At the beginning of every year, I establish a list of goals (or New Year’s resolutions) for the coming calendar year. I post this list on my blog and social media to hold myself accountable.
I recommend this to everyone. I’ve been engaged in this process since 2010, and I’m convinced it’s helped me be more productive and successful, even though my average goal completion rate over the past 14 years is 55.5%.
I’ve learned that setting exceptionally high goals and accepting inevitable failure is critical to achievement.
I’ve also legitimately changed my life as a result of this process. Previous goals have led me to daily meditation, learning to cook, flossing without missing a day in more than a decade, and exercising regularly. Many goals that once appeared on my list are now simply things that I do regularly without thought or effort.
An unexpected side benefit has been the occasional assistance from readers in completing some of my goals through advice, recommendations, and sometimes even direct intervention. Five years ago, the amazing Kathryn Gonnerman turned the blog that I had written to my children for the first six years of their existence into six enormous, beautiful tomes that my kids are constantly reading today. They are some of the most precious things we own.
She knocked one of my goals right off my list.
People are exceptionally kind, and I never turn down an offer of assistance.
The interest in these posts on my yearly goals and monthly updates has been equally unexpected. I often feel like updating my progress each month is the least interesting thing I write, done only for me, but apparently, readers disagree.
They are some of my most-read posts. Tens of thousands of people read these posts monthly.
Many people express appreciation for my willingness to share my failures openly. I think it’s easy to look at someone and think they do everything well, but when you look under the hood, it’s easy to see that not everything is firing on all cylinders.
I’m simply lifting the hood and allowing people to see my imperfection and outright failure.
So here are this year’s goals. As always, I choose goals focused on process over product. With a couple of exceptions, I don’t write goals that depend upon the decisions of others to complete. So instead of writing:
“I will publish a novel.”
… my goal would be:
“I will write a novel.”
I have control over the quality and quantity of my writing. But I have no control over whether or not an editor will deem it worthy of purchase and publication. Many great authors remain undiscovered until well after their death, but thank goodness they continue to write in the face of rejection.
Process over product. Make your goals attainable by you. When setting goals, we must make them dependent upon our own effort and not the whims and predilections of others.
They must also be specific and measurable. “Lose weight” is a terrible goal. “Lose 10 pounds” is much better.
I always reserve the right to add to or edit a goal on the list when and if conditions change throughout the year.
My 2024 New Year’s Resolutions
PERSONAL FITNESS
1. Don’t die.
Recommended by my friend, Charles, years ago, and still worthy of the first position on the list.
As always, I plan on living forever or die trying.
2. Lose 10 pounds.
I lost nearly 40 pounds in 2023, which was twice as much as I had planned or expected. As a result, I am now within striking distance of my high school weight when I was competing in the district championships as a pole vaulter.
Years ago, my doctor suggested that my high school weight would be an ideal weight for me. I told my doctor that she was ridiculous to think I would ever return to that weight. I thought she was crazy.
Sadly, she’s no longer my doctor, so she’ll never see my progress, but at least she can’t say, “I told you so,” at this year’s physical.
I’m a little more than ten pounds away from my high school weight. I plan to make that happen in 2024.
3. Do a targeted push-up workout at least four times per week.
For over a decade, I’ve been doing 200 push-ups a day – typically four sets of 50 or five sets of 40. However, after some research, I’ve learned that doing a variety of push-ups is far better for me in terms of building muscle and exercising different muscle groups. So, rather than targeting a specific number of push-ups each day, I plan to do a targeted push-up workout every four days, varying the type and number of push-ups based on the guidance of an expert.
Push-ups with one foot raised in the air
Push-ups from various inclined positions
Push-ups from multiple hand positions
Push-ups with weight on my back
Push-ups with elastic bands for resistance
Last week, I did push-ups with Charlie on my back. I never thought I could do even a single push-up with a 70-pound boy sitting atop me, but I managed to squeeze out four. Maybe not great for my back, but he and I will never forget it.
This is my push-up plan for 2024.
4. Complete 100 sit-ups four times per week.
This is a goal that I’ve been achieving for more than a decade. Four sets of 25 or three sets of 33, depending on the day.
I plan to repeat this goal in 2024.
5. Complete three one-minute planks four times a week.
This is a goal from previous years that I am continuing in 2024.
