Warning, the annual tradition of highlighting goals and the strategy for the new year incoming.
Top-line outcomes that I’m looking to hit in 2025 in no particular order.
- Be present, engaged, and involved in my kids' life as a top focus.
- Being the best partner and husband possible.
- Be stronger than I have ever been by 40 years old. I’d like to measure this a few ways but would like to have five rep maxes of Squat - 275lb, Deadlifts - 350lbs, and Bench Press of 225lbs
- Be below 200 pounds for at least 8 months of the year.
- Marked improvements in objective health markers year over year. I want a Dexa scan, VO2 max, and other health markers to be improved from January 2025 to January 2026.
- Camp in the van for at least 30 nights in a year.
- Be a published podcaster, likely with our ongoing D&D group.
- Feel more comfortable presenting in front of a camera and/or audience.
- Rekindle my love of photography
- Slow my brain down and avoid infinity pool traps that are so easy to fall into.
- Be a better filmmaker
- Be a better writer
- Payoff ALL outstanding debt
- Write a completed novel draft
- Read at least 52 books. Be it fiction, non-fiction, poetry, screenplays, or graphic novels.
- Embrace learning across different channels, forms, and mediums.
To achieve these goals, I’m going to take a more novel approach. By trade, I’m a growth marketer, which is a blend of true analysis and creativity. At its heart, I generate hypotheses and then test them, scaling the ones that most effectively generate pipeline and revenue for my company. Why not apply that to my personal growth and goals as well? Test a bunch of hypotheses and then scale or continue the ones that prove to be successful.
We all know it’s impossible to change too much at one time. If you try it, and I have, then nothing will stick.
I’ve piloted this program through December, specifically focusing on two things:
- Run a 4-day strength training routine.
- Get at least 7 hours of sleep per night.
So far, I have had great success, but I want to do more in 2025 while again keeping it manageable. To do this, I’ll have a small number of annual goals. Shorter monthly and quarterly experiments will drive success.
The annual experiments are as follows:
- 2501A - Record a workout 70% of the days
- 2502A - Daily weigh-in
- 2503A - Daily selfie
- 2504A - Participate in the 52 Frames photography challenge
- 2505A - Read 52 books
- 2506A - Wear Oura ring all year long
- 2507A - Sleep in the van for 30+ days
- 2508A - Pay off all non-mortgage debt
- 2509A - Reduce annual expenses by 20%
- 2510A - Complete a first draft of a novel
From there, I’ll have a series of Quarterly and Monthly experiments. Some will feed directly into the Annual experiments, while others are more aligned with my general list of goals.
I expect these to alter and shift throughout the year, but the goal is to acknowledge that I have limited bandwidth and to be selective but serious about what I can do in each experimental timeframe. Some will be dedicated one-offs and, even in success, will be left to sit in favor of other experiments. Others will become habits and require minimal effort to maintain going forward if they prove successful.
Here’s what is on deck to start the year.
Quarterly
- 2511Q - No Alcohol
- 2512Q - Complete a 12-week strength training periodization block
- 2513Q - Track calories and macros
Monthly
- 2514M - Record a <3 data-preserve-html-node="true" minute nano-vlog daily
- 2515M - Intermittent Fast on a 16/8 schedule
- 2516M - Eat at a reasonable caloric deficit as prescribed by the MacroFactor app.
Ambitious? Maybe. Very similar to most New Year’s resolution style goals? For sure!
However, I’ve run these types of goals in a less formal application most years, and most years, I successfully have about 50% stick, in the way of a monthly habit log that I keep. This is that, with a bit more public documentation.
My rationale behind this selection is relatively straightforward. I have other friends and family who are participating in the health-based experiments, so having accountability pals raises the likelihood of success a bit.
Meanwhile, on the creative side, the weekly photography challenge will consume some weekend time, ideally with the boys, so I wanted to limit any other creative outlet. The 3-minute nano vlog is more about the habit of doing something that is a VERY light lift that will help kickstart having a daily creative practice again.
Meanwhile, the weigh-in is already routine, the selfie is fairly consistent, and the programming block is just an extension of my current workout program vs an addition to it.
In future months and quarters, there may be one or two more demanding experiments, but my goal is to keep the input relatively low, with many of the experiments being “not doing” rather than “doing.” That way, my attention isn’t too bifurcated, and I can actually focus on only one new thing.
I’m also trying to approach this while being tremendously cognizant of my limited time. For instance, I love learning and practicing piano, drawing, web design, and writing. But I have at most 20-40 minutes a day. Rather than place the expectation on trying to do everything, I want to do just one thing.
I don’t expect to be good or even much more proficient, but I hope to find joy in the process. Then, in future iterations, I can decide if I want to focus on one or two things or keep my explorations broad.
I’m a human with a lot of responsibilities. Doing nothing drops me into a depression. Doing too much drives me to exhaustion. Doing a bit of something. Focused on one thing. It may be the sweet spot.
I’m excited to find out.