2022 Goals and Resolutions – Q2 Update

As some of you may know, I’m a goal-oriented person. I like to set challenging goals for myself so I can focus on reaching or completing specific tasks and plan out my actions. Setting yearly goals and resolutions also helps me to improve as an individual.

Setting too many goals and resolutions, however, can have a negative effect, especially when one feels overwhelmed or discouraged. This is why I only set 10 goals for 2022.

In Q1, I accomplished many of my goals already and made great progress on my yearly goals. I should have published this article in July rather than August but it’s better late than never right? Let’s find out how I did in Q2.

2022 Goals and Resolutions

I’m a self-proclaimed spreadsheet nerd so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I’ve been tracking my annual goals using a spreadsheet. To make things easier to track and see, I grouped my goals into four categories. I then check my goals at the end of each month. If a goal has been achieved, I would then colour the box green and have a small celebration.

Tawcan goals & resolutions Q2 update

To keep track of my progress, I also give myself a letter grade for each of the goals that are still work in progress.

Financial Goals

For 2022, I created two financial goals.

Dividend Income over $36,000 -> $20,645.13. A++

Well, I think it is safe to say that we’re ahead of our target by a wide margin. After six months, we are averaging about $3,400 in dividend income per month. If we continue with this average, we are projected to receive about $41,000 in dividend income. It would be simply amazing if can we do that.

Per the projection chart below, if we end up with about $41,000 in dividend income for 2022 we’d move our projection ahead by about a year. It would be absolutely amazing if that were to happen. Maybe our dream of becoming financially independent and living off dividend income is really possible by 2025.

Tawcan's dividend income projection

Use up WestJet travel bank & free companion vouchers -> Done.

Per my Q1 update, we booked a trip to go to the maritime provinces this summer. We will be visiting Halifax, Cabot Trail, Moncton, and all over PEI. The whole family is very much looking forward to this vacation. We even booked Anne of Green Gables – The Musical while we’re staying in Charlottetown. I’ll have to make sure to finish reading the book to both kids before we depart for the trip.

Despite booking direct flights, WestJet recently cancelled the direct flights and now we have to connect through Calgary for both directions. Given the recent news that both WestJet and Air Canada have more than 100 flight cancellations per day, I wasn’t too shocked to see our flights got rebooked. Having to connect through Calgary wasn’t ideal but at least we were informed about it ahead of time.

Blog Goals

Publish a blog post every Monday -> WIP. A.

I’m really proud of myself to keep up a consistent publishing schedule. Since I’m not the type of writer that can write quickly and finish an article the night before the publication deadline, planning ahead and writing ahead have really helped me.

Having more time to write also has helped me to write articles that require extensive research time. If you have any article ideas, please leave them in the comment section or contact me via email.

Re-construct blog menu and sort articles into categories -> Done

I finished this goal last quarter and the articles are grouped into the following three categories:

Beginner articles cover easy-to-understand investing and FIRE topics to get readers started on their DIY investing/FIRE journey.

Intermediate articles cover topics that readers may come across along their DIY investing/FIRE journey.

Advanced articles usually cover topics related to decumulation, withdrawal strategies, and tax efficiency.

Please do let me know if these categories are helpful or not. If you have any suggestions related to the navigation of the blog, please let me know.

Finish Ahrefs blogging course -> Done

The Ahrefs blogging course was interesting but I knew most of the lesson topics. I might consider looking around for more advanced blogging courses later this year and learn more about the marketing side of blogging.

Personal Goals

Personal wellness has been my main focus for 2022. I think personal wellness is especially important nowadays given what we’ve gone through in the last two years.

Work out at least two times a week -> WIP

I was working out consistently about four times a week in our garage up until April. At end of Q1, I bought a 60-pound (27 kg) kettlebell as a way to challenge myself. However, I pulled my back and abdominal muscles while doing kettlebell swings with this new toy around mid-April. I guess doing 50 kettlebell swings per set and pushing myself to do 10 sets (i.e. 500 swings total) was too challenging with a 60-pound kettlebell…

I took about a month to rest and recover, only doing body weight workouts during that time. When I got back to doing some weights in early May, I ended up hurting myself again. Instead of just resting and recovering, I went to see a physiotherapist for treatments. The treatments helped, but when I did a light workout with a 16 kg kettlebell in late May, my body felt quite good. Unfortunately, when I worked out again a couple of days later, I felt a sharp stabbing pain in my mid-back and left abdomen again.

It was extremely frustrating but a good reminder that I needed to take care of my body first. So it was back to physio to get more treatments.

As I write this update, my abdomen and back are feeling better but I plan to take it easy. I’m only doing body weight workouts for the next few weeks and start slowly adding weights to my workout. Instead of doing kettlebell complex and flow movements, I will keep my workouts to simpler exercises like deadlifts, squats, and lunges. Furthermore, I need to pay close attention to my posture.

Read for 10 minutes before bedtime -> WIP. 13 books read. A

Although I haven’t been reading for 10 minutes every single night before going to bed, I have kept up this routine about 90% of the time throughout the last six months. I’ve found that reading for about 10 minutes really helped me to unwind and prepare my brain for a good night’s sleep.