6. Cycle for at least five days every week.
I stopped going to the gym and started riding my indoor and outdoor bike at the onset of the pandemic. It turned out to be a silver lining in that difficult time. I went on 522 rides – indoor and outdoor – in 2023. I hope to meet or exceed that number in 2024, but five rides per week is a far more reasonable goal.
7. Meet or beat the USGA’s average golfing handicap for men of 14.2.
My current handicap is 14.8. I plan to meet or beat the average handicap for male golfers in America.
This is one of those rare goals I have pinned to achievement rather than effort. I could set a golfing goal based on the number of times spent taking lessons, practicing at the range, and playing the game, but my desire to improve demands I set a numerical goal predicated on performance.
Admittedly, that number only represents the average performance of American golfers, so it’s not exactly a lofty goal, but it’s slightly lofty for me.
WRITING CAREER
8. Complete my eighth novel.
I’m writing a sequel to “Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend.” I plan to finish this book in 2024.
9. Write my next Storyworthy book.
I wrote a “storytelling for business” book in 2023 – Stories Sell: Storyworthy Strategies to Grow Your Business and Brand – available everywhere on June 11, 2024. I’m not sure what the next topic will be – storytelling for students, parents, healing, leadership – but I’ll choose the topic with the help of my agent and editor and write that book in 2024.
10. Write, edit, and revise my golf memoir.
I wrote a memoir about ten years ago based on a summer spent golfing with friends. It was a good book back then, so I intend to approach it with fresh eyes and make it even better in 2024, with hopes that my agent will sell the book to a publisher in 2024
11. Write my “Advice for Kids” book.
For most of my teaching career, I have offered my students “life lessons” – moments of learning that are often direct, amusing, helpful, and almost always attached to a story.
In 2021, while offering one of these life lessons to my class, a student named Alexis asked that I begin writing these life lessons down. Unlike any student before, she became a scholar of my advice, treating each lesson like gold.
So I did. Thus I have an extensive collection of meaningful lessons told via amusing anecdotes and stories. My agent thinks that my amusing, sarcastic, and direct nature might appeal to kids, and my 25 years as an award-winning teacher might appeal to parents, so I plan to assemble, expand, and craft these lessons into a book by the end of the year.
12. Write/complete at least three new picture books, including one with a female, non-white protagonist.
I achieved this goal in 2023 by writing four new picture books.
I hope to sell at least one this year.
My goal remains the same in 2024.
Also, for the record, all of my picture books are excellent and worthy of publication. Having spent 25 years with the targeted readers for these books – children – I know what I’m talking about, so if you know a brilliant, savvy children’s book editor, send them my way.
13. Write about my childhood in partnership with my sister, Kelli, at least twice per month.
Last month, Kelli texted me:
“We should work together again to preserve the stories of our childhood before I get too old and start to forget. I am 50 now!”
Kelli has one of the best memories of anyone I’ve ever met. People are surprised at what I remember from childhood, but compared to her, I remember nothing. She is a steel trap.
Years ago, we began writing about our childhood together on a blog entitled 107 Federal Street. That writing still exists. In 2024, I’d like to find a way to return to writing with my sister in the hope of recovering even more childhood memories and producing something valuable in the process.
14. Launch a Substack.
Substack is an online platform that provides publishing, payment, analytics, and design infrastructure to support subscription newsletters. It allows writers to send digital newsletters directly to subscribers and get paid for their work.
Substack reached out to me last year, asking if I might want to join the platform based on my books and online writing. In 2024, I plan to launch a Substack focused primarily on productivity, creativity, and the pursuit of happiness.
Sort of a compendium to my book, “Someday Is Today.”
15. Write a new solo show.
I wrote my first solo show, “You’re a Monster, Matthew Dicks,” in 2023. I love the result.
I plan to write my next show in 2024.
16. Write a musical.
My writing partner, Kaia, and I have the bones of a musical, but I have yet to write a word of it even though I made it a goal for the last two years. I plan to write the damn thing in 2024 so that Kaia can write the music.
We hope to perform it together once complete, which would require me to sing, which would terrify me, which is why I want to do it. I find things that scare me, and then I do them, and I am happy every single time.
