Since 2019, I have set goals and resolutions at the beginning of the year and put them down on a spreadsheet. I would write a post about my goals and resolutions, then provide a quarterly update on this blog.
I found that such an annual ritual has worked extremely well for me to achieve some hefty and challenging goals. Providing a quarterly update on this blog also helped me to stay motivated and gave me accountability.
Last year, I did quite well. Out of the 13 goals and resolutions I set on January 1st, 2025, I accomplished 11 of them and partially accomplished one of them. I failed to accomplish only one of these 13 goals.
Let’s find out my 2026 goals and resolutions.
2026 Goals and Resolutions
Here’s the spreadsheet that I will be using to keep track of my 2026 goals and resolutions. As usual, I categorized them into Financial Goals, Blog/Podcast Goals, Personal Goals, and Fun Goals.
As you can see from above, I gave myself 14 goals – three financial goals, two blog/podcast goals, six personal goals, and three fun goals.
Financial Goals
Since this is a personal finance blog, it shouldn’t be a surprise to see some financial goals.
Dividend income over $72,000
In 2025, we received $64,838.46 in dividends. Receiving $72,000 in dividends for this year means a year over year increase of about 11%. From the table below, you’ll see that our dividend growth rate has slowed down over the years, mostly due to encountering the law of the big numbers.
What do I mean by the law of the big numbers? Well, imagine you have a yearly dividend income of $500. To grow it by 50% YoY to end up with $750, it would require fresh capital of $6,250, assuming a 4% dividend yield and there’s no organic dividend growth.
Now imagine you have a yearly dividend income of $40,000. To grow it by 50% to end up with $60,000, it would require fresh capital of $500,000, assuming a 4% dividend yield and no organic dividend growth.
Of course, the actual fresh capital is typically less because you will see some dividend growth via organic dividend growth (i.e. dividend hikes) and DRIP (if you’re enrolled). But as your dividend income gets larger, it becomes harder and harder to grow the total amount.
This is the reality we are facing nowadays.
So why the big increase? As mentioned in the December dividend income update, several things happened and the stars aligned to give us some somewhat unexpected amount of money to invest. After much consideration and calculations, I believe $72,000 in dividend income should be achievable, resulting in a new dividend income projection.
Max out RESP $14k non-government matching portion for both kids
Last year, we added more than $5,000 to our RESPs to try to slowly max out the $14,000 room available in each RESP. This year our goal is to max out this $14k non government matching portion for both RESPs.
$35k in LTSS/cash wedge
We want to increase our cash wedge as we get closer to financial independence and living off our portfolio. The cash wedge should give us a greater margin of safety when we do start living off our portfolio.
Blog/Podcast Goals
I started a new podcast called DIY Wealth Canada Podcast with Nelson from Canadian Dividend Investing last year. So rather than focusing solely on the blog, I decided to include the podcast in my goal-setting.
Publish blog post every Monday
Publishing a blog post every Monday has been a goal of mine since 2020. To be honest, if it wasn’t for this goal, I think I wouldn’t have kept up this regular weekly publication schedule.
I think readers also enjoy the weekly publication schedule, so it’s important to keep up with it.
Right now, the DIY Wealth Canada Podcast is a passion project for Nelson and I. The podcast does not generate any income but certainly costs money since we hire people to edit the episodes. It would be nice to find a company or two to sponsor the podcast so we are not losing money.
Personal Goals
These are the challenging goals I set for myself. They’re meant to help me improve as an individual.
Read 15 books
I had the same goal in 2025 and finished reading 20 books in total. I figured 15 is a nice number, so I decided to set the same goal for 2026.
Replace 2013 iMac
I swear, this is THE year that we will replace our super old iMac!
Kidding aside, I really think 2026 is the year for us to replace our aging iMac. Hopefully, Apple will announce a new display and the M5 Mini. If Apple announces a new iMac that is 27” or bigger, we may have to seriously take a look at it.
Body fat <=15.5%
I’d like to maintain my body fat to below 15.5%. Ideally, hitting 15% would be nice but I think it’s going to be a challenge.
Rowing machine 2k under 8 mins
I don’t typically use the rowing machine at the gym but seeing Hugh Jackman’s two km under seven minutes really inspired me. According to my research, rowing for two km in under seven minutes is extremely challenging. I thought setting a goal for under eight minutes should be challenging enough.
I tried rowing for 2 km at the end of 2025 and got a time of 8:13. I guess I’m not too far off from this goal. If I achieve this goal in the first half of the year, I may challenge myself and try to hit below 7:30.
Ski Erg 1k under 4 mins
There’s a Ski Erg machine at the local gym but I don’t typically see people using it. I know Ski Erg is a station in CrossFit and Hyrox, so I thought I’d give this funny-looking machine a try.
According to Men’s Health, 4:29 is the average 1k Ski Erg Hyrox time for my age group. Since Hyrox is a long endurance competition and Ski Erg is the first station, people don’t typically push as hard.
At the end of 2025, I tried Ski Erg for the very first time and got a time of 4:16. I figured that under 4:00 minutes is a good time to hit. If I can achieve this goal in the first half of the year, I might challenge myself and try to hit under 3:30.
Sleep quality score >=80
My sleep score for last year was 79, according to Fitbit. Recovery is very important, so I want to focus on this especially when I’m working out consistently.
Fun Goals
It’s important to have fun in life, so I always set up a few fun goals for myself.
Learn how to make beef Wellington
Beef Wellington is one of Gordon Ramsay’s signature dishes. I have never eaten it and have never made one. Apparently, it’s a difficult dish to make, so I would like to challenge myself by learning and making one.
Try a new restaurant with Mrs. T
This is a pretty straightforward goal. Of course, we want to check out a new restaurant that has good reviews.
Experiment with long exposure photography on beach
I would like to do more with photography. One of the things I would like to do is play around with long exposure. Since we live by the ocean, some long exposure photography on the beach would be fun to do.
Summary – 2026 Goals and Resolutions
So these are the 14 goals and resolutions I set for this year. I should be able to accomplish most of them if I keep myself motivated and focused. I believe the body fat, rowing machine, ski Erg, and sleep score goals will be challenging to accomplish.
Do you have any 2026 goals and resolutions?