As I see it, one of the great things about goals is that they are adjustable. When life comes along and smacks you down a bit, you can just regroup and adjust your plan. As long as you are making consistent progress toward the goal, there is no need to get down on yourself when life circumstances force you to alter your plans a bit. Sometimes life happens – we just have to move forward and stay positive.
That’s a little of what happened to me last month in regards to Goals #2 and #4 as you can read below:
Goal #1: Read through the entire New Testament of the Bible and the book of Proverbs by May 31st.
Still chugging along on this goal. At the end of February, I had read through Acts 3.
I also started on the book of Proverbs this past week. Proverbs is a special book for me because it was the reading of it several years ago that jumpstarted my current financial journey and subsequently led to the desire to start this blog.
Goal #2: Pay off our mortgage debt by the end of the year.
We will have to play catch-up on this goal as we missed paying any extra towards our mortgage in February (and may miss our upcoming extra payment in March). The reason is not all bad in that our monies are being diverted to fixing up and doing repairs on one of our rental properties that we are in between tenants on. The updates will really enhance the property value over the long term so I’m pleased with that.
Goal #3: To support Mrs. Luke1428 as she obtains her CPA license and MBA by December, 2013.
As I’m in the kitchen writing this post, Mrs. Luke1428 is in the bedroom pounding out a 16-page paper. Plus she is working on some bonus assignments the professor recently suggested they could do for the paper. Ever the achiever, she will not leave any points on the table.
Oh, and did I mention it’s tax season? That’s right, if you have been around any accountants between January and April, you know they pretty much don’t have a life. The extended daily and weekend hours puts a crimp on the study and family time.
Some day we will both look back with pride on this time for what we both have gone through in the past few years. Right now, it’s just hard. Mind you, I’m not complaining. It’s just the reality of what it’s really like when you are pursuing a dream.
Goal #4: To run a half-marathon in under 2 hours, a full marathon in under 4 hours and run 1,000 miles for the year.
My half-marathon is scheduled for March 17th, so two weeks from yesterday. My total miles were reduced in February to 68 (I had planned to run about 90). I missed three consecutive Tuesday runs because of morning rain and was unable to adjust my schedule to make those up. I also missed two runs this past week due to a back sprain that was unrelated to my running. I still should be able to do 25 miles of running in the last two weeks heading up to the event provided the weather (and my back) holds out.
Goal #5: Redo the Luke1428 blog design by August, 2013.
No movement here, however…
I am really excited to announce that beginning tomorrow, Kim – that’s Mrs. Luke1428 – will begin to do regularly Tuesday posts here (as if she doesn’t have enough to do…and NO, there wasn’t any arm-twisting!). Her posts will mostly be focused on her specialty, taxes. So keep and eye out for those and feel free to ask questions of her in the comments along the way.
Goal #6: Join a local running club by March.
I turned in my application and dues for the running club last week so I’m just waiting to here from them about my membership. I’m looking forward to going to the monthly meetings and learning more about this sport I have come to enjoy.
What’s your initial reaction when life smacks you around a bit and throws you off track of achieving your goals?
Great goals, both of you! I LOVE the book of Proverbs. It’s common sense in 31 short chapters. Good luck on reaching all of your goals!
There would be NO way Goal #3 could get done without your support. Thank you for all that you do while I’m up in the bedroom pounding out a stupid 16 page paper 🙂