17. Submit at least three Op-Ed pieces to The New York Times for consideration.
This has been a goal for the past five years, which I failed to achieve in 2023 for the first time, probably because the New York Times has rejected everything sent their way.
I plan to correct that in 2024, including at least one Modern Love submission.
18. Write at least four letters to my father.
I completed this goal at the last minute in 2023. No response from my father, but I can only extend myself and hope for the best.
I’ll keep hoping in 2024 by writing to him at least four times.
19. Write 150 letters.
I wrote 224 letters in 2023 to a wide variety of people, including students, former students, friends, former teachers, family members, neighbors, authors, politicians, podcast hosts, business owners, restaurant servers, and many more.
So many beautiful, unexpected, unforgettable interactions took place as a result of my communication. I plan to repeat this goal, which has been on my list for years, in 2024, but increase the goal from 100 to 150 letters.
About 12 letters per month.
I strongly recommend you establish a similar goal. It’s been a wondrous addition to my life.
20. Write to at least six authors about a book I love.
On New Year’s Eve of 2021, I received an email from a woman who read my first novel in middle school and has followed my work ever since. She credited me for helping her fall in love with reading and has just finished writing her first novel. It was a joyous way to end the year.
Oddly enough, I received a similar email on New Year’s Eve this year.
I decided to do the same for authors whose books I adore.
I wrote six letters to authors in 2022 and 2023. One of them, Kate DiCamillo, wrote back! Joy!
My goal is to do this at least six times again in 2024.
STORYTELLING/SPEAKING CAREER
21. Perform a new solo show.
I performed “You’re a Monster, Matthew Dicks” three times to sold-out audiences at Theater Works in Hartford.
It was the thrill of a lifetime.
I plan to repeat the thrill in 2024. I am already in talks about locations and dates for the new show.
22. Complete the re-recording of Storyworthy For Business.
“Storyworthy” for Business is complete and available for purchase. Find it and much more at storyworthymd.com.
I want to produce a much-improved version of the course ASAP. My goal is for the course to serve as an essential compendium to the book that will be published in June.
23. Record and produce at least two new Storyworthy courses.
I currently have four courses available online:
Finding Stories
Anatomy of a Story
Humor: Volume #1
Storyworthy for Business
In addition to re-recording Storyworthy for Business, I plan to produce at least two more courses in 2024. Perhaps many more.
24. Produce a total of six Speak Up storytelling events in 2023
Since we launched Speak Up back in 2013, we have produced a total of 118 shows.
2013: 3
2014: 8
2015: 12
2016: 17
2017: 17
2018: 13
2019: 17
2020: 12
2021: 8
2022: 6
2023: 5
Elysha and I failed to hit our goal of six shows in 2023 because three venues unexpectedly canceled shows because of red tape.
We plan to produce at least six Speak Up storytelling events in 2024.
25. Submit pitches to at least three upcoming TEDx events, hoping to be accepted by one.
I’ll be speaking at TEDxBU in April of this year. It will be the twelfth time I speak at a TEDx conference.
I plan to pitch a new talk to at least three upcoming TEDx conferences for late 2024 or early 2025.
26. Attend at least eight Moth events with the intention of telling a story.
My Moth attendance ever since attending my first Moth StorySLAM in 2011 has been:
2011: 4
2012: 9
2013: 19
2014: 19
2015: 31
2016: 31
2017: 20
2018: 15
2019: 22
2020: 15
2021: 12
2022: 18
2023: 19
Note that this represents the number of times I attended a Moth event, including StorySLAMs, GrandSLAMs, Main Stage performances, The Moth Ball, and more. It does not represent the number of times I’ve actually performed.
Sadly, my name does not always get drawn from the hat.
As opportunities to speak and perform at other venues for various organizations have increased, the time I’ve had to dedicate to Moth events has decreased, even though they remain my favorite shows in the world.
Give me a Moth StorySLAM any day.
Attending eight Moth events in 2024 is a low number given my previous record, but my children are getting more involved in activities that I want to be sure to attend, so I want to ensure balance in my life while striving to achieve goals.
27. Win at least one Moth StorySLAM.
Last year, my goal was to win one Moth StorySLAM, which I did.
It was also my lowest win total since I began telling stories for The Moth. Since 2011, I’ve won 56% of the Moth StorySLAMs in which I’ve competed for a total of 59 victories, but last year, my winning percentage was only 20%.
