We’ve finally bid 2020 goodbye, but the repercussions of 2020 will linger for a bit longer. We’re still masking up, socially distancing, and trying to live and work the best that we can while being safe to both ourselves and our neighbor.
As the new year approached, I do have some wishes, some resolutions, and things that I want to tackle in the new year (albeit, a bit changed since the pandemic started). As with tradition, I’m picking three areas of my life that I want to work, get better at, or just generally improve.
Side projects and learning new development techniques
Over the past several years, my side projects (specifically the apps that I make myself and release on the App Store) have fallen by the wayside. A lot of this was due to the fact that they didn’t receive many downloads and it was difficult to keep releasing updates and new versions of apps when they just don’t get much traction. Another was that after a busy day at work, the last thing that I wanted to do was sit down and work again.
This year, however, I’m looking to release a few new apps to the App Store and also release an update or two to my years-old apps as well.
I feel that my side projects are really where I learn a lot more about my craft than I do sometimes at work, simply because many clients want what’s cheaper and more efficient solutions rather than what’s shiny and new. I’m hoping to really dig into SwiftUI, Combine, and many of the newer iOS APIs that I haven’t yet gotten a chance to do.
Reading
Last year, my reading goal hit an all time low — I was planning on reading about 20 books, but only managed about 7 (we’ll blame Animal Crossing, the PS5 launch, and just being exhausted from everything surrounding the pandemic).
This year, I’m planning on attempting my 20 book goal (follow my progress on GoodReads), and so far have already read one book, and starting on two additional ones. One of my favorite books that I’m starting is one that I received from a friend as a Christmas present, “The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation,” which covers from conception to design to production how Disney animates their movies.
I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to increase this 20 book reading goal as the year progresses, but leaving it here so that I can account for any surprises that may pop up during the year.
Exercise
In 2019, I started exercising religiously with an open goal to just “lose some weight.” By the time 2020 ended, I’d lost 40 pounds through regular exercise and small diet changes. This year, I’m hoping to continue my goal and lose an additional 30 pounds to get to my target weight, then start figuring out ways to maintain that target weight going forward.
It’s amazing how much healthier and better I feel now that I’ve lost weight and continue to exercise. One of the things that launched last year that’s helped a ton in just the past few weeks to kickstart my 2021 exercise goals is Apple Fitness+. This new service has been fantastic since it launched about 3 weeks ago and has shown me various ways to get more out of my treadmill, rowing and strength workouts, but has also opened the door to new exercise routines such as yoga, dance, and more.
I cannot wait to continue using this service into 2021 and seeing what new changes it can bring about as I work towards a healthier me.
Stopping and smelling the roses
It feels like 2020 flew by. It’s like the meme goes: It’s March 230, 2020. I honestly feel like I missed most of last year through just the constant barrage of work, exercise, and sleep routine every day. It felt like nothing much went on outside of those activities. This year, I’m hoping to take some time and just stop and enjoy things — and document them through journaling. Looking back through my camera roll last year, I didn’t document much (in fact, I captured the fewest photos in the past decade ever last year), so I’m hoping to change that going into 2021.
I’m hopeful that 2021 will bring about more normalcy in our world (surely we won’t be fully back to normal any time soon, but small steps are certainly welcomed).
Here’s to 2021 and a Happy New Year.
