Grant Jenks Logo

2013 Goals: Achieved

Tomorrow will be the day for New Year’s resolutions. But today I thought I’d reflect on the goals I achieved in 2013, or at least my progress toward them. All in all it was an extremely productive and daring year.

  1. Get healthy: December over December, I’ve lost 16 pounds. In 2012, I weighed in at the doctor’s office at 161. I normally think of myself as 150 so 11 pounds seemed like more than small fluctuations. I resolved in 2013 to exercise, eat less sugar, eat more salad, and get my weight down to 140 pounds. For the first four months, all I did was change my diet: I stopped eating dessert and drinking beer every night; I bought the Trader Joe’s ready-made salads which make a great lunch; and I continued eating oatmeal with fresh fruit for breakfast. Beyond that, I didn’t have any rules or guidelines. I sometimes noticed myself binging on weekends but I don’t think it got too bad. In April, I got a bicycle trainer that let me ride indoors. That thing is great. I’ve gone from an average of 12 mph over 15 minutes to 21 mph over 20 minutes. And I reached a high average of 24 mph. That’s twice what I started at! I didn’t reach my goal weight of 140 so I’m going to press on in 2014 to lose another 5-10 pounds.
  2. Floss every night: I did it! I even like it sometimes now. My gums don’t bleed as they did when I started and I guess my teeth are healthier. I’m kind of bummed to need to continue this but I guess that’s part of being responsible for myself.
  3. Visit Japan: Shannon and I did it! What a great country to visit. I am fascinated by Japanese culture and particularly enjoy their hospitality and food. Our best photos from the trip are on Facebook. I wrote a little about the language barrier too.
  4. Square accounts: From 2012 taxes to loans from parents, second mortgages and major home improvements, this was a year of paying off debts. I’m proud to say we’re down to a mortgage and HELOC now and we’ve made a big dent in the HELOC. In 2014, I’m hoping to pay off the HELOC in full.
  5. Resign Microsoft, start Sole Proprietorship: I did it! Yikes! It still quickens my pulse to think that I’m “flying solo” now. Read about moving on from Microsoft and officially starting my own software business.
  6. Buy and care for a happy dog! I did it! Her name is Tesla and she is a beautiful golden retriever .
  7. Volunteer: I’m volunteering weekly in three places now: tutoring AP Calc students at Shannon’s High School, leading a programming club, and being a River Community Church Youth Leader. I didn’t expect to start any of these things specifically in 2013. I just knew I wanted to start volunteering. The experience has been a wonderful way to “give back” and share the things I’m passionate about.
  8. Publish Python modules: I did it! Two of them! I chose two projects that were small and would let me get a feel for Github, PyPI, and Read the Docs. Learn more about the tribool data type and Python runstats module .

2013 was an incredible year for me. I hope it was great for you too. Here’s to an even greater 2014!