Reflections on 2013
So back at the beginning of 2013 I decided to make a change in how I met the new year, reviewing accomplishments and areas for improvement in the previous year while establishing goals i'd like to reach for the next one. It worked very well for the most part, so i'm going to continue that practice for 2014!
As I review the post I wrote roughly 366 days ago i'm struck that one of my primary concerns was my living situation and what would happen within. 2013 was definitely a year in which I had a lot of fun in the financial sense: A pay raise combined with the continuing cushy rent situation meant I started regularly spending quite a bit more. It got a little edgy sometime but never too much to handle, but one thing that's clear enough for 2014 is that the gravy train is going to have to slow down a bit: My rent is going up. I don't know by how much yet, but i'm certainly prepared for the likely possibility that I may have to take on a roommate or possibly even get a new place depending on what the new price is going to be. Considering that I've lived here for almost three years (and lived alone for nearly two of them), that's going to be a bit of an adjustment to make but in hindsight there was no way this situation was going to last forever. That's okay, and I can at least be thankful that I already have someone who'd be interested in making the move.
Everything in the minutiae I can save for the cut, but i'll preview it by saying that in general I see 2013 as a year of modest success for me: Some goals were achieve, some bad habits we reigned in. I made no incredible triumphs or permanent victories but have established a good foundation on which to meet what i'm just now realizing will be the last year of my twenties, whatever that means.
Goals for 2014
Personal Finance and Career
I'm not going to go extremely meticulous into breaking down my finances like I did last year because I've decided it just doesn't mean much. Instead I will say that I made more than I did last year thanks to a promotion of sorts to team lead. I also /spent/ more and dipped more into my savings to cover expenses, so I have less in there right now then I did last year.
If I have a goal for this coming year it is "make more". Not just a little more, but a /lot/ more. I've spent enough time working in the position i'm and feel more than ready to step up to another level in my career. Now that I know I will not be getting the promotion I had applied for early in December (Just found out today, haw) I plan to step up my game more than ever in searching for a new job and would probably call it my cardinal goal for 2014 (Last year's was, I suppose, losing weight).
I've got a couple of ideas for that, and most of it has to do with changing my approach to work. The feedback I got from my Associate Director and the management panel that interviewed was that my interview was excellent, but it was also surprising because right up until then they barely knew me beyond a guy who works in the corner of the department. That fact highlights a perennial problem for me professionally: A stubborn belief that talent and ability are the only things that ought to matter in the working world and not doing that whole interaction/networking deal because it doesn't come as naturally to me and I don't like it. It's a nice, just-world kind of thought but it's also likely the reason I didn't get the job, so i'm going to make concentrate on improving that.
Likewise, I want to pay more attention to how I spend my money. I don't live paycheck to paycheck and it's produce some bits of thriftless spending in the past six months, but I need to reign that in unless I want to /start/ doing that.
So in short, finance and professional goals for 2014: Hot new job, way more money, be more outgoing.
Health & Fitness
This was probably my biggest goal of last year, so it feels weird to say that while I didn't meet the my stated goal of losing 50 pounds I /also/ don't feel extremely bummed about it. I lost thirty instead, and probably only want to lose about 15 more to hit a sweet spot of about 170 pounds. From there on it's mostly about upkeep, maintenance and body sculpting but it should be perfectly achievable as long as I stay focused.
I didn't really manage to swim a lot, but i'd still like to. Part of it ease of access-the pool I had been using has a very narrow window of practical hours, so finding a better place will probably be key there. I'll have to look into my budget and see if I can just throw a gym membership into the mix, I know one nearby has a pool.
Where martial arts are concerned I wanted to get my yellow belt in 2013, which I did! I'll remain conservative for this year and aim for a green belt, while also just in general sticking with the dojo. It's definitely done well by me.
I feel like I need a bigger goal here to kind of keep me motivated, so i'm going to plant one I've been thinking about for at least two years: Compete and finish in a triathlon over the summer. No particular time, no competitive goals, just enter and finish.
Personal Development and Continuing Education
This was probably that area that saw the least love me in 2013 in some respects. Starting out I wanted to learn to sail, self-teach myself more physics and astronomy and read more for learning instead of entertainment.
