For 2020 and 2021 I had year-long goals. Things like learning to drive, learning to code, writing a novella. They're allowed to shift — but because they tend to be things I'm stoked about, they don't change that much. They're less "what should I change this year?", more "what would be awesome this year?". This makes them feel more like quests than resolutions. It also helps with completion!

This year, I have four:

Start A Side Hustle

I love coding, and I like the idea of making passive income from it. It doesn't have to be much. If I make $20 by the end of the year from something I create, I'll be happy. Heck, if I got 20 GitHub stars by the end of the year, I'd be happy!

To this end, I'm going to work on a lot of tiny projects over the coming months, to see if anything sticks. If there's a tiny tool or app that you wish existed, let me know and maybe I'll make it for you!

Write 100 Blog Posts

I've wanted to write regularly for years. I enjoy writing. People often get something out of my writing. Yet I'm consistently plagued by the unreasonable feeling that I have nothing useful to say!

I've recently been entranced by Visa's idea of "doing 100 things". It's simple, it's clean, it doesn't have to be good. I think the "do 100 things" mindset is the key to getting past the hangups I feel around writing. So I'm going to do it! By the end of the year, I'll have 100 blogposts. I'm counting the previous 15 posts I've written, to make it easier on myself. But still: 85 are to come this year, somehow!

Reach 135 Pounds

For the last 12 years, I've been a clean 125 pounds. If I get sick, I lose a bit, then it comes back. I started drinking in 2018 and nothing changed. I can eat trash and nothing changes.

The one thing that makes me gain weight is working out - after a few months of going to the gym in 2018, I'd gained a few pounds! This brings me to the actual goal: working out regularly. Because my weight is so unresponsive to everything else, I think this is a good way to measure muscle development (I pledge to not Goodhart this)!

Write 100 Pieces of Flash Fiction

I actually love writing fiction. It makes me profoundly happy. There's a novel I want to write, but it's larger and ideas are still churning for it. So why not write short pieces in the meantime? If I can write something as good as My Husband's Missing Arm by the end of the year, I'll have won the year.

I'll probably share these on my blog, but they won't count towards the blog-count, because the blog hangup I want to get past is with non-fiction. I'm already at 3, so 97 to go!

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I hope your year is beautiful! If you have quests for 2022, I am cheering you on.