Happy New Year! 2024 is already underway, and while I have never really been a big fan of New Year resolutions, I do like the idea of having some well-defined goals to help guide my day-to-day. So I thought I’d take this opportunity to re-evaluate my existing goals and do it in a public space for some of that pesky accountability.
Some notes before I dive into the actual goals. First, I have not set a specific timeframe for any of these. I find that adding deadlines to the thing tends to make it feel like more of a burden. Instead I view these goals as a set of guiding ambitions from which to form habits that will naturally help to achieve them.
Second, I am not listing these in any particular order of importance. It is true that some of these goals are more lofty than others. But how I feel about them changes from day to day. Forcing myself to prioritize one goal over another throughout the year again makes the whole thing feel like more of a burden rather than a set of guiding ambitions.
With that all out of the way, here goes my 2024 list of guiding ambitions:
Hold a casual conversation about current events with friends in Japanese.
I can already hold a casual conversation in Japanese with friends of my wife and mine, but it’s pretty limited to more basic topics. Luckily for me, all of our Japanese friends are infinitely patient and kind, and so I’ve gotten by. But during our annual trip to Japan last year I really felt that my language ability wasn’t on par with how close we had all become. To fix that I’ve gotta up my Japanese language game.
As of mid-year last year, I’ve jumped back into studying Japanese and have been doing a great job of spending a few hours a day, 4-5 days a week, on textbook study. This year, I’d like to continue that trend, and add in some additional kanji study. I found that last year I spent a lot of time zoned out in YouTube rabbit holes, so this year I’m hoping to replace some of the zombie time with Kanji Garden.
(Re)Build a solid financial safety net
My wife and I bought a house about a year ago, and have been undergoing fertility treatment for about the same amount of time. It’s all been pretty financially (and at times emotionally) taxing for us, but we are finally back at a stable place. And so I’d really like to rebuild some of that savings we dipped into for our home and hopefully soon-to-be baby. I do have a specific number in mind I’d like to reach, and it is definitely within our grasp. We just need to continue making solid financial decisions.
Get pregnant!
As previously mentioned my wife and I are undergoing fertility treatment. We are keeping our fingers crossed that 2024 is the year for us!
Learn to cook 3-4 traditional Puerto Rican and Vietnamese dishes each.
This is another one I started working on last year. During a 3-month work sabbatical, I started learning to cook some of my favorite Vietnamese dishes, including Pho, Thit Kho, and Bo Kho. This year, I’d like to jump into some dishes from my Puerto Rican lineage. I’d also like to really internalize these recipes so I can cook them on demand.
Reach a body fat percentage of 9
Or, in other words, get back to my pre-covid weight. I’ve been kind of working on this for the last couple of years, but it wasn’t until last September that I seriously returned to my old pre-covid healthy habits. Since then I’ve actually dropped several points in BFP, and only have a few more to go. This year, I’d like to see myself get back to single digits, while ideally preserving as much muscle mass as I can.
I’ve got a pretty good routine going, and it’s been proven to work for me in the past. This time around, I’m even supplementing my workouts with volleyball, which has been so much fun. To get there, I just need to keep doing what I’ve been doing.
Work on more consistent serves, receives, and sets and overall contribute to more winning plays in volleyball.
I’ve always loved volleyball, but have never been very good at it. Last year, again during my sabbatical, I joined an adult volleyball pick-up league where I’ve been very slowly improving my skills to the detriment of everyone who ends up on my team 😬.
I’d love to change that, and so I’m planning to supplement game time with some backyard drills by replacing some more of that zombie YouTube time. My hope is this additional practice can help make me a more consistent player so everyone won’t need to compensate for me being on the team.
Be the DRI for a new feature project in Newspack
I kicked off the new year at work by moving from Tumblr over to Newspack, and so I’ve got a lot to learn this year. It’s not my first time switching teams within Automattic, and so I’ve got a pretty good understanding of what to set my sights on so I can become a fully contributing member of the team. One of the indicators that I’ve achieved this is when I am able to take on the responsibility for some new feature work from start to finish.
And that’s a wrap. My guiding ambitions for 2024. My hope is that in clearly redefining these goals now, I’ll be empowered to maintain healthy habits and make small changes in my daily life where necessary that will help me to check these off one by one.
Wish me luck!
Crusader of Friendship 