Hello,

Something I’ve learned is to set achievable goals. It's deflating to make a huge goal, then figure out weeks or months later that the goal is unrealistic.
 
I’ve started making yearly goals that are going to be a stretch, but I believe I can accomplish them.

This creates motivation for the next year, because when you have had success it creates positive momentum for the next year. And it allows me to have occasion to celebrate my accomplishments. Below are pictures from our recent fishing trip.
Toward the end of 2020, the Wall Street Journal had an article that I wrote about last year. Click the orange font above for a list of possible goals for retirees.

I just reread the Journal article and something new stuck out. It discusses the idea that we should strive to always be a beginner, so we should always be trying to learn new things. The title of the article is For New Year’s Resolutions, Never Think You’re Too Old to Become a Beginner.
The article says, “Though the first steps can be difficult, it’s worth the effort: Becoming a beginner is one of the most life-enhancing things you can do. After that initial burst of activity, the brain settles down. By the time you can do the skill without much thinking—when it becomes automatic—gray matter density declines. So, you try something new, and the process begins again. Interestingly, the changes in brain density happen for older people just as much as for younger people.”
 
Most of us want to at least be as good mentally and physically as we are today. In order to do this, we should find new things to try to strengthen our minds and bodies. This is particularly important for me because cognitive decline has touched me closely.

In 2018, at the age of 63, my mom was diagnosed with dementia. Today she is nothing like her former self. We may not be able to stop the dreaded Alzheimer’s or dementia diseases, but we can be proactive about trying to prevent diseases.
Of course, the only medical training I have is doing CPR on a dummy, but we know that a "merry heart does good like a medicine." Creating and finding happiness in our lives is essential to our wellbeing.

The other half of that Bible verse says, "a broken spirit dries the bones." We were not created to just exist. I believe we were created for a purpose and to strive to find it. By doing this, I believe we'll find happiness.
 
I’ve written a couple times recently about my new endeavor of fly-fishing. It’s much more difficult than traditional fishing. But when you hook a trout, it creates a great feeling of accomplishment. That feeling can be illusive, but when it finally happens, you’re energized!
 
Carl, my father-in-law, and I went out with our instructor, Aaron, again last week. As we were standing in the water, Aaron explained to us that fly-fishing is a fine motor skill that requires constant skill work. He said we should be in our back yards practicing our cast every few days.
 
As he was explaining this, I was thinking to myself, "how in the world do I have time to practice this every week?" Then I thought to myself, “Just do what you can do and hang the rest.” Part of starting anything new or setting goals is not giving yourself a hard time when it’s hard to accomplish the goal or master the new skill. We're all a work in progress.
 
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Until next week,

David C. Treece,
Financial Advisor
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