Tag: goals

I knew April would be a tentative venture when I wrote the last review post, but I didn’t know it would go this far 👀

April Goal Review

1. Taxes
   • Won! Really had no choice here 😅
2. Code
   • Won! Won in a way that the spirit of the task was met in a big way that goes on to affect May. (I did not touch Java as I ought to have this month – no bonus here.)
3. No-Do Daydream Day
   • Won! Barely. Took a few task-list-less days off. Still recorded what I did, yet only when I did them. These days always turned into some sort of productivity, yet going to count it! (Bonus completion of games or novel drafts did not make it – are computer games done for me?)
4. 10 Blogs
   • Failed. 7/10. 10 blogs is a lot. I think I need to make these goals slightly less aggressive – say, 6? Thoughts for another day.
5. Summer Plans
   • Won! Plans are already in motion. May cometh like a comet. Keep reading for more.
6. Private (Personal)
   • Failed. Mainly for the summer plans, I am counting this one a failure as nothing is for free and my decisions have consequences 😶

Lastly, no bonus for the journaling audits. They will be undertaken with haste in May:

May Goal Proposal

Formally: Nada, nothing, zip.

Informally: I have a big location move and a new opportunity to ramp up on mid-May. Every and all resource is bent to the effort.

This outcome dictates how I will spend my summer, autumn, and even the winter and 2024. I may write more on it, I may not.

For now, take it that I am occupied, though aim to bring back a goals report in June 🙂

–

April was definitely “meh” in the numbers. This outcome came because multiple pivots needed to happen very quickly.

May is going to be risky. It is a big change. I welcome the challenge of capping downsides, accelerating upsides, and the chance to make new friends and quite possibly global impacts ❤

You doing all right? Wish I wrote less-vague posts? How is your May? I want to know – cheers to anything and everything you get after ~

I have been doing everything, everywhere, all at once (super fun movie, BTW). However, this timeline missed a few things:

March Goal Review

1. Travel!
   • Won! And such travel. I spare you the details – suffice that it was quite nice despite that I paid much time in price 😅
2. Code
   • Won! No bonuses this time, yet got my study in. (I really like this as a goal – perhaps we slate it as a regular thing? Will be sticking around for April!)
3. 10 Hours Java
   • Failed. I did most of the learning, but not all. Yet, Java is so similar to C#, I started coding problems early. Count it as a win to learn Java, yet we stick by the letter of the law for this one.
4. 10 Blogs
   • Failed. Hardly put to the task. Travel and the private professional task below left little opportunity to sit down. The post talking about a change needed here is more important than ever.
5. Private (Professional)
   • Won! In a big way too. I might have more information to share as early as the first or second week of April!
6. Private (Personal)
   • Won! Also in a big way. I am happy to be alive in this time of the world, content with who I have become and work with wonder at who I will be ❤

April Goal Proposal

1. Taxes
   • TMI? Anyway, I am preparing for new tax concerns this year, so allocating not insignificant time to get this handled properly.
2. Code
   • Copy/paste from last month: Back at it. Code for an hour for a week’s worth of days.
   • Bonus: Take on 3 easy and a medium problems in Java.
   • Bonus: Take a certification assessment.
3. No-Do Daydream Day
   • Take Sundays as a no-TODO list day. Game or play or do something unproductive for the broader world.
   • Bonus: Complete a game or novel outline on these dreamy days.
4. 10 Blogs
   • Trying again this month. I have the list from March, so will drive towards 3 blogs a week to come in on schedule.
5. Summer Plans
   • Doing some talking, there are weddings, people, and countries to see. With the professional news that comes after this post, I can settle in on what my maneuverings will be in June, July, August, and on. Plans, folks!
6. Private (Personal)
   • Another continuation from April. Now is not the time to pull such an investment of efforts.
7. Bonus: Finish Journaling Audits
   • I journal. I keep track of things in other ways. Should my own time and productivity be so kind, I would like to do an audit to see what has been and where I am at! (Usually records some useful blog ideas, too!)

