2024 Goals

Setting goals for a new year is always a delicate balance. On one hand, I want to challenge myself, but on the other, I need to be realistic. Striking that balance can be tricky, but it's essential for meaningful progress. As I looked to 2024, I found myself in familiar territory, discussing my goals with friends and family. Their reactions were unanimous: "Are you being too ambitious? Are you setting yourself up for failure?" Taking their feedback to heart, I made some adjustments and now feel confident that my goals for the year are ambitious and achievable.

2023 Year-End Reflection

Back in January, I set myself a challenge: 30 days of focused attention, 30 minutes a day, across three key areas of my life (plus a bonus one). And guess what? I not only nailed that goal but went above and beyond—I exercised EVERY. SINGLE. DAY in 2023! This is a major milestone for me, especially considering my history with exercise. I've spent most of my life avoiding it, so to pull this off feels like a huge victory.

Ode to January

We made it! January 2023 is officially closed. As promised on the 1st, I am back to report on how I have fared with the kickoff of my 2023 goals. 

2023 Goals!

As usual, I’ve spent much time thinking about what I’d like to accomplish in 2023. My plan has gone through many revisions and simplifications. As the last few years have taught me, I have no idea what will happen in 2023–which means I can expect the unexpected. With that in mind, I want flexibility with my goals and system.

2022 Year-End Reflection

2022 brought several travel adventures (Paris, Dublin, Vienna), some unexpected health issues (gallbladder removal), and lots of time with my family. My family time is precious to me, especially as my mom's dementia worsens. I recognize I may only have a few years left with my parents, and I want to take advantage of all that remaining time.

Happy New Year - 2022!

This is the third document I've started and stopped writing for more than a week--usually, setting my new year's goals or themes has been easy for me.

In fact, last week, I was all set--I had made some bold plans. Instead of setting one-year goals, I decided to set decade goals--well, goals to achieve by 2030 (feeling inspired by my company's ESG (Environmental, social and corporate governance) goals. My 2030 "Moonshot" goals included things like:

Reflections on 2021

On Valentine’s Day, February 14th, I slipped on the ice in my brother’s driveway, severely sprained my right ankle, and dislocated my left shoulder. A week later, I discovered that I also had a broken glenoid fracture, a really terrible break with the dislocation. This event led to almost every other significant change of the year…

Ready for a New Year?

I fully recognize that although January 1st represents a new year, not a whole lot will change. The pandemic is still raging, I will still be working from home and social distancing. Although there are several vaccines, it may take most of the year (and into 2022) to get the majority of the population vaccinated. 2021 will be another long, difficult year.

Even with all of that, I am still cautiously optimistic.

Reflections on 2020

2020 was a heavy and HARD year. In a year where everything felt different, I decided that I needed to keep with tradition and answer my standard year-end reflection questions.