2020 Goals & Resolutions – Q2 Update

Last year I started publishing my annual goals and resolutions. I then provided an update every quarter. This kept me very motivated and kept myself accountable for my goals. As a result, I met and exceeded many of the goals I set out. At the beginning of this year, I decided to set out some very challenging and ambitious goals for myself. I also decided that I’d provide quarterly updates throughout the year.

A lot of things have happened since the last update – the COVID-19 pandemic meant we’ve been staying home for the majority of Q2. Gyms, swimming pools, and libraries have been closed. I have been working from home since mid-March and have not travelled for business since then. To be perfectly honest, for some reason I have not been very motivated on some of my goals in the last three months as you’re about to find out…

2020 Goals & Resolutions

Below is my goal tracking sheet. It’s quite simple and grouped into four categories. Some goals are yearly goals, some I want to achieve by a specific month.

For this year, I decided to give myself letter grades throughout the year to evaluate how well I am doing with each goal.

Financial Goals

• Dividend income over $30,000 -> B-. 44.31%. After numerous dividend cuts and suspensions, I have come to the realization that we will not be able to achieve this goal. The last thing I want to do is continue to aim for this ambitious goal and forcing myself to buy high yield dividend stocks and taking on more risks. If we end up with more than $27,000 in dividend income by the end of 2020, I’d be very happy.
• Dividend income/annual expense ratio 55% -> A+. 60.5%. While our dividend income has reduced due to all the cuts and suspensions, by practising social distancing and staying home, we have been spending way less money in Q2 compared to the “normal” monthly spending. This has a positive effect to our dividend income/annual expense ratio.

Blog Goals

• Publish six high quality articles every month-> A. I have published six articles in April, May, and June. This goal has motivated me to plan and write ahead. I believe a regular posting schedule is also helpful for the readers to keep track of.
• Speak at FinCon’20 -> Not Done. I had submitted a speaking session idea to the FinCon team in early March and hoped I’d get selected. Then the George Floyd murder happened and PT, the founder and ex-CEO of FinCon made some very inappropriate comments. I simply couldn’t justify supporting FinCon due to those comments. Furthermore, COVID-19 cases continued to increase in California and have caused me to have a second thought on going to a conference and networking with thousands of people in close proximity. Therefore, I have decided to not go to FinCon this year. As a result, this goal will not be achieved.
• Speak at Financial Freedom Summit-> Not Done. I have been approved as one of the speakers at the Financial Freedom Summit. The event was supposed to happen back in May in St. Louis. Due to COVID-19, the event got postponed to September in Long Beach California, a few days before FinCon. Recently the event organizers, Grant and Cody announced that the event has been postponed till 2021 due to COVID-19.
• Speak at Canadian Financial Summit -> WIP. I am hopeful that I will speak at the Canadian Financial Summit. I have reached out to the organizer and we tentatively agreed on having me on the summit. We just need to decide on a topic to talk about.
• Record three podcasts -> B. 33% completed. I recorded The What’s Up Podcast in early January to discuss Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE) in Canada. I need to work on appearing on two other podcasts.

Personal Goals

• Weigh 72 kg by the end of 2020 -> C-. 78kg. In Q2, due to COVID-19 and staying at home as an attempt to flatten the curve, I haven’t been exercise as much as what I used to. On top of that, I have been snacking more throughout the day. At the end of Q1, I weighed 76kg so increased 2k/4.4 lbs in one quarter. I need to put more emphasis on eating less and exercising more.
• Swim for 120 km in 2020 -> A+. 33.6 km. Because public pools have been closed since mid-March, I haven’t been able to go swimming at all. I am giving myself an A+ rating because based on my Q1 result, I was ahead of the progress. Even when indoor pools are open, I’m unsure whether it’s a good idea or not to go swimming. I do miss swimming early in the morning but if the risk of catching COVID-19 is high with going swimming indoor, I need to re-consider.
• Go to the gym at least twice each week -> A. I usually use the gym at work and because I have been working from home, going to work’s gym is no longer an option. Instead, I have been doing bodyweight workouts at home. I really wished that I had purchased some kettlebells before the pandemic so I can lift some weights regularly. For now, I will continue with the bodyweight exercises and use my kids as weights.
• Spend 60 minutes each week learning Danish on Duolingo -> A. I have done really well in the Danish learning front. Although my goal was to spend 60 minutes each week learning Danish, I actually have spent over 2900 minutes (or over 48 hours) on Duolingo after two quarters. I can pick up more and more phrases when Mrs. T and the kids are speaking in Danish. I can also understand a bit more when we read kids’ Danish books. My Danish pronunciation, however, will need a lot more work.
• Complete Conscious Parenting course -> Complete. I completed the Conscious Parenting course in February. The course provided some excellent parenting tools that have been extremely helpful. If you are a parent, I recommend taking the course.
• Read 15 books -> B 40%. This is perhaps one goal I have slacked off a bit during the pandemic. Since the end of March, I have only managed to read two books (Worth Every Single Penny and Nomandland). I usually read whenever I am on an airplane. Since I haven’t been travelling for business and not on an airplane, I haven’t been spending as much time reading books. I guess I should get off my phone and read more.

Fun Goals

• Go skiing with kids at least once -> Complete. We took the kids skiing three times this year. Both Mrs. T and I were amazed at how quickly both kids picked up skiing. By the middle of the first day, both kids were zipping down the bunny slope without much help. We plan to go skiing more next skiing season.
• Visit Banff & Jasper -> Complete. We took a 12 day trip to Banff and Jasper at the end of June and had a great time. We even saw bears roaming around!

Q2 2020 Wrap UP

As you can see, my Q2 goal results are a bit of a mixed bag. I have made some good progress on some of my goals but there are some goals I will not be able to accomplish for this year. For some reason, I have found myself not as motivated during this pandemic situation. Does anyone have the same feeling as me?

Dear readers, have you been keeping up with your 2020 goals and resolutions?