–

A humbling 67% on target. Now, it tracks with my historic 60-80% efficiency rate when doing work, so this may mean my goals are appropriate to push me, yet not so daunting as to be my undoing.

What do you think? Feel I didn’t do enough in March? Am I challenging myself thoroughly in April?

Give me your take. Regardless, may all you take on in April yield the best of the best dividends! Cheers to it~

In a test of going without, a solid todo list deserted February. While tasks were not written, I continued to accomplish 💯 A review of those goals:

February Goal Review

Theme for February was “Spring Cleaning” – even without goals listed, I found much work for me to undertake. For example:

1. Cleaned up Facebook saves.
2. Cleaned up Reddit saves.
3. Put up adventure pictures to Instagram (reminds others and myself that I do things).
4. Read four big books on the backlog. (Checkout my post about James J. Sexton’s work – subscribe to catch the post on Glennon Doyle’s Untamed next week!)
5. Attended concerts – much dancing and enjoyment had.
6. Hiked a bunch – safe to say I am =fit=.
7. BIG celebrations for my birthday.
8. Coded every day for a week.
9. Restarted some avenues of professional development my way.
10. Submitted a book proposal to the Black Library!
11. Brewed some hot sauces! 🔥

Also tried a few days of no todo lists, but missed opportunities to write more blog posts, go a few days without a phone, and playing video games to completion.

March Goal Proposal

1. Travel!
   • Getting out again to Washington DC and New York this time. These are big ventures deserving of a time slot in March.
2. Code
   • Back at it. Code for an hour for a week’s worth of days.
   • Bonus: Another week’s worth of coding!
   • Bonus: Take a certification assessment.
3. 10 Hours Java
   • As it says. Spend 10 hours in March learning Java. YouTube and Leetcode easy-mode questions are going to be my friends here. (‘Bout time I picked up this language that has been so like my bread-and-butter C#!)
   • Bonus: 10 more hours, including at least 1 medium-difficulty Leetcode problem.
4. 10 Blogs
   • That time again. I will figure out what these blogs are going to be later, but they will be written!
5. Private (Professional)
   • A goal I’m setting for myself professionally. I feel it best to hold my cards close on this one, including the bonus that is in reserve here.
6. Private (Personal)
   • Getting after it in other ways too. Will report back if I have made it 🤞

–

A mixed bag for February gave me the room to reassess and reapply my efforts to where and what I found important. I.e. Which needle has the most leverage? What moves that needle every day?

Great information. Remembering for later: two weeks of space is enough time to find myself 😁

How do you find and define what is important? I would enjoy hearing more, but if you need a push, checkout a small toolset for making decisions I wrote for you.

See you in March! Cheers ~

January saw a lot happen, yet did it get done-done?

January Goal Review

1. Outline LitRTS Short Story
   • Won! Coming in by the skin of my teeth. An outline exists for book one and a three-book arc (holding out for an arc over a trilogy of trilogies). Most of my writing time was dedicated to:
2. 4 Black Library Plots
   • Won! And more! The Black Library submission window has been opened. I spent the month writing, analyzing, rewriting, editing, and narrowing down the plots I have to four solid stories, though now need to choose which to pursue for the February 11th due date!
3. Mörk Borg Art Online
   • Won! Now available in Store! Checkout the release. While I was at it, I have updated the site to have a better look and feel. Enjoy!
4. Gunslinger in The West Layout
   • Failed. Meant to replace this with the AI goal below, I figured I ought not take away, but add to the goal list. Anyway:
5. Voice Sample
   • Failed. I set up a voice recording station, wrote demo scripts (with some AI help), took multiple takes, did some lite editing, yet discovered an unpleasant background noise being picked up. I did not get around to solving that problem, so nothing more to say about this goal.
6. Code
   • Won! Coded every day for a week and more.
   • Bonus: Read A Tour of C++ by Bjarne Stroustrup to brush up for some career talks.
7. Addendum: 10 Hours AI
   • Won! I worked with ChatGPT out of fun, curiosity, piqued interest, and serious working application. You can read a transcript of the first hour or two of exploration here – can only recommend that you give the bot a shot!

