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2025 Goals

·4 mins

Last year I used the CGP Grey Theme System by declaring 2024 the “Year of Externalization”. The idea was simple: to get information out of my mind and onto physical media more often. While it was successful, it was a bit too vaguely defined with no real measurable aspects.

As I just finished reading John Doerr’s “Measure What Matters”, this year’s set of goals will follow the OKR format. These OKRs build some on what I started in 2024, but mostly provide quantitative results. At the end of each quarter, I’ll revist these on this website to check-in on my progress toward their completion.

Without further ado, here are my three objectives for 2025:

O1: Become a better writer #

I used to write more docs in my day job but haven’t done as much recently. Thus one of my key focuses is to improve my technical writing and to write more.

  1. Publish 50 posts on this blog. The most important step is to simply start writing more. The easiest way to do that would be to write a new post here every week. However, missing one week due to a lack of potential content would kill the momentum. Instead, the focus here is to simply get 50 posts published here in total, regardless of even perodicity. And yes, this post counts as the first one.
  2. Read 12 books. I read a lot of news articles and listen to quite a few podcasts. To become a better writer, I should also read more long-form writing. This goal works out to a book each month. This will be tracked via Goodreads.
  3. (Work) Write 12 design docs. This is the real meat of the objective. As I’m now a senior engineer, I am expected to write more docs. A target of 12 fully fleshed out technical design docs should be reasonable. Note that this does not include quick one-pagers, design proposals, and other related docs.
  4. (Work) Read 50 design docs. To get better at writing design docs, one needs to learn from other design docs.

O2: Continue improving my health and fitness #

In 2024 I made large strides on sustainably improving my health and fitness. I intend to continue this trend throughout 2025.

  1. Get below xx.x% body fat. While weight is easy to track, body fat percentage gives a better overall indicator of fitness but is much harder to track. I have a baseline from a scan and will be using a smart scale to get an approximation on progress until the next scan. And no, I’m not posting the actual target nor my starting percentage.
  2. Walk 3,500 kilometers. This year I walked/ran over 3,000 km and burned through several pairs of shoes in the process. For 2025, I intend to push this a bit further to 3,500 km. This may not count treadmills because of GPS.
  3. Journal daily. Following my 2024 goal of externalization, I’ve come to learn more of the importance of daily journaling. Thus the goal is to journal most, if not all, days in 2025.

O3: Improve my personal education #

Learning is one of the most fulfilling things one can do and I fully intend to be a lifelong learner.

  1. Write C++, Rust, Kotlin, and Starlark. I’ve been doing a lot of Go and some TypeScript code recently. I’ve been neglecting the other langauges I should be fully versed on. Thus this year, the goal is to write usable executables (even if only for personal use) in C++, Rust, and Kotlin. I also intend to become more familiar with Starlark/Bazel and to start using them on my own projects.
  2. Refresh linear algebra. Linear algebra is key to the AI/ML wave that is taking the tech industry by storm. As an infrastructure engineer, I want to better understand how AI/ML works. Thus I need a strong grasp of linear algebra.
  3. Finish a class or course on AI/ML. As stated in O3KR2, I want to better understand how AI/ML works. Thus taking a class or course in AI/ML should help give me a more structured point from which I can dive into this field.
  4. Achieve A1 proficiency in a secondary language. I’ve dabbled in numerous languages (Spanish, German, Japanese, Esperanto, French, etc.). It would be better if I can achieve equivalence, or certification, of A1 (or equivalent) or higher in at least one of them.
  5. Learn common chords, progressions, scales, and modes. I’ve been writing music for years, but much of the time I go by what sounds good. I may know some of the most common chords and progressions, but it would be good to familiarize myself with the subject matter as taught in music theory.

I’ll post updates to these objectives around the end of Q1.