2016 review!

“If you can measure it your can manage it” If you set a goal for yourself, you need to pause occasionally and see how you are doing. Let’s take a look at some of the goals I set out for myself this year.

Write more

This time last year I decided I would try and breathe some life into this blog and sharpen my writing skills by publishing a blog post every week. I’m proud to say I did this! Check out this graph from my Wordpress dashboard: In addition to blog posts, I also was thinking about tying to put out something a little more long-form. So I set out to write a (small) book on a topic I was doing a lot of work on at the time: Programming Interviews. I launched that book mid-year and I’ve got to say that was a worthwhile experience. Writing and publishing anything is a challenge, so doing all of this was a great exercise. Overall, this goal was met and I feel it was a huge success!

Be more entrepreneurial

This was an audacious goal. At the time I was working for a startup and I had a million ideas for starting my own business. The original idea of starting a consulting business has collapsed which resulted in me retreating back into the corporate world for a little bit. BUT… The entrepreneurial spirit does not die that easily! I’m using my time to explore new avenues. And I’m very confident that next year is going to be a year of increasing growth for myself as an entrepreneur. Here’s a few reasons why I’m so optimistic:

• My new project (Heroic Inspiration) feels very aligned with who I am as a person
• The future seems to have more possibilities than ever
• I joined an awesome Mastermind group

I will be reporting more on this as 2017 rolls on. I’m honestly really excited about where this is all going. Having feelings like that is usually a sign of being on the right path, so that is awesome!

Let’s get physical!

One goal I set for myself was to be able to do 10 pull ups. As a programmer, I tend to spend a lot of time sitting. Humans are not meant to do this for extended amounts of time. This goal seemed like a great way to get stronger, lose some weight, and get into better health overall. Sadly, this objective did not get met. Thanks to an attack of gallstones, the middle part of this year was a bit rough on my physical health. My fitbit graph reflected this and a good portion of my year was spent trying to get moving. Late in the year I managed to get physically active again thanks to the SealFit program. I can say I’m ending the year stronger than I started it, but I’m not close to the 10 pull up mark I set for myself.

Volunteering

This year was a year of leadership for myself. A few non-profits I work with needed my attention. One of my goals is to make sure I don’t take these things on by myself. In other words, lets get everyone involved! Overall this goal was met. I had some specific things I wanted to do (groups to work with, etc.) but not all of those were met. In the end analysis any positive effort is forward progress. Frankly, this goal required me to stretch and grow in new directions. That has certainly happened.

Looking forward

As 2017 begins, I’m going to set down a new set of goals. The future is full of possibility and probability. Make sure they are maximizing to their fullest potential. You can do it!