Not on track. I've reformulated this goal to be a composite of a few goals. You can read more about that here and here.
In short, I stopped interviewing people months ago for now but may interview a few more people before the year is over. I met a handful of new people and went out on some basic dates, but I'm not focused on that as much currently. Finally, I've written 2 songs, and it's looking like I'm going to be writing a bunch more to satisfy this goal...
Still on track! Our new album is out! You can listen to it on Spotify or Youtube Music among other streaming services.
This is turning out to be one of the most satisfying goals. It helps to achieve something when you are doing it with a group of people who want to achieve it as badly as you.
On this album, besides contributing by playing my own parts and co-producing, I wrote: "Time to Write My Country Song." I bought a pedal steel guitar, learned what I could in a week, and recorded some parts with it.
Still on track here also.
Still on track!
Behind but close. Current passion projects:
I've also been preparing for India Nite 2019. The performance is October 19th, 7pm at Jesse Hall. Our 15-minute set will likely be around 8pm. I think I'll classify this as a "Passion Project."
I'm not on track with this goal. Although I biked to work (7.5 miles one way) often, I didn't do it regularly enough to make up the deficit that I was already in.
And now that it's getting colder, I doubt I'll be able to / want to bike to work often. And while I did initially plan on doing more rowing, I doubt I'll do that because I feel like it was hard on my lower back.
I created this goal to get in shape a bit and drop the weight I got when I started eating all that Carfax / Seasoning 63 food 2.5 years ago. And although exercise is obviously good, I've slowly learned that it's far easier to stay in decent shape and lose some weight by not eating a ton of calories. Ultimately, 5.2 hours/week is hard for me to spend on exercise, and I doubt I'll be able to complete this goal.
I feel better when I don't eat that stuff. When I ate at Seasoning 63 daily, it was glorious for the duration of the lunch, but afterwards, I'd always feel lethargic. And since I don't drink caffine or do any other stimulants, it's harder to be productive.
Also, I think I've developed an indicator for knowing when I'm over my natural size. Being a medium-wearing non-shirt-tucker, a cavity develops between the shirt and skin as my gut expands. As a consequence, I feel an extra breeze down there during normal indoor walking. To me, this is an incredibly foreign feeling. When I feel this, I know it's time to do something about it.
In summary, I'm eating less excessive foods and less food in general. I'm closer to my natural weight. I have more predictable energy. And with some daily yoga and meditation, I've gotten a lot more comfortable with my body. So even though I'm not hitting my goal, I'm happy with my general progress in this area.
Definitely on track. I'm retiring from Shakes though in the next month or two: probably on the last home football game of the season. Because I've worked many Saturdays this year, I should easily be able to coast in December and still get a 5.2 hour/week average.
I always told myself that I would not retire from Shakes until I was the best roller that ever worked there. However, I may have to settle for being the best roller that I can be. I'm still not as good as A.P., and I don't think I will ever be. But at this point, I think I'm okay with that.
Early on in the year, I started developing some sort of physical reaction to the massive amount of flour that I'm always around during a shift. After about 2 hours, I start getting a runny nose and have to attend to that every 5 minutes or so. Having to wipe or blow my nose and wash my hands continually is annoying (not to mention that it slows me down). And as I mentioned above, now that I'm becoming a bit more body-conscious, I want to respect what my body is trying to tell me and quit the rolling thing.
I had a good run.
Overall, despite not doing so hot on some goals, I'm doing fine on most of them and I feel pretty darn good.
I finally feel like my life is evolving. I feel like I've gotten noticeably better at several critical skills since the beginning of the year (music production and software engineering). And I'm already thinking how my goals after this year will continue to evolve my life in an even better direction.
I feel like I've done a good job of creating an abundance of options and opportunities for myself. In my experience, it's easier to feel excited, safer, relaxed, confident, and joyful when one has an abundance of these things. There is always something to look forward to. And for someone like me who is inclined to be focused on the future, that's really important. When I don't have this abundance, I feel stressed, desperate, anxious, and depressed. And the negative feedback loop that results is not usually a productive one.
So, yeah! That's all I have for now. I'm about to get dressed, roll pizzas all day at Shakes for what will likely be my last Homecoming shift, and afterwards leave for Vienna to attend a little Class-of-2008 get-together. Until next time...