I Accomplished None of My 2024 Goals

2024 Recap, 2025 Systems, Survey Results

How I feel looking at my 2024 goals

This is not a clickbait title. Regrettably, and even shamefully, I accomplished not one of my 2024 goals.

When I set these goals, I was coming off a rockin’ 2023. That year, I self-published my book, ran a half marathon, rode a century bike-ride, went to the temple on a solid cadence, had a baby, and got promoted.

Pride cometh before the fall, as they say.

Here were my goals in 2024, and how I did:

Spiritual

• Attend temple with Mickelle quarterly — Did not happen. We went together once.

• Morning scripture study with note-taking — Did not happen. Sometimes I read in the morning, more often at night, rarely with good note-taking.

Physical

• Two multi-day hiking/biking trips — Only went on one (though it was a week long and 350 miles).

• Half Marathon with no walking — Did not happen. Longest run was 10 miles.

Intellectual

• Grow City Reads to 200 subscribers — City Reads is paused for now.

• Read more philosophy — Okay, I sort of did this, though I wanted to read three books, only read two, and one was political philosophy, so it didn’t really count.

Social

• Do better with Sluggish Scholars — I probably did about the same as 2023. Still love the club!

• Join a social/physical club in Spokane — Did not happen.

That is not to say I didn’t have a great year. Our move to Spokane has been amazing (a one-year review of life in Spokane coming up in the March newsletter), I bought my new bike and put a lot of miles on it, I read some books that have sat on my list for ages, and I spent an abundance of time with Mickelle and the kids and don’t feel like I’m missing a thing with their childhood, so far.

Still, looking at this list, I’m bummed about everywhere I fell short of my original expectations.

The Level of Your Systems

This year, I’m going to take a different approach. YouTube served me up a short clip of a podcaster talking about a quote from James Clear’s Atomic Habits, a book I read several years ago but didn’t internalize very well, apparently.

The quote goes like this:

“You don't rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your habits.” (Elsewhere, Clear changes the word “habits” to “systems”).

The podcaster used career paths to demonstrate this principle in action. When asked about his five-year plan, the podcaster felt no certainty about his dream job or goal. But he knew he had good systems in place that had led to career growth to date, and would continue to lead to career growth in the future. His work habits were strong enough to propel him forward to a desirable, albeit undefined, outcome.

I, too, feel this way about my career, which is probably why the quote resonated. And the premise made me consider the systems and habits I’ve developed in other aspects of life.

Here are a handful of my strong systems. Writing. I’ve published one post a month for three years now. Exercise. I aim for 5-6 days a week, most often during my lunch break. If it’s warmer than 25 degrees and not icy, I’m going outside. Family time. After work ends at 2:30 pm (perks of the East Coast schedule from the West Coast), I take the kids so Mickelle can work on her art business. If she doesn’t have anything to do that day, we’ll get out of the house as a family. We eat dinner together every night, host our regular Monday night “family night”, and try to prioritize family road trips. Church assignments. Call me a good foot-soldier, but I try to be fairly exacting.

You might notice these habits still align with the Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, and Social goal areas. So will the following six systems I’ve identified as areas of improvement, either because I struggle or don’t possess anything resembling a system. Within each there are still goals, some stated, some unstated. But most important is the desired discipline to create lasting habits. Here they are:

1. Reading — If you read my post last month, you’ll know 2024 wasn’t my best reading year. This year, I’m going to make reading a night activity. It’s my favorite way to unwind, and I enjoy reading in bed until my eyes start to droop.

2. Scripture Study — This habit will also benefit from deliberate scheduling, and I’ll do it in the morning. This will require setting an alarm and forgoing my typical habits of half-awake Reddit scrolling and NY Times Games.

3. Socializing — This one is a bit ambiguous. We’ve been better about having people over to our house since moving to Spokane, though Mickelle and I want to play host more frequently. The idea of having someone over bi-weekly was loosely determined. I also find myself craving social time to combat the sometimes isolating remote work setup. I submitted an application to volunteer as a guide/docent at the Campbell House, one of Spokane’s great architecturally significant homes attached to our local art museum. We’ll see if I get it!

