New Year’s resolutions are dumb. We all know about 4 weeks into the new year—MAX—your New Year’s resolution is old news. Let’s talk about setting a “Bold Move” for 2024 instead. What is a Bold Move? I first heard the term by Dominick Quartuccio when he was guest on ChooseFI. He defines a Bold Move as “a courageous and decisive act in pursuit of the life you want to live.”

My interpretation of a Bold Move is something that slightly terrifies you to take on or become. Something that you get nervous about committing to and where you think you might suffer from imposter syndrome if you decide to do it. That’s a sign that you’ve chosen something really meaty and challenging.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase via my links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. See my disclosure for more info.

Once you determine what your Bold Move will be, tell the world about it so the world can hold you accountable to achieving it.  

Determining your Bold Move for any given year should ideally tie to your overall dream in life, but it doesn’t have to. BTW, I’m no “Bold Move” or “Goal” expert; I just know what works for me and I’m seriously determined to achieve what I put my mind to. For example, my dream, my uber goal in life is to “retire” to Sardinia with my family in 2031. One Bold Move to get me there is to launch this side project: Mindset Upgrade. How does it tie to the uber goal? Well, I’m passionate about the centenarian philosophy and way of life so it’s definitely something I will continue to research and blog about once I retire from my day job. Secondly, maybe the blog will generate revenue along the way that will accelerate reaching my goal of financial independence sooner? At the very least, since it’s a family startup, it’ll teach my kids about money, business, investing, and financial freedom; so they can be set up for life too.  

Here are 5 steps that helped me determine my Bold Move:

List it out.

List out ALL the things you’ve ALWAYS wanted to do or become but keep putting off for whatever reason. You’re either too scared, too busy, unsure you can do it, or don’t think you have the time, but you always come back to thinking about it and wish you could just get started. Write them all down. Don’t be scared to put this on paper. It’s just for you! Be bold! Be free!
Examples could be: become a person who lives more healthfully, become a pickleball player, become a marathon runner, become a writer/blogger, become a better parent (i.e. engage and be more present with your kids), become a person who consistently carves out time for her/himself to stay sane and prioritize one’s own mental health, become multi-lingual, become a musician, become an entrepreneur – launch that new side hustle baby! …there are so many things!

Choose.

Choose the one that terrifies you the most BUT you know would give you the greatest joy if you would go all in on it. “Terrify” may not resonate with you. I just mean, it’s something that gives you that feeling that it’s a stretch. A Bold Move or any type of goal for that matter should never be easy.

Write it down.

Write down in one sentence what that uber goal, big idea for your life is. I’m currently reading Atomic Habits by James Clear. What I like about his approach to achieving goals is that you have to change them from outcome-based (e.g. I want to lose 10 pounds) to identity-based (e.g. I am a person who eats healthy and works out frequently). Outcome-based goals don’t actually help you build habits to sustain the outcome you want to achieve. You may get there, but then if you fall back into your old habits, you’ll gain the 10 pounds back. Whereas, if you have an identity-based goal, then it means you are committing to the habits that will get you there and keep you there. It’s much harder and takes more commitment, but it’s certainly longer lasting. So, think about your big idea in terms of an identity-based goal, then write down what you can do in 2024 to move closer to that big idea. For inspiration, take a look at my post: “Day in the Life of the Chief Mutha.” The daily habits I have developed, thanks largely in part to 75 hard, are the habits that will help me sustain the identity-based goals I have for myself, like living a healthy and active lifestyle so I can make it to 100 years old one day.

Tell a friend.

Someone in your close circle of trust. Someone who will take you seriously and keep you accountable. If you don’t have anyone like that, tell me. I’ll take you seriously and keep you accountable.

Get started.

Thinking is great but transformation doesn’t happen in the comfort zone…let’s move people!

My Bold Move for 2024 was to launch this project, Mindset Upgrade. I ended up launching it earlier than expected, so yay me!, but it still felt VERY terrifying, not just slightly. Especially since I want everything to be perfect before I expose something to the world. But I decided to practice what I preach and just TAKE ACTION! So here we are. Not perfect, but launched nonetheless.

Now that I’ve technically launched in 2023, my next Bold Move for 2024 is to become (see that? …identity-based goal) a better blogger. I won’t bore you with the details of blogging, but I’ll just say, it ain’t that easy! I want to get better and more efficient at it. That includes specific actions like:

• Come up with interesting content for you all on the topic of living to be 100.
• Include data, facts, and science to strengthen the wisdom and advice I’m giving you. 😊
• Include stories, images, and videos to keep you all entertained.
• Incorporate your comments and feedback…wink, wink, nudge, nudge…I want to hear from you!
• Include guides and other digital downloads to help you get going on your own mindset upgrade journey.

What do you think of my plan so far? Send me an email with YOUR 2024 Bold Move…can’t wait to support you! Need help figuring it out? Book time with me or send me an email with your questions: [email protected].

For 2025, I’m already thinking about launching online challenges and in-person events to build a real Mindset Upgrade community. Again, I’m terrified to even share that with you all but I would love to get to a point where we can share our stories together in real life and help each other achieve the greatness that is within us all!