This post was originally an edit of a post titled "Goals for 2018," which I never published. It was never published because I never got around to finalizing my goals for the year. Time flies.
That's not to say I didn't accomplish a lot in 2018, but I can't measure those accomplishments against what I predicted. I'd like to not repeat that.
2018 recap 2018 brought another wonderful person into my life, my second daughter, Julie. If there's one thing that makes taking care of a kid seem easy, it's taking care of two kids. Every second of my waking hours is accounted for. That's not changing anytime soon, so one of my overarching goals is to try to fit some ambitious things in between all the other stuff that's grappling for my attention. Luckily, parenthood has taught me to become incredibly time-efficient.
Another big change in my life was my decision to retire from competitive cycling. I was nervous about how it would happen. Would I be resentful of my family for limiting my riding time? Would I miss my cycling friends? What would I replace that time with? It turns out, I just stopped caring. I found myself scrolling past my cycling team's Slack discussions about maximizing wattage, new diet trends, and race results. I love cycling, but my flame to race bikes has been snuffed. I don't know what this means long-term, but I'm looking forward to the next chapter.
Average 5 hours of reading per week. Rather than focusing on books completed for the year, which can be gamed by reading shorter books, I'm setting a goal around the time I'm setting aside to read. I can measure this through Audible app usage, and bed time.
Acquire private pilot certificate (PPL). This will be an absolute stretch, but I've set up my schedule to make it possible. Learning to fly has been an incredibly challenging, rewarding, and intimidating experience. I am looking forward to adding flying to my skillset.
Create a "Things I Don't Know" list, and remove three things from it over the year. In an effort to create a better framework for what to learn, I am going to write down a list of things I don't know, then build a plan around learning them.
Average phone screen time: 2h30m per day. This is roughly what I do on a good day, with a high number being around 4 hours. I reckon if I can average 2.5 hours/day for the year, I'll be in good shape. What has really helped in this regard is the diminishing role of social media/networking in my life. There is still a role that it plays in my work around "community," but its value is negligible in everyday life.
Phone on a different floor than me at bedtime. Every night, no exceptions.
Average 6 hours per week on the bike. While I am no longer racing, the bike will still serve as a valuable asset for stress relief.
Average 3 hours per week on weight lifting. I started hitting the gym pretty heavily on Mondays and Fridays during the offseason. I'd like to stretch it a bit further, adding an extra day in there. Maybe my bottom-heavy physique's days are finally limited!
Plan one significant Myke + Mary trip. It's good for the kids for us to get away, and it's obviously good for us to stretch our adventure muscle majorly (at least) once a year.
Average one date night per month. 'nuff said. It's important, and is the first thing to fall by the wayside when we're tired, or other obligations creep in.
Complete an outline of a book idea. I'm not the kind of person who thinks he has had a life that's so interesting that it warrants writing a book. That said, in running a company for over a decade, I have learned a lot of lessons that could be useful for folks just starting out, or are maybe trying to figure out how to continue doubling after a few years. If nothing else, I'd like to memorialize the lessons I've learned so I don't repeat the same mistakes again in the future!
This is a new category of goals for me; it has significance personally and professionally. My business is rooted in the goal of building and strengthening communities through events. And my retirement from bike racing is prompting me to find new passions and the people who share them. To that end:
Constructively participate on (link: http://news.ycombinator.com hackernews). Hackernews is an incredible community of technologists. It has remained virtually untouched by any of the web fads that have plagued other online communities over the last decade. It's the pseudonymous concept at its best. People don't hide behind fake names to troll; they offer real, concrete thoughts and experiences that are valuable. The signal to noise ratio rivals even the most obscure subreddit.
Meet five new people each month. In my professional life, I have a lot of communities that I can tap into. There are incredible artists, business leaders, and idea-makers in the DC area. I'd like to meet more of them.