I can honestly say 2008 was one of my happiest years.  I finished up my first full time job (moving it into a part time position for my climbing road trip), I traveled a lot (the below map showing where I visited in 2008), but mostly the transition into a family-less life was one of the best decisions and the main reason for this year’s happiness.  Looking at my 2008 goals, I gladly noticed that I achieved many of the sights I had set… even surpassing one goal that I had initially thought impossible. =)

Over the last week I have created a plan for 2009, using my thoughts from my Last Lecture post.  I have always broken my goals into four different categories of personal, career, financial and fitness, and I’ve continued this structure for the upcoming year.  I’m not going to post all my goals online, but a good portion of them (in no particular order) are listed below:

Personal

• Roadtrip – The goal is to continue on my road trip through the end of March.  At that time, I would have been on the road for a total of 8 months, which is a “long enough” break from the real world job.
• Vegetarian Diet – I have never eaten a lot of meat, but this year I am going to live the vegetarian life.  The reasons are health related, focusing to see if I can finally hit a fitness and weight level I’ve been trying to achieve for years.  On top of this diet I am focusing on organic foods and cutting back my coffee and alcohol intake.
• Start Fresh – I have always wanted to start life off fresh, meaning selling all my belongings and seriously starting out new.  I plan on doing this when I get back to Salt Lake.  I want to sell my clothes, dishes, furniture and belongings and seriously just start out fresh in a new city. Why not?  When I packed up my belongings prior to this trip I noticed there was only two boxes that meant anything to me.  One contained all my travel and climbing guidebooks and journals.  The other contained momentos from these travels and/or good friends: a pot made by Sam, two wine bottles from Italy, sand dollar from Thailand, Guiness cup from Ireland, rocks from various climbing destinations, wood cup carved by Jed, etc.  I want to take these two boxes and rid myself of the rest.  Afterwards I will create a new (hopefully different) minimalist life somewhere else.
• Learn French – I have a real hard time with languages, but I am trying again.  For the past month I have been working through a French book and a actively listening to cds.
• Volunteer – Last year I did real well on focusing on this goal.  I would like to continue to volunteer weekly, even while I am on the road; plus I would like to see if I can implement some type of social awareness into my next career position.
• Reading – I would like to read 25 books this year.
• Vacation Out of the Country – I have loved being on this domestic road trip, but I am antsy to get out of the states again.  I would like to take a couple weeks out of the country sometime this year.
• Domain – I own another domain and would like to do something with this site.  However, I want to design and code a good portion of it on my own.
• Stop Swearing – whew!  I can swear like the best of them, a trait I picked up while working as an intern on a trading floor in Chicago.  It is hard to buck this habit as these curse words just easily flow while climbing; however, it isn’t lady like and so I am going to stop this year.

Career

• New Job – I will need to find a new position upon going “home” and I am hoping to find one that I love as much as my old position.  This might be tricky in today’s market, but I am throwing out hope anyway.  I know exactly what I am looking for, now I just need to find that open position.
• Move to a New City – I would like to make the move away from Utah and to a new city where the culture focuses more on career than lifestyle.  Will I like it?  I don’t know.  Do I want to give it a try?  Definitely!
• Unix Knowledge – This goal isn’t really career oriented (but is somewhat applicable).  On this road trip I have been working on becoming more comfortable with the terminal window.  I am happy with my progress but want to feel confident this year.

Financial

• Savings – Every year I decide a set amount of money I would like to save for the year.  This year is no different.
• Public Equity Valuations – My current job does not require me to create public equity financial models, but it is a good practice.  I have set a goal of how many models I would like to create in my personal time as these models are completely applicable when looking for personal investments.

Fitness

• Climbing – for the past two years I have set a grade goal as numbers are extremely motivating for me (of course… I work in finance and love numbers!).  Yet, this year I notice that I am in a transition phase with my love of climbing.  Something about being on the road is getting me excited to work and focus on a career again.  I don’t want to give up climbing, but rather find a better median between work and the sport.  Rather than focusing on a grade or even on improvement, the climbing goal of 2009 is to maintain the strength I have developed while living on the road.  I feel like the range I climb right now allows me many options when going out to the rock.
• Yoga – yoga has been the sole reason for my ankle finally feeling better after a year and a half of aching.  I want to continue to practice yoga at least two times per week.
• Run ½ Marathon – I really have no desire to run another marathon, but I would like to participate in another ½.

What about you readers?  What are you hoping to achieve in 2009?  And how do you plan on going about achieveing your goals?