2021 Goals and Resolutions – Q2 Update

Can you believe 2021 is already half over? With the warmer, sunnier summer weather here in Vancouver, we are spending a lot of time outside, especially in our backyard garden. The warmer sunnier weather also means the backyard garden has exploded into a sea of green. We have been busy harvesting different vegetables and herbs from the garden.

With the COVID-19 restrictions slowly easing, we’ve been exploring different areas of our community more and more. Although we had originally planned to go to Denmark this summer, we have put that travel plan on hold. Travelling overseas isn’t realistic until we can travel without having to quarantine.

On the personal finance front, we had a very successful Q2. The stock market has been firing on all cylinders. As a result, we are seeing a nice increase in our worth. We also have been busy purchasing more dividend paying stocks and increasing our dividend income.

2021 Goals and Resolutions

Below is my 2021 goal sheet. Since I’m a visual person and a spreadsheet nerd, I found that having a goal sheet works very well for me. I keep the goal sheet on Google Drive so I can update and review it regularly.

As you can see, many of my goals are yearly goals that require me to work on them every week.

Financial Goals

• Dividend Income over $32,000. After six months we have received $15,063.38 in dividend income. If we want to hit this goal, we should have received $16,000 or more in dividends after six months. Therefore, we are slightly behind with this goal. To hit this goal, we need to continue adding new cash and buying more dividend stocks. I have been keeping a close eye on the best Canadian dividend stocks and we plan to buy more of these stocks.
• FI ratio >=60%. This goal depends on two factors – dividend income and expenses. I have covered the dividend income portion in the previous goal. For expenses, we have spent a bit more than expected. Despite shop strategically at different stores and in bulk, groceries have gotten more expensive. Grocery cost isn’t the only thing that has gone up. Gas, utilities, property taxes, and insurance costs have all gone up as well. All these increases put tremendous pressure and headwind on this FI ratio goal. Furthermore,our cat got sick in May and the veterinary bill was almost $1,000. We hit 55% FI ratio last year, but we had abnormally low expenses last year because we stayed home most of the year. Don’t get me wrong, we are not giving up on this goal and will continue to work toward this challenging FI ratio goal.

Blog Goals

• Publish a blog post every Monday. I am very proud to say that I have kept posting every Monday so far this year. This goal has helped me to stay motivated. Without this goal, I probably wouldn’t be posting every single week. Many readers may not realize is that running a blog is extremely time consuming. It usually takes me at least two or three hours to complete writing a post. For longer posts that require extensive research, it is not unusual to spend eight to ten hours before completing such posts. The Living Off Dividends interview piece I did with Reader B took close to 30 hours considering all the emailing and editing. On top of writing and publishing blog posts, there are also the day-to-day backend stuff like replying to emails and comments and making sure the site stays running at tip-top shape. With a full time job and two little kids at home, sometimes I’m amazed that I have kept this blog for seven years. I continue to write and post because I enjoy writing, sharing our financial independence journey, and connecting with like-minded people. It has never been my goal to get rich from this blog. Consider how much time I put in and how much money the blog makes, I’m pretty sure I’m making a lot less than the minimum wage. Heck, our dividend portfolio generates way more money PASSIVELY than this blog.
• Speak at Canadian Financial Summit. Last year I was one of the speakers at the Canadian Financial Summit and had a lot of fun. I am planning to speak at the Summit again this year and have been in brainstorming with Kyle from Million Dollar Journey about my session.
• One Facebook Live Session -> Done! I thought this goal would be a major failure since I have done no planning at all. I was struggling with what to talk about. One day, after getting many emails from readers asking me similar questions, I started the camera and recorded a Facebook Live session. Who knows, I might decide to do more sessions in the future. I’d love to hear what you think about my first Facebook Live session.

Personal Goals

• Work out at least twice a week. On average, I worked out four times a week using a single 16 kg or 35 lbs kettlebell. I have been doing more challenging whole-body complexes. Recently I had to create a new hole in my belt, which meant that I must have lost some inches around my waist. Overall, I feel pretty good physically.
• Complete all 5 levels of Duolingo Danish Course. I’m have practiced Danish every single day and I’m on a 479 day streak and counting. As I progress through the different modules, lessons are getting harder and harder. When I get to Level 4 and 5, each lesson can take up to 10 minutes to complete. Mrs. T is impressed with my progress and how much Danish I can understand For now, I will continue to learn Danish every day to make sure I can complete all 5 levels by the end of the year.
• Read 12 books. After reading five books in Q1, I slacked off and only read two books in Q2. The two books I read were A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle and Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson. A New Earth was a tough read and took a while for me to finish the book. Furiously Happy was hilarious and I really enjoyed reading it.
• Meditate for 5 minutes each day. I have consistently meditated every single day so far this year. I have changed when I meditate since the last update. Nowadays I meditate first thing in the morning, just after I wake up.

Fun Goals

• One kids-free staycation with Mrs. T- > Done! Thanks to the ease of COVID-19 restriction, we could have my parents looking after the kids for an extended period. This has allowed Mrs. T and I to have some kid-free time together and have a mini staycation. This was something we needed desperately.

Summary – 2021 Goals and Resolutions Q2 Update

Overall, I am making good progress with most of my goals. I am very proud of the fact I have been working out on average four times a week. I am also very proud of my progress with learning Danish on Duolingo. It feels really great to accomplish a few goals already.

Dear readers, did you make any new year’s goals and resolutions? If so, how are you doing with them?