Here we are at the end of 2022, and wow, that year went by fast! Let’s do the thing again and look back at last year’s goals. I already know this is a special year for marking progress.

Last Year’s Goals

The Year of the Build

1. Lots of R2-D2 Progress - Unparalleled success!

This is, no contest, the best goal achievement of a planned goal to conclusion. I started the year with a pile of parts and as of literally December 30th, I have a functional, working droid. Almost the entirety of my free time was dedicated to this project, and I could not be more proud of my accomplishment. I learned so much and am now addicted to building. I’ll be sharing build log and photos soon.

2. Two Complex Cosplays - Fail

While I failed at this goal, I don’t necessarily think of it that way. The reason I failed was because my focus was on R2-D2. Had I divided my attention, I don’t think that project would have gone as well as it did. What I really learned here is how much effort I have to give in a year and what my time limits really are.

3. Build that Tricorder - Fail

This is a similar case to goal #2. I had the best of intentions here, but I ended up just not having enough time to do this one given the amount of effort involved with goal #1.

The Year of the Long Term Plan

4. Have an answer to where I'll live long term - Success, but potential mixed answer

I spent a bunch of time, money, and energy on this goal this year. I traveled to countries to see how I felt about them, and in some cases, spending a longer period of time there. I’ve also spent time assessing my immediate personal needs and how it relates to these possible moves. I think I’ve settled on an answer that works. The caveat here is that who knows what politics will change causing me to have to make another difficult choice. If somehow I lose my rights and freedoms / have to flee to live, which is possible, that will obviously change things. And if you’re looking for the answer: I’m moving back to Boston. My immediate problem is isolation causing extreme depression. California is beautiful, but turns out it’s not where my heart is.

5. What are my long term goals and desires? - Mixed

I still don’t know what my long term goals are beyond a few years. I have ideas. I have some answers in some areas. I don’t have all the answers. I think things are clearer for me than a year ago, but I still have some exploration to do here.

6. How do I get from there to here? - Mixed

I mark this one as mixed because I do know how I’m going to get to my new location. That’s going to happen around mid 2023 and is pretty straightforward. I’m looking forward to it. However, the path forward on long term goals is unclear yet. Still TBD.

The Year of Mental Health

7. Focus on my overall mental health and wellbeing - Mixed

Lots of mixed results on these goals. Honestly my mental health has always been a challenge. This year is no different. It’s been a bit more stable than it was towards the end of 2021, but it’s still not particularly wonderful. Lots of anxiety, worry, and depression, but especially anxiety. The depression has been a bit more controllable since deciding to never attempt dating again. I know isolation has played a big part, too. I’m hoping moving to Boston again helps eliminate that concern.

8. Take PTO and Vacations - Success

Though I could definitely take more PTO, I did take a number of trips this year. In fact, I traveled so much that I got burned out on it and also now have status with an airline. My traveling took me to 5 countries (Ireland, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, and the US, of course) and 7 US states (Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Utah, New York, and California). I stayed in Ireland for 3 weeks. This holiday season I’ve taken a two week staycation. So it’s definitely a success.

9. See family and friends - Success

With all my travels this year, I saw so many friends, some of which I hadn’t seen in 5 years, and some I’d never met before in person. I visited family in Wisconsin twice. I saw great friends in Minnesota and Iowa that I hadn’t seen in years. New York had me reconnecting with some folks I met years back, too. It was a great year for seeing people.

10. Be kind to myself - Mixed

I don’t want to say I failed here, because I know there were times I was kind to myself. However, I am really not very good at being nice to myself. This is an area of improvement that will always be present, I think.

Final Verdict on 2022 Goals

2022 has been a special year. I have only 2 outright failures, 4 mixed results, and 3 successes and 1 unparalleled success. So if I grade these (0 for fails, 1 for mixed, 2 for success, and 1 bonus for unparalleled success), that’s 13 / 20. That’s a 65% rate, which is probably my best success rate overall. For comparison, 2021 had a 20% rate. Crushed it!

2023 Goals

We’ll be breaking these up into categories again, since that really works well.

Growth

1. Master pie crusts

Every holiday season pie crusts are my baking white whale. I want to get it right finally and to not make the same mistakes every year. The only way I’m going to do this is by making a lot of pie crusts. So this year will have a lot of sweet and savory dishes that require crusts.

2. Learn Electronics

This may seem counterintuitive because I built a functional R2-D2 that involved electronics. I worked my way through that, but I don’t really understand all the nuances. I want to really get down to the nitty gritty of it and understand it really well so I can build stuff without having to ask for help all the time. So I’ve looked at a Coursera course on electronics that I’m planning to take.

3. Learn CAD

Here’s another one where I can do basic work in CAD now, but there’s so much I don’t know. I’d like to sign up for an online course here, too. I think it would be great for improving my making skills overall.

Making

4. Improve R2 and add gadgets

R2-D2 is currently in a working, but rough state. Electronics need to be cleaned up. Battery plates need to be designed. I need to figure out how to add in the lifeform scanner and periscope. I need to get all the hinges working, etc. There’s a lot of work yet, and I’d love to have him in a more polished state by EOY 2023.

5. Make more droids

I’ve been bitten by the making bug, and now I want to make more. So my goals here are to build 2 more droids this year, a mouse droid and BD-1. Both are much smaller with a lot less involved. So this should be doable.

6. Simple Cosplays

Last year I wanted to do complex cosplays. This year, I just want to do some simple ones. I have a jedi cosplay that’s half done. I want to finish that. I also want to literally just buy some Trek uniforms that fit me. That’s easy enough. Additionally, I have a unique idea that would be simple and hilarious: a Twi’lek smuggler juggler. I’ll post more about this idea as I go along.

Happiness

7. Execute on living plans

Now that I know where I want to be, I need to actually follow through. I’m looking at home prices, but I’m holding off on making any offers until they drop a bit in value with this potential recession coming. So we’ll see, but the plan is for mid 2023.

8. Travel a bit less

I seriously got burned out on being in hotels and planes this past year, and especially the latter half of the year. I was just too much. I would like to limit my travel to what work requires, seeing family, and one big vacation to either Iceland or New Zealand, plus heading out to house hunt. 

9. More time with friends

I’ve felt so isolated with where I live. While I have a few friends here, I really only have like…one or two friends that I’m closer with. I don’t see them often. I just need to spend more time with people I care about.

10. A new pet

I don’t know that I posted about this, but in January Scarlet passed. She was not well. She had a persistent respiratory illness, her kidneys were failing, she had a vestibular issue that was suspected to be a stroke, and there was a strong likelihood of cancer. I got to say goodbye to her in my arms in my house, and I deeply miss her. It’s taken me a while, but I’m finally ready to have another fur baby. I’m not going to do so until I move, but I can’t wait. I may not limit myself to one fur baby, either. We’ll see.

Closing thoughts

2022 was really an unprecedented year for goals. I don’t know that I’ll ever do better than that, but with each year, I feel like I’m at least learning to approach these with better scope, grace, and achievability. I hope that 2023 proves to be another successful year!