Recalibrating Goals for 2024

Dan Richards—also known as The One Armed Wonder—recently talked about evolving his objectives on the Wild Ones Podcast. It’s a clever way of reacting to insurmountable adversity: adapt the desired outcome and work toward that one instead of the original one.

On a scale well below anything Dan talked about, I had planned a 4+ hour bicycle ride a few weeks ago and woke up feeling quite out of it on the big day, so I split it into two parts over two days. It was rather annoying to have to do so, but it meant I did effectively the whole thing, while I likely wouldn’t have completed it if I’d stubbornly stuck to the original plan, and would’ve probably needed a longer recovery break after anyway.

None of this is exactly groundbreaking, but it is quite difficult to remember at times. I’m trying to be better about it.

At the start of this year I set some goals, as I’d done a number of times in the past. I felt like they were slightly ambitious, but not excessively so, and thus probably just about perfect. To recap, they were:

1. launch my project management tool
2. launch my email checker
3. standardize my portfolio
4. organize PyBeach 2024
5. get good at the cycling thing

It’s now been three months since then, and a quarter of the year is behind us, and I’ve done rather little of any of that. I’ve made meaningful progress on the last point, but haven’t made a shred of it on the other four. The prevailing reason is my lack of available bandwidth, brought on by a rather challenging family health situation. This is unlikely to dramatically change in the near future, so I don’t think I’m about to discover oodles of spare time and energy, and I feel like it’s worth officially adjusting my goals as a result.

And so:

1. The issue tracker is on ice. The last commit was on 12/30, and the next one will be whenever it happens.
2. The email checker is also on ice. That project has been on hold for much longer, and I will unearth it if and when the time is right.
3. Standardizing my portfolio might still happen. I’m not quite sure exactly what that looks like, though.
4. PyBeach 2024 won’t be happening. Sorry if you were hoping it would, but I just don’t need the stress of trying to work toward a conference I objectively don’t have time to organize. I’d like to build a small organizing team, though, so 2025 doesn’t hinge solely on me. Email me if you’re interested.
5. I’m going to keep cycling. It’s been a boon for both my physical and mental health, and I expect I’ll continue to enjoy it.

I feel good about this. Happy rest of 2024!~

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