4. Outdoor, Overnight Excursions — So far, the bike boys have scheduled one multi-day trip a year. Instead of trying to vaguely plan for more trips, I need to do two things. First, find locals that I can bikepack/backpack with. And second, be proactive about learning my dad’s backpacking schedule to make it on a trip with him.

5. Temple Attendance — Will this always be a struggle? Perhaps with young kids around. Two years ago, I tried to go monthly. That proved too much for the schedule, and frankly, my ability to go with a good attitude. This year, I’m aiming for 8 times, or just more frequently than every other month. I’ve put specific weeks on the calendar and will be more mindful of when I go.

6. Budgeting — Mickelle and I do a good job being thrifty and living within our means. Still, I have some vices, namely buying fitness/camping gear at an amount I should be tracking better. The spreadsheet is built, the limits set, and it’s already a bit painful. The budget must be working!

The State of From the Desk

2025 marks the start of year four of writing this newsletter. Thanks to all who read, comment, and send me texts. I’m not very good about responding to all of those, mostly from a place of insecurity, but know that it means a lot!

Also, thanks to those who completed the survey last year. I wanted to share a few of the data points. These are probably more interesting to me than you, and in most instances, confirmed what I already assumed.

First, I had 53 responses. Of the respondents, 30% were family members, 28% knew me from school (likely high school), and 24% knew me from Church. Only 5% of respondents didn’t know me at all and stumbled upon the newsletter on Substack or some other channel.

More than 50% of respondents read at least 8+ of my monthly posts in their entirety, and the majority read it in their email inbox.

62% are men, and another 62% are in the age range of 25-34.

The chart below isn’t from the survey but appears on my Substack dashboard. Outside these USA readers, another 7% of my readers come from New Zealand. Thanks whanua!

I’m not too surprised by this demographic information. Mine is not a topically focused newsletter, nor am I an expert in anything. If you follow me, it’s most likely that you know me personally or by one degree of separation. This is neither good nor bad for me, the writer. I have the freedom to write on whatever topics I want, but the challenge becomes trying to be interesting to the variety of people reading (by now, I assume few are reading out of moral support).

I was hopeful that the survey would expose a very clear topic that everyone enjoyed most. Looking at the chart below, some do stand out, but every topic was liked by half the respondents. The two topics that do pop, “Latter-day Saint/Spirituality” and “Fatherhood/Parenting” are both topics I enjoy writing about, but would not want to make the main focal point (not wanting to become just an LDS blogger, and not feeling like I have that many insights into fatherhood).

The same basic uniformity exists around the responses to my question, “From the Desk is at its best when it...”

Ultimately, what was most reassuring is that 86% of respondents said they somewhat agree (32%) or strongly agree (54%) that From the Desk articles are as interesting as other things you read online. What more can you ask for, in today’s attention economy?

My top 3 posts from 2024 were:

Trip Report: Pedalling from Pittsburgh to Washington D.C.

The One Where We Move To Spokane, WA

The Moral and Religious Incompatibility with Contemporary Politics

Not much will change in 2025. I’ve added a new section called Recs from the Desk (highly voted on in the survey) and will continue to post photos from my personal life. In other words, From the Desk remains a strange amalgam of the newsletter as a blog, social media, and more.

Something to make you laugh: Check out this Reddit Thread of reader’s favorite Far Side comics. Found a few I’d never seen before.

Something to make you think: The 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress. The main finding? “The number of people experiencing homelessness on a single night in 2024 was the highest ever recorded.” Lots of interesting charts and state-by-state comparisons.

Something to bake: French Apple Cake. Super simple yet so good. This recipe is sort of my banana bread but for apples, aka, a way to use up the extras when you overbuy.

Something to listen to: Mickelle had all of us mesmerized with Rhapsody in Blue. Nelson was literally transfixed for 12 straight minutes. Not an easy task (unless it’s Curious George).

Winter Drives through Montana | Jazz Game with the Fam | Manito Lights with the Beazers | St. John's Catheral for Handel's Messiah | Thanksgiving with Garth and Lindsey