Day 7 of 10 Days to a Better Blog, and I’m finding I keep having to modify these a little because my blog is still so new. Today our challenge is to install Google Analytics and review our posts for 2014 to see which ones got the most views. This post I’m creating now is maybe number 24 or 25, so I don’t need analytics to decipher trends, I can pretty much just eyeball it and tell you what’s what.
So in lieu of that, I’m taking Option B and instead setting some goals for the year to come. I first thought that option consisted of setting goals for the blog and was elated that maybe I’d post something before sun set. But it was not to be! Instead the challenge is to post goals for my whole life during this year to come. John Saddington’s (progenitor of the 10 Days Challenge) goals for 2015 are as inspiring as his goals for 2014 – and the fact that he achieved them – are intimidating. I was also recently reading that really you should try to accomplish three big goals in a year’s time. I’m listing more than three, but mainly because some are smaller and are habits I want to develop for the rest of my life.
Find a Great Job in the Web Development World
I promise this phase of the blog is coming soon. I’m polishing my testing and API skills in the hopes that I will not embarrass myself when potential employers start giving me code challenges. Maybe it will be as a developer or QA or any of a million other options, but the road is wide open and I’m ready to fully step into this new world.
Engage My New Community(ies)
I’ll be relocating no matter what job I take due to the lack of options in my current city. So, whether it’s in Houston, Philly, Nashville, New York, or San Francisco (yeah, I think that’s the list as of right now), I really want to dive into the city itself as well as the open source/development community. I can let the introvert side of my psyche rule too often, so I’m challenging myself to be known in whatever neighborhood I move to in the next month. I also want to be known in the developer community, not in an egotistical way, just in the way that when I arrive at meetups there’s not an awkward record scratch while the group turns to look at me quizzically.
Take a Huge Chunk Out of My Debt
I joke about having doctor-levels of debt from student loans, and every joke has a little (or 100%) truth to it. I don’t have hard numbers to create a budget just yet, so putting a total that I want to spend on debt reduction right now is basically just me pinning an amount on my vision board and hoping for the best (I don’t have a vision board). I am a person of faith, though, so I am in prayer about this aspect of my life, but I’m not in the “name it and claim it” camp.
Learn How to Cook (Like for Real How to Cook)
As a single guy, this is the skill I am probably most lacking that is also the most needful for me. I haven’t had my own true space for a few years, so I never felt like I had the autonomy to just experiment with some trial and error sessions in the kitchen. The other part of cooking is planning out meals, and the nerd inside of me is champing at the bit to really figure this out.
Run a Half Marathon
I wanted to write “Get in Shape” or “Be Healthier” but those goals don’t actually mean anything when you’re trying to quantify them. They’re the kind of goals one writes when he or she doesn’t actually intend to follow through with them. So, here you go, I will run a half marathon in 2015. There are a few aspects to this you may not know if you haven’t met me. First, I’m a bigger guy so this isn’t something I can just do tomorrow. Second, I haven’t even run a 5K before, so I’ll have a few steps along the way. Third, I think jogging/running is possibly the most boring task a person can do.
400 Blog Posts for 2015
Again, concrete goal, shooting for a little more than one per day. This 10 Day Challenge has both expanded and focused what I want to accomplish this year, and I am excited to keep the momentum I’m building here going. The biggest challenge now is that I have no true, set schedule as I’m relearning concepts in codeschool and honing my github repos before fine-tuning my portfolio and hitting the job hunt hard. Blogging and the Morning Pages I talked about the other day are the only consistent daily practices I’m adhering to so far, and honestly I’m happy that blogging like this is setting the foundation for the rest of the year.
So there you have it. Six goals for 2015. Usually I would say something like “we’ll see what happens” but instead I’m just going to say these are six goals I am confident I will accomplish in the next twelve months.
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