About a 6 minute read on average.
I realized I never wrote a 2023 in review but 2024 has already come to a close and here I sit, another year where I'm not really sure what I've accomplished. That may sound a bit self-deprecating but I tend to expect a lot from myself.
Let's start by reviewing what I wanted to based off my previous goals:
- Wake up early (5AM) ❌: I missed the mark on this one. I was in a groove for a solid three weeks but man o' man do I like sleeping. One issue I have with this is finding a good bedtime. We put the kids down around 8:30 so that leaves me the options of 1) Going to bed to wake up early or 2) stay up and have some quality me time. I'll always choose the latter so waking up early cuts into my sleeping hours.
- Fast for 16 hours a day ❌: This didn't happen. Fasting does wonders for me mentally and physically but given that I did more running last year than usual, I skipped this more that I would have liked to admit.
- Write at least 500 words per day ❌: Way off here.
- Mediate a few times per week 🤷🏾♂️: This wasn't consistent but meditation has become a part of my mornings, on most mornings. Something about just sitting in silence makes the entire day better. Sounds like science-fiction but I swear it makes me smarter for a few hours after I finish.
Personal
The older and older I get, the more and more I appreciate everything the small things. 2024 was a year that really allowed me to dial in my ability to be in the moment and I'm proud of that. Even if it may seem that the world is burning all around me, I still have my family and that's important to me.
Music
Music continues to be a rock in my life. It grounds me, keeps me level headed and gives me a new appreciation for the weirdness of the universe. I discovered quite a bit new artists last year, some of my favorites including:
- Dylan Gossett (folk)
- Sam Barber (folk I think)
- Jason Isbell (folk maybe?)
- Zach Bryan (country)
- BigXThePlug (rap)
Health
Something I used take for granted is overall health. I injured my groin in the beginning of October and still to this day, it's not healed. I think I'm ok and it's nothing series but holy moly is it easy to forget that being healthy is an amazing state to be in.
I can't tell you how eager I am to get back to running, playin basketball pain free and being able to sit up in the morning without grimacing.
I do feel that I ate a lot better this past year. A mostly plant-based diet seems to do wonders for me and my well-being so that will be something that I'll continue into 2025.
Professional
YouTube
I started a YouTube channel and posted a whopping two videos on it. But hey, I'm really proud of those two videos and I plan on posting a lot more. There's a lot of work involved in creating a YouTube video that I didn't know about and that was a reality check for me. Noted.
The primary reason I wanted so start a channel was so that I could teach web development stuff, which would in turn cement my own understanding of them. Even though there are murmurs of AI taking over my job and rendering me obsolete in the future, I find web development fascinating and extremely satisfying. So, it only makes sense to get better at it.
Skills
Part of me thinks my skills have remained stagnant over the course of last year. I had a busy year at my full-time job so the skills I had, have remained sharp. One thing I can say is that I'm a better thinker when it comes to architecting large projects. That was something I lacked in the past so I guess that's something.
To improve my CSS skills, I did a slight re-design of this site and I wanted to incoporate some of the new features. Two in particular, scroll driven animations and container queries. Adam Argyle has been a tremendous source of info around CSS and I'll continue to stalk his posts.
Goals for 2025
This time I'm going to jot down some more realistic goals. I realized that I'm not someone who will blog regularly so weekly quota won't work in my case. Also, I tend to over-plan and under-do so I will be doing some thinking on how to get over it. Anyways, next year I want to:
- Wake up between 5 and 6 in the morning: Whenever I take the time to think about my ideal day, it includes an early morning before anyone is awake in the Wells household. Is the universe telling me to stop being lazy and get up?
- Fast for 16+ hours most days of the week: Not eating for a long period of time is hard to do but I think it's critical to have a healthy relationship with food for longevity. I have some experience in the past with fasting so this shouldn't be that difficult.
- Post two YouTube videos per month: We'll see.
- Update my impossible list: This is self-explanitory but it's long overdue.
- Create another source of income: I want to be able to retire at some point and not have to work. What better way to make that happen than to make more money? Just need to figure out how...
- Find a passion project: I need to find or create something to work on that will stretch my web development skills in 2025. It doesn't need to make money but there should be some joy in building it.
Finally
It's easy to be saddened or have a grim outlook on the world if you pay attention to everything. Life is super short and anything can happen at any moment to anyone, including you. Keeping that in mind makes it easier to ignore and avoid anything that disrupts the nirvana of your day.
Here's to 2025 🥂
🐜