Go Big or Go Home - 2017 Challenge

2017 is rapidly approaching and it is almost that time of year again to set goals, and smash them!

My goals are as follows:

1) Save 15-18K towards my mortgage deposit.

2) Move out of compliance to something more respectable, tangible and with more exit options. A more numerical role.

3) Get my body fat percentage down to 15-20% fat, to boost work productivity, promotion chances and overall attractiveness.

4) Build a strong network in and outside of my bank (I sit on a committee for a society inside my bank AND will be doing loads of networking).

5) Develop a MILITANT work ethic and discipline by setting small challenges - would you all be open to joining?

TBC..

What about you guys?

 
Best Response

aggressive, i like it! Go get it.

My goals:

  1. Be a better dad and husband with at least one day per week (24hrs straight) not looking at my phone or computer so that I am fully present

  2. Successfully launch related business to WSO (in the works, you guys should hear about it mid to late next year). Success meaning no delays to our timeline and recruiting specific industry partners we're targeting to help accelerate growth curve

  3. Improving the content of WSO... more entertaining members, more educational members and senior industry pros dropping in to give us some wisdom

  4. Redesign and relaunch all of the WSO interview prep packs and courses (this is already in the works)...

That is a lot, so I'll stop there!

 
WallStreetOasis.com:

aggressive, i like it! Go get it.

My goals:

  1. Be a better dad and husband with at least one day per week (24hrs straight) not looking at my phone or computer so that I am fully present
  2. Successfully launch related business to WSO (in the works, you guys should hear about it mid to late next year). Success meaning no delays to our timeline and recruiting specific industry partners we're targeting to help accelerate growth curve
  3. Improving the content of WSO... more entertaining members, more educational members and senior industry pros dropping in to give us some wisdom
  4. Redesign and relaunch all of the WSO interview prep packs and courses (this is already in the works)...

That is a lot, so I'll stop there!

Thank you! I am focused on achieving my goals. One step at a time.

Though I am curious... Are you truly the CEO of WSO? :O

Nice list, especially the one about your family. It's good to have normality.

 
WallStreetOasis.com:
aggressive, i like it! Go get it.

My goals:

  1. Be a better dad and husband with at least one day per week (24hrs straight) not looking at my phone or computer so that I am fully present
  2. Successfully launch related business to WSO (in the works, you guys should hear about it mid to late next year). Success meaning no delays to our timeline and recruiting specific industry partners we're targeting to help accelerate growth curve
  3. Improving the content of WSO... more entertaining members, more educational members and senior industry pros dropping in to give us some wisdom
  4. Redesign and relaunch all of the WSO interview prep packs and courses (this is already in the works)...

That is a lot, so I'll stop there!

What is new?

 
WallStreetOasis.com:

My goals:

    - Be a better dad and husband with at least one day per week (24hrs straight) not looking at my phone or computer so that I am fully present
How do you plan on spending a day without looking at your phone / computer unless you're out in the middle of nowhere?
 

For the record, I set a bunch of goals in 2016 and managed to hit 90% of them. Keeping these lists and devoting your effort to them really DOES work. Write it all down and stuff it in your wallet; refer to it whenever you've got downtime, are feeling restless, or are just bored.

1- Pay off my last credit card. They got me on that APR, which I recently bargained down to something reasonable

2-I successfully bulked up as part of a resolution last year but it had one drawback - eating feels like work and I hate food now. Hopefully I can use that to get ripped to shreds this cycle, especially with some dream vacations on the way.

3- Read a book each month. Now that I no longer live in NYC, I can't get any leisure reading done since I no longer take the subway. I fell behind sharply on reading last year.

4-Kill my new role. Because of the project based nature of my last role, I learned a ton but never got truly comfortable as I had to constantly ramp up and sketch out new solutions through trial and error each time I got an assignment. The good news is that I got in enough reps to develop a decent all around toolkit for just about any scenario, and I want to build it into serious momentum for an upcoming standardized role.

