Last Updated on March 24, 2024 by Namooki
Looking back, Focus for 2024
For me, 2023 wrapped up with a costly holiday, the most expensive holiday I’ve ever taken my family. On this trip, what my wife wanted, she got. What my kids wanted, they got hotels, trips, and restaurants ( hotels and restaurants are things I have grown to like, an acquired taste over time). Overall, I was thrilled with my time with my wife and children. I had a good time, so good, at one point, we switched hotels, and my wife started to wonder if I had created an escorting business due to my ability to afford everything that was before us ( just a clarify, I have not started, nor am I part of an escort business).
2023 was a year of two halves financially, the first being a lot of staying afloat, largely due to the conclusion of 2022, which ruled the first six months of 2023 (imagine a Venn diagram with an overpowering colour), a significant overlap. Many positive things changed from the summer of 2023 to the end of the year, so it was a year of two halves: staying afloat and flying high. Looking back now, I ask myself, what enabled me to end the year like I did? I’ve had some time to think about it, and it is twofold: setting goals and focused spending.
Setting Financial Goals and Focused Spending – 2023/2024
I have always been goal-oriented; in fact, I usually set too many goals; this has been a hindrance because I spread myself too thin; I am the small piece of butter spread over a big slice of bread, dry bread, at the end there isn’t that much to taste, not much flavour to enjoy. I end up okay, average, and accomplished at the end of the year but not focused enough. In 2023, I did something different. I set Limited Goals, partly down to the situations I encountered. Still, I did limit my goals and focused on the most critical objectives. I focused on what aligned with my financial independence number, an actual figure representing the lifestyle I want to have for myself and my family soon.
The second half of enabling me to end 2023 the way I did was Focused Spending, based on the first (Limited Goals). I focused my spending on things which drove me towards a lifestyle that my financial independence would support.
Financial Independence: A Slow Race – Incremental Building
However, 2023 could not stand alone in isolation. 2023 is a culmination of planning almost seven to eight years ago (2016 or 2015). Back then, I started conversations with my wife, and both of us had begun to put things in place for the next 5 to 7 years, potentially a 10-year plan, etc. This plan was an incremental build on where we wanted to go financially and as a family. All the decisions we made over the years have supported those golden decisions we made, for example, how many children we wanted, etc.
The last few years (from 2015/2016) have been building and investing labour into a specified future with highs and lows, fun and challenging times, and living life intentionally. In 2023, I felt comfortable enough to start tapping in and reaping some of those benefits.
2024, New Year, Slow Intentional Living
As we move into 2024, I hope you have concentrated goals (not only financial), be very specific, and live intentionally to achieve your goals over everything else.
Start 2024 by listing everything you want; think of the 80/20 principle. Identify your top 20% of things and the objectives you must achieve to have the most significant impact in your life in the new year/2024. Keep the other 80%; they are relevant and contextual, but de-prioritise them, ensuring you have enough room to focus on the top 20%. Keep your prioritised list small and focused; you need more time if it is too large. Think about what, above all else, will make the new year, 2024, life-changing in the direction of my overall life goals.
Final Thoughts
Lastly, remember that each year doesn’t stand on its own but on the backs of all the previous years. We are the culmination of all our decisions over time; we are in places today where we permitted or allowed circumstances to decide for us. We can plan to fail or fail to plan; a better option is to plan constructively and incrementally over time to succeed.
Remember, each year is part of a long plan; I hope for you in 2024 to start slow and identify what you need to make the year successful, aligned with your overall Financial Independence life goals that support the lifestyle you want to lead. Happy New Year!