New year’s eve signals a new beginning. It is a random time point when people set their expectations for the following 12 months. This last year was about changes  - moving, and adapting myself to new circumstances - however, this 2019 is about consolidation. I’ve already been living in Copenhagen for a while, now I know the city and the people. New year’s resolutions help me to move forward by setting goals that were unthinkable few months back but it is as well the base for the upcoming years. The future me needs a solid base to keep growing as a person. I’ve been doing this public list for a while now but this years is the first one where I write them in english. For those interested here there are last year’s resolutions reviewed.

This year’s resolutions are not that disruptive compared to last year’s. The aim for 2019 is to consolidate my well being with some routines (specially sport because it gives me extra energy). Adding to that I want to improve my soft skills and cleanse my life from undesired distractions. This goals -like every year- follow the SMART criteria. SMART goals come from project planning vocabulary and it stands for Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic, and Time-bound. This criteria helps me to evaluate whether I achieved them or not. What I do as well is to add an execution plan so it is easier for me to follow the plan and track the progress over the year. But in all cases the resolutions are created with the thrill of a child, the wisdom of an adult, containing something impossible to achieve the unexpected.

Professional

  1. Improve my presentation skills: Last year I joined the Toastmasters and I intend to continue attending the Frederiksberg club for a while with the goal to improve my public speaking expertise. In specific I want to reduce the number of filler words, use the stage with purpose, and improve my speaking flexibility to adapt to the unexpected.
  2. Improve my writing dexterity: The goal here is to publish in this blog at least twice a month. The language used must be english and I should try to write nicely. Using synonyms, and looking for more “natural” sentences.
  3. Start a business: No excuse, I’ve been meaning to do that for a while but always “life” happens. This time I intend to assist more entrepreneurship events and try to join a business person and help him/her to build an empire. I shall not wait for the right idea but the right person with whom I can pivot until something sticks.
  4. Keep high standards for my inputs and output: That translated into plain english means that I will consume less social media, less TV, and I will use my time wisely to produce more sophisticated and polished outputs. This is the v2.0 based on what I achieved last year.
  5. Get back to German: Recently I realised that my german is not as good as it used to be. The fact that I was learning Danish didn’t help either. Right now I entered a phase that I consider German still more important for my future than other languages so I will make a conscious effort to improve it (and maybe - no promises -  get a certificate). To improve my german I will create a word list, and I will check it at least once a day, not necessarily to memorise it but simply to refresh the words in my head. In addition to that, I will consciously listen to at least one podcast a week, read the news, and follow a grammar book.
  6. Write a machine learning book: The idea behind is to acquire a deep understanding of machine learning and be able to apply it. The book will force me to write down a learning plan, and take notes of my progress. This is probably an overkill but as long as it helps to keep moving forward I will feel satisfied.

Personal

  1. Improving my swimming crawling technique: I want to perfect my swimming technique so I get the maximum efficiency and speed with the least effort. The idea behind this is to be prepared for a triathlon/ironman the year after.
  2. Boost my weight lifting fitness: This also goes in the same direction as the swimming. The weight lifting will help me with my muscle endurance while preventing boredom in the other disciplines.
  3. Improve my running: The same reason as before. The goal is to be faster and get less tired.
  4. Meditation: At least once a day meditate for 10-20minutes. If necessary set an alarm clock to get a notification when the meditation period is over. I wanted to re-gain focus and mind peace. Also with that much sport I think that some muscles may need some conscious relaxation in order to be less stiff.
  5. Read at least twelve books: Since I didn’t achieve last year’s goal I decided to write here a list of the books I have in mind, so I can check the progress and write a review of each book in this blog. The twelve books means that I must read a book a month. The books I am planning to read are Mastering your PhD, Bad blood secrets and lies in Silicon Valley, Persuasion (R. Cialdini), trust me I’m lying, The personal MBA (again), whoever tells the best story wins, Made to stick, Fierce conversations, presence (Amy Cuddy), The oxygen advantage, the war of art, the power of subconscious mind, millionaire next door, the idea factory, the hard thing about hard things, scientific advertising, rising strong permission marketing, sicking wisdom, moon walking, open innovation, the art of war (again)
  6. Keep cooking most of my meals and keep learning a recipe every month. I will try to cook mostly at home and if possible vegetarian but varied. I want to learn new recipes regularly because stagnation is not an option.

Extra resolutions (because in a year there is plenty of time)

  1. Polish my salsa competence. Keep attending socials, and trying to imitate movements that I find interesting. If there is time maybe join a class.
  2. Improve my tango skills so I can attend to socials and have fun.
  3. Visit a new country that I haven’t been yet. This time I won’t set restrictions regarding distances or companions. Hard to meet my 2018 country visits but with few new countries I’ll be happy.
  4. Improve my self discipline. No lazy moments, no mindless reading, no I’m to tired for this, no I’ll wait. NOW is the best moment to do whatever I thought to do.
  5. Go through one day on the weekend without technology. Full disconnection. I think it is going to be hard but I will try to keep the tech at a minimum.
  6. Improve my interpersonal skills by arguing more often. I came to realise that I do not like to take part of arguments even though some times are necessary. In the end I tend to delay the inevitable. So from now on, I must argue from the minute zero.

12 months 12 challenges

  1. Free hugs
  2. Cycle using a fat bike
  3. Use a snowmobile
  4. Use a jet ski
  5. Brew my own beer
  6. Make my own wine
  7. Do hang gliding
  8. Do paragliding
  9. Go with dog sledding
  10. Get a tattoo
  11. Bungee jumping
  12. Dye my hair in electric blue

This upcoming year makes me feel motivated and full of energy, think big because sky is the limit. And like every year my mantra is: when in doubt choose the adventure, conquer the world, survive another year, and, most importantly be happy.

Happy new year! :D