Happy New Year! Let’s take a look back at what 2024 brought.
Often we overestimate what we can accomplish in a day, a week, or a month, but we underestimate what we can do in a year.
What Went Well
I am often very critical of myself, thinking I should always be accomplishing more. Rarely do I look back and reflect on what I did accomplish and how extraordinary that is.
I think 2024 was a year of hard decisions. I decided to move back home, from Washington to New England, in order to progress my career.
Not only was this a big move back across the country, but I was leaving my girlfriend and our two recently adopted cats knowing I wouldn’t see them for many months.
We decided to continue our relationship long distance, which brings many of its own hard decisions and difficult situations. Eventually the cats came to live with me.
I took steps to move forward with my career in forestry with starting a new position.
I started the blog, even with missing as many weeks as I did towards the end, I am still happy with the results and I’ve noticed that my writing has begun to improve.
What Did Not Go Well
The major player in this category is the fact that I fell off with almost all of my good habits at the end of the year.
Take a look back at the posts on this website. Roughly in the second week of October I stopped posting weekly. I was slightly worse in November and I was much worse in December where I did not post a single time.
This was happening at the same time I stopped doing my morning routine of meditation and yoga, as well as a shift from reading in my free time to social media usage.
It is worth noting that this happened as the weather shifted and it was no longer comfortable to be out early in the morning before the sun rose in a t-shirt.
Looking Back
Looking back in my journal, I hardly wrote between January and March. The entries that are there focused on the difficult time I was having. I was working retail trying to find a job in my field feeling stuck.
I was being passed up for every job I interviewed for, being out competed with people who had more experience. The answer was obvious, I too needed to get more experience to be a competitive candidate.
However, how was I supposed to get more experience while being passed on the entry level jobs due to a lack of experience? Thus was the cycle that kept running through my brain making me think if I stayed where I was I would go nowhere.
So, I took the necessary steps and here I am today, making headway into my field with a job I enjoy.
Looking Forward
What will 2025 have in store for me? I’d like to look at it in a few different categories:
Fitness
- Have four active / workout days a week (Running, lifting, cycling, hiking, etc.)
- Gain 5 lbs
- Maintain a healthy body fat percentage (typically feel my best between 10-13%)
- Compete in at least one event (trail running, cycling, etc.)
Actions Required for Each Goal:
- Get into a habit of working out on certain days, have an accountability partner / gym partner
- Stay healthy and consistent with working out
- Focus on diet and eating clean
- Choose one (or more) event(s), sign up and commit
Finance
- Max Roth IRA ($7,000)
- Save $8,000 in my adventure budget
- Continue to contribute towards my work retirement account
Actions Required for Each Goal:
- Keep spending and expenses low
- Continue to track monthly income, bills, and spending in the excel budget
Mindful
- Reestablish my morning habits of mediation and yoga
- Journal at least 300 days
Actions Required for Each Goal:
- Build slowly, each day roll out the yoga mat and do something, even if it is only a few minutes
- Sit down to meditate every day, even if it is only for a few minutes to build the habit
Learning
- Read at least 26 books (one every two weeks)
- Write three blogs a month
- Take additional classes to help with career growth and forester license (figure out how to take advantage of the company reimbursement)
Actions Required for Each Goal:
- Create a list of books to read (focus on books I already own)
- Write more often and don’t get so hung up on perfection, just post
- Talk to HR about reimbursement for classes, look for online or local university classes to fill requirements for forester license
Possible other goals
(These will likely be goals for next year or in a few years to come, but you never know)
- Apply for / look into graduate school programs for forestry / forest ecology
- Renovate a van
- Hike a shorter long distance trail (<1 month)
Theme of the Year
Year of Growth – This year will be focused on growth. Personal growth, knowledge growth, muscle growth, and investment growth. I am looking at this year as setting myself up for 2026, when I plan to do some long distance hiking. I am hoping to have experiences that will provide me with skills useful in many different situations. All of life is about growth and learning, this year I will make sure to be open and accepting of it. I need to make sure I write it all down otherwise I am likely to forget things.
Welcome 2025 and welcome to the Year of Growth.
