Thomas L. Shaffer

Here are my goals for 2008. Some may call them resolutions, but I’m not a fan of that word. Some are personal goals, some are professional.

• Read 20 books: I’m a horrible reader, but sometimes I can power through some titles if my interest is high. I think I read maybe 4 books last year, so 20 is a nice stretch goal. I’d like at least 5 of the books to be nonfiction. I’ll probably focus on topics of interest like personal finance, beer, US History, and political thrillers (My new favorite author is Vince Flynn).
• Fully Fund my IRA: okay, i’ve done this for the past few years and I’m on automatic payments so this should be easy. I have to have at least one goal accomplished this year, right?
• Start a net worth and budgeting program: I have a budget, but not the best. I’d like to have a better picture of my financial worth and goals
• Become a notary public: Don’t really know about this one, I’ve just always wanted to be able to notorize things. Maybe that’s my desire to have a stamp of approval (so to speak).
• Invest better: I’ve been playing it safe, and I’ve missed out on some big opportunities (We were crazy to think of buying GOOG at $125 Evan). My goal will be to diversify my holdings and maximize my returns.
• Digitize my Family: I have family photo albums that I want to digitize and organize for my family. This will be time consuming and I’ll need to buy a new external drive, but this will be a fun goal to complete.
• Start a business: Haven’t figured out doing what exactly, but I’m sure with my jack of all trades mentality I should be able to get something started.
• Travel more: I have free vouchers that expire in March, a decent amount of frequent flyer miles, and a wife that doesn’t work 2 months a year. Of course, traveling will still take money, something that seems to allude me as of late. There are plenty of places in Washington we haven’t gone, and if our friends come out like they say they will, we’ll check out more spots.
• Blog more: this is both about personal stuff and professional. I’d like to post more intellectual stuff as opposed to dumping in a YouTube video.
• The usual: eat less, work out, lose weight. Seriously, who doesn’t need to do these things?

So those are my goals. Nothing really out there. I have to say that the reading and business goals are the two that will cause the most strain. Who wants to read when you have a 46 inch LCD and a xbox 360?