August has been a really good month for my goals! Saw some awesome improvements across all goal categories. Definitely a few things I need to focus on throughout September though.
It’s getting so close to the end of the year. How have you been finding your goal progress? Are you still thinking about your goals? What are some things you could do or start doing that would help you?
If you want to see a run down of each of my goals, with details on how I plan to achieve them, check out my original blog post for my 2020 goals here: https://nathanchallengeslife.com/2020/01/06/goals-for-2020/
Financial/Wealth
- Reach a net worth of $100,000
- Throughout July, my networth increased another 16% to reach $70,985 – a jump of almost $10,000! I was really happy to see this. The big reasons behind this were a decrease in my uni HECS debt (reduced by $4,500 during tax return), and also big increases in super and my savings. Man, this goal is seeming much more likely given the recent increases of ~$10k per month!
- Check out my FIRE posts for more detailed information on networth and investing.
- Grow my Australian investment portfolio to $70,000
- My portfolio grew from $54,959 to $56,573 over August – a really nice increase given I haven’t put any more money into this for the past few months (it’s all going into my house deposit fund).
- I use Self Wealth for Australian shares, Raiz for daily savings and investing, and STAKE for US shares. If you’re interested, let me know and we can both get some rewards 😀
- Save at least 50% of my income
- In July, I saved 15% of my take-home income.
- Unfortunately I was hit with a pretty big utilities bill and a car service (which was required), so that boosted up the normal monthly spending. But primarily, to keep a long and complicated story very short, the biggest expense was a packback ($2,900) to the ATO for my tax return (the story includes a lot about the HECS debt – which I can explain further some other time…maybe).
- But overall, I’m happy with how it went throughout August excluding some of the more one-off expenses. Eating out, entertainment, shopping, etc. were all pretty low.
4. Save for a House Deposit
- Over August, I’ve grown my house deposit fund from $3,188 to $5,688! Super happy with that! Keen to see where it’s at by the end of the year.
- I did look into the first home super saver scheme where I can make contributions to super (less tax) and then withdraw (plus returns) towards a house deposit. I like the idea behind it, but after reviewing some figures and my plans, keeping my savings in a simple savings account is adequate for my needs.
- Also, depending on what I look to buy, I could also receive the first home owners grant which would be a great bonus.
Health/Wellbeing
- Lower body fat to 15%
- In August, as planned, I started my journey to 15% body fat series, posting weekly video uploads showing what I eat, and a few other insights.
- At the start of August, I was 80.5kg and 19% body fat.
- From my scan on 1 September 2020, I was 77.7kg and 18% body fat.
- Great to see that I lost at least 1% of body fat over the month – I was hoping that I lost more considering how much weight I’ve lost over the past month, but it’s good that I’ve definitely dropped some.
- While the scales aren’t completely accurate, it does give me a good indication of where I’m at. I may take some progress photos / video and then post them in a few forums for other people to assess visually.
- Increase lean muscle mass
- The scan from above came in at 64kg of fat free mass – which is essentially lean muscle mass. However, looking at the measurements from the scan, my right thigh measurement just dropped 3cm from last scan – so probably a bit of error from the scan.
- Considering I was 66kg at the start of the year, the hope is that I can get down to 15% body fat, then hopefully bring back up the lean mass.
- Increase strength across major lifts
- I feel as though my strength is pretty much where it was or even better since the pandmeic hit. The only problem though, is that I have my surgery date for my ACL reconstruction booked for 18th September this year – which will completely take out any movement using the legs with weight.
- This won’t stop me from training upper body and still focusing on bench and overhead press.
- I’ll have to see how it turns out closer to the end of the year.
Happiness/Other
- Expand PedalPay (www.pedalpay.com.au)
- I didn’t work on this at all during August.
- Currently at 72 members and 4 stores.
- For September, my aim is to spend a bit of time each week on socials at a minimum, increasing awareness of the brand.
- Check out PedalPay across platforms here.
- Expand Nathan Challenges Life (www.nathanchallengeslife.com)
- As at 1 September 2020, I have published 28 videos on my YouTube channel, and now increased my total views to with 9,140 and now sitting at 93 subscribers! Sooo close to that 100 mark!
- I’ve been uploading weekly vlogs of my journey to 15% body fat, which has increased awareness of my channel and also expanding into different viewer interests.
- Check me out across platforms here.
- Reduce single-use plastics and non-recycled products
- When going to the shops, I’ve been taking some reusable fruit/veg bags, and always bring my own shopping bags.
- As I’ve been working really hard on my health and fitness goals, I haven’t been buying any chips or snack foods – which really helps to limit the plastic.
- I’ve also been buying protein powder, popcorn, and nutrtional yeast from a bulk food store – collecting them in reusable plastic containers and brown paper bags.
- Reduce consumption of added sugar in foods and drinks
- Again, because of my commitment to my health and fitness goals, I haven’t been buying any sugary drinks or snacks. There might have been a few occassions over August but honestly can’t remember. Definitely don’t miss any of those foods.
- The more focused I become on reaching my other goals, the more I realise that there is no point in having junk food – a great tasting home-cooked meal is far better for taste, value, and volume!
- Read 25 books
- In August I finished The Art of Resilience by Ross Edgley
- Currently reading Eat that Frog! by Brian Tracey, and a few other paperbacks I’m struggling to get through.
- Currently at 16/25 for 2020!
A couple of things I feel that I need to put more effort into:
- As always, work on my expenses and minimising spending on things I don’t really need.
- PedalPay.
- More reading (audiobooks and physical books).
Until next time, keep working on your goals and challenging yourself to achieve everything you want in life.
Nathan
Nathan Challenges Life 