October 5, 2010

• final tally

  One year, 81 books (deadline is in a day and a half, and my next book is 900 pages long, and just isn't going to happen by then). Not a calendar year, but a year since getting a Kindle, but since I'm thinking about it, maybe I'll do a quick check-in on this year's resolutions to see how I'm doing, while there's still some time to catch up on any that I might be slacking on.

  My resolutions for 2010, with commentary:

  1. Calm down. I'm not sure how to score this one, really. I think I'm by nature a rather anxious person and prone to worry, if not outwardly, then inside my head. My approach to life might seem pretty calm, compared to my peers, but inside my head, I am constantly plagued by ghosts and demons of my own creation, and driven to do things for unknown reasons. On my reading mission, for example, I set myself a leisurely target of 40 books in a year, but once I exceeded that, I started setting higher and higher targets, to the point that I sometimes actually got a little bit worried that I might not "finish." Finish what? I don't know. Maybe I shouldn't have picked "calm down" as a resolution, because although I handle things that normal people stress out about pretty well (paying bills, getting work done, etc.), I really excel at finding my own things to worry about. Q3 evaluation: Needs improvement.
  2. Figure out what to do with my money other than spend it or let it pile up in a bank account. I have continued leaving most of my money in the bank. I have continued spending it whenever I feel like it. I am slowly accumulating stock and options, but that doesn't really count in my favor, since I get them automatically for work. On the other hand, I still max out my retirement contribution, and have reallocated it to a somewhat more aggressive portfolio (although it's still on the conservative side for someone my age -- I am boring myself to tears just typing this). My biggest change on this front was to write a very large check and send it to 2FX's most recent business venture. If it turns out well, I'll call it an investment. If it turns out poorly, I'll pretend it never happened. Q3 evaluation: Has shown some progress, but still needs improvement.
  3. Read at least 40 books. As mentioned, I've consumed 81 books since getting a Kindle. Even if you take out the twelve that were in 2009, and the twelve that I listened to in the car, that's still 57 books in 2010 so far, which means that my 2010 total has a chance of hitting 70 (excluding audiobooks). Q3 evaluation: Exceeds expectations.
  4. Get really good at my job. On one hand, my manager said that I've exceeded expectations for the last three quarters, and he is putting my name in the running for a promotion this cycle, but on the other hand, I probably won't get it this cycle, because there are other, more senior, more capable people who are ahead of me in that line. So I think I'm doing pretty well, but still have much to learn. I've pulled off some pretty big deals and some heavy-duty drafting, but there's a chance I might have to go to Germany to negotiate a very big deal while stranded nine timezones ahead of all of the people I usually turn to for real-time help, and the fact that I find this possibility extremely daunting means that I'm not good enough for me to consider myself really good just yet. Q3 evaluation: Has shown improvement; meets expectations.

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