2018 Goals Recap

January 15, 2019

Last year, I set a goal to write more. I wanted to average one blog post a month. I was too optimistic. And other, unexpected priorities popped up…

I fear people will think I stole a white baby.

So how’d I do?

Run a half marathon. I ran two. And I set a new personal record of 1:46:19 this November.
Visit my parents 3 times. I actually went 4 times. I’m a good son.
Submit one paper. Paper submitted.
Write and perform a 3-minute standup act. I have a video. If you ask nicely, I may share it with you. Or I might save it for another blog post.
Read 26 books. I read exactly 26 books. Audiobooks while commuting were key.

Spend less time deliberating. Hard to measure by design. I made some big decisions on the spot (e.g., buying a house), while other decisions involved a lot of deliberating (e.g., becoming a manager).
10 pull-ups in a row. I made it to 7. Fitness goals were deprioritized in order to maintain my sanity while keeping another human alive.
15% body fat (average over 7 days). I was between 17%-18%. I got down to 16%, but now I’m up to 19–20%. Sad.
Schedule and maintain regular events with 4 friends/couples. I had regular events for four-five friends/couples about half the year. Then summer happened and these events quickly fell off the radar.

Start a blog (avg. 1 post a month). Big fail. I wrote my list of goals and then nothing. I tried. There are a few half-written drafts from earlier in the year, but perfectionism got in my way.
Meditate 5 minutes a day for 300 days. I did this for a bit, but I’m probably under 100 days of meditation, so I’m gonna call this a failure. I just never got into a rhythm.
Read 2 papers a month and write a paragraph for each paper. Paper reading always takes much more time than I think it will. While I read a dozen papers, I only summarized 3 or 4.
Build a style transfer web app from scratch and launch on the cloud. I didn’t even try.
Say no more often. Another goal that was vague on purpose. I felt overcommitted much of last year, so I think I failed.

I’m working on it. I’ll try to have another post by the end of the month.