2024 is here and it is time to set some goals and resolutions, because that’s what we do on January 1st.
So with that in mind, let’s do this this yet again. Feel free to bet how many I actually follow through on.
I have tried my best to make each resolution a SMART Goal, but some are difficult to calculate.
Goal # 1: Write 120,000 words at a pace of 10,000 words per month
I really didn’t write as much as I wanted this past year, and I also have a huge hoarder’s pile of unfinished stories, poems, and a couple ideated and hazy works approaching something of a novel. My goal last year was simply to write 100,000 words, which wasn’t too useful as I got busy, procrastinated, and never sat down with a Text Editor open and nothing else. So I will try it this way in 2024: Simply write 10,000 each month. That comes out to 2,500 to 2,000 per month, or 3,000 per week. Having a more frequent milestone point will help.
And if you any of you friends have interest in this sort of thing, I would mind setting up a group to review and critique what I create. This was useful and fun when I was in college, taking all the creative writing classes I could get.
Goal # 2: Learn To Play Guitar
Late 2023, I did something I have wanted to do for some time. I bought a guitar. Nothing fancy, just an entry-level Epiphone at Black Friday pricing. I actually like it, and despite the fact that it isn’t a particularly expensive model, I do think it sounds decent. I even have a digital tuner for it. But…….wow, I can’t play it.
So I think the goal will be 2 hours per week to start, and I can take it from there. It seems daunting, but I also remember when learning to type seemed impossible, and the mortal fear I felt taking my early SLR cameras out of Program or Aperture Priority. Now, you couldn’t force me to shoot anything except Manual. So I hope to make progress here with my guitar, and if all goes well, I would like to eventually get an 88-key keyboard and learn there too. Something I should have started doing 25 years ago.
A couple friends are very good with some high quality guitars (Luke and Will). And my Brother, who knows I have the guitar now, has been totally on my case to hurry up and start learning. He’s been playing for 25 years, so he is a lifetime ahead of me. I told him it will be a while before I send him a video of me competently playing something.
There is no SMART milestone for this one, except to do the 2 hours a week.
Goal # 3: Rip Old CD Library into ALAC (Apple FLAC) and dispose of all CDs except collectors items.
When I really started getting into music, the CD was the standard of all standards for music. Cassettes were going away, and vinyl was nowhere to be found. Times sure have changed! Now I have a gigantic 7 foot wall unit of CDs that are doing nothing. And I started a vinyl collection in the last couple years. And artists are putting out collector cassettes tapes again.
I long ago ripped my CD collection to MP3 320, and I was quite anxious about parting with my physical media. As part of a year-long spring cleaning project, I am going to change that. The FLAC format is a high-quality format that retains almost all of the audio information, but is only about twice the size of my current digital music. And my iPhone Pro Max is the 1TB model, so I can easily fit it all there.
It should be noted that technically, under fair use doctrine, you should retain your physical media to prove you own the ripped music. I think we are past the point where that is likely to be an issue, so if some of these CDs just happen to disappear, so be it. You may wonder if I should sell these CDs, but inquiring with a couple local music shops, they offered actual pennies on the dollar, and one of them was only for store credit. As they said, “We already have way too many CDs.”
My wall unit, which has 99% of my CDs, has 30 individual shelving spots, so I think that is the milestone. Mark each off until it is all done. And then I have space for more bookshelves for my other overwrought collections.
I just completed the rip of the first CD in my collection, a thoroughly mediocre 2 Chainz album. So that is one CD down, 1,200 to go.
Goal # 4: 3.5 Hours A Week On The Exercise Bike
Thanks to friends Vianney and Vince, I have an exercise bike at home which allows me to avoid the gym. Plus, I can finally finish watching Succession while riding.
I nailed this goal this past year, logging over 200 hours on the bike (this goal last year computed to 183 hours).
So I will continue this one, with a 30 minute goal each day, and making up any days I happen to miss.
Goal # 5: Continue My Apple Watch Move Streak
I had a pretty serious back episode in May, which seems to happen to me every couple years. After the pain subsided, I managed to hit my Apple Watch goals 197 days in a row. For those who don’t have an Apple Watch, there are three Activity Goals it sets for you: Move, Exercise, and Standing. And I have done it every single day, without missing once, for almost 7 months in a row. This even happened on a day when I drove over 1,000 miles. I got up at 4:30 AM before leaving, just to get my walk in.
I even stopped once at a highway Rest Area, and humorously walked back and forth with my daughter until I hit my number. It can be questioned if all this is really necessary, but now that I have such a long streak, it will kill me the day I miss it. So let’s not do that. I know this streak can’t last forever, but it would be feasible to hit a consecutive year of it. I’m on the case!
