenge myself and keep me motivated throughout the year.
At the beginning of 2026, I set up 14 goals and resolutions, divided into four different categories.
Let’s see how I did in Q3.
2026 Goals and Resolutions – Q3 Update
Since I’m a spreadsheet nerd, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that’s how I track my goals and resolutions. Here is my status at the end of Q3:
Let’s dive into the details in each category.
Financial Goals
Dividend income over $72,000 – WIP: $ 59,578.49 received.
At the end of September, we received $59,578.49 in dividend income. It’s hard to believe that we already exceeded the total dividend income from 2024 with one quarter to go. You meant 2024, and not 2025?)
Based on my dividend income for the remainder of the year, I’m pretty certain we’ll be able to crush the goal of over $72k in dividend income.
We purchased a lot of stocks with new capital in the first half of the year. So far in the second half, that trend has slowed because we are saving for next year’s TFSA contributions. As we start accumulating and building our cash reserve, we have turned off dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPs) in both the RRSP and non-registered accounts. As a result, we anticipate that we won’t see as big of an increase in dividend income in the second half of the year.
Having said that, with some of my company’s RSUs (Restricted Stock Units) vesting in the latter part of the year, we may deploy some of that cash if some stocks look attractive.
Max out RESP $14k non-government matching portion for both kids – Done. A+
We are very pleased that we have maxed out both kids’ $14k non-government matching RESP portion in early January. Next up is to max out Kid 2.0’s RESP completely. To take advantage of the $500 Canada Education Savings Grant each year, it means it’ll take us a few more years to max out Kid 2.0’s RESP.
$35k in LTSS/cash wedge – WIP
We continue saving money in our LTSS/cash wedge in Q3. As mentioned earlier, we turned off DRIP in RRSPs and non-registered accounts earlier this year. Since we aren’t withdrawing money from RRSPs right now and it doesn’t make any sense to sit on cash, we have been buying CBIL (Global X 0-3 months T Bill ETF) with the dividend deposits to earn some interest. For non-registered accounts, we’ve been transferring dividend deposits into the Wealthsimple chequing account earning 2.25%.
- Sign up Wealthsimple Trade to get a $25 referral bonus
In theory, the CBIL value and money in the WS chequing accounts should count toward the $35k goal. However, when I set up this goal in January, I was thinking specifically of the LTSS account value. So I feel that I’m cheating a bit if I were to include the CBIL and WS chequing account values as part of this goal.
I guess I’ll decide at the end of the year how I want the accounting to work. Stay tuned.
Blog/Podcat Goals
Publish blog post every Monday – WIP
I have published a blog post every Monday so far in 2026. With more articles scheduled for the rest of the year, I’m pretty certain I’ll be able to accomplish this goal.
In case you’re wondering, I have been writing ahead and scheduling articles to go live. I then write the monthly dividend income posts at the beginning of each month. Any more time-sensitive articles are written in the same month, typically.
Find podcast sponsorship – Not done.
Nelson and I finished Season One of the DIY Wealth Canada Podcast on June 29. We took a short break in the summer and started Season Two on September 14.
We are both having a lot of fun with the podcast and we have improved our recording and editing workflow.
Previously, we sent the podcast episodes to someone to edit and it cost us around $30-35 CAD to edit per episode (fluctuated slightly due to USD/CAD exchange rate). With the weekly publishing schedule, the cost quickly added up (we had 39 episodes in Season 1). Fortunately, after episode 34, Nelson and I started using an online editing tool and editing the episodes ourselves (I do the editing since Nelson paid for the tool subscription). Anyway, this has significantly reduced the cost of our fun podcast project.
As a result, the two of us aren’t really in a rush to find podcast sponsorship. We see the podcast as a fun project and a chance for us to talk and discuss ideas. If the podcast leads to monetization later, that’s great. If it doesn’t, that’s OK too.
Personal Goals
Read 15 books – WIP, 16 books read.