February Goal Proposal

Spring Cleaning!

OK, Spring is a ways yet, but I had a dickens of a time coming up with challenging goals for February – just a bunch of finishing up and leisurely events 🤷‍♂️

So, in coordination with the advice of some pretty cool people (e.g. “enjoy your life”) and listening to the likes of Cal Newport and Glennon Doyle, I am going to be ~chill~ about this coming month.

But who am I if not a planner? A list maker?

Here be some of the things on-deck for my consideration that I know I will pursue, but in what order and to what degree… Not going to worry about that:

1. Clean up social media saves (in batches of 40 saves).
2. Post pics of adventures to social media again.
3. Enjoy a backlog of audiobooks and manuals (looking at you, Cy_Borg and Warhammer 40K) purchased.
4. Listen again to the books I keep around, recommend to others, and have been recommended to read.
5. Write some blog posts (10?).
6. Attend 3-4 concerts.
7. Celebrate my birthday week with hangouts, hikes, and more 🎉
8. Code for a week again to stay sharp.
9. Submit to Black Library by February 11th! 😱
10. Get a draft 0 of the LitRTS WIP in.
11. More hiking!
12. Try a phoneless day once a week, or more screen-less time during daylight hours.
13. Like 12, but try a week (or a day a week) without making a todo list.
14. Play more games (and finish ’em!). DM a new roleplaying group perhaps? 🤔
15. Start brewing my own hot sauces from a holiday gift 🔥

–

86% with that bonus for January, 71% without. That was a good month to push through needle-moving tasks!

It has been a lot of work though. In truth, I am getting that mental weariness from a job well done, but only seeing more work to do – thus is the curse of hard work 😜

Just kidding (kinda) – I like having things to do. With February, March, AND April, I have a lot to look forward to, some good folks to spend that time with, and a bounty of opportunity at my feet.

Before you go, some recommended reading for your Friday heading into February:

1. Truths About Relationships
2. It Has Worked for Others: Relationship Success
3. Need to Decide? Read This
4. The Final Day – RPG Tool for the End Times

Cheers to your month ahead ~

After taking a break in November, December sought to move the needle a bit further. How did it go?

December Goal Review

1. EOY Letter
   • Won! Written and reviewed, this retro is now out in the wild. It has been a year.
2. ‘Decline’ -cember
   • Won! Giving myself permission, I have been much more conscious of saying “no” to obligation or anything I am not a “hell yes” about. I like this about me, so I aim to keep it going as habit!
3. Mörk Borg Art
   • Won! I made the thing – post coming soon. As for the bonus art material, no dice 🤷‍♂️
4. 10 Blog Posts
   • Won! By the skin of my teeth (typing fingers?). Good for a few months yet, which will be important as I set my sights on other writing tasks.
5. D&D +1
   • Won! Group #1 has committed war crimes, but is still going strong. Group #2 is ready to start – characters, expectations, etc., but we have decided to hit it full bore in January. Counting this as a win as my DM resources have grown considerably in preparation~
6. Holidays
   • Won! Hung out with great folks. What more to say? Hope you had / are having a lovely time 🙂