I only won one StorySLAM in five tries.
That included three second-place finishes and many times when my name remained stubbornly in the hat.
Though I’m hoping for more than one victory, that is the goal I’m setting again for 2024.
This goal depends upon the decisions of others (which I try to avoid when setting goals), but competing in StorySLAMs isn’t enough to justify the goal.
I need to win.
28. Win a Moth GrandSLAM.
I won one GrandSLAM in 2014.
I won two GrandSLAMs in 2015.
I won one GrandSLAM in 2016.
I failed to win a GrandSLAM in 2017.
I won two GrandSLAMs in 2018.
I failed to win a GrandSLAM in 2019.
I failed to win a GrandSLAM in 2020.
I won one GrandSLAM in 2021.
I won two GrandSLAMs in 2022.
Last year, I failed to win a GrandSLAM in three attempts.
Overall, I’ve won 9 GrandSLAMs in 29 attempts for a 26% win rate.
Much harder to win a GrandSLAM with all of those annoyingly excellent storytellers, not to mention the four times I was defeated by stories that I helped to find and craft.
Arming my competition. A terrible strategy.
This goal also depends upon the decisions of others (including how quickly my turn in a GrandSLAM comes up), but competing in a Moth GrandSLAM just isn’t enough to justify the goal.
Once again, I need to win.
29. Pitch “You’re a Monster, Matthew Dicks” to at least a dozen theaters and/or directors in 2023.
I performed and recorded “You’re a Monster, Matthew Dicks” three times at Theater Works in Hartford in 2023. I’d like to perform it again in 2024, so my goal is to pitch the show to theaters and/or directors in hopes of landing additional venues for the show in 2024
30. Produce at least 24 episodes of our podcast Speak Up Storytelling.
I’m so excited to finally begin podcasting again in 2024. Elysha and I had tens of thousands of listeners before the pandemic sent us to virtual instruction and brought our podcast to an abrupt end. Elysha’s degree program followed, further preventing us from recording, but throughout the last almost three years, people have continued to listen and ask for more.
Every week, I hear from people wondering when and if Elysha and I will record again. Some have listened to the show’s more than 100 episodes more than once.
We plan to begin recording and producing new episodes in the first weeks of 2024, and I hope to produce at least one new episode every two weeks, thus finishing 2024 with at least 24 new episodes.
31. Perform stand-up at least six times.
I performed stand-up four times in 2023, including as a part of the New York City Comedy Festival and as an opener for a musician in Boston.
Six times is not a lot in terms of stand-up, and I hope the number ends up higher, but I’ll set a goal for six and see what happens.
32. Pitch three stories to This American Life.
I had a story on This American Life in May of 2014. Since then, I’ve occasionally pitched stories to someone I know who works for the show, and last year, I pitched three stories through more formal channels.
This year, I plan to pitch the show at least three more times in 2024.
33. Submit at least three pitches to Marc Maron’s WTF podcast.
When I list possible publicity opportunities for my publicist, Marc Maron’s WTF has always been at the top of my list. I’ve been listening since his first episode, and I would love to have a conversation with him. I’ve pitched myself to him before, including three times a year for the past four years, and I’ll do it again, at least three times, in 2024.
34. Send a newsletter to readers at least 50 times.
One newsletter per week should be easy, given how my business operates, but I still want to connect via my newsletter in meaningful ways in 2024. An average of once per week is a good number.
HOME
35. Organize the basement.
Last year’s plan for my basement was to remove unnecessary items. That goal was accomplished in 2023.
This year, I plan to organize it well so that everything has a place, finally, bins of children’s clothes are sensibly arranged, and anything no longer wanted is donated. We may be finishing our basement in 2024, which will make this goal a necessity.
Either way, I will have a clean and organized basement in 2024.
36. Clear the garage of unwanted items.
This should be a relatively easy goal to complete. Like the basement, I spent 2023 organizing my garage, constantly battling with Charlie about putting things away and not turning rakes, ski poles, sleds, and power tools into bizarre contraptions left all over the front yard.
This year, I simply need to arrange for large items – a broken lawn mower, decrepit lawn furniture, an old gas grill, and some of Elysha’s old school supplies – to be removed.
