Where I Am Headed in 2019
Where am I headed in 2019? I had a pretty bang-up year in 2018: scrum master certification; lots of challenging development work in JavaScript and C#; many books read; new connections made; multiple hours of leadership training; and I started this website. But that was last year. This is 2019. As the cliche goes, “New year! New me!”
I admit it. I used that cliche just so I could include this ever popular Robert Downey, Jr. meme. And maybe I just shot my credibility in the foot by doing so.
Back to business…
Here are some of the goals I’ve set for myself for this year along with plans for achieving them. Goals without plans are only wishes. (There’s probably a meme for that cliche too.) I’ll be happy if writing this inspires anyone else. However, I feel the need to write them out for my own sake.
Career Goals
- Become proficient in Test Driven Development (TDD) by:
- Practicing with tutorials and side projects
- Taking courses on Pluralsight. I’ve already started one by Jason Olson.
- Implementing TDD on my projects at work in an ever increasing fashion
- Reading Kent Beck’s book, Test-Driven Development by Example
- Achieve Microsoft certification (MCSA) in Web Applications by:
- Passing exam 70-483: Programming in C#
- Passing exam 70-486: Developing ASP.NET MVC Web Applications
- Taking courses on Pluralsight
- Working closely with and learning from a more experienced developer on my team
- Studying books by Rob Miles, Jon Skeet, and K. Scott Allen
- Achieve Professional Scrum Master II (PSM II) certification from Scrum.org by:
- Continued involvement as scrum master on a development team at work
- Continued reading of Agile and Scrum related materials
- Passing the PSM II exam
- Achieve Project Management Professional (PMP) certification by:
- Taking courses on Pluralsight. I’m almost half way through 37 hours worth.
- Studying the PMBOK Guide
- Passing the PMP exam
- Increase my content on this website by:
- Writing blog posts on at least a weekly basis, more as inspiration strikes
- Writing more book reviews
- Increase my base salary by 10% by:
- Making it happen one way or another
- Career-related reading list:
- “Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great” by Esther Derby and Diana Larsen
- “Test Driven Development by Example” by Kent Beck
- “The Core Protocols: A Guide to Greatness” by Richard Kasperowski
- “Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code” by Martin Fowler
- “Working Effectively with Legacy Code” by Michael Feathers
- “Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship” by Robert C. Martin
- “Agile Software Development, Principles, Patterns, and Practices” by Robert C. Martin
- “Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation” by Steven Johnson
- “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell
Art Goals
- Increase the content on my art website by:
- Posting more drawings
- Writing blog posts biweekly
- Draw on a more consistent basis by:
- Drawing more. What other plan could there be? I have too many empty sketchbooks begging to be filled up.
- Get back to painting by:
- Setting a regular time to paint on at least a weekly basis
- Exhibit some of my work by:
- Finding calls for artists
- Finding local coffee houses and other venues willing to display art
Physical Fitness Goals
- Lose 30 pounds by:
- Tracking my meals in the Lose-It! app
- Reducing meal portions
- Nearly eliminating sugar
- Run on a more consistent basis by:
- Being more diligent to run short runs (5 or 6 miles) on three weekdays per week
- Getting an earlier start on weekend long runs
- Finish the Boulder Beast 24-mile trail run in significantly less time than last year by:
- Being very diligent about the previous two goals
- Doing much more hill work this year
- Doing strength training
- Not eating at the mile 11 aid station before the Goat Pass so I don’t nearly die getting up that mountain like I did last year.
- Eating two donuts instead of just one at the mile 16 aid station because I will have earned it after skipping food at mile 11
Meditation Goals
- Deepen my meditation practice by:
- Meditating daily instead of in the haphazard way I’ve been doing it
- Continued reading of meditation books
- Listening to Dan Harris’ “10% Happier” podcast more regularly
Music Goals
- Participate in the RPM Challenge by:
- Recording 8 percussion pieces
- Recording 2 songs with vocals and guitar
- Learn to work the saxophone by:
- Taking weekly lessons
Miscellaneous Goal
- Achieve world domination by:
- Top Secret! If I revealed my plan, you might try to thwart me!