You can call them resolutions or you can call them personal goals but the end result is the same; the hope of improvement in the new year.

It’s 2019 and another year is in the books. It’s trite but right to say how fast time flies. I started the year engaged, content with my boring insurance job and lazy about writing, exercise, health and hobbies. I end 2018 married, fresh off an amazing honeymoon and in a new director role. I’m still lazy about all that other stuff but the rest is a big win!

It’s easy to look back at 2018 and see it as one of the best years of my life. I took the next step in my personal life with my now wife, had some great travel and pivoted in my career. I feel good about where I am today but know that there are things I want to improve upon.

That’s why I’m here, equipped with a brand new excel spreadsheet for keeping tabs on myself with 5 personal goals for 2019. These are not related to my finances in anyway since this blog already tracks that well. These personal goals are just that; things I want to improve in my personal life for one reason or another.

If you want to tag along, don’t look at these as resolutions but as life changes that you plan to attack this year. These are more than just generic resolutions, they’re five goals anyone can do without any special memberships because they’re simple, attainable and not overly specific.

If you’re not an excel guy then setting reminders on your phone can serve the same purpose; just check them off as you do them throughout the day.

This is the first year where I’m setting public, measurable goals in my life. As such, I want them to be simple and reasonable. After all, goals or resolutions are no good to anyone if we know they’ll be impossible to stick with. So here’s to a great 2019 and some personal growth through some personal goals!

Goal One – Exercise Every Day

There are many days when I’m off work when I wake up and do nothing. I literally wake up, walk the dog, sit down on my PC and surf the net or play video games all day. I might walk the dog again later if my wife doesn’t do it. These aren’t super long walks as my dog is pretty lazy so I don’t really count them as exercise.

There are also many days when I go in to work, sit in front of my computer there and do nothing. I then drive home and sit on my couch doing a whole lot of nothing; dog walks being the sole exception.

My “exercise” those days is basically a short walk with the dog and walking to and from my parking garage. That’s not good.

We do take hikes on weekends and on days off and spend time doing other things quite often but there’s too many days of nothing between that. This is especially true during winter when going outside sucks the big butt.

I want to change that so that I’m doing something every day. Again, it doesn’t matter what that is but it has to be different from my usual routine. It can be ten minute yoga in the morning or it can be a walk in the afternoon during lunch. It can also be rowing on the rowing machine we bought last year to get healthy and haven’t used nearly enough.

You can even try something basic like my beginner 30 day plank challenge.

At the end of the day, it has to be something so that I’m not a lazy bum 60% of the time.

In fact, I just added the You Tube app on my Roku so I can add some yoga to my daily routine.

Goal Two – Write Every Day

This is a simple one. I have a blog, I pay to host this blog and would like this blog to get some readers. On top of that, the mission statement of this blog is to make a profit and donate it to charity.

In order to that, I have to write posts that don’t suck. It might also help to write more often than once a week which has been my average in 2018. Hell, I still haven’t finished my Hawaii series and I’ve been back from my honeymoon for over a month! That’s some lazy stuff guys!

The simple solution to that is to write every day. I don’t want to set specific word goals or any BS like that because that becomes a drag. I find that once I get going, I keep going and if I’m not feeling it then the material probably sucks anyway.

I’ll consider one sentence as having written for the day. If I do that, I’ll pop a check mark near the written box in my spread sheet.

Also, I wrote this entire post 1/1/19. What a win for my excel spreadsheet but crap, now I have to write something 1/2/19. I’ll figure it out! Again, this doesn’t mean I’ll post any old crap every day but it does mean I’ll be writing more which should translate to more posts of some sort.

If you’re not a writer then consider your own hobbies and try to do them at least once a day.

Goal Three – Drink 10+ Glasses of Water Daily

This one probably requires the most tracking but I think it’ll be easy once I get a system going.

I’ve been pretty good about this but have found myself slipping lately. I have to get back on the water train because water is such an important part of being healthy.

Many people, myself included, don’t drink enough. You may think that 10+ glasses(80oz) sounds like a lot but I want to be closer to 100oz or more each day. The difference in your well being when you’re consistently drinking a ton of water is huge. I’m no doctor but I know that I feel better when I drink a bunch of water. I think the 8 glasses per day is not enough for me and I want more!

It might mean a bunch of trips to the toilet but it’s worth it. Plus, I’m all about peeing on the company dime if I can help it. Maybe I’ll get that app that tracks how much $$/hr I’m making while in the can. It’s bound to go up if I can meet this goal!

The plan is to drink two glasses right when I wake up then two 32 oz bottles throughout the day. That meets the goal and should be easy to track and If I drink more then yay!

Goal Four – Put The Phone Away

This might be the hardest of my personal goals.

I’ll say it right now. I’m addicted to my phone. I look at it all the time. I open apps and stare at them flicking back and forth, mostly Reddit but others too.

Often I’ll just surf the net and the worst part is that I do it even while doing other things. I can’t tell you the last time I watched a movie or TV show at home without my phone open.

I’ve even started using it before falling asleep which doesn’t help with getting good sleep.

It’s like I’ve forgot how to pay attention to stuff and need that constant high of the phone with me. It’s even a crutch in social events because I can always look down at that thing when things are getting boring.

That’s not to say I won’t be using the phone anymore. It’s still great for a variety of things but I know I have to cut back.

That means no more phone time after 9 P.M. and no more phone time if I’m doing something else like watching TV or talking to people.

Goal Five – Read Every Night Before Bed

I like reading and this is probably going to be one of the easier personal goals.

However, it has to be there so I’m consistent with it and this helps me two ways.

One, it gives me a forced diversion off my phone as silly as that sounds. Two, it helps me fall asleep quickly and sleep well. Both of those are important and might actually work in tandem.

I sleep better because I’m reading and not on my phone and I’m not on my phone because I’m reading. Reading is also good for the smarts and stuff.

Sleep is key and if reading before bed can help me get in bed faster and sleep better then I’m all for it.

The goal here is to be in bed at 9 P.M. each night for some solid reading before bed. Sleep is important and being in bed early without looking at screens is the key to good sleep. Hell, if this was a list of six things then sleep better would probably be on it.

However, it’s not, it’s a list of five things and those five things are now on paper and as such they are official.

That means that I will do my best to make sure I hit them. I think I can since they’re not crazy hard or insane and while these are personal goals for 2019, I’m hoping these can transition into part of my day every single day well past this year.

Thanks for reading and hopefully this inspired you to set some goals for yourself or maybe just copy mine. Mine are pretty good if you want to just copy mine, I don’t mind. We can all be fit, hydrated, writers(or insert your hobby here) who don’t spend too much time on our phones and read a lot. That’s not a bad combo!