{"id":483,"date":"2015-01-01T12:05:07","date_gmt":"2015-01-01T20:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dwaynejeng.com\/blog\/?p=483"},"modified":"2015-01-05T23:45:32","modified_gmt":"2015-01-06T07:45:32","slug":"new-years-retrospective-and-resolutions-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dwaynejeng.com\/blog\/2015\/01\/01\/new-years-retrospective-and-resolutions-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"New Years Retrospective and Resolutions 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

This will be my 5th year doing these. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I like New Years Resolutions. Mostly because I don’t cheese out and say things like “I resolve to go to the gym more”. Rather, the approach I take is “here’s what I hope to accomplish this year”, and set out to accomplish them. And let’s be real here, by the time I actually post my New Years Resolutions, I will have already been thinking about them for a few months.<\/p>\n

For a historical perspective, check out last year’s resolutions<\/a> (with links to my old resolutions on Facebook).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

2014 Retrospective<\/h3>\n

So before we get to the resolutions, we always do the retrospective. What were the big things of 2013?<\/p>\n

The biggest thing is that I’m in a relationship now. As it turns out, I’m also very private about my relationship(s). Ask me in person if you want to know the nitty gritty.<\/p>\n

The next biggest thing is that I left my job at Amazon.com. (I won’t go into the details online. Again, ask me in person if you want to know the nitty gritty.) And now I have an amazing job at Sage Bionetworks<\/a>, building mobile apps for patients to provide their data directly to researchers. (In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m a big supporter of biomedical research.)<\/p>\n

The third biggest thing is that I bought a Tesla Model S<\/a>. I promised everyone a review, and it’s coming. But long story short, this is an amazing car. The Oatmeal calls it “The Intergalactic SpaceBoat of Light and Wonder”. I just call it “Pretty Red Supercar”. Needless to say, I can’t ever go back to a regular car anymore. (At least not the low-ends I grew up with, the Camries, the Corollas, the Altimas, the Accords…)<\/p>\n

While we’re on the subject of cool things, I also became the first (and so far only) pianist on YouTube to make a piano cover of Black Sabbath’s Pariah<\/a> and Age of Reason<\/a> (both from 13<\/i>). And my God is Dead<\/a> video broke 1k hits. And my Gravity Falls<\/a> video broke 1.4k hits. I’m not any closer to being discovered yet, but I’m having fun, and that’s the way I like it.<\/p>\n

2014 Resolutions<\/h3>\n

Resolution #1 – My Baking.<\/b> I said I would do more bake sales and that I would write the first draft of my book Everything I Know About Cookies<\/i>. Well, I did 2 more bake sales, and my running total over the last two years will be over $9000<\/a>. (Sadly, I won’t be able to do any more bake sales now that I’m at a small company.) And the first draft of Cookies<\/i> is ready, with 25 pages of prose and littered with TODO<\/b>s telling me to do more experiments. (If you want to see it, email me, call me, text me, or send me a Facebook message.) Result: SUCCESS<\/b><\/p>\n

Resolution #2 – My Cooking.<\/b> I said I would cook monthly, that I would throw at least 3 dinner parties, and that I would cook for my family when I go visit them in the summer and over the holidays. Well, that’s done, done, and done. Not only that, but I invented not one, but two recipes to call my own. Result: SUCCESS<\/b><\/p>\n

Resolution #3 – Sleep Earlier.<\/b> Not going into the nitty gritty of the rules of this one, but basically, my sleep schedule is under control, and I only missed a cumulative of 24:36 out of 40:00. Pretty sure I don’t need to micro-manage my own sleep anymore. Result: SUCCESS<\/b><\/p>\n

Resolution #4 – Put the old house on the market.<\/b> Even better: sold! (And I used part of the money to fund the Tesla.) Result: SUCCESS<\/b><\/p>\n

Resolution #5 – FitBit Step Count.<\/b> In January, I calibrated and discovered that 7500 steps per day was a good aspirational goal for me. And I hit that goal, not just on an annual basis, but on a monthly basis. (Because I didn’t want to walk a ton of steps in the first half of the year and then just slack off for the rest of the year.) And in the year 2014, I walked a total of 2894799 steps (avg 7930 steps per day). Result: SUCCESS<\/b><\/p>\n

That said, one thing I realized this year, is that I already get a lot of exercise from going to the gym and fencing, and walking for the sake of walking proved to be really counter-productive for me. (In fact, I took off my FitBit on the night of the Dec 30 because I just didn’t care anymore.) So while I still upheld my step count like I promised, I’m going to be giving up the FitBit. Sorry friends, but steps just aren’t doing it for me anymore.<\/p>\n

Either way, I’m still 5 for 5 for resolutions. There will be steak. (It’s a long story.)<\/p>\n

2015 Resolutions<\/h3>\n

Historically, my resolutions have been around my hobbies. Well, my hobbies are awesome, and I’m going to keep doing awesome things, and I don’t feel like I need to micromanage it anymore. So instead, let’s take a different approach: self-improvement.<\/p>\n

Resolution #1 – Give up addictive internet sites.<\/b> Sometimes, I’ll start reading a certain internet website, and I won’t be able to stop reading, and next thing I know, a few hours have passed. As someone who likes spending his time doing things, I don’t like losing time like that. So I’m going to swear off these time-suck internet sites. These sites usually fall into one of 3 categories: forums (GameFAQs), comment threads (Reddit; most news articles, blog posts, and Facebook posts have comment threads), and everything else (TV Tropes, Cracked). I’m going to make exceptions for when I’m looking for specific help (like going to the Tesla forums to get help with my Tesla), if it’s part of a group I’m attached to (like PAX Pokemon League or Cookie Brigade), or if it’s a relatively small (say, less than 10) comment thread on a friend’s Facebook post. Update 1\/6\/2014:<\/b> Another exception is if I post a piano video or something to Reddit. That’s a legitimate non-addictive use of Reddit.<\/p>\n

You might notice I didn’t swear off Facebook. Well, as an introvert, Facebook is my primary method of keeping in touch with my friends, so I can’t really swear off Facebook. Plus, I only have 85 Facebook friends (intentionally–I run a tight ship), so it’s rarely ever a time-suck of content for me.<\/p>\n

You might also note that this is a really binary resolution. I guess I’ll have to treat it as an aspirational goal (aim there and see where I land) rather than one of those measurable SMART goals<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Resolution #2 – Read the news.<\/b> This is two-fold. One, I want to keep up with current events. Two, if I’m bored waiting for my code to compile<\/a>, and I need something to read, might as well be the news. So I’m going to read the news for at least 10 minutes a day. (Excluding weekends and major holidays. And only real news. Not trashy entertainment news.)<\/p>\n

Resolution #3 – Fewer diet “cheat days”.<\/b> I’m a strong believer in cheat days. If I were to swear off delicious fried fatty foods or sweet treats, I’d go crazy. Fortunately, I’ve been making do with moderation. Mostly. But I’ve gotten to the point where I need to start setting rules and drawing lines to keep things from going out of hand. So I’m going to arbitrarly pick no more than 10 cheat days per month. Arbitrarily chosen because 10 divides evenly into 30, and ~2 cheat days per week sounds reasonable to me. And vacation days don’t count, because let’s be honest, when was the last time you stuck to a diet while on vacation? (For those playing along at home, I define a “cheat day” as a day where I eat so many calories, it’s not even worth counting them anymore. This might going to lunch at a sit-down restaurant or going to a party where there’s lots of food.)<\/p>\n

Resolution #4 – Re-organize the house.<\/b> My house is long overdue for spring cleaning. I have a figurative laundry list of things I need to do.<\/p>\n