2024 Ins & Outs
A look into some of my New Year goals from a list-obsessive freak, plus a few ways to make them actually happen.
If there's one thing you should know about me, I love lists.
I relish making lists, ticking off each item, and creating new ones for daily or monthly objectives. Whether for finance check-ins, bucket list food spots, movies to watch, makeup products to try, or memorable quotes I want to revisit, I'm always ready to list them in my Notes app.
The opportunity to create a list that I can look back on is as delightful as savoring a glass of orange wine on a sunny day.
Given this, you can imagine my unruly stoke-ness for crafting a New Year's goal list.
My 2024 Goals
Yearly goals are something I take pretty seriously. They must be challenging enough for me to kick it in high gear but realistic enough to make daily life attainable. It balances personal interests, investments, career heights, mental or physical milestones, and family-oriented pursuits.
What will push me further while also making me happier?
Here's my list; specific numbers or bullets are hidden for privacy:
Birth our healthy baby girl.
Focus on exterior home renovations (new patio, stucco, and backyard).
Read 25 books.
Soak up maternity leave for intentional time with family.
Work with 3-5 cool brands, campaigns, or editorial features outside of Moment.
Don't be afraid to make your ideas come to life.
Focus on being a loving, patient, and secure wife and mother.
Fastens plans to Europe.
Attract, not chase.
Start a Sommelier certification.
Finance: Get investments to $XK by EOY, pay CC 2x a month with 10% or less usage by the statement's end.
Achieve X subscribers to this newsletter.
Share your art more. To express, not impress.Â
Make it yourself: juices, sauces, dressings, milks, cleaning solutions etc.
Learn to make your own bread.
Aim for 75%
At Moment, our team has a popular strategy during our tri-annual meetings: we set goals to achieve at least 75% of them. If we exceed 75%, it might indicate that our goals were too easy, but falling below this threshold requires us to evaluate why we didn't meet them and what aspects made the goals too challenging.
The key to this method is to create a 'primary goal' and then establish a series of underlying subgoals. For instance, if your primary goal for 2024 is to get in better shape, you must identify the necessary steps to achieve it. This could include adopting a more whole-food diet, attending a workout class three times a week, eating smaller portions, taking vitamin supplements, or ensuring you get 8 hours of sleep each night. While you may only achieve some of these sub-goals, they provide concrete steps toward your main objective, which should remain your primary focus.
10x Growth Is Easier Than 2x Growth
I'm a massive fan of podcasts and regularly listen to my comfort influencer, Kenzie Elizabeth. She perfectly embodies the sweet, girl-next-door persona with a love for the countryside aesthetic and a breadwinning housewife mindset. Yet, she also enjoys unwinding with tequila and friends at local dive bars on weekends. Her multifaceted personality resonates with me, and I'd love to be friends with her someday.
Anyway — she recommended an episode of some podcast that I always forget the name of, but it featured highlights of Dan Sullivan's book "10x is Easier than 2x". I'm usually not keen on testosterone-driven financial advice from white, middle-aged men, but I appreciate a good idea when I hear one.
Dan Sullivan, a renowned coach for various successful entrepreneurs and CEOs, champions the paradoxical concept of 10x growth over the more traditional 2x growth, arguing that it's actually easier and more effective. He explains that 10x growth isn't about doing ten times more work; instead, it's about adopting a process that significantly enhances one's life and business. Sullivan emphasizes the importance of four fundamental freedoms — time, money, relationships, and purpose — all of which foster a greater sense of identity, ultimately resulting in a life of meaningful impact and quality.
I have yet to read the book, but it's keen advice I'll take with me in the New Year as I work towards individual achievements.
My 2024 Ins and Outs
If you're not goal-oriented and are intimidated by defining your life by a set of pre-determined objectives, I totally get it.
TikTok's hottest trend as of late is a brief list of "ins" and outs" of what to bring to the 2024 vibe, and I'm obsessed with its more humored, simplistic nature.
Instead of focusing on rigid numbers and the potential guilt of not achieving a hard-set goal, this approach allows for a less structured and more conceptual list. It's not about stringent analysis but about setting loose guidelines to foster a brighter future for the New Year and beyond. This trend also encourages reflection on necessary changes for healthier growth or habit modification.
I posted my list to both Twitter, Threads, and TikTok. It's pretty solid.
Ins:
Credit unions
Natural wine box subscriptions
Facebook Marketplace
Dressing up just because
Homemade cooking & cleaning products
Signature perfumes
Patio culture
Committing to my Substack newsletter
Audiobooks
Classes & online courses
Daily photos and videos
Saving your jars
Libraries
Outs:
Feeling embarrassed
Uber Eats
Buying "things"
Acrylic nails
Monetized hobbies
Store-bought juice or pasta sauces
Assuming the bad
Over-explanations
Being serious
Being chronically online
Feeling intimidated
Wind