2014-15 Old Year / New Year thoughts

2014 was another whirlwind of life, love, and the pursuit of hoppyness.   Many interesting things took place.  Junior grew bigger smarter faster and more versed in rhetorical arguments.  Bri took a new job, then moved on to another new job.  We both managed to sneak in a few races, more so for me as my wife's job was demanding on her time for much of the year.  We also got away for four nights in Bermuda to celebrate ten years of being happily married.

Also high on the list of things we did is moving into a bigger house and just about seling our old house.  Regarding moving, it is very expensive, time consuming and stressful.  There is no easy way to get it done.  I was in charge of a lot of logistic related tasks - financial organization; paperwork; coordinating repairs and so on.  Even with remaining calm, cool and collected, it was exhausting and required me to 'let go' of some cash flow/money control issues I have, as well as delegating some of my work to "I'll get it done later." Meaning when I can, meaning a lot of it is not done yet.

I am a believer in setting personal and business goals, both for long and short term time horizons.  Without both types of goals you may discover yourself just spinning your wheels while the world passes you by.  While the journey is a beautiful thing, journeys without destinations are just wandering around staring at the trees.  Of course, not all who wander are lost, but you get the picture.  Goal setting allows you to believe (at least the illusion) that you have some control over your destiny.  Picking 1-year and 5-year range goals is pretty good; extending out into the 10 and 20 year range is great but keep those somewhat fluid as life can change quite drastically.

"Retiring in comfort" is a good one but lacks concrete numbers - like every goal things need to be distinct, achievable and quantifiable.

So a few of my  goals this year and updated longer term goals.
Continue being a good husband and dad - I'd like to think I'm pretty good with this but there is always room for improvement - concrete ideas: more date nights, more fun outings with Junior, and definitely more attention to being in the here and now while the here and now is going on.  Be a better son to my parents, just picking up the phone to give someone a call and let them know you care.

Stick closer to a budget rather than in the ballpark and increase our ratio of saving: spending. 2014 was super costly and 2015 needs to be a year on a tighter budget.  We started stacking cash in the spring in order to build our down-payment up as well as possible, and minimized paying off revolving credit.  That is a short term solution but no way to go through life!  Retirement savings are on track, debt: equity ratio is in line, but adequate emergency savings and setting up distinct vacation funds are my next spots to be diligent with. Concrete goal: make separate account strictly for vacation budget.

Athletically I on the slow downslope of performance, but that doesn't stop anyone from doing the best they can.  In 2015 I'll run a spring marathon, a few sprint tris during the summer, and finish with a half-Ironman in the late summer/fall.  My weekly goal is pretty easy from a lot of perspectives other than working parent with limited time - swim 6,000 yards, ride 50 miles, run 25 miles, and do two strength sessions.  Right now I am running more and swimming/biking less in the build up to the Umstead Trail Marathon on March 7. Health wise, I like to stay fit and eat reasonably well in order to keep at bay the plague of issues that excess weight and poor nutrition cause.

Business wise - we are doing fairly well here but the time impact from having a little guy and being the 'work at home do most of the errands' half of the family has taken a toll on my ability to be out and about at group workouts, hanging around after races, and just generally being in and on the scene.  Quite simply, athletic coaching is ultimately a sales business, and people are more inclined to hire someone they know / have met then someone they don't.

I would also like to generate more passive income - but things like DVDs and premade training plans require up front time investment that is hard to come by these days.  I am going to hire a sitter more frequently so that I can take care of things like this that have been ignored for a couple of years. This will allow Bri time to get some of her personal training & life related stuff done as well.

Outsourcing family care, however, does not jibe with the first goal on this list, hence the need for a method to the imbalance of life and work!