Goals for the New Year — 2016 Edition
With the arrival and passing of the New Year, I’ve been thinking a lot about my goals for 2016. Normally I don’t write out my goals, but I thought this time I would try it. I want to stay away from specific number-based goals (eg. Eat greens in at least five dinners/week) because I find it’s very easy to criticize myself short term and hard to look at the long term result (eating greens with dinner three nights/week is still better than zero). I’m writing these ideas out because I want check back in 2017 to see how I did in the long-term.
Plan and go on a backpacking trip
Last year Renee and I became interested in backpacking. We had both been avid campers for a long time and had eventually decided to go one step further and learn to go backpacking. Last year we took classes at the Cleveland Metroparks on how to learn to cook on backpacking stoves, how to navigate using topographical maps and a compass, and how to prepare and go on an actual backpacking trip. We went on two backpacking trips last year: one with the Metroparks and one that we planned on our own to Minister Creek in Allegheny National Forest. Both trips were great experiences for learning how to be creative problem solvers — how do you get that rope over that high tree branch — as well as a lesson in enjoying a simpler lifestyle for a few days. This year I’d like to plan and go on at least one backpacking trip to someplace we haven’t been before in either OH, PA, KY, or WV.
Learn Ruby on Rails by finishing some websites
Ruby, Rails, and I have a strained relationship — I have tried (and retried) to learn the language and framework multiple times in the past few years, and every time I’ve failed to learn enough to feel like I can say that I know what I’m doing. I believe I’ve failed at this in the past because I would often get excited about building a website with a new cool language, dive in full force for a few days, and then never actually finish any of the work I started. This starting and stopping prevent me from developing an understanding of the language and then every year I have to try and reteach what I had already learned once before. This year I’m going to make an effort to build some websites start to finish and get a good handle on the basics of the language and framework.
Cleanup and build out a GitHub portfolio
I already have a GitHub portfolio that is filled with multiple partially-started-never-finished projects. This year I want to clean up this mess and actually contribute some work to it that I could potentially show off in the future if I decide to change career paths.
Write better
I’ve always wanted to be a better writer. To me, “better” means being able to write clearly and concisely. I don’t think I’m a terrible writer, but trying to convey ideas cleanly is not easy for me. To remedy this, I’m going to try to write a little bit everyday — sometimes blog posts, sometimes just freewriting whatever comes to mind, maybe some creative writing if the urge strikes — and hopefully by the end of 2016 I’ll have a couple hundred entries and be a “better” writer.
Make more meals at home
For the past few years, with the help of Renee I’ve made great changes to my eating habits. This year I would like to eat out less. I’m at the point where I now enjoy the food I make at home much more than what I would order at a restaurant. Over the past few months I’ve become more mindful of my eating: recognizing when I’m feeling hungry and when I’m feeling full, what type of tastes I like and don’t like, etc… I feel like making more meals at home would benefit my health physically and mentally, as well as my wallet financially. Additionally, in 2015 I hit the tipping point of experiencing that whipping up something quick and delicious isn’t that difficult and is usually less time consuming than having to read over a menu, order some food, and go pick it up and bring it back home to eat. In 2016 I just need to focus on not being lazy when it comes to making an easy meal.
Learn to write Polish better
After going to Poland last year, I realized that I am fortunate to be able to speak the language as well as I do, but that I’d really like to know it better still. Unlike most people learning a language, I think I get sufficient speaking practice and instead need to get more practice writing since I never learned how to in the first place. I’m not motivated enough to sit down and learn from a book, but I’ve realized that I enjoy texting my mom in Polish since it’s essentially involves several short bursts of concentration and focus per day. Additionally, having a Polish keyboard and dictionary installed on my phone means I can rely on it to autocorrect most of my mistakes. Hopefully texting will be a practical and fun way of learning how to read and write better.
