A Short 2012 Review & 2013 Preview

Overall I'm pretty happy with how 2012 turned out and it has me a bit excited for 2013. Here's the short and sweet of 2012 and what I hope to accomplish for 2013.

The highlights of 2012:

• I won my weight-loss challenge of losing 70 lbs in 7 months. I had lost 83.  I'm embarrassed to say I've gained quite a bit of it back in my belly, but overall I'm still staying active and getting to the gym on a regular 3x to 4x a week basis.
• I have a girlfriend! Among the several things we have in common, she’s beautiful, she makes me happy, makes me laugh, and we're good (and improving) at resolving any conflicts we have--a very healthy change in my life.
• I got involved in some fun leagues--kickball (2 leagues), dodgeball and beach volleyball.  All of those leagues have led to introducing many more friends (and in turn many more social activies) into my life.
• I competed in a Crossfit competition as well as several mud run races, most of which I thought would be impossible for me to do in 2011.
• Skydiving! I finally achieved a long-time goal of going skydiving, which was an incredible experience, one I wish to repeat every year if I can.
• Ziplining. This hadn't been a huge priority in my life, but it was the first weight-limited thing I had done in the year. It felt SO good to be under a weight limit for a specific activity.

Goals for 2013:

My top two goals are definitely the most typical new year resolutions—money & health. However, this year I'm taking specific actions to ensure I stay on track.

• Start a budget and stick to it - Building wealth (or even a comfortable cushion of savings) is difficult if you don't know where your money is actually going. Although I can't quantify it, I'm fairly sure 2012 was a fiscal disaster to my bank account. One of the major factors was not anticipating the social aspects of joining kickball; I spent a lot of money on going out, particularly on food and booze. Tracking my spending would've been a great reality check to that factor. My utmost goal this year is to eliminate as much of my junk debt as possible, leaving only taxes and perhaps my school loan left to deal with by the end of 2013, while still being able to budget in some fun activities and other financial goals.
• Diet & exercise - This is my second most important goal. I gained far too much weight back after winning my challenge, and it's no surprise with how I have gone back to the horribly unhealthy eating habits of my past especially around the holidays. It's time I accept that eating "Paleo" will probably be the ultimate way (dare I say lifestyle?) of eating for me if I plan to stay within a healthy weight for the rest of my life. I simply cannot deny the other benefits I've had while on the Paleo diet and the ailments I've experienced since going off of it.
• Generally improving my time management/productivity skills - I waste a lot of time at home, usually on Facebook, Twitter or over-napping. So this year, I want to make better use of my time, especially with tools such as Remember The Milk and Evernote as well as Google Calendar. I also want to give Inbox Zero a try.
• Read a book a month - This is a pretty aggressive goal for me. I didn't do so well making time to read books last year—time most likely spent dorking around on Facebook.
• Be of good cheer! - It's easy to take our lives of convenience and ease for granted and come to expect the things many people cannot afford, must do without, or do not have the health to perform. It's important to appreciate what I have and be happy simply with that.

Things in motion:

Even though 2013 has just started, I've already taken steps in the right direction.

• I've canceled my cable. Not only does this free up about $80 a month, it limits the amount of inbound programming I'm watching. Fewer shows, if any, will accumulate on my DVR basically allowing just Netflix or Hulu Plus shows/movies to be available for me to watch. I also tend to have a "list-making" (and completing) obsession. Not having any shows building up on my DVR that I have to "complete" will probably help reduce unnecessary subconscious stress in that regard.  Another benefit of limiting what I watch will be freeing up some time to accomplish my aggressive goal of reading more.
• I'm creating meal plans for a few days ahead at a time, at least for dinners. Having a plan of what to eat and knowing I have food stocked specifically for a purpose will help me avoid eating out due to not having an idea what to eat. The hardest part of this will be the fact I'll have to prep and cook instead of simply picking up conveniently heated food, but this goes back to making better use of my time.
• I've linked my Facebook events to my Google calendar so I can comprehensively keep track of social events. I've also accepted the fact I'll be saying "no" to several events this year, and when possible put the money I would've spent on those events into something productive instead like paying down a credit card or saving in one of my SmartyPig goals.

All in all I'm definitely poising myself for a productive, healthy and much more financially sound year. Let's do this!