What I learned is that self-education, at least for me, requires a ton of dedication and self-discipline that is pretty hard to muster up. Sailing I kind of fell out of and never quite managed to pony up the money for lessons. I certainly read more, but enough, and certainly read some very affirming classic texts i'd like to back to now and again.
Anyways, that's okay, part of this process is finding what works me and what doesn't. I've learned that buying a big-ass book and trying to learn straight from it doesn't suit me very well, but watching videos by people who know what they're doing /is/ extremely helpful (And whole lot more free, to boot). I've been learning C programming this and want to continue building on that into 2014, and possibly re-visit some of 2013's goals in that fashion.
I'm also going toss in a long-held bucket list item and try to get into a stage play somewhere (Signed up for an acting class, even!) it doesn't have to be big at all, i'd be fine with a community gig, but I want to at least say I got up there and did it once to make up for the interest I never pursued in high school.
There's only one big thing I really want to get on this year though, and that's putting any content at all on the WordPress blog I made back in November or so. I've been wanting to have a space to write seriously for a while now about topics like history, science and philosophy for my own personal creative needs as well to try and instigate a sea change in my career, but it's not going to happen if I just sit around and wait for it. Finding a rhythm in which to do that kind of thing is going to be essential.
Bonus Goal
Last year I put 'internet less' in here which..well, while I'm certainly still /on/ a lot, I do feel a lot less beholden to give my time over a lot of fulfilling-but-consuming hobbies like MUing, which I have to consider a positive thing. I don't plan to change that, but i'll try to navigate a balance of my hobbies if I can. There are certainly plenty of great people I don't want to fall out of touch with.
Overall Goal
In 2013 I wanted to decide what I want to do. A pretty vague goal in retrospect, but at the heart of it was figuring out what to do with my life. After one year of somewhat inconsistent focus I can't quite say that i'm /there/, but I feel closer than I've ever been and equipped with the mentality and tools I need to get what I want. Writing, learning, and explaining the things i'm interested into to people who want to know feels like the right direction to go in, and i'm really excited to explore that in the upcoming year.
Even though not getting an anticipated promotion and the living situation stuff seem like setbacks, I feel extraordinarily hopeful going into 2014. I spent all last year experimenting and learning about what works for me when it comes to making change-now I get to apply it.
As I review the post I wrote roughly 366 days ago i'm struck that one of my primary concerns was my living situation and what would happen within. 2013 was definitely a year in which I had a lot of fun in the financial sense: A pay raise combined with the continuing cushy rent situation meant I started regularly spending quite a bit more. It got a little edgy sometime but never too much to handle, but one thing that's clear enough for 2014 is that the gravy train is going to have to slow down a bit: My rent is going up. I don't know by how much yet, but i'm certainly prepared for the likely possibility that I may have to take on a roommate or possibly even get a new place depending on what the new price is going to be. Considering that I've lived here for almost three years (and lived alone for nearly two of them), that's going to be a bit of an adjustment to make but in hindsight there was no way this situation was going to last forever. That's okay, and I can at least be thankful that I already have someone who'd be interested in making the move.
Everything in the minutiae I can save for the cut, but i'll preview it by saying that in general I see 2013 as a year of modest success for me: Some goals were achieve, some bad habits we reigned in. I made no incredible triumphs or permanent victories but have established a good foundation on which to meet what i'm just now realizing will be the last year of my twenties, whatever that means.
Goals for 2014
Personal Finance and Career
I'm not going to go extremely meticulous into breaking down my finances like I did last year because I've decided it just doesn't mean much. Instead I will say that I made more than I did last year thanks to a promotion of sorts to team lead. I also /spent/ more and dipped more into my savings to cover expenses, so I have less in there right now then I did last year.
If I have a goal for this coming year it is "make more". Not just a little more, but a /lot/ more. I've spent enough time working in the position i'm and feel more than ready to step up to another level in my career. Now that I know I will not be getting the promotion I had applied for early in December (Just found out today, haw) I plan to step up my game more than ever in searching for a new job and would probably call it my cardinal goal for 2014 (Last year's was, I suppose, losing weight).
