I don’t make resolutions, but I try to capture a list of goals and aspirations for the year to help keep me honest. Wrapping up 2024 with a family trip to Japan, I had time to reflect on 2024 and what I want to get out of 2025. I turned 60 this year, so it’s time to focus on the next phase of life, doing more of what I enjoy and living a healthier and calmer lifestyle.
- Continue my health and wellness activities.
- Spend quality time with family and friends
- Share my experience and insights through writing, podcasts, and workshops.
- Focus on building my web effectiveness audits and working on intellectually stimulating projects.
- Research reducing cross-border trade friction with a focus on experiential tourism.
- Visit 10 new countries.
Health & Wellness
My goal for 2024 was 310 workouts to match what I did in 2023. I ended with 342 despite taking time off for a health problem, with 262 of them doing an iFit session. I hope to conquer 350 total and 325 iFit sessions this year using the treadmill, bike, and elliptical.
I want to focus more on non-scale achievements that make me feel healthy and strong. Over the past two years, I have lost 110 pounds and have increased endurance and strength. I have an additional 30 pounds that I want to lose before summer.
My main non-scale goal is to trek to Tigers’ Nest in Bhutan comfortably. While I slowly made it up to Machu Pichu, 150 pounds overweight, I worried at every step I would have a heart attack. During the Japan trip we walked between 20,000 to 30,000 steps daily and hiked hills and stairs to reach the various temples. While much more manageable, I realized I still had a lot of work to do to strengthen my legs and core.
Spend Quality Time with Family and Friends
The entire family traveled to Japan over the holidays, so spending time with the kids was good. I have a few great friends around the world that I enjoy spending time with, and I hope to connect with them more this year.
Share Knowledge and Experiences
This aspiration to contribute more will align with the not-so-gentle nudges from friends and mentors insisting I contribute to various topics. I hesitate for many reasons, but those are the issues I need to overcome for a more significant benefit. So far in 2025, I have been writing every day, and last year, my good friend Bill Scully and I launched a podcast on International Webmastery and a series of online courses. I have been intrigued by people discovering content I have written or presented 10 to 20 years ago, finding it even more relevant today. As one friend suggested, write it and wait 5 to 10 years for someone more popular to elevate it :-).
Reduce Cross-Boarder Trade Friction for GDP Growth
This was my master’s thesis and my planned PhD research area that I had hoped to start this past fall. Unfortunately, I was not accepted into the program. Not to be deterred, I realized I could still research and write without the academic overhead. I have many ideas and thoughts on how to help cities and countries boot tourism using the internet. I have held back because I did not want to inspire overtourism. Still, in all the countries we have visited this year, I identified missed opportunities to attract tourists to experience unique offerings. I want to do some workshops or masterclasses, especially in countries I have not been to and/or smaller cities and towns struggling for growth.
Visit 10 New Countries
As a child reading the Encyclopedia Britannica, I dreamed of visiting every country and the world’s seven wonders. I have legitimate visits to just over 100 countries and have visited all seven wonders and all but one of the natural wonders – the Paricutin volcano in Mexico. Given the challenges in many parts of the world, I have readjusted my goal to 150. Getting the next 50 seems much more complicated than the first 100, as they are more remote and/or would require longer trips. We already have trips booked or are in final planning to enable me to get the 10 this year, so maybe I need to aim a bit higher.