I just wrapped up a successful 2024 with a clearer vision of what really matters. But the new year is already underway so it's time to set my goals in stone and get to work. Here's what I want to accomplish in 2025.

😼 more adventurous marriage

I feel like I say this one every year, but me and Gaby love going out country dancing at Mavericks. We want to break out of the mold and be more adventurous. A couple things we have on our list to do instead of dancing include:

• arcade
• pickle ball
• raquet ball
• axe throwing
• boxing class
• rock climbing
• latin dancing
• nice restaurants

We are also in the process of planning our ten year anniversary trip. Instead of going to a beach like we usually do, we are taking a week long trip to New York City that will allow us to experience a ton of new things together and create some new lasting memories.

👷🏼‍♂️ just build stuff

In the past I've focused on building software applications to make money. While that is still a great goal, this year I want to focus on projects that I actually want to build. Hopefully this will lead to more follow through on my end. I have a backlog of ideas that might be interesting to bring to life.

• loteria
• pictionary
• workout planner
• super bowl squares
• school pick up scheduler

I also plan to document the process on my YouTube channel. I used to say I never created content because I wasn't building enough, so tackling personal project for fun should provide me with lots of ideas to publish.

🇲🇽 more spanish conversations

Last year I hit 1000 days on Duolingo and I gained a lot of confidence in my ability to have full conversations in Spanish. I even went as far as purchasing Duolingo Max to leverage AI to help me learn. But it's not as good as I had hoped for, and there's no substitute for real life conversations. So this year I want to make it a point to have more Spanish only conversations with my wife and kids.

💪🏼 lean for summer

I normally cut during the summer to get a little leaner, but last summer I had just wrapped up my half marathon and I was still hybrid training both lifting and running. While that kept my weight low, around 182, I was lacking muscle mass.

This year we have a trips planned to Mexico and New York, so I want to look good. My goal is to get down just under 180 pounds. Going back to my traditional training methods of bodybuilding workouts mixed with low intensity cardio, paired with a high protein / low carb diet, should do the trick.

😶‍🌫️ understand caffeine and alcohol

Over the holiday break I was eating a lot and found that drinking coffee in the morning didn't make my stomach feel great. I also indulged in plenty of whiskey in the evenings. So right after the new year I finished my last bottle of whiskey, and stopped drinking coffee in the mornings.

I'm not saying I want to quit caffeine and alcohol necessarily, but I will never understand how my body feels without it if I don't take a break. So I'm considering this an experiment in hopes that I learn some things about my body, and then I'll decide if I want to reintroduce those things back into my life.

🙌🏼 more social with online friends

I'm grateful to have made so many web development friends online over the past few years. And just like my real life friends, I want to put more effort into staying in touch with them.

I plan to do this through Discord channels, voice chats, and direct messages. I love the idea of opening up a voice chat channel and making myself available for anyone who wants to stop by. This is made even easier now that Discord is both on the MacBook while I'm coding, and on the Playstation while I'm gaming.

🎮 play more games

Last year I read no books but played a lot of games, and I honestly had a great time! I should use my free time to relax, not to keep filling my brain with productivity tips. So here are some games I plan to play this year.

• Diablo IV
• Balatro
• Vampire Survivors
• Wayfinder
• The Plucky Squire
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

🎸 more physical things

I spend way too much time on a computer as it is, and I want to introduce more physical hobbies in my life. I have a few interests outside of coding that have piqued my interest lately, and I think it would be good if I pulled those threads to see where they lead.

• piano
• guitar
• drumming
• 3d printing
• raspberry pi

We have plenty of instruments at home, so I should spend some dedicated time practicing them to improve. It would be really cool to develop a new skill.

Recently I was researching a lot about web hosting and thought to myself, "What if I could just run a Raspberry Pi and host whatever I wanted?!" And that thought lead me down a rabbit hole to "What if I had a cluster of Raspberry Pi's hosting applications and I 3D printed a server rack for them?!" So there's definitely something there to explore.

🎬 conclusion

Looking back at at this list there aren't a lot of concrete goals. No dollar amounts, subscriber counts, or analytics numbers. This year I want to focus on what really matters and spend my free time with the people I love, and doing the hobbies I enjoy.

No pressure, no stress, just chill vibes in 2025.