What I will achieve in 2023, the year I turn 25
Seven goals to lead me to success this the year
New year, new me. And new goals!
For the third year in a row, I’m setting new year’s resolutions and writing about them in the form of this newsletter. This means I have no option but to rise to the challenges I set for myself or fail publicly. The stakes are high, but that’s what makes it fun!
This year, I’ve set seven goals. I will outline each goal, the intention behind it, and what I hope to get out of each goal if I complete it. I’ve broken the seven goals into three categories.
Without further ado, happy new year, and let’s jump right in!
Category 1: Healthy Habits
As I finish my twenty-fifth year on this planet, I want to continue solidifying the habits I’ve built over the past two years that make me a better human. The foundation is there. I just have to keep working on it.
Because I turn 25 this year, I designed the first four goals around the number 25.
(1) Post 25 newsletters. ✍️
I posted 30 newsletters in 2021 when my goal was to post 52.
Last year, I didn’t set a specific number goal, and I posted 12.
This year, I’m meeting in the middle. I am setting a number goal, but it is easier to reach than 52. Now that I’ve developed a pretty good habit of writing a little every day, it should be a walk in the park as long as I keep this habit up.
Like the last two years, writing a consistent newsletter will allow me to reflect on myself, my failures, and my achievements. It’s the best way I’ve found to push myself to improve, and I continue to find real value in writing and hearing feedback from you weekly. This newsletter brings me many benefits, and I hope, and I think, that reading about my challenges and how I overcome them also benefits you, the reader.
So you can expect 24 more of these this year. (At least if I succeed!)
(2) Read 25 books. 📚
Last year I read 36 books, so this should be easy since the habit is already set.
My goal of reading an hour a day last year was too much to handle and more than I needed to feel fulfilled. Reading twenty-five books allows me to read a lot while leaving more than enough time on the side to do all the other stuff I have to do—the perfect balance.
As I’ve said countless times before, reading consistently is the best habit I’ve picked up since I started writing my newsletter. It injects each day with knowledge and energy in a way that no other activity can.
At the time of reading this, I’ve already finished two books this year. Can’t wait to see what the other 23 hold.
(Add me on Goodreads, I love to see what others are reading: goodreads.com.)
(3) Meditate 250 times. 🧘♂️
Last year I meditated hundreds of times (I don’t know the exact numbers) without a clear-cut goal.
Now I do have a clear-cut goal: 250 days of meditation. This is ambitious, but it only takes a few minutes each day and allows me to miss over a hundred days in the year. On top of that, I already have the habit set. I’ve made meditating part of my morning routine, and it’s become as commonplace as brushing my teeth. All I need to do is execute.
Although it only takes a few minutes a day, what I gain from meditation is priceless. It gives me control over my emotions and makes me a more balanced person. It allows me to know and understand myself better, which enables me to be a better person outwardly. It’s calming and empowering. Try it if you haven’t already!
(4) Create 25 creative creations. 👨🎨
Yes, I used “create” three times in the title of this goal. That’s because this year, I want to create create create.
Last year, other than twelve newsletters and a couple of side projects, I didn’t create anything. I had a lot on my plate between work, reading an hour a day, and other things that life throws at you, but I would have liked to create more.
The previous year, in 2021, I had a goal of posting 52 TikTok’s, which was a more measurable and ambitious goal but too strict and hard to achieve. I did create slightly more in 2021 but then felt like I had failed when I didn’t meet the very high benchmark I had set.
This year, I’m trying to find a middle ground by combining the measurability of 2021’s goal with the openness of last year’s. My goal: to produce 25 creations.
What constitutes a creation? A YouTube video, TikTok, random side project, website design, any piece of writing, etc. It can be anything, really (except a newsletter because that has its own goal.) The only metric I will use to define whether or not something I created counts towards this goal is this: Am I proud of it? Quality and time invested don’t matter. “Am I proud of this?” is the only thing that counts.
