(This post was last updated on: 10/19/2024.) Learn how to get your shit together in 2024! No more excuses, no more blaming other people, let’s just get it done. 2024 is here and as I reflect back over the past year, I see many good things and goals met but I also see some things I totally did wrong. It’s funny to me that people in my personal life and my professional life always seem to think I have my shit together. Well, here’s my dirty little secret, no, I don’t. On some days, I think, not even close.
Learn how to get your shit together in 2024!
I recognize the importance of setting goals. I set several really good ones for 2023. And some were accomplished, but that was by accident. I didn’t track my progress throughout the year. My action plans took a nose dive right into the ground. I did the opposite of everything the goal setting gurus told me to do. But if I can pick myself up and get back on track, so can you.
Before I lay out my goals for 2024, let’s look back at my goals for 2023. For the past several years, I have broken my goals up into the same set of categories and it works well for me: Intentional Living, Personal Growth, Career, Relationships, Travel, Community Involvement, Health and Finances. These categories are my top priorities, so you can use the same or swap a couple out for something else that is a priority in your life.
Looking Back at Last Year’s Goals for 2023:
INTENTIONAL LIVING: I wanted to purge and live a more minimalist life. I just recently started getting rid of unused items in our home by selling them online. So this goal is still a work in progress. I also wanted to complete a few home renovation projects which I did follow through on by painting and redecorating the foyer and dining room.
PERSONAL GROWTH: I wanted to learn a new skill and did accomplish this though learning to can my own food. My most recent projects were canning pickled red onions, bread and butter pickles and blueberry jam. I wanted to learn how to make homemade pasta but the pasta maker I received last Christmas is still sitting in the box, collecting dust. I also had planned to carve out time to get through some of the personal development books that I had been collecting. That one was a total fail.
CAREER: In 2023 I took and passed my state certification test for my new career field. That was a major accomplishment which required a lot of time. I also had planned to dust off my blog and get back to blogging regularly. Well since this is the first time I have even logged into my blog in 9 months, that was also a total fail. Today was also the first day I had checked my blog’s email account and well, let’s just say I missed out on a few really cool opportunities because I wasn’t focused on blogging.
RELATIONSHIPS: In 2023, I wanted to meet new friends and even joined a book club. But, I never went to a meeting, so this might just end up on my list of 2024 goals.
TRAVEL: We did travel in 2023, but mostly to places we had been to before. The yearly trip to visit my brother in Louisiana, up to see my parents in Pennsylvania, to a cabin we love near Asheville- twice and to our beach house on Oak Island a few times. But nowhere new and exciting.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: I wanted to search for new ways to volunteer and to give back to my community and in 2023, we nailed it! We restarted volunteering at our county’s animal shelter twice a month and we also started fostering with The Southeast German Shepherd Rescue. We currently have our second foster dog, Greta, through SGSR and we love that we saved her from death row.
HEALTH: Massive fail in this category, absolutely massive fail.
FINANCES: We are doing pretty well with this goal. We are keeping up with our monthly household budget and scheduled our twice yearly meeting with our financial advisor.
My Goals for 2024:
INTENTIONAL LIVING: I am going to keep with the same theme for this category- continue to purge our home of clutter and anything that doesn’t serve a purpose and/or hasn’t been touched in at least one year. Selling these items online before just dumping them at Goodwill has been working, but I think a timeframe of when to give up and donate the items needs to be set. I have set reminders on my Google calendar of when to reduce the price and when to call it quits. I also have been on a kick to redecorate our home so that it reflects our personalities and our current stage of life. The agreement I have made with myself is that I only buy something that will have a purpose or will be replacing a worn out item. If one thing comes in, one has to go out.
PERSONAL GROWTH: I want to include last year’s goal of getting through the pile of self help/ personal development books that I have purchased. Right now I am reading Originals by Adam Grant and so far it’s really great. The skill I want to learn this year is how to play the piano. It’s something I have been thinking about for the past couple of years, so this year, I am just going to do it.
CAREER: My daytime, fulltime job is going well. I am so glad I changed careers. Getting back into blogging regularly and consistently will be my major priority regarding career goals.
RELATIONSHIPS: Meeting new people and making new friends will be an ongoing goal in the new year. Since the book club did not pan out, I am hoping to meet people through my volunteer work. If you have any suggestions on how to make friends as an adult, please share in a comment below! My husband and I recently discussed starting a new joint hobby and we landed on photography. We both want to get better at taking photos and documenting those special moments in life. We also discussed planning regular date nights. We have gotten away from doing this and will make this a priority in the new year.
TRAVEL: Sure, we’ll do the routine trips this year to visit family but my husband really wants to take another cruise. He is holding out until he meets his financial goal. Guess I better renew our passports. I also want to plan a trip with my brother. In 2023, my brother came to visit me in Charlotte just for one day so we could go see our favorite band in concert- Guns ‘N Roses! I’ll have to find another concert or event so we can plan another sibling get together, it was so much fun.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: In the new year, I plan to continue our current volunteer positions at both the local animal shelter as well as fostering through the German Shepherd Rescue.
HEALTH: I think I failed so miserably in this area last year because I was not making myself a priority. In 2024, that will change. I’ll start by making all of the healthcare appointments I skipped last year. That seems like a good place to start. In 2023, I did purchase new glasses online from Warby Parker; progressive lenses, I am feeling old! I loved the virtual try on and the 5 pair at-home try on, made things so easy. I also ordered sunglasses but I could not get adjusted to the lenses so I returned them and need to get prescription sunglasses soon.
FINANCES: In 2024, we’ll continue to complete our monthly household budget, it’s really the only way to see where all of our money goes each month. I hate doing it, but it is super helpful. We also want to do some extra marketing for our beach house rental since the experts are predicting a decline in travel in the upcoming year. You can read more on how we purchased a beach house here.
Help for 2024 Goal Setting:
- My Goals for 2023
- Goal Setting Tips for 2020
- January’s Monthly Goal Worksheet
- How to Make Reading a Habit
- How to Start a Gratitude Journal
- How to be Organized in 2023
- How to Get Organized + Prepared for 2022
- 22 New Habits to Start in 2022!
- The Best 6 Daily Habits of Organized People
- Goal Setting Tips for 2020
How to Get Your Shit Together in 2024:
- Determine Your Priorites
- Set Attainable Goals
- Create an Action Plan for Each Goal
- Track Your Progress
Let me know how you plan to get your shit together in 2024. What goals are you setting for yourself in the new year? If you have any goal setting tips, please share in a comment below.
