I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions because you really don’t need to wait on some external event to set yourself goals and start making progress toward them. Nevertheless, I do like setting annual goals with a multi-year horizon in mind.
We just turned the page on a turbulent 2020 year. I’m optimistic that 2021 will be a great year for humanity, even though we continue to be in the midst of a global of pandemic. I'm excited to work on bulding a better and brither future for all of us. So, here are my personal goals for this year in the form of objectives and key results (OKRs).
[Intellectual] Objective: Have fun building stuff with bits and atoms
Key results
- Reviewed all material from the MIT class How To Make (almost) Anything 2020 edition.
- Workshop space has been setup with tools for woodworking and electronics.
- Worked through two math books with exercise problems, or equivalent online classes.
- Designed and built five simple software projects.
- Designed and built three woodworking projects.
- Designed and built two projects involving electronics.
We swapped the condo for a house last year and I finally have space for a small workshop. The longer term plan here is to spend the next five years self-learning applied math and experimenting with digital fabrication. Also, can’t wait for the kids to grow up so we can build things together!
[Physical] Objective: Lower resting heart rate below 50
Key results
- Exercised 4 times a week for 20+ minutes.
- Averaged sleep between 7.5 and 9h a night (e.g. 11pm-6:30am) for 40 weeks of the year.
- Fasted intermittently five days a week, 16 hours a day (e.g. 7pm-11am) for 40 weeks of the year.
The goal is to continue maintaining such levels of resting heart rate going forward. Here is what my current resting heart looks like.
I also need to become more disciplined in prioritizing my sleep, as much as our young kids will allow it. Sleeping five to six hours a night, as you can see on the graph below, is definitely not enough for me. I need at least 7.5 hours of sleep to feel rested.
[Social] Objective: Have more fun with friends
Key results
- Hosted friends for brunch 15 times.
- Enjoyed 20 days of outdoor activities with friends.
- Went to five cultural events (e.g. musicals, plays, concerts).
Hopefully the western world will deal with COVID-19 by July and we will be able to socialize with friends again. I also can’t wait to have our parents to come visit us from Europe. It will soon be three years since I’ve seen my father and a year and a half since I’ve seen my mother and mother-in-law.
[Financial] Objective: Increase value of family assets
Key results
- Achieved 20% internal rate of return on the securities market.
- Reduced family monthly burn rate by 10%.
- Renovated the finished basement which should increase the value of the house.
In addition to personal goals I also have family and professional OKRs that I would rather not share with the Internet.
Game on.