Last year, I wrote a post reflecting on the year I had in 2018, and setting some goals for 2019. I always get introspective at the end of each year, and going through the exercise of reflecting on the year I’ve had and the year I want to have coming up is a way for me to take stock of how I’m spending my days.

Having spent some time doing that, here are my top achievements from 2019, as well as the goals I’d like to achieve in 2020. If you’ve never been through this kind of exercise, it’s worth giving a try. If you need some help, pour a glass of whisky – I find that gets me reflecting real fast 🙂

2019 Win #1: Continuing to Write Weekly

Come February, it will have been three years since the trip to Indonesia that first inspired me to start writing. That trip changed my outlook on life, and a great deal of successes I’ve had in recent years have come due in some small way to my writing.

I recently cracked the 1000 monthly visitor mark, which may sound like a small number to you… but it’s mind-boggling to me. To think that anybody beyond me is interested in reading my work is just crazy-humbling, and it inspires me to keep on going.

2019 Win #2: Achieving my Savings Goals

I set out to save a chunk of change toward retirement this year, and I’m proud to say that I made it happen, and then some. My motivation was due in no small part to my writing on this site; after all, I write about personal finance, among other things. If I don’t take my own advice, then what business do I have touting it to others?

2019 Win #3: Joining the St. John Ambulance Board of Directors

I have been looking for a cause to give my time and knowledge to since moving to Mississauga, but either the timing wasn’t right, or the opportunity, or both. This year, though, those stars aligned when I was invited to join the Board of Directors for the Peel/Dufferin branch of St. John Ambulance. I now have the opportunity to use my marketing knowledge to help one of the oldest charities in existence today, and it’s been incredibly rewarding so far.

2019 Win #4: Changing Roles at Work

After three years working for the same (awesome) team at work, I was starting to feel like it was time for a change. Well true to form, the powers that be heard me and made it happen, and I now work on a completely different area of the business, versus what I was doing before. It’s an exciting opportunity that comes with the benefit of an incredible team supporting me, and I couldn’t be luckier.

2019 Win #5: Visiting Banff

I have put off visiting Banff for years and years because of the cost associated with making the trip. Now that I’ve been though, I can confidently say that it was some of the best money I’ve ever spent. I wouldn’t hesitate to book another trip out there and spend a couple more weeks playing around in Canada’s backyard. What an incredible, breathtaking experience it was.

2019 Win #6: Being Tapped for my Second-Degree Black Belt

While I was hoping to have earned my second-degree black belt in karate this year, it wasn’t in the cards. That’s completely fine though, because it means that I have more time to prepare myself for the grading in May 2020.

2020 is going to be a significant year for my martial arts training. I’ve begun getting more involved in teaching the adults, which has been very rewarding so far. Teaching the junior belts forces me to have a firm grasp of the techniques and principles myself, and it’s a joy to see the lightbulb turn on in someone’s eyes when I show someone a technique the same way it was shown to me when I first started training.

So with those items checked off, here’s a new list I created for 2020, which I expect is going to be a fantastic year!

2020 Goal #1: Double my Savings

All it takes is a little momentum and things start to snowball real fast when it comes to retirement savings, and so one of my goals for 2020 is to achieve double my savings goal from 2019. It’s aggressive, to be sure, but you know what they say: shoot for the moon, and even if you miss you’ll land among the stars, right? My wife and I have this big hairy goal of retiring by age 50, and dammit, we’re going to get there.

2020 Goal #2: Earn my Second-Degree Black Belt

I’ve got the date; now I just need to make sure I’ve got the moves to earn my second-degree black belt in karate. I’ll be grading with up to eight fellow students at my dojo at the same time, and the pressure’s on to make sure we represent our sensei’s teachings well. He put his reputation on the line to send us to grade, and there’s no way I’m going to make a mockery of that.

2020 Goal #3: Train Karate in Okinawa

After earning my second-degree black belt, one of my next goals is to travel to Okinawa and Japan to train at the birthplace of my style, Goju ryu. I’ve been putting off booking because I’m nervous – there are a lot of unknowns – but I’ve made up my mind that this is the year. If I don’t go while I’m at my peak, I’ll never go, and I’d regret it for the rest of my life. That doesn’t sound super-appealing to me, so I’ll be booking the trip sooner rather than later!

2020 Goal #4: Buy a Detached Home

Our semi-detached home has been good to us, but our neighbours have not, and it’s time to move on. 2020 will see us buy a detached home, and I’m looking forward to the peace and quiet it will hopefully bring.

2020 Goal #5: Help a Member of my Team Get Promoted

As I said before, I’m very lucky to be surrounded by an incredible team of employees, and I want nothing more than to see them succeed in their own careers. That means supporting them to get promoted and move on to other roles within the company, and while it’ll be sad, to me it’s also one of the highest marks of achievement that a people leader can strive for. As a parent, you always want your kids to be better and more successful than you. Why should you want anything less for your work family?

2020 Goal #6: Return to Daily Meditation

I was at my best when I was meditating daily. Somewhere along the line, it dropped off, but I’m keen to restart. When I was meditating, I was sleeping better, had a better memory, and was able to better process stress, and as I write this, I have literally no idea why I stopped. 2020 marks my return to daily meditation – I think I can spare 5 minutes a day 🙂

Wrapping it Up

Writing these goals out helps to galvanize me in my efforts and solidify what it is I’m aiming for in the coming year. If you’ve never written down your goals, you should give it a shot. Why not start with the comments section of this post? Go on – what are you focused on accomplishing with a fresh start in 2020?