The first thing I’m going to work on? My personal website. As someone who’s been coding for about twelve years, it’s crazy I don’t have one already. It’ll work as a portfolio/business card, but I want to have fun with it. Maybe it’ll involve some form of a game. Whatever it ends up being, you’ll hear about it soon in the newsletter.
Category 2: Physical Challenges
Running a marathon last year was my first significant physical achievement. I want to continue to explore this in the new year through the following two goals.
(5) Complete a triathlon. 🏊♂️🚴♂️🏃♂️
This is self-explanatory. I want to complete a triathlon.
This is a natural progression from marathon running, with the added benefit of diversifying the training and strain on my body, giving my knees some room to breathe.
I’ve already signed up for a triathlon, the 2023 Harryman Triathlon, which I’ll be doing alongside my friend Francesco (or most likely far, far behind him). It’s an Olympic distance triathlon, which means it’s not the crazy Ironman or half-Ironman distances, but it’s still a big endurance challenge that requires skill in three different disciplines. Our training program starts in two weeks.
My hope with this goal is that I will finally be able to complete an entire training program. As I wrote about two weeks ago, my body couldn’t handle a whole marathon training plan without getting injured. The main problem was the running volume that put incredible pressure on my knees. Biking and swimming are lower-impact sports that don’t lend themselves to the same kind of injuries, so that should help. And doing the training program with a friend should also help keep me motivated.
We shall see.
(6) Complete a second marathon. 🏃♂️
After I finish the triathlon, I want to run another marathon. I probably would have waited another year before attempting this again, but it just so happens that my friend Brigid and I have both completed all the necessary requirements to be able to run the 2023 NYC Marathon. So now I have to do it, right?
This, alongside the triathlon, will allow me to have two major races this year with training spread out evenly throughout the year. My hope is that the fitness from triathlon training will result in gains in marathon training. In turn, I hope this allows me to go through more of a training program than I did last year.
And since I’m also doing this race with a friend, I’ll have an added motivator to get me to train.
I have two sub-goals for this one, but it’s OK if they don’t happen. They are:
A new PR (personal record). I finished my first marathon in 5:23:23, which is good for the amount of training I put in, but I could do better. I’m confident this should be possible as long as I'm not injured.
No cramps. That was my big issue last time. I need to research methods to minimize cramping and stretches to resolve any cramping that may occur so that it doesn’t impact my race.
Category 3: Living the Life
Life is not just about habits, overcoming challenges, and hard work. It is also about adventure. The name of this newsletter is “life to the max,” after all, and as rewarding as reading is, I don’t think it qualifies as living life to the max.
Hence, the seventh and final goal for the year.
(7) Check 10 items off of my bucket list. 🗺👨🎓🏄♂️🧗♂️🌋👨🏫🎥🏕🛤👨🚀
It’s time I start living life a little.
As I mentioned in my last newsletter, I spent some time in 2022 building up a bucket list 100 items long. My next newsletter will be all about that list.
These goals are one-offs. Some will be easy to achieve, and some will take years. The key, though, is that rather than making me a better person with healthy habits (which is what my new year’s resolutions are for), my bucket list goals are about maximizing my enjoyment of life and all it has to offer. They will all lead to amazing adventures that will turn into stories down the line.
I won’t add anything more until next week when I’ll go in-depth about my entire bucket list. Some of it will be deeply personal and potentially embarrassing. But the benefits I’ve found over the past two years of being open and public about my aspirations have outweighed the occasional embarrassment from my failures and missteps. That’s why I’m sharing this list, and I’ll take you along the way as I check off goals this year and in the future.
That’s it! 2023 is well underway, and I have seven goals to lead me to success this the year.
Thanks as always for reading my newsletter. I’d love to know if you have any comments about my goals or if you’d like to share your goals with me, either in the comments below or by dm.
Happy new year, and I’ll see you in the next one! ❤️
can't wait to see what's on the bucket list
Very informative !! Thanks