This Resolution Plays for Keeps

New Year's resolutions are a tricky thing. According to StatisticBrain, approximately a quarter of the resolution-making population doesn't make it through the first week (wow, seriously?) and only 8% are successful in meeting their resolution (ok, it's official, we suck). Why so much suck? It's because we have sucky goals that suck worse than we suck.

Take a look at the goals we make each year. Lose some weight. Exercise more. Call mom more. Drink less. All good, but basically, they're just about "doing your best". Can we even measure it? When do we know we've met our goal? We're not likely to stay committed to these. Goals setting should be done with a purpose. Goals should be:

• Public: Telling people you're going to do something makes you more likely to commit to the goal. Tell people you're going to do something on Facebook, and you might do it just to save "face". (WORDPLAY! HOW MARVELOUS!)
• Time-bound and Specific: It should be clear what you're trying to do. Losing weight, for example: how much weight? by when? You need to give yourself a deadline so you'll get around to it and you need to know what the target is exactly.
• Attainable: This is kind of a no-brainer, but sometimes we don't think about it. If you don't believe you can possibly accomplish something (like running a marathon if you're not yet a runner), you're not going to get it done. Think about what it will take realistically to accomplish the goal.
• Difficult: You need to be able to tell the difference between the current state and the goal state. Too easy and it won't mean anything. Too hard and it may not be attainable.  

To steal a page from Red Debted Stepchild, I'm setting some goals that are "cross-off-able" and also taking a stab at using the guidelines above to make better goals.

FINANCIAL ANDREW 2014: Save $3,000 and ACTUALLY SPEND IT on a vacation before September and increase our cash savings by $24,000 by January 2015. 

No shortage of wants here, just a shortage of cash. We definitely want to buy a house soon (dropping $1,535/month on rent for a one bedroom is getting OLD), but we haven't been on an amazing vacation yet and we're not getting any younger. We're gonna have to stash $2350/month (currently on a $2,000/month pace) so it'll take some belt tightening. We can do it. I got faith.

FITNESS ANDREW 2014: Do 15 pull-ups in a row before next Christmas and complete a Tough Mudder by August. 

I typically reserve this time of year for "finally" getting in shape. It's the same routine every year: go to closet, get dressed, put on shoes, lose track of ear phones, despair, "man up", step outside, run, and then condemn all other runners in my mind for making this whole damn thing socially acceptable while I nurse shin splints and eat a row of Double Stuf Oreos because I fucking earned it. Still, I don't want to die a fatty on the couch so here we go again. This past weekend, I could do 8 pull ups in a row, but I haven't really been working out recently because I tore three tendons in my left ankle last July playing basketball. This feels doable. Should also make a Tough Mudder doable, but I'll probably need to get some friends to do it with me.

CREATIVE ANDREW 2014: Average 2 blog posts a month by the end of the year and complete at least 3 "projects" before next year.

I just want to stick with this whole blog fad, ride it out 'til the end. Who knows if the Internet is even ready for blogs? I DON'T CARE IF YOU READY WORLD WIDE WEB! YOU CAN STAY OR YOU CAN GO BUT THIS IS HAPPENING! .... and I like to refinish furniture and stuff. Gonna do some of that this year fo' sho'.

PROFESSIONAL ANDREW 2014: Become a GS-13 by October. 

I am a GS-12 right now, GS-13 is up next. As a Federal Government employee, this will be the first promotion I will have earned "competively". If you're not in the Government, this makes no sense to you. I'll explain later. Just go with it for now, OK?

SPIRITUAL ANDREW 2014: Find a church by the end of March and volunteer at Habitat for Humanity at least once before the end of the year.

Not sure what the deal is with us, we are devout believers in God but we've been living together for 4 years and we've only tried once to find a church (it did not go well!). Time to get it together. Working on my relationship with God is a mega-priority. I'd also like to start volunteering again. My wife and I met in college at James Madison University in Virginia where we were both "brothers" in a co-ed service fraternity. Giving back does a body good. Habitat for Humanity, which I've never done, seems like a good place to reengage.

... and finally!

WHOLE 30 ANDREW 2014: Complete the Whole 30 challenge starting January 1st!

Much more on this to come, but this is definitely my shortest-term, but maybe the most challenging, goal.

If you're reading this, what are your goals? Let me know!

WHAT AM I SPENDING MY MONEY ON!?!

You might already know how important it is to stay on top of your finances but if you don't, let me just rehash a few of my favorite reasons:

• It's depressing as hell to have debt collectors call you about outstanding credit card bills.
• Knowing what you spend your money on is an eye-opener. It can show you the kind of person you are.
• Life is easier when you know what you can afford and can afford what you want.

When I got married a few years ago, one of our priorities was to figure out what were doing with our money. It was immediately overwhelming to us to be staring at what seemed like an insurmountable pile of student loans and car payments.

But we've come a long, long way in a short time, and it was so much easier than I thought it would be. We are now debt free. 

The first thing you should do, even before setting a budget for food or clothes, is track your spending (aka expenditures). To get you on your way, you can start with this: AOAT's Personal Budget Spreadsheet. The link should pull up a Google document  that you will be able to download as an Microsoft Excel file to your computer. It will look like this when you open it:

The file can be used as a free budget template to track your expenses each month. I arbitrarily filled in some numbers to use as an example of what a budget could like each month, and the formulas should work out so that you won't have to do any calculations by hand. Take a look and familiarize yourself with it.

Now that you have the spreadsheet, you gotta put your data in. What I mean is that you'll need to enter in your expenses and incomes. This will help you track every penny that comes in and every one that goes out. I want to stress that I do this every month and it is the single most important thing you can do to stay on top of your financial situation.

If you're just starting out, I recommend tracking your expenses for a month and then setting a budget based off of your current spending habits. It's going to take a few months for you to get an idea of what an accurate budget is, so don't even try for the first month. God forbid your food budget is too little...

Source: mediapickle.me, "Dog Gone Budget".

Finding a New Way

I just kicked a bad habit (video games), and to prevent a relapse I need something to fill the void. This probably doesn't sound like a big deal to anyone else, but giving up video games meant giving up something that I was great at it. I was kind of a big deal, and it was waaaaaaay more important to me than it should have been. It wasn't long after giving 'em up that I realized I needed (wanted?) a new way to feel like that, but something healthier. So here I am, trying my hand at writing when the most I've ever creatively written is a weekly Fantasy Football email to my league where I generally try to heap as much abuse on my closest friends as they can tolerate.

The last thing I thought before starting this blog, the thing that finally made me bite the bullet and go for it, is that this whole thing can still work for me even if another person never even sees this thing. I've thought about doing this for some time now, and I'm at the point where I want to do it because I'm at a crossroads in life where I want to rededicate myself to being a better man, and I think writing will help me get there.

At any rate, it's the day after Christmas, I'm starting a new blog about being a married 20-something and finding new ways to enjoy life, and I'm supposed to be about three hours into a drive right now to go see my in-laws! Responsibility!