So Begins 2024

image from here

Happy New Year! As is my custom, this post lays out goals for the year. The goals themselves are in italics, with explanation where needed in regular font.

Spiritual

Largely the same as years past. In a nutshell:

- Be disciplined in prayer. 

- Be intentional/consistent in meeting with others.

- Serve well in the various roles.

I have to find a way to have good prayer times when the home is noisy and distracting.

Meeting with others is important. Vulnerable, honest discussions with each other helps us grow, grants true fellowship, and points us to Christ. I did that a little in 2023 and want to do it more this year.

Serving well in various roles is principally with church, but also includes work responsibilities. And part of this is finite capacity: how we serve others must be done in a sustainable way, or we invariably crash.

Nutritional/Fitness

I am [still] fit fat. I work out a lot but eat poorly (and excessively). Continuing high amounts of activity, but improving nutrition, and lowering the weight (to 185 lbs) are the goals. 

- Get (and keep) weight under 185 lbs.

- Complete 240 workouts (run, bike, gym, hikes, etc.).

- Eat less overall, and more fruit/vegetables.

Reading

Reading lists are fun. I have a three-fold reading focus this year (outside of my numerical goal).

- Read 50 books.

- Continue chipping away at my American Reading List.

- Revisit King Arthur.

- Find good books on the science/study of humor.

I've done 50 books the last few years, and this should be easily reached.

My American Reading List is 200 books; I've read about 60 so far. I anticipate reading 10–15 more this year.

I focused on King Arthur 10 years ago, when we lived in England. In the final months of 2023, I was feeling strangely drawn back into that realm . . . there are a few notable Arthurian works I never read, and I want to tackle them this year.

Finally, I dabbled in humor last year, but didn't find much material. I will continue the search this year.

Stuff

I've documented my struggles with materialism several times on this blog. It's good to own less. 

- Minimize everything in the home.

- Buy less/budget better.

I get stressed with all the clutter around the house. I want to find a way to minimize it and keep it out of sight.

We did a lot of home improvement in 2023, which was hard on the budget. Need to save in 2024.

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The goals above are not earth-shaking . . . I should be able to hit all of these. To 2024!