I've been writing these post for the last few years. They are a way for me to reflect on last year and set goals for next year.

I like to keep them terse and fun. Hence the regular expression reference and use of emojis.

2022 Goals

✅ Focus Shift

While I plan to continue focusing Shift more, I'm giving this a checkmark. After Jess joined the Laravel team, I decided to go back to working on Shift entirely myself. This forces me to continually make decisions which limit Shift's scope.

Although I partnered to add the Django Shifts, this is not something I expect to grow. So it doesn't take any of my focus. I also plan to sunset the Workbench desktop app. Instead it will be replaced by a CLI tool. All this cuts back on the amount task switching (and tech stacks) I need to support.

➖ Expand knowledge base

I did put forth the effort to learn Spanish. I even paired with some Spanish speak developers to practice. However, I have a long way to go and never give this the time it needs to achieve the goal. I considering it a scratch for 2022 and will carry it over in 2023.

✅ Retirement fund

In 2022 I set up a Solo 401k and contributed the maximum amount. I also contributed nearly 70% of my earnings to our investment portfolio. Unfortunately the stock market was down 20% in 2022, with the tech sector down significantly more. Nonetheless, I'm giving this a checkmark as, from a contribution perspective, I achieved my goal.

2023 Goals

Looking ahead to 2023, I'm setting one goal in four categories: business, personal, educational, and fitness. The overall theme is refinement.

Peak Shift

On average, Shift has a 50% year-over-year growth rate. Despite paring down Shift in 2022, I want to still see this growth rate in 2023. The goal is to see peak Shift based on a few different metrics. Shift has a limited lifespan. I know it won't have this growth forever. If the decline starts in 2024, I'd like to top out just a bit higher.

Rebuild rental

In 2021 we purchased a rental property. Unfortunately, there was a fire. So we've never actually rented our rental property. After continual back and forth with insurance, we're finally in a place to rebuild. So, to turn a negative into a positive, we're speeding up our longer-term vision for the property. The goal is to complete this in 2023, and ideally rent it.

Expand knowledge base

This goal is carrying over from 2022 - with a specific focus on learning Spanish. I feel I have the vocabulary. I need to dedicate time to practicing. The goal is to become more confident speaking Spanish when working with other devs or traveling. Not necessarily to be fluent.

Tone up

After having kids, the evenings are my only free time. Usually by then I'm drained and plop down on the couch. I'd like reintroduce running at least once a week. Izzy's daycare includes access to a workout facility. So I have no excuse not to spend some time in the gym after dropping her off. There's no specific goal here other than to tone up a few areas and hopefully regain some energy through exercise.