Thursday, January 01, 2009

Happy New Year.. so whats the game plan??

2008 was an interesting year. Definitely less geekier ( which I sort of did not prefer.. but was ok). All the personal goals I set for myself were met with relative ease.. learned to swim, learned to drive, got a car, got more involved with the local meetup groups (hiking and photography). Due to apparent lack of time, I had lesser time to update this blog, I however have gotten active on twitter.
I didn't believe in New Year resolutions until last year, but hey... if I can follow a deadline at work, I can definitely set a deadline for myself too right.? I just shouldn't be vague and should put concise goals (like it's done monthly at Mailshell). So here they are:
Conservative goals (Must be done):
  •  Read 5 books.
  •  Make two marketable arduino prototypes.
  •  Practice atleast 1 topcoder challenge each week.
  •  Cook atleast twice each week.
  •  Earn atleast $5000 in the stock market.
  •  Release ver 1.0 of my personal project.
  •  1 Personal goal (undisclosed)
  •  1 Professional goal (undisclosed)
Aggressive goals (Should be done, but .. ):
  • Exercise atleast once a week (yeah right..)
  • Have a new blog template... maybe move it from blogger to my own website.
  • Limit monthly spending to $X, where X < Salary. It is currently true, but I want to smoothen the spikes.
  • Drive carefully.
  • Write atleast one blog entry per month.
  • Attend atleast 1 LUG meets in two months.
  • Attend Entrepreneur meetup every month. The amount of info you get about new technologies and the number of like minded people you meet there is amazing.
  • Check out atleast two noisebridge events in SF.
  • Atleast one hike every two months.
I know it seems like a lot even for one whole year, but the list is concise, either it will be done or it won't be done. I just hope that am better at time management this year and meet my goals. I am a big believer of Pavlovian theory, so to make sure I get these things done, I'm gonna gift myself something everytime I hit a schedule (another concept borrowed from Mailshell's work culture). Of course, awards for weekly/monthly goals would be cashed in at the end of the year (hmm.. I'll buy something really *nice*)
Anyhoo.. hope the new year brings new joy in your life and I do hope that you achieve all the goals you set for yourself. Have a *groovy* new year.. WOOHOO!!