Goal # 6: Hit My Calorie Goal 200 Times
If I do all this exercise, you may wonder why I am not skinny (I did lose a good deal of weight last year). Well, my friends know, oh my word, I love to eat. And not just eat, but eat really bad, high-calorie, tasty foods. Each year, I start January and February well, and then I fall off the wagon, and some point in the year the dam breaks and the saturated fat come runneth over. At one of my worst points, I finished 1st out of over 200 people in a company 2-week fitness challenge, with over 450,000 steps, and gained weight. I am not much of a cook (although my complex gave me a brand new stove last week!), and I have 30 years of bad eating habits.
So, we will try this one out. I will track my calorie intake from the LoseIt! app I already have. It isn’t super feasible to hit the # every single day, but I think trying for 200 days in 2024 would be a bonus. Currently, my calorie goal in the app is set for losing 2 pounds per week. As I lose weight, the calorie goal gets tighter. If I really stayed on track for this, I will fully hit my ideal weight in 2024. For those who text me, please absolutely yell at me during random intervals in the year.
Goal # 7: Fix My Housing Cost To Income Ratio Problem
I like in a cost-efficient area of a very expensive region. San Diego is acknowledged as one of the most expensive regions in the United States. It really wasn’t this way when I moved here in 1997, but here we are. I consistently read that ideally, you should spend 30% of your income on housing. This is totally unrealistic, especially with the run-up in home and rental prices, nationwide, in the last few years. It seems there is no end in sight to it, and this past year, about 47% of my income went to housing, not including my recent $150 increase.
So, I need to either lower housing costs, or increase my income. Or both.
There are, of course, a couple ways to address this. And getting advice on it from people has been quite frustrating, as the Captain Obvious crowd is quick to ideas that aren’t ideas. The obvious is, move somewhere less expensive. But I am already somewhat protected by rent control, and even moving back to the area I grew up in would be cost neutral, not to mention moving expenses. I can move to a less ideal and less safe suburb here in San Diego, but even saving a couple hundred dollars per month would take months or more than a year for any Return On Investment. Unless somebody has a free house to lend me, I am probably stuck here.
Then some mention getting a roommate, which ignores the fact that I am the parent of a teenager, who needs their own room and independence. Not to mention introducing a stranger to my home, with a child here. No thanks.
Others mention getting a better job, like there is a New High Income Job snowing outside. I get plenty of inquiries on LinkedIn, which are either neutral or not as good as the role I have. Depending on what you read, the IT market shed 250,000 to 500,000 jobs in the last year. Unless I were to stumble into a completely different career field that isn’t outsourcing jobs overseas, I am likely best sticking with the stable role I have now.
Finally, a number of others say something like, “Get a side hustle.” When you ask for specifics, they have none. This is the most frustrating of all, a simple throwaway idea with no substance. The best way to deal with this IS to find a way to make money on the side. I really haven’t found a good way to do this.
Should you have any good ideas and your ideas don’t fall into any of the groups of people above, let me know.
Goal # 8: Hit Up 10 Concerts in 2024
My friend Tyler and I have set up a deal where I look at all of our local venues on the first of the month, then send out an email of everything interesting. While we know major acts have prices that are onerous, it is amazing how affordable it is to see indie acts that are actually quite good and popular. So the goal is 10 of these.
Goal # 9: Visit The Closest 6 MLB Ballparks
After adding ballparks in Washington DC and Baltimore this past year (seat selections were suspect, Vince…..), I really want to tour more of the parks and see more games this year. Petco Park is easy here in San Diego, and the crowd is very much a home Dodger crowd when they are in town. But I also want to see the Diamondbacks, Angels, Dodgers, Giants, and Athletics, in their parks. Getting to Oakland is most important, because their lease is up and the A’s are sadly moving to Las Vegas at some point.
As a side-goal, I’d like to go North and see at least a couple California League minor league games. A large percentage of the California League is in the Inland Empire, and seeing those games as an IE game was easy. I remember coming up with $3 to see Ken Griffey Jr. for the 2 months he was with the San Bernardino Spirit. But there are no minor league parks in San Diego County, and I miss it. I should be able to make it to games in Elsinore, Cucamonga, and San Bernardino.
Goal # 10: Everything Else
Get my house more organized with more spring cleaning. Organize my patch and baseball card collections (and throw out my worthless duplicates). Write more blog posts. Indulge some other creating outlets like drawing, etc. Hold back a little introversion and spend a little more time with friends. Hike more. Eat better. Meditate a little. Work on better sleep habits. Manage my stress better. Spend more time doing nothing, maybe listen to the songbirds outside a little more. Create a Blurb photo book of my photography.
Thank you very much for reading this very long blog post on my 2024 Goals, and I look forward to writing with good progress on each. Happy New Year, everybody.
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T.M. Schultze is a San Diego-based photographer, traveller, and writer. He writes, photographs, and draws things of the outdoors that have inspired humans for thousands of years. He co-authored the Photographer’s Guide to Joshua Tree Park which can be purchased here.
Would you like my baseball cards? I suspect they’re all older than what you have
Let’s do it. I will text you.