Goals for 2023

Upon turning 30, I started feeling like time was running out. It's become a pest of a thought, always there in the back of my mind -- that nothing lasts forever.

Since I was young, I've always been sensitive to the passage of time. Somewhere in my mind, there's always this sense of urgency, this ever-present drive to maximize my work output per unit of time. It's perhaps a fault, but it is deeply motivating.

But this new feeling of ephemerality is different, more complex. It's not pushing me toward a single direction, like work, but rather, broadly, to do the things I want to do in life. For one, it's pushing me to have more fun.

So this past year, despite being professionally one of my most challenging years ever, has also been one of my most fun years ever. 

I've started playing tennis again. Hitting a heavy topspin forehand is one of the most satisfying things in the world.

I've started traveling for the first time with enjoyment in mind. My preference is toward longer, "work during the day, discover food at night" trips. These trips are an incredible privilege, but I've found it can be both enjoyable and productivity-boosting to work in new places.

And I've started hosting events again. It's insanely fun to coordinate these "mass-production" cooking events focused on one type of food and making a ton of it (yes, it's about maximizing work output per unit of time).

--

A friend recently told me that age 30 is the oldest you'll feel at any point in your 30s. I've certainly felt this way. (Granted, I'm 31.)

Upon turning 30, I was diagnosed with three health issues ("is this what turning 30 feels like?") but over the past year, thankfully, all three have been resolved.

(If anyone has issues with carpal tunnel or IBS, I've done a ton of research and might be able to help. A lot of people have bad poops and just live with it, but it doesn't have to be this way! The same with wrist pain.)

I have a newfound appreciation for physical health. This year, I want to become the strongest I've ever been. I've never committed to a strength training routine before, but pushups seem to maximize muscle growth per unit of time, so I will do a lot of these.

In my 20s, I didn't think much about life after 30 -- it almost felt like the end of a story. But after turning 30, I found myself not just eyeing the next ten years of my life, but the next hundred. And whereas my drive for self-improvement waned as I neared 30, that drive is now back in full force.

This year, I want to be a better thinker. I've felt a sort of stagnation here -- that I've been doing quite a bit of thinking, but the thinking hasn't been getting better. I’ve found that writing forces me to think more clearly and that one-on-one conversation with like-minded people activates my mind in a way unlike anything else. So I will get into a habit of writing more and will also try to make new friends.

Maybe one of my goals for my entire 30s will be to feel younger than I did at age 30. This is a good year to get started.

My goals for 2023:

1. Write every week

2. Make 5 new friends

3. Do 30k pushups