My goals for 2021

These are the goals I have for myself in 2021. I talked in my post about the Unreasonable Effectiveness of Yearly Goals how I find that merely setting out a number of clear goals at the start of the year usually ends up with me achieving at least a few. And the feeling of progress at the end of the year when I find I've accomplished some goals leads into feeling motivated for the next year.

I organize my goals using my "Five M" categories—Mind, Muscle, Matter, Money, and Mates—which I put into a mind map. I go through multiple iterations of the mind map, with different goals, until I narrow down the set of goals that feel most important for me to achieve this year.

Here are explanations of each goal I have for 2021.

Mind

Read 21 books and summarize them.

I've made it a regular goal to read the same number of books as the last two digits of the year. I started with 18 books in 2018 because 18 seemed a reasonable number and I liked how it matched with the year. We'll see how manageable reading 50 books in 2050 will be, but until then, I'll focus on reading 21 books this year.

My bonus goal this year is to write and publish summaries of the books I read on this website to have something to refer to later when asked for recommendations or trying to remember what a particular book was about.

Complete guitar lesson books

Like many during lockdown, my wife Kate and I were looking for something to occupy our time. I bought a flamenco-style classical guitar_because I know absolutely nothing about guitars_ and because my wife bought a steel-string acoustic. I figured we should have a variety. When the employee offered me to try the guitar out in the store, I refused because I didn't even know how to hold a guitar. I knew I had learned to play piano as a child, so I picked the same sorts of music books my teachers required me to get but now for guitar, and I hoped for the best.

The best happened. I look forward to practicing guitar daily. My fingertips are now solidly calloused. I have progressed through the first music book with the strict requirement that I do not allow myself to advance to the next song until I play it perfectly twice, just in case the first was a fluke (it is often). I don't play well by any stretch of the word, but I enjoy it immensely. It's become a way to mark time and progress, as well as an outlet for stress and creative expression. And I genuinely enjoy the drudgery of practicing every day, correcting the same mistakes, and slowly—slowly getting better.

At some point I'd like to find a teacher, but I'd like to at least match my knowledge that I know from playing the piano. I figure the books and being my own strictest teacher can bring me there. My goal this year is to complete the next the two guitar lesson books I have with perfect practice and not letting myself develop bad habits. Hopefully, after I complete the books, any guitar lessons I start can also be in person.

Muscle

Become someone who doesn't miss working out daily

I am far from a fitness buff. My operating philosophy for the last two years was, "do the least amount of exercise for the maximum amount of benefit". This started with a "seven-minute workout" app and then progressed to trainer-led video classes in the Nike Fitness app, which I still do now. I've learned that I do not have the focus or discipline to count reps or take rests that last longer than they should. I need to be an exercise robot; I need someone to tell me what to do and for how long.

I did pretty well this last year working out. I consistently worked out one day and took one (or two… or three…) days of rest. But I found that I would savor those rest days a little too much. It was hard to let go of a streak of rest days and get back into work. Whenever my brain tries to use arguments like,"just one more" or "it wouldn't hurt to delay a little longer", whether for exercise or procrastination, that's a sign to me that I need to push hard in the direction it's telling me not to go. So, I decided for this year to remove rest days entirely. This isn't to say I don't take it easy on some days, but I have to do something, even if it's an easy, relaxing yoga session, every single day.

Outfit the basement with kettlebells and free-weights

Kate and I have been doing our Nike Fitness video classes in an unfinished basement using a yoga mat from Target as our only piece of exercise equipment for the last 10 months. Well, that's not entirely true. We have also used use a 10-pound bag of rice and a jug of laundry detergent as our free-weights (indeed, they were free) when free weights were required by a fitness class. I didn't want to buy equipment in aspirations that we would get fitter just buying new things; I wanted to earn it by proving that we could get fit with or without equipment. And we did prove to ourselves that we can get the fitness we've ever been with a cheap yoga mat and bodyweight exercises, so now it's time to upgrade, so we can push ourselves further.

Matter

Publish on this blog every Monday and Tuesday

The gig is up: a reason this post exists is because of this goal. I want to become better at writing and I want to share with others what I write. To really push myself, I'm setting the ambitious habit of publishing twice a week as my goal. I've already missed a couple, but it's not all or nothing—if I fail, I get back next week. I welcome annoying reminders if I fall behind this goal.

Money

No physical purchases over $500

Last year, we bought a used couch from a coworker, a washer and dryer from a neighbor who was moving, a new iMac for Kate and I to share, and new bedding. For two people who had spent years getting rid of most of what we owned and were happy living out of a backpack, this last year was a huge increase in the stuff that we own—both size and number. Not that there's anything wrong with owning stuff, and we are endlessly grateful to have a big comfy couch to spend all of our lockdown days lounging on.

I realized there's nothing I want or need to buy in the next year that's more than $500. But impulses can bubble up unexpectedly. So keep from doing something I have no reason to do, I'm setting the goal not to buy anything over $500 that becomes another thing occupying our physical and emotional space.

Automate finances

I have always paid bills manually. As a naturally anxious person, I worry about the "what if" for automated systems: what if the bill overdraws our checking account; what if their system screws up; or what if I really didn't set up that auto-pay system that I thought I did? However, the manual processes isn't healthy. I set multiple reminders to make sure I've paid bills, and I'll obsessively check the accounts multiple times to make sure they have been paid. I need to build a system I can trust, set up auto-pay, and stop spending time checking something computers are good at doing.

I have already set this up with all of my accounts. I am keeping a larger buffer in my checking account to make sure it's not over-drawn, and everything—including savings—is set up to be automatic. This goal will be a success if I can stop constantly checking my accounts and nothing blows up at the end of the year.

Mates

Find more opportunities to mentor

One reason I took the job I have is because it offered the opportunity to mentor software engineers earlier in their career. I have enjoyed this opportunity and the relationships with the people I have mentored immensely. I want to make sure I am making myself available to more people who might be searching for a mentor. As I've learned over the past year, many people struggle to find someone who wants to be a mentor. If I truly feel that I have something to offer, I should seek out more opportunities to people who want it.

Some private goals I won't share

Work on your relationships, y'all. They're important.

Wrap up

Will I achieve all of these goals? I don't know! I may forget about them in a month or so. The "unreasonable" part of my claim is that clearly setting out goals tends to have the effect of putting it in your path to achieve it, subconsciously or otherwise. If nothing else, it's a way to clarify what's important to me at this time in my life.