2020 Goals & Resolutions – Q3 Update

Last year I started publishing my annual goals & 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. After seeing such good accomplishments, I decided to do the same thing again in 2020. So at the beginning of this year, I set out some very challenging and ambitious goals for myself. I’d provide quarterly updates throughout the year on my 2020 goals & resolutions to keep myself accountable.

2020 hasn’t been a normal year. Since mid-March, I have been working from home. While gyms, swimming pools, libraries, and other public places have started opening slowly, we have been avoid these places as much as possible to avoid the spread of COVID-19. And just like my Q2 update, it has been extremely challenging to stay motivated throughout Q3…

2020 Goals & Resolutions

Being an Excel nerd, I have been tracking my goals via a spreadsheet. The goals are grouped into four categories and I have been updating my progress regularly. For each goal, I also marked down when I plan to achieve them, some are yearly goals, some I planned to achieve by a specific month.

To keep me motivated throughout the year, I borrowed Joe’s idea and gave myself letter grades to see how I am progressing for each goal.

Financial Goals

• Dividend income over $30,000 -> $19,642.70. 65.48%. It certainly doesn’t look like this goal is achievable given the numerous dividend cuts and suspensions we have experienced throughout the year. All we can do now is aim for as high dividend income as possible. Given that we use a 1:1 exchange rate between USD and CAD, it might be interesting to convert USD dividends into CAD at the end of the year and see if we get anywhere close to the $30,000 dividends goal.
• Dividend income/annual expense ratio 55% -> 57.5%. So far so good. We are above the plan! Although our dividend income is lower than anticipated, our overall expenses have been lowered as well due to the pandemic. We are certainly spending less on a monthly basis compared to previous years. We have been averaging around $52,000 in the last few years and I’m optimistic that we may end up below $50k for 2020.

Blog Goals

• Publish six high quality articles every month-> A. I have published at least six articles in Q3. I have started to put some more focus on SEO. Some readers may have noticed that I’ve been updating some old posts with more up-to-date information. This approach means I don’t have to spend as much time crunching out new materials.
• Speak at FinCon’20 -> N/A. FinCon’20 has been cancelled due to COVID-19. So I’m marking this goal as not applicable.
• Speak at Financial Freedom Summit-> N/A. Although I was approved as one of the speakers at the Financial Freedom Summit, the event was postponed then cancelled due to COVID019. I am looking forward to presenting as a speaker at the event in 2021.
• Speak at Canadian Financial Summit -> WIP. I have recorded my session for the Canadian Financial Summit and I’m looking forward to the event on Oct 14-17. In case you’d like to attend, you can get your free ticket here.
• Record three podcasts -> A. Complete. I have completed this goal. I have recorded three podcasts and all three have been published, they are:
  • Earn & Invest: Will Moving to Canada Fix My Finances?
  • The FI Show: Slow Travel, Geoarbitrage and Creative Frugality
  • Explore FI Canada: Dividend Investing

Personal Goals

• Weigh 72 kg by the end of 2020 -> C-. 79kg. This goal has been an utter failure. Staying mostly at home due to the pandemic meant a low activity level. I also have been snacking more, which certainly doesn’t help with my goal of reducing my weight. I’d be pleased if I can get my weight down back down to below 78 kg by the end of 2020.
• Swim for 120 km in 2020 -> A+. 33.6 km. Although public pools are slowly opening where we are, I am very hesitant to go back swimming. The chance of catching COVID-19 while in the pool is low but the chance of catching the virus during the going in the water and getting back home can be high. I figured swimming can wait. For this goal I’m grading myself based on my progress at the end of Q1, before the pool closures.
• Go to the gym at least twice each week -> A. I have been doing busy weight workouts at home but they aren’t just the same as lifting weights. In May I looked around on the internet for kettlebells or dumbells but the prices were outrageous. In late August I managed to find three new kettlebells from Craigslist for $110. As a result, I have been doing kettlebell exercises in the garage at least three times a week. This should help me to increase my activity level and hopefully reduce my weight slightly.
• Spend 60 minutes each week learning Danish on Duolingo -> A. I have done really well in the Danish learning front. I can pick up more and more phrases when Mrs. T and the kids are speaking in Danish. When I pick up a kids Danish book I can understand a bit more. Pronunciation, however, is a different story…
• 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 -> C- 60%. I have been slacking off on the book reading front. In Q3 I only manged to read two books – The Warren Buffett Way and On Writing Well. I have read The Warrent Buffett Way previously but thought I’d re-read the book to see if I can pick up more knowledge. I really enjoyed reading On Writing Well as I have realized some of the things I need to correct in my writing. With one more quarter to go, I need to read six more books to complete this goal. This might be a challenge.

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. as you can see from all the pictures below.

Q3 2020 Wrap UP

For the most part, I think I did a decent job with my goals in Q3. I am happy that I have continued to work out and learn Danish regularly. It’s also nice to see that I have kept up with posting six blog posts each month. I need to pick it up when it comes to reading more books though.

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