My Personal Goals for 2019
I’m not normally one for new year’s resolutions, but recently I read via twitter someone’s summary of their progress against their goals for 2018. I can’t for the life of me find it again, but the thing that struck me was that whilst this person’s list had new things on, it also had some items that were about maintaining things already established (rather than starting something new). That got me thinking about the importance to keep reviewing those things too, so it prompted me to have a go. Reserving the right to iterate!
Things Already Established — but now with added targets!
>> Read 50 books. For the past 10 years it’s been my goal to read 50 books in a year. I’ve exceeded that twice (57 in 2009 and 61 in 2011), but generally it’s around the mid-40s. This year it looks like it will be 42. Perhaps 2019 will see me spending more time reading and less time logging the data…?
>> Summarise 100% of non-fiction books read. My normal pattern is to use a 6x4 index card as a book mark and then add notes to the card as I read them. I read an interesting blog from James Clear on storing these notes electronically, but that’s a step too far for me just now, but his idea to write a three sentence summary of the book is something I’m going to try.
>> Cycle 4,000 miles. I’ve had this target for the last 4 years. This year I had a poor start to the year so not going to hit it. Next year should be nailed on (see item 1 of New Things!).
>> Write 10 blog articles (excluding weeknotes). Looking back on 2018 I only wrote three blog articles (two on medium and one on LinkedIn), and they were at the back end of the year (I’ll be claiming this one as fourth!). I had a really busy year with getting the NHS App up and running, but there is no excuse, because it has been a really interesting period, with loads of learning along the way and I should be sharing that more, even to consolidate my own thinking.
>> Reviewing this list four times during 2019. The stuff above has been more of a mental checklist over the last few years. It’s been interesting to put it down and think how I can improve on them. Doing it more regularly feels a good move.
New Things
- Cycle LEJOG — 1000 miles over 9 days. Me and my friend Giles have dates, accommodation booked and a driver. Just need to make sure my training stays on track.
- Get to my target weight in time for LEJOG. I’m too vain to put the target here, but suffice it to say, I’ve not been at that weight since about 2003, so it will be a challenge. However the knowledge of the extra effort of lugging extra KG over 1000 miles is giving me the greatest incentive I’ve had in ages.
- Have a go at writing weeknotes. I’ve been inspired by Dan Barrett, who I follow on Twitter, who seems to be able to write something interesting and useful every week. I’m not giving myself a target here because the essence of weeknotes seems to become a slave to them, but use them as a method of reflection.
- Find some decent podcasts. I’ve recently tried out WB-40, but its not grabbed me yet. I’ll try a few out and see what sticks.