Here are the seven books I read in Q2 2022:

  • Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty: Mrs. T has been reading a lot of Liane Moriarty’s books and recommended Nine Perfect Strangers. I thought the story was very interesting and enjoyed Liane’s writing style.
  • Creativity, Inc. by Amy Wallace and Edwin Catmull: One of the VPs started a leadership book club at work and Creativity, Inc. was the first book we needed to read. I really enjoyed reading the book and have to say it is one of my favourites in recent years. The book had a lot of topics on leadership and management. The most fascinating thing I got out of the book was the creative process at Pixar and how many of the popular Pixar movies started out completely different than what we see on the screen.
  • Atomic Habits by James Clear: What a great book! A must read for everyone!
  • The Associate by John Grisham: I’ve read a lot of Grisham’s books in the past so I was a little surprised that I haven’t read The Associate. The story was quite interesting but what surprised me the most was how many hours lawyers in big law firms in New York are expected to work.
  • Balance by Andrew Hallam: I really enjoyed Andrew’s previous book, Millionaire Teacher, so I’ve wanted to read his latest book for a long time. Luckily the local library had a few copies of Balance so I was able to borrow a copy relatively quickly. The book was very interesting and shared similar concepts as Die with Zero. Andrew focused on the idea of finding the balance between enjoying life now and saving for the future. I’m really glad there are more and more personal finance books available that focus on personal well-being rather than just the saving mentality.
  • Fatherhood by Fatherly: This book was displayed on the bookshelves by the local library entrance. While the book focused on the American experience like the US hospital system, cost, etc, I thought the book provided a great overview of what becoming a father might look like. What I took to heart from this book is that it is important to spend time with your kids and letting them do things and face failures will do wonders for them.
  • Think Again by Adam Grant: The author shared some interesting concepts throughout the book but my favourite was how he wrapped up the book – “It takes humility to reconsider our past commitments, doubt to question our present decisions, and curiosity to reimagine our future plans. What we discover along the way can free us from the shackles of our familiar surroundings and our former selves. Rethinking liberates us to do more than update our knowledge and opinions – it’s a tool for leading a more fulfilling life
think again
From Thinks Again – Why do tie happiness and being successful together? It’s time for us to decouple them

Considering I read 17 books in 2021 and 12 books in 2020, I’m really happy with how many books I’ve read so far in 2022. Who knows, maybe I’ll be able to read more than 20 books in 2022?

Body fat <=15% -> 17.7%. B.

At the end of Q1, I had a body fat of 17.6%. Despite not working out as hard as before, due to an injury, and not paying as much attention to my diet, I was surprised that I only gained 0.1% in body fat percentage. I will continue to work toward the 15% goal for the rest of the year.

Fun Goals

Go to Disneyland -> WIP

Our planned Disney trip in 2020 was cancelled due to the pandemic. While it would be nice to go to Disneyland this year, I am beginning to think that this fun goal isn’t going to happen, especially considering other potential trips we have planned for the rest of the year.

Go camping at Goldstream Provincial Park -> WIP

Last summer we camped at Goldstream Provincial Park and had a blast. However, both kids have a bunch of summer camps and swimming lessons throughout the summer and it is beginning to look like we won’t have any time to go camping on Vancouver Island. We’ll have to wait and see if we can accomplish this fun goal before the end of summer.

Summary – 2022 Goals and Resolutions Q2 Update

Since I accomplished many of my goals in the previous quarter, Q2 was a bit of a letdown, especially considering I hurt myself while working out. I plan to continue to work on the rest of my year long goals in Q3.

In Q2, I learned that I need to focus more on personal well-being and keeping my body healthy rather than pushing myself only to hit a certain number of workouts per week. I need to find a balance between challenging my body physically and resting so my body doesn’t break down.

Dear readers, how did Q2 treat you?

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8 thoughts on “2022 Goals and Resolutions – Q2 Update”

  1. WOW
    I love your stories and progress, my wife and I are trying to do what you are doing but just started a few years ago.
    Where can I get one of those great charts for tracking our div from multiple accounts. We are in our 50’s and have our life security’s in another acct, so ease and simplicity is better.

    Reply
  2. Great progress, Tawcan! I am always amazed how you managed to post once per week all while working full time and being a father. Kudos!

    A fun article idea I can contribute: break down the cost of sending kids to summer camp! I’m sure you did lots of research into that topic for your kids and it would be valuable to share with others.

    Reply
  3. Making excellent progress with your goals, Bob. Well done. I was pretty busy in Q2. I tried to get in some reading when I can. Maybe I should pick up that Fatherhood book. It seems interesting. I’m currently reading another book on parenting called Raising Boys, lol. For tracking the fat in your body, do you find it’s easier to use a caliper or a body fat scale?

    Reply
    • Fatherhood would be an interesting book for you. Will have to check out Raising Boys.

      I just use a smart scale for measuring body fat, it’s probably not 100% accurate. 🙂

      Reply

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