FAMILY/FRIENDS
37. Text or call my brother or sister once per month.
This was a goal achieved in 2023 that I plan to repeat in 2024.
My brother, sister and I don’t talk enough. I will speak to either one at least once per week via text or phone call.
38. Take at least one photo of my children every day.
A successful goal from 2020 through 2023 that returns in 2024.
As I scanned through my photos on a plane ride to Indiana in 2019, I noticed a decline in photos taken of the kids over the years. This is only natural. When a child is born, photos are taken every nine seconds, but this burst of photography subsides a bit as time passes.
One photo per day, every day when I see the kids, in 2024 is the goal once again.
39. Take at least one photo with Elysha and me each week.
A goal I failed to complete in 2022 and 2023 returns again in 2024.
Even worse than the decline in photos of the kids is the rarity of photos of just Elysha and me. We need to rectify this as well, so I will take a photograph of just the two of us at least once per week.
40. Plan a reunion of the Heavy Metal Playhouse.
My friend Bengi and I lived in a home known as the Heavy Metal Playhouse from 1989 to 1993. It was four of the best years of my life. Enormous parties, the closest of friendships, and the wildness of youth left an indelible mark on me. While I stay in touch with many of my friends from those days, I have not seen many of them in a long time. We have attempted to plan a reunion in the past without success.
Starting in 2016, I’ve tried to make a reunion happen but failed. The shift to virtual meetings in 2021 convinced me that a virtual reunion via Zoom might be the best option, given some of our friends are spread out around the country.
We had a reunion scheduled in 2022, but vacations and illness derailed that event. I plan on making it happen once again in 2024.
41. I will not comment positively or negatively about the physical appearance of any person save my wife and children to reduce the focus on physical appearance in our culture overall.
In 2016, I decided to avoid all negative comments about a person’s physical appearance.
In 2017, I decided to add positive comments (save my wife, children, and in-laws) to reduce the focus on physical appearance in our culture overall.
I’ve achieved this goal for the past six years. By writing about it, I’ve also convinced many other people to adopt the policy as well.
Others think I’m crazy, which is an indication that my mission is good and just. The best and most important work we do will undoubtedly be criticized by many.
For this reason, I will repeat this goal in 2024, even though it’s now simply become something I do.
Perhaps you could, too.
42. Surprise Elysha at least 12 times.
A completed goal from the last six years (21 surprises in 2023) that I will repeat in 2024.
43. Play poker at least six times.
I love poker. I paid for our honeymoon with profits from poker. I made a mortgage payment in 2012 with poker profits when it was still legal online. I am a very good poker player who stopped playing regularly in 2015 as I shifted my time to writing and storytelling and online poker became illegal.
But over the past few years, I’ve been making a more concerted effort to play.
I’ve failed to achieve this goal in 2022 and 2023. I’m hoping to make it happen in 2024.
44. Spend at least six days with my best friend of more than 30 years.
Bengi and I met in a Milford, MA, McDonald’s back in 1987, and we have been friends ever since. We once lived together (in the aforementioned Heavy Metal Playhouse) and started our DJ business in 1996. We have been through a great deal together, but in the last few years, we have seen less of each other even though we live 15 minutes apart. Our interests have shifted away from the things each likes to do, and our families are demanding more of our time, but that’s no excuse for not getting together more often.
Six days is reasonable, and I exceeded this goal in 2023.
MUSIC
45. Memorize the lyrics to at least five favorite songs.
A completed goal from 2022 and 2023 that returns in 2024.
You know those songs you’ve listened to all your life but never found the time to learn the lyrics?
I will rectify this by learning the lyrics to a few of my favorites in this category.
46. Practice the flute at least four times per week.
I’ve spent the last two years trying to learn to play the piano on my own without a lot of progress. This year, my musical goal is shifting to the flute.
I played the flute as a kid, and though I haven’t touched a flute in decades, I can still remember all of the fingerings and can still read music, so this year, I plan to return to my flute playing glory years before I switch to playing the bassoon and the drums.
I’ve purchased a flute already and am excited to get started.
MISCELLANEOUS PROJECTS
47. Read at least 12 books.
I read 25 books in 2023 – well above my goal of an even dozen.
