2016 was a mixed bag. On one hand, we had the Brexit vote, Donald Trump’s election, Russia getting crazy, the Syrian civil war and refugee crisis getting worse and worse, and a lot of our favorite celebrities and pop stars passed away (RIP Muhammed Ali, David Bowie, Carrie Fisher, Prince, George Michael, and many others). In many ways it seems to have been a bad year for the world.
On the other hand, I have to admit that Leila and I had a pretty great year. Here’s a quick run down of our 2016, our travels and accomplishments:
- I ran my second triathlon.
- I went to 8 countries, 5 of which I had never been to before, for a total of 38 countries I’ve been to now
- Leila and I went to 6 weddings!
- I stayed steadily below 200 lbs for most of the year, including after Thanksgiving and Christmas
- Learned a good amount of Japanese, helpful enough for ordering and taxis
- Cooked sometimes, with Blue Apron, on and off for the year
- I’ve been dating Leila for 3 years! It’s been amazing.
- Got a job back at Google and left Twitter behind
- I learned a lot of code! I did the iOS developer course on Udacity, doing all the projects except making my own app.
- Read 56 books! That’s more than a book a week for the whole year!
Here are some things I’d like to do in 2017:
- Buy an rental/investment property
- In doing so, learn to be smart about how I spend and save my money
- Write a first draft of a novel
- Post on this website some times
- PR in the New York Triathlon. I’m thinking 2:45-ish right now, but we’ll reassess throughout the year
- 9 races with NYRR
- Continue to learn coding, focusing on FE development that I can apply to this site and others
- Explore some ideas for a side business
As for the wider world, let’s hope for the best! the bad news is inspiring in some ways to do better and be better so I can be of some use to my family and friends in turbulent times if they should come. I hope that humanity can do better this year, starting with myself!
Happy New Year!
Ben