In Q3, I read six books:
- And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
- There’s got to be a better way: How to deliver results and get rid of the stuff that gets in the way of real work by Nelson P. Repenning and Donald C. Kieffer
- Trillion Dollar Coach: The leadership handbook of Silicon Valley’s Bill Campbell by Alan Eagle, Eric Schmidt, and Jonathan Rosenberg
- Will Power: The most balling bequests, ludicrous last wishes, and daft declarations in final testaments by Susan Goldenberg
- 100 Rules of Living to 100: An optimists’ guide to a happy life by Dick Van Dyke
- The Compound by Aisling Rawle
It was a mix of fiction and non-fiction books with many different topics. I used to read a lot of personal finance and investing books, but after a while, I found most of them covered the same ideas. I have been branching out and reading different topics on purpose.
I have read And Then There Were None quite a few times. The copy I have at home has the original, extremely controversial title. I have always enjoyed reading this book and each time I read it, I uncover more clues.
I quite enjoyed reading 100 Rules of Living to 100. Having seen many of Dick Van Dyke’s movies, I was amazed to learn about some of his life struggles from the book (like how he was an alcoholic). I also enjoyed reading Will Power and all the bizarre stories about why having a will is extremely important in Canada.
The Compound was an interesting book as well, it reminded me a lot of Big Brother (the TV show) and 1984. The overall concept was very interesting but it wasn’t a deep book and the ending was somewhat predictable.
Replace 2013 iMac – Not started
Well, Apple announced the new Mac Mini M6 and Mac Mini M5 Pro in late August. Unfortunately, both models and additional upgrades are priced higher than the previous generation (due to the rising memory prices).
At the time of writing, I’m pretty convinced that we’ll go with the following setup:
- Mac Mini M6 with 24 GB memory and 512 GB SSD
- Studio Display
It’d be nice if there are some refurbished Studio Displays so we can save some money. And maybe by November or December, there will be a refurbished Mac Mini M6 as well.
I’m not 100% sure if it makes sense to max out the memory to 32 GB and pay another arm to Apple. I plan to use an external SSD (also expensive) and save large files on it to limit the use of the internal SSD.
We’ll see what we ultimately end up with at the end of the year.
Body fat <=15.5% – WIP 15.8%
At the end of Q3, I was at 15.8% body fat. This number went up slightly, mostly because I was on the road for three weeks in September and I wasn’t being as careful with what I ate and drank.
I’ll focus more on it in Q4 and try to reach this goal.
Rowing machine 2k under 8 mins – WIP. Personal Best: 8:13.
I’ll be honest, I didn’t row for 2k at all in Q3. If I got onto the rowing machine, it was for four minutes or less, just to see if I could work on my form. Therefore, I definitely need to work on this goal in Q4.
Ski Er 1k under 4 mins – Not done. Personal Best 4:01. B.
Despite focusing on this goal throughout Q3, I couldn’t get my time under 4 minutes. My personal best was consistently 4 minutes and 1 second. For some reason, I just couldn’t speed up more to get rid of that 1 second.
I tried my best and I think I’m OK with a personal best time of 4:01.
Sleep quality score >=80 – WIP: 82.
My sleep score dropped slightly, mostly due to my overseas travel in September. For the first few nights in Japan, I consistently woke up before 4 AM and couldn’t fall back asleep. I tried to stay in bed and go back to sleep but a few times I woke up at 5 AM and started working. I guess that’s the reality of international work travel.
Fun goals
Learn how to make beef Wellington – Not done. Plan to make one in Q4.
I didn’t accomplish this goal by the end of June but I do plan to learn and make beef Wellington in Q4.
Try a new restaurant with Mrs. T – Done. A.
We tried a few different restaurants during our 19-day Japan trip in March.
Experiment w/long exposure photography on beach – Done. A.
I experimented with long exposure photography in August. Since I used two ND (Neutral Density) filters in front of my lenses for a reduction of 12 stops in total, I had to use an online calculator to figure out how long the exposures needed to be.
It was tricky to “see” how the pictures would turn out while taking these long exposures. I think my shots turned out OK. It would have been nicer if there were more cloud movement in the sky. Perhaps that’s why many long exposure photographers like to shoot during stormy weather.
Summary – 2026 Goals and Resolutions Q3 Update
Overall, I believe I made some good progress toward my 2026 goals and resolutions. It was too bad I was 1 second short of my ski erg goal and I didn’t find a sponsor for the podcast. I was happy I finally got my butt in gear and took some long exposure photos, though.
Here’s to a strong Q4 finish to my goals and resolutions!