5-Try a serious relationship. I've been single for something like 10 years now. It's been lots of fun but chasing tail has become a time suck now that I've a vested interest in my professional trajectory.

6-Save double what I did last year. In 2016 I managed to get rid of everything , cut my expenses, AND accumulate more in savings than I did in any previous year, surpassing my original goal. Let's see if I can double it.

 
TheGrind:

For the record, I set a bunch of goals in 2016 and managed to hit 90% of them. Keeping these lists and devoting your effort to them really DOES work. Write it all down and stuff it in your wallet; refer to it whenever you've got downtime, are feeling restless, or are just bored.

1- Pay off my last credit card. They got me on that APR, which I recently bargained down to something reasonable

2-I successfully bulked up as part of a resolution last year but it had one drawback - eating feels like work and I hate food now. Hopefully I can use that to get ripped to shreds this cycle, especially with some dream vacations on the way.

3- Read a book each month. Now that I no longer live in NYC, I can't get any leisure reading done since I no longer take the subway. I fell behind sharply on reading last year.

4-Kill my new role. Because of the project based nature of my last role, I learned a ton but never got truly comfortable as I had to constantly ramp up and sketch out new solutions through trial and error each time I got an assignment. The good news is that I got in enough reps to develop a decent all around toolkit for just about any scenario, and I want to build it into serious momentum for an upcoming standardized role.

5-Try a serious relationship. I've been single for something like 10 years now. It's been lots of fun but chasing tail has become a time suck now that I've a vested interest in my professional trajectory.

6-Save double what I did last year. In 2016 I managed to get rid of everything , cut my expenses, AND accumulate more in savings than I did in any previous year, surpassing my original goal. Let's see if I can double it.

Audio book is your friend and so is speed dating. Don't go for the usual banker types or dates. Go for someone smart and pretty/average. They will give you a different perspective on life. Help keep you grounded.

 

1 - Im the fattest I have ever been since high school (significantly over the 200 mark now). My resolve is to get back to the half marathon ready shape I was during my underclassmen college years. Can easily be done if I devote an hour daily.

2 - Continue the self-improvement plan in relation to MOOC / Programming Coursework and Professional Designations. My goals here are aggressive and take probably 2-3 hours a night of studying to complete.

3 - Only go out for drinks once a week or every other week. Doing this too much impacts goals 1 and 2.

4 - I wouldn't be too upset if I didn't get back into golfing again, but I would like to play more when it gets warmer.

 
Imsurance:

1 - Im the fattest I have ever been since high school (significantly over the 200 mark now). My resolve is to get back to the half marathon ready shape I was during my underclassmen college years. Can easily be done if I devote an hour daily.

2 - Continue the self-improvement plan in relation to MOOC / Programming Coursework and Professional Designations. My goals here are aggressive and take probably 2-3 hours a night of studying to complete.

3 - Only go out for drinks once a week or every other week. Doing this too much impacts goals 1 and 2.

4 - I wouldn't be too upset if I didn't get back into golfing again, but I would like to play more when it gets warmer.

Nice goals here! What is MOOC?

 
secretpanda:
Imsurance:

1 - Im the fattest I have ever been since high school (significantly over the 200 mark now). My resolve is to get back to the half marathon ready shape I was during my underclassmen college years. Can easily be done if I devote an hour daily.

2 - Continue the self-improvement plan in relation to MOOC / Programming Coursework and Professional Designations. My goals here are aggressive and take probably 2-3 hours a night of studying to complete.

3 - Only go out for drinks once a week or every other week. Doing this too much impacts goals 1 and 2.

4 - I wouldn't be too upset if I didn't get back into golfing again, but I would like to play more when it gets warmer.

Nice goals here! What is MOOC?

Massive Open Online Courses. Coursera edX Udemy and the like.

My manager said the coursework should more than pay off to lateral into more skilled groups at our company.

 

For drinking, you may not need to cut down quite as much if you switch purely to vodka/diet soda mixes. It sounds prissy, but you'll literally be getting 30-50% of the calories of a beer or a mix with full calorie soda.

