Goals in the 50th Year
This will call for a spreadsheet...
This year I turn half a hundred. Rather than just sitting around assessing where I’ve been, although I likely will do some of that too, I think it more desirable to set some goals as to where I’m headed.
Here they are in no particular order but somewhat logically grouped.
Sprint 50 miles - cumulative, of course, and I do mean sprint—full speed
Read 50 books - deep skimming non-fiction and quitting any if they prove not worth finishing counts as long as I have meaningfully attempted them. This relates to the tradeoff thoughts below the list.
Enter 50 Oklahoma counties - some might say "cross", but I'm too literal for that.
Present in 50 prospective-client meetings at work - I am not in complete control of this being attained, but it is reasonable.
Watch 50 movies or TV shows with family members1
Go on 50 dates with my wife - just her and I; walks, etc. can count; simply watching a movie or TV show at home does not
Try 50 new restaurants - widely interpreted such that a new, non-chain coffee shop would count
Go to The Library Bar and Grill 50 times
Mix and drink 50 new-to-me cocktails - leaning heavily on Peter Suderman for help on this one
Create 50 adventures and challenges for my kids along with doing first-time activities with them - this would be everything from scavenger hunts to puzzles as well as goals to help them reach to games we've never played together or places they haven’t been.
Write and publish (on this blog) 50 poems
Write 50 *****redacted*****
Complete having visited all 50 states - admittedly a somewhat easy one being that there are only two (Alaska and Vermont). Still these are fairly distant and remote from Oklahoma.
Have 50 conversations or deep engagements with (various) AIs
Daily (exercise) do 50 of any two:
Pushups
Sit-ups
Curls
Burpees
Other that is comparable
Running for sprinting goal counts toward this goal as do combinations like 25 burpees, 25 sit-ups, and 50 push ups
Daily (other):
Read on average 50 blog posts or articles
Bi-Weekly:
Listen to 50 hours of podcasts on average
Quarterly:
Publish 50 blog posts
Upcoming posts to include: Remarkable Conceptual Frameworks, My Likelihood of Visiting Various Countries, It’s All Made Up, Targeted Persuasion on free trade and school choice among others, a return of WWCF, much more Dimensions Analysis, and many Partial Lists.
Bike 50 miles
Eat 50 pounds of fruit and salads - I estimate this would be per week about six large apples or oranges or comparable fruit quantities and four "big salads".
Eat 50 eggs - "It seemed a nice, round number."
I fully intend to complete all of this, and I reserve the right to amend it as proves necessary including adding to the list. Since the fact remains that I cannot magically get extra time (or energy) just because I've set some ambitious goals (TANSTAAFL, no solutions only tradeoffs, 2nd law of thermodynamics, etc.), I have to give up something to do all this.
My thinking is that this should force me to economize making better decisions regarding outsourcing (do it more)2, frivolous time killers (do them less), and general discipline. This would include letting good be good enough—perfectionism and completism be dammed.
PS: Perhaps self challenge is my production function as Tyler Cowen might say.
For the most part gone are the days of getting all five of us to sit down for a show.
Outsourcing 50 projects could itself have been a goal. My strong tendency is to do it myself rather than hire someone to do it. It’s like my degree is in home economics rather than the other one.