The Self-Improver

Self Improvement

Goodbye 2013, Hello 2014!

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It’s the final day of the year. Before I head out to ring in 2014, I’m sticking with tradition and writing my year annual review. I’ve been doing this for the past two years, inspired in large part by Chris Guillebeau’s Annual Review, who I’ve been following since 2008!

In the past two years, I wrote these reviews chronologically. You can see these here: 2012, 2011. I already covered all the travels that I did this past year in detail, but if I take a step back, I did a lot more than just traveling.  Here’s what went well, what didn’t and my goals for the coming year:

What went well?

  1. Friendships and relationships. I think overall this went extremely well. I met a ton of people through various projects, as well as felt like I grew closer to a lot of people, both in DC as well as Penn friends.

  2. Traveling and music. I had to mention this, because travel was a big part of my life this year! It’s crazy to realize that I went to so many (and some new!) places: Istanbul, Athens, Toronto, New York, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Charlottesville, Chicago, Southern California, Central California, and Las Vegas!

  3. Career experimentation. So many projects and experiences from this year: freelancing, YPFP, APCO, Flat World. I learned so much about myself, what I like, what I don’t like, what I’m willing to tolerate, and what aspects of a job are non-negotiable.

What didn’t go well?

  1. Focusing on what matters the most. I did a lot of different things throughout 2013, and struggled to see how everything was relevant and related to each other.

  2. Financially, I didn’t really save much at all this past year. I did put a pretty big dent in my student loans, but for the most part I spent a lot, particularly on food, drinks, and travels.

  3. Fitness. Although I completed my first ever half-marathon (!), I think I gave too much attention to other projects, which sacrificed a lot of my time to focus on getting more fit for much of the year.

2014 Goals:

Here’s a look at how I fared with this past year’s goals. Below is a partial list of my goals for the coming year. By the end of 2014, I’d like to say that I have:

  • Paid off the remainder of my student loans.

  • Ran a half marathon in under two hours.

  • Completed the minimum requirements of the marine corps fitness test.

  • Launched teamdone.io.

  • Attended mass at least once a month.

  • Blogged about my journeys as a marketer / researcher / traveler at least once a month.

What about you? How was your 2013, and what are your goals for 2014?

Goal Review: 2013 Recap

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Every year since 2011 I’ve taken a moment to look back on my goals for the past year and see if I was able to accomplish any of them. Here’s what my goals were for 2013:

  • Pass the HSK Level 5. Didn’t happen. Didn’t even pick up a Chinese book after the first couple days of January.

  • Get at least a 720 or higher on the GMAT. I registered to take the test back in March, then postponed it to June. I eventually lost interest and earlier this summer completely canceled taking the test.

  • Run a half-marathon. This happened! I ran my first half-marathon, the Navy-Air Force Half-Marathon, back in September. I’ve had this goal since 2010, so am really proud that I actually accomplished this goal!

  • Blog at least once a month. I started this earlier in the year, but this fell through as well.

  • Go to mass at least once a month. This happened!

  • Learn Python and R. I’ve picked up the basics, but still can’t figure out my way around without some online guidance.

  • Dive deeper into HTML/CSS/JS. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen as well.

Overall, things could’ve been better. I learned that, at least for me, not sharing goals until they’ve actually been accomplished is probably a much more powerful strategy to goal completion than sharing. Time to start rethinking how I approach how I achieve my goals.

Goal Reviews: Q2 ’13

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A lot has happened since I’ve last updated. Let’s see how I’m progressing on my 2013 goals:

  • HSK: no progress.
  • GMAT: no progress.
  • Half-marathon: Finally signed up for one later this year, but have only loosely stuck to my running schedule.
  • Blog monthly: I have a bunch of unfinished drafts, but haven’t posted any.
  • Attend mass monthly: the only goal that I’ve been able to maintain all year!
So clearly I haven’t maintained focus on most of my goals. After keeping a log of my goals for the past two years, I’ve realized that goals, like everything else, are often subject to change. During the past couple of months, I’ve spent a lot of my time: 
  • Day job. It’s been a hectic couple of months, but I’m glad that I’m at a place where I’m still being challenged on an almost daily basis.
  • Freelancing. I finished my engagement with the Philippine-based foundation several months ago. Haven’t worked on anything else since then, but hoping to gradually build up a client base.
  • YPFP. It’s been a series of transitions and growing pains since I’ve began volunteering with YPFP. At times, I’ve questioned my involvement. Overall though, I truly believe in the organization, and I know I (as well as everyone on staff) can accomplish great things. Now it’s just finding the time, resources, accountability and motivation to ensure things get executed!
That covers it from a professional perspective. Now, for the fun stuff! 
  • Paid off a student loan! Still quite a ways to go, but progress is progress!
  • Traveling. Went on several road trips (Southern California, New York), visited a couple new cities (Toronto, New Orleans), and have gone to the beach several times this summer (Jersey Shore, Long Island).
  • Concerts. Have a slew of concerts lined up over the next couple of weeks through October, including my favorites: Justin Timberlake and Electric Zoo.
Overall, it’s been an exhausting past couple of months. There are some things that I wish I could be doing more of, like catching up on my reading list, bringing my business idea to life and sleeping, but I can honestly say that these past few months have been incredibly rewarding and fulfilling in a way that I haven’t felt in years. That, I think, is a good thing! 

Goal Reviews: Q1 ’13

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Time certainly goes by fast when there’s so much going on! Let’s see how I’ve stacked up against my 2013 goals:

  • HSK: I haven’t cracked open any Chinese textbook so far this year.
  • GMAT: I bought some Manhattan GMAT prep books in January. Only completed the first of 10 prep books.
  • Half-marathon: I maintained a loosely defined schedule for the first two months, running at least twice a week, but stopped training. I’ve yet to sign up for a half-marathon this year.
  • Blog monthly: I failed to keep this one up too! Completely missed posting anything last month!
  • Attend mass monthly: So far so good!
So clearly I haven’t gotten around following through on my goals for the year so far. This, I believe, is in large part due to a couple new commitments that I never would’ve even though could happen just four months ago. Here’s what has been going on:
  • Freelancing for a social impact organization: Since February, I’ve been freelancing for a Philippine-based foundation, an opportunity I discovered through a contact via StartingBloc! As a Filipino, working with this organization is particularly meaningful for me. So far the experience has been one of growth, most specifically on figuring out how to manage client expectations.
  • Volunteering for YPFP: Since late January, I’ve been volunteering with YPFP, a DC-based non-profit that seeks to build the foreign policy leaders of the future through knowledge, skills, exposure and relationships. I’m a volunteer on their marketing team, where I’ve been able to use the skills I’ve learned at CEB and APCO to execute on a variety of recommendations. As this position is much more formal and professional in nature than the freelancing opportunity, so far this experience has been one that’s tested my time management skills, as well as figuring out how to coordinate and execute on cross-silo projects within a primarily virtual, volunteer-based organization.
Both these commitments, as well as increasingly more work and responsibilities at APCO, have tested and pushed me out of my comfort zone in so many ways, which I am truly grateful for. Here’s to another productive and rewarding next three months!