For programming, I suggest setting a goal around a project that is something useful for you (ex - a python program that that automatically pulls PDFs of XYZ topic for you every morning, a program that tracks stocks, or anything that you think would be useful in your daily life). It's a lot easier to bang out a project if it has some meaning (however insignificant) to you, and you'll do more independent learning/study to add widgets and features. At least, that was the easiest way for me to develop my python/java skills.

 
Imsurance:

1 - Im the fattest I have ever been since high school (significantly over the 200 mark now). My resolve is to get back to the half marathon ready shape I was during my underclassmen college years. Can easily be done if I devote an hour daily.

It sounds like you're talking about going to the gym more. As someone who lost ~30 pounds about two years ago and ran a half marathon recently, I'll say that it really is hard to overstate how important your diet is for weight loss. I'd guess that exercise was responsible for about 30% of my weight loss. The other 70% was cutting out bad eating habits. I basically cut out soda, candy, and late night snacks (regressed a bit on the last one now but I've maintained my weight so far), and watched how much I ate. Exercise definitely helps when it's the right exercises, and obviously being active in general is a good thing, but it's not really the solution to weight loss.

"There's nothing you can do if you're too scared to try." - Nickel Creek
 
N0DuckingWay:
Imsurance:

1 - Im the fattest I have ever been since high school (significantly over the 200 mark now). My resolve is to get back to the half marathon ready shape I was during my underclassmen college years. Can easily be done if I devote an hour daily.

It sounds like you're talking about going to the gym more. As someone who lost ~30 pounds about two years ago and ran a half marathon recently, I'll say that it really is hard to overstate how important your diet is for weight loss. I'd guess that exercise was responsible for about 30% of my weight loss. The other 70% was cutting out bad eating habits. I basically cut out soda, candy, and late night snacks (regressed a bit on the last one now but I've maintained my weight so far), and watched how much I ate. Exercise definitely helps when it's the right exercises, and obviously being active in general is a good thing, but it's not really the solution to weight loss.

Very true, the diet part was implied but I care more about being able to run the half marathon than I do getting down to a specific weight.

 

I'll continue to be a disappointment like I usually am.

You killed the Greece spread goes up, spread goes down, from Wall Street they all play like a freak, Goldman Sachs 'o beat.
 
Arti:
I'll continue to be a disappointment like I usually am.

C'mon don't say it like that.

Try something like:

My goal is to continue to be a disappointment like I usually am.

Then, you can tell people you're meeting and setting goals!

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Late entry, but I'm doing good so far. First off, f**k New year's resolutions, I'm in this for the long run.

  1. HEALTHY LIFESTYLE. Less sweets, bread and unhealthy fast food. More gym. Working well so far, not doing anything extreme, 10 pounds gone.

  2. STOP SMOKIMG, ASSHOLE. IT'S 2017!! Woke up on January 1st and decided that I don't smoke anymore. Haven't smoked since. Side job, get girlfriemd to quit too.

  3. GET INTO YOUR DREAM PROGRAM. Out of my hands, did 3 years of hard work undergraduate, have gotten into some really nice MFin programs, waiting on others.

  4. READ, EDUCATE YOURSELF. I didn't read nearly as much as I wanted when I was doing my degree. Now I have the chance. Finished two books already, many others lined up.

There are some more but if I keep doing these things (and get into a dream program) I'm sure I'll be fine.

 

Day 53: Its the end of an era. I am half way through my graduate programme and what a difference a good team makes! I feel much more confident in my abilities, actively solving my weaknesses and know what I would like to do. I like writing and giving presentations, talking an idea, strategy or problem with people. I think that's why my second goal for the year was FO. I wanted a client facing role. To be there on someone or a client's journey as they achieve their dreams etc. So, I might look towards management consulting. I bought a couple of books to read and develop. Watch out McKinsey.. I am coming for you! ;-)

 

Day 73: You being proactive. Networking will create opportunities for you. Forget about exit options etc. Do a job that suits your skill set and interest. Opportunities will always come! Get out your comfort zone !

 

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