How is it possible 2023 is over already? This has been a very unique year for me, and I know my progress on my goals are reflected by that. Let’s take a look

Last Year’s Goals

Growth

1. Master pie crusts - Fail

For a big portion of the year I didn’t have access to my cooking utensils and equipment. So it made this challenge a bit more difficult to make any progress on. Plus, my mental health took a swing for the worse, which made it hard to be motivated to cook or bake. So not much progress here.

2. Learn Electronics - Fail

My focus was just not on learning much this year, which will be more clear in a later goal evaluation. I’ll probably roll this goal over into the next year, because it’s still high on my list.

3. Learn CAD - Mixed

While I can’t say I learned CAD, I can say I made progress toward learning CAD. I’ve spent time evaluating other CAD designs. I’ve altered others’ designs. I also purchased an online course on CAD for makers. So I think I can call this some progress, despite not being finished. I think this will carry over, too.

Making

4. Improve R2 and add gadgets - Mixed

I did improve R2 in that he’s a lot more stable now. However, there’s still a lot to do to make him what I want him to be. I didn’t add any gadgets, and the most I can really say I did was replace the rear door with a magnetic mount. That had to happen due to some glue failures that happened in transit at one point. So it was really more of a necessary thing even though it was an improvement I wanted to make. More to happen here.

5. Make more droids - Fail

This is still high on my list, but other very big things got in the way. I had a very stressful work year, and my personal year was absorbed by a significant portion with a major life change. After things settle, this will move forward, as I have a growing list of droids to build.

6. Simple Cosplays - Fail

Not much to say here. Similar to other items on the list, I just didn’t have time given what else was going on in my life.

Happiness

7. Execute on living plans - Success

I bought a house and moved back to the Boston area. This process started way back in February 2023. I moved in late March but didn’t buy a house until a month or two later, and I didn’t move in until the start of July. Unpacking took a while, and there was a lot of stuff to do with the new house. So huge success with this goal, but it absorbed by life this whole year.

8. Travel a bit less - Success

I definitely traveled less this year. I traveled to Boston, Wisconsin, San Francisco, Atlanta, and Toronto. I think that’s it. The only caveat here is that one of those trips to San Francisco was for almost two solid weeks. It was a LONG trip.

9. More time with friends - Mixed

Now that I’m back in Boston, I do see my friends more often. However it’s still not often enough. I have definitely turned into more of a homebody that likes to stay home, and I think that needs to change. I’ll be adjusting my next set of goals to account for this.

10. A new pet - Success

I now have two new kitties in my life, both are kittens. One is a shelter kitty that is very high energy, lots of cuddles, and all play time. He trusts me implicitly and seems pretty fearless, which I love. His name is Ghost, and he’s a white / tabby mix. My other kitten is extremely new in my life as I only got him a few days ago as of the writing of this. His name is Ezra, and he’s a beautiful Russian Blue. He’s also very skittish and still is adjusting to his new home. I love both of them to pieces.

Final Verdict on 2022 Goals

2023 has been a pretty average year for goals, though I’d say the goals I did achieve were pretty important ones. Buying a home, regaining a sense of community, adding a few fur babies…big stuff. 3 successes, 3 mixed, and 4 fails = 45% overall. I could have done a lot worse.

2024 Goals

The biggest focus this coming year for me is clear. It’s taking care of my overall health and well being. So most of the goals this year are in line with that. The other goals are mostly carryover from last year.

1. Learn CAD

I bought that course. So I just need to actually go through it and learn. Given I’m now settling in to my house, I think this is very doable.

2. Make More Droids

Similar to the last goal, this is carryover. I have a fancy 3D printer now, and I’ll be picking up one more. Making more droids is a matter of just prioritizing my time now. So this is very possible. Given that I still have a few house needs, it might wait until March or April, but that’s not really a problem.

3. Gift Giving

This is something I’ve thought about periodically this past year. Since I don’t get home to see my family much, I’m considering buying small, thoughtful gifts to let them know I’m thinking of them. It’s entirely unprompted, but I just love the idea. So I think I’ll set monthly reminders.

4. Smartify the Home

I love my tech, and as I’ve settled into my house, I’ve been doing a lot to make it as smart as possible. I’d like to take it up a notch, though. I’m thinking of really diving deep into the smart home tech space and seeing what’s possible, from monitoring water and electric usage, to occupancy sensors, and home built monitoring panels. I think this will be a fun goal and will help make my house more efficient on utilities and emission impact.

Health and Wellbeing

5. Social life

Since COVID, I’ve turned into a home body that will make any excuse to stay at home. I don’t want to be a hermit. So I need to actually put effort in to change this. I’m thinking for right now that something every 2 weeks seems like a good start. That means 26 social things over the course of 2024.

6. Update Wardrobe

Another cost of COVID is that I did not prioritize clothing at all during that time. My wardrobe is getting very old / dated, and it’s really time to put some investment in to updating it. I’m not sure the best cadence here, but I need everything from winter sweaters, pants, tops, and things like skirts and dresses for public speaking events. So I’ll need to start soon.

7. Eat Better

My diet has been absolute crap for a couple years now. I’ve gotten very lazy in how I prepare meals and what I choose for snacks. I gave up soda for years, and now that’s back in my diet. A big part of me is like “So what? Life is short and enjoy it.”, but all things in moderation. I should really try to do better. I feed better when I eat better.

8. Mental Health

With the world as it is right now, my mental health has been really in the dumps. I thankfully took the right step and got medicated with something that is working for me for the most part. However even with that medication, I still have some depressive periods. I’ve noticed my motivation to do things that I used to love has been pretty low. For example, video games just aren’t as lustrous as they once were. I think some of these listed goals above should help improve that a little, but I do need to find ways overall to improve things.

9. Re-evaluate social media usage

Social media is one of those things that has a mixed impact on my mental health. I’ve found that while maybe a few years ago social media was fun, nowadays it sure seems like a quick way to lose more faith in humanity. I have seen my content sharing on social media drop a significant amount over the past year, and I doubt that trend will change. I currently lurk a lot and only choose to interact on rare posts. I may start to limit my sharing to a smaller group and / or professional only on some platforms. We’ll see, but I think less social media is probably for the best.

10. Vacation

I think this is the year of the real vacation. While I’ve done a lot of travel for things like work and evaluating where I’d like to live, I haven’t done much pure relaxation and fun travel as an adult. I’ve banked a lot of PTO, and I can afford to travel, for once. So let’s make it happen. New Zealand and Iceland are my two travel targets. So I should assess when to go and plan it.

One last important one

Survive

Things aren’t great out there. Climate Change, science denial, the rise of fascism, multiple senseless wars, anti-LGBTQ trends, a huge effort to ban trans people from public life from one major political party, an increasingly far-right, authoritarian Republican party, a useless Democrat party, a sociopathy pandemic, a complete lack of empathy, and religious extremism…I’ll be honest, my hope for humanity is at an all time low. Just make it through this year. If I do that, it doesn’t even matter if any of the other goals listed here happen.

Closing thoughts

2023 was really a unique year with a huge life change and a lot happening in the world. Through the coming year, the biggest reminder to myself will be to make sure to prioritize self-care. That same thing goes to all of you reading this. Take care of yourselves and be safe out there. <3