I’d recently noticed that podcasts have been crowding out books, but Stephen King rightfully said, “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”
Americans read an average of 12 books per year, but the median number of books read per year is just four, meaning that the blessed folks reading 100 books or more per year (like Clara) are artificially boosting the average.
I’ll shoot for 12. One per month.
48. Finish reading TIME’s 100 Best Children’s Books of All Time.
I failed to read the complete list in 2023, so I intend to finish the job in 2024.
49. Unify my passwords using a password manager.
I use One Password to maintain many but not all of my passwords. This creates problems when attempting to access services that I have not migrated over to One Password, and it’s especially challenging with as many email accounts that I need to maintain.
I plan to unify all passwords with a single system in 2024. I really should’ve done this long ago.
50. Learn to use QuickBooks for my business.
I’ve been doing invoicing and accounting for my business with fine but not exactly robust online software. I need to begin paying employees and accepting electronic payments from clients, which requires me to learn to use QuickBooks.
This is an essential goal for early 2024 that I am not at all excited about doing.
51. Rectify the heating problem in my studio.
I had a studio built into a basement room two years ago, but we did not add any heat to the room, which makes working and recording a chilly prospect from November through March or April.
This year, I’ll solve this problem by either extending heat into the room or adding enough electric heaters to do the job.
52. Learn the names of every employee who works at my school.
There was a time – years ago – when the number of adults working in my school numbered 50 at most. Today, with teaching assistants, paraprofessionals, and other specialists, that number has grown considerably. As a result, I often walk by people whose names I do not know during the workday.
I plan to rectify this in 2024.
53. Assemble a complete toolbox.
I am not a handy person. Hammering a nail into a wall is a challenge for me. Making it even more of a challenge is not having the right tools and having the tools I own scattered to the wind. This year, I intend to stock and organize my toolbox with everything reasonably expected from someone who owns a home and could theoretically make minor repairs.
This might just mean purchasing a pre-stocked toolbox, but either way, I will have all of my tools and the right ones in one place by the end of 2024.
54. Edit our wedding footage into a movie of the day.
In 2023, I finally extracted the footage from our wedding day from a 20-year-old Apple computer. The movie I made of our wedding day was not retrievable, however, so I need to recreate a movie of our wedding day so that I’m not stuck watching raw footage.
I plan on doing so in 2024.
55. Memorize three new poems.
Back in college, I was required to memorize and recite one poem every week for a poetry class, and many of those poems are still locked in my brain today.
I also have several French poems still memorized from French class in high school.
I like having these poems memorized. It’s fun to be able to recite them whenever I please. About ten years ago, on a rainy day at Camp Jewell, we conducted Theater Olympics for our 100 or so fifth graders. One of the events was the “Unknown Talent Show,” where the teachers had to perform a talent that no one knew they possessed.
I recited French poetry to my principal, who stood on a chair with a mop over his head.
Memorization is also an excellent way to preserve long-term brain health.
I failed to complete this goal in 2023, so I hope to achieve it in 2024.
56. Complete my Eagle Scout project.
Back in 1988, I was 17 year-old-Boy Scout preparing to complete my Eagle Scout service project to earn the rank I had dreamed about for most of my childhood. In truth, I was qualified to earn my Eagle rank almost two years before, having earned the required merit badges and more, but my service project had been sitting on the back burner, waiting to be completed.
I needed a parent or two to light a fire under my butt and support me in this endeavor, but I wasn’t graced with that level of parental involvement at the time.
I planned to plant trees in a cemetery in my hometown of Blackstone, MA. My troop had planted trees in that same cemetery about five years before, but those trees had died. I wanted to replace them and complete the work that had initially been promised.
Then, on December 23, 1988, I was in a car accident that nearly killed me. As a result of the accident, I was in a full-length leg cast for three months and required an enormous amount of healing and recovery. With just three months left until I turned 18 (the deadline to complete an Eagle service project), my parents requested an extension, which was denied.
In retrospect, I suspect that my parents never applied for that extension.
My childhood dream of becoming an Eagle Scout was over. It’s one of my life’s greatest regrets.
Maybe the greatest.
But I recently decided that completing that Eagle Scout project would be good even though it won’t come with my much desired Eagle Scout rank.
It feels right. Maybe I’ll feel a little better about the past.
57. Post my progress regarding these resolutions on this blog and social media on the first day of every month.