I've got a couple of ideas for that, and most of it has to do with changing my approach to work. The feedback I got from my Associate Director and the management panel that interviewed was that my interview was excellent, but it was also surprising because right up until then they barely knew me beyond a guy who works in the corner of the department. That fact highlights a perennial problem for me professionally: A stubborn belief that talent and ability are the only things that ought to matter in the working world and not doing that whole interaction/networking deal because it doesn't come as naturally to me and I don't like it. It's a nice, just-world kind of thought but it's also likely the reason I didn't get the job, so i'm going to make concentrate on improving that.
Likewise, I want to pay more attention to how I spend my money. I don't live paycheck to paycheck and it's produce some bits of thriftless spending in the past six months, but I need to reign that in unless I want to /start/ doing that.
So in short, finance and professional goals for 2014: Hot new job, way more money, be more outgoing.
Health & Fitness
This was probably my biggest goal of last year, so it feels weird to say that while I didn't meet the my stated goal of losing 50 pounds I /also/ don't feel extremely bummed about it. I lost thirty instead, and probably only want to lose about 15 more to hit a sweet spot of about 170 pounds. From there on it's mostly about upkeep, maintenance and body sculpting but it should be perfectly achievable as long as I stay focused.
I didn't really manage to swim a lot, but i'd still like to. Part of it ease of access-the pool I had been using has a very narrow window of practical hours, so finding a better place will probably be key there. I'll have to look into my budget and see if I can just throw a gym membership into the mix, I know one nearby has a pool.
Where martial arts are concerned I wanted to get my yellow belt in 2013, which I did! I'll remain conservative for this year and aim for a green belt, while also just in general sticking with the dojo. It's definitely done well by me.
I feel like I need a bigger goal here to kind of keep me motivated, so i'm going to plant one I've been thinking about for at least two years: Compete and finish in a triathlon over the summer. No particular time, no competitive goals, just enter and finish.
Personal Development and Continuing Education
This was probably that area that saw the least love me in 2013 in some respects. Starting out I wanted to learn to sail, self-teach myself more physics and astronomy and read more for learning instead of entertainment.
What I learned is that self-education, at least for me, requires a ton of dedication and self-discipline that is pretty hard to muster up. Sailing I kind of fell out of and never quite managed to pony up the money for lessons. I certainly read more, but enough, and certainly read some very affirming classic texts i'd like to back to now and again.
Anyways, that's okay, part of this process is finding what works me and what doesn't. I've learned that buying a big-ass book and trying to learn straight from it doesn't suit me very well, but watching videos by people who know what they're doing /is/ extremely helpful (And whole lot more free, to boot). I've been learning C programming this and want to continue building on that into 2014, and possibly re-visit some of 2013's goals in that fashion.
I'm also going toss in a long-held bucket list item and try to get into a stage play somewhere (Signed up for an acting class, even!) it doesn't have to be big at all, i'd be fine with a community gig, but I want to at least say I got up there and did it once to make up for the interest I never pursued in high school.
There's only one big thing I really want to get on this year though, and that's putting any content at all on the WordPress blog I made back in November or so. I've been wanting to have a space to write seriously for a while now about topics like history, science and philosophy for my own personal creative needs as well to try and instigate a sea change in my career, but it's not going to happen if I just sit around and wait for it. Finding a rhythm in which to do that kind of thing is going to be essential.
Bonus Goal
Last year I put 'internet less' in here which..well, while I'm certainly still /on/ a lot, I do feel a lot less beholden to give my time over a lot of fulfilling-but-consuming hobbies like MUing, which I have to consider a positive thing. I don't plan to change that, but i'll try to navigate a balance of my hobbies if I can. There are certainly plenty of great people I don't want to fall out of touch with.
Overall Goal
In 2013 I wanted to decide what I want to do. A pretty vague goal in retrospect, but at the heart of it was figuring out what to do with my life. After one year of somewhat inconsistent focus I can't quite say that i'm /there/, but I feel closer than I've ever been and equipped with the mentality and tools I need to get what I want. Writing, learning, and explaining the things i'm interested into to people who want to know feels like the right direction to go in, and i'm really excited to explore that in the upcoming year.
Even though not getting an anticipated promotion and the living situation stuff seem like setbacks, I feel extraordinarily hopeful going into 2014. I spent all last year experimenting and learning about what works for me when it comes to making change-now I get to apply it.