January Goal Proposal

1. Outline LitRTS Short Story
   • It has been an itch for a few weeks to write short stories again. Given some excellent LitRPG series I have been enjoying, why not a story based off of a real-time strategy game? Time I outline this sucker, get the ball rolling on my writing again 🙂
2. 4 Black Library Plots
   • The Black Library publishing group is opening up submissions again early 2023 sometime. Goal here is to create 4 robust 100-word summary, 500-word sample submissions for the universe of Warhammer 40K. Going to start with 10 outlines, then 6 drafts, then 4 finals. Been awhile since this happened, so I am glad to throw my hat back in the ring!
3. Mörk Borg Art Online
   • My Final Day tool has art, so touch it up and sell it on this site. Simple, right? Moves the needle.
   • Bonus: Make art for Today Is the End.
4. Gunslinger in The West Layout
   • I have a full game to go along with the quick plays, so time I put the game into a print-ready format (or hire someone to do it). Placeholder art for now, yet:
   • Bonus: List needed art for GiTW and hire out!
5. Voice Sample
   • Not a week goes by where a stranger does not comment on my voice and way of speaking. Having studied what it takes to do voice acting, might as well 1) script, read, and edit a narration sample, and 2) put it up somewhere for hire (ACX, perhaps?).
   • Bonus: Script, record, edit, and produce a commercial voiceover sample.
6. Code
   • So my technical skills do not rust too much, spend a week doing code challenges every day under time.
   • Bonus: Read a C++ book to better polish my understanding.
   • Bonus: Figure out how to study and then study Angular (~10 hours).
   • Bonus: Spend 10 hours studying Machine Learning courses.

–

100% in December – not bad, not bad. The intent though is to push the envelope to have some chance (~15%) of failure.

Is January setting the bar high enough? I hope so. Lots of creativity, lots of production, and a little keeping up with my best day-job skills.

Regardless, cheers to 2023! I hope to witness all the accomplishments you are about to bring to bear 🖖

Happy 200th post on this site! 🎉~woot~🎉

As the year closes on 2022, the world is in economic distress, a war goes on in Europe, COVID lingers in the population, and as is always the case, the future is like a thick fog of uncertain obscurity.

Yet for me, there are friends and family, projects and prospects, travel and time to decide. So I hail 2023 for these lights in the fog:

Work Life

My life, my work.

I have been of a great headspace lately, so I am going to ride this as hard and far as possible. First destination: Treating my ‘projects’ as my ‘products’, my process moved over into a mindset of ‘this is a job now’.

Maybe that will get me across the 90%-to-the-finish line 🤞 Anyway, have four areas I will be working in:

1. Writing – I want to write again. I know I can and that I enjoy it. So I shall.
2. Games – Making these is very fun. I can also churn them out quick in design, playtest, and (hope to prove) publication. Expect more here!
3. Voice – Again and again and again, my voice and acting are lauded. Time I make something of that, formally honing and offering my talent.
4. Code – Not to let my software ability wane too harshly, the plan is to study and entertain offers as they come. Seeing as the tech industry has lost over 100K roles in 2022 with dozens of major companies instituting hiring freezes, competition is fierce, and competition is for chumps.

Travel

The months I spent on the Adriatic were treasures of my life.

Will other places allow the same feelings? Will I be back in the Balkans or elsewhere? Who will I visit or go with? Can I revisit “Death Walk” places to further clarify who I am?

These are questions left to be addressed, yet how poor a year it would be to negate travel again ❤

Yes and No

Say “yes” to spending more quality time with others, on my projects, relaxation and leisure, new experiences, and opportunities to demonstrate my best.

Say “no” to more frivolous requests, anything but the best (top 10%, letting not Good come at the cost of the Great), and barriers internal and external, be they obligations, labors, fears, hesitations, or other ills.

–

I literally have nothing on the calendar for 2023 – a first as far as I can remember! While freedom is as a blank page – a Schrodinger’s canvas of possibility -, the void yawns in vastness and … halts even my typing for the immensity.

#YOLO, right? No time to hesitate – aggression is called for, even if the choice is calmness. Aggressively calm. Deliberate calm, or action, or anything.

Anyway. These best-laid-plans are a little different than my 2022 expectation-setting, but the direction excites me 😃 Wish me well in keeping the energy up 😁

What excites you in the times to come? Celebrate with me – though life might at times be quite the chore, life is Good. Cheers to the wonders you have and seek ~

November’s goals were lite (read: non-existent 🙃), though certainly the month was not a wash.

December looks to make up as we race to the finish of the year! Check it out:

November Hiatus Review

No formal goals this rest month. Here is what I did instead:

EOY Draft: I’ve gone through my journals and posts, finding major parts of the year and perhaps an idea of ‘theme’ and a very long list of lessons.

Games: 35 hours of video games, 25 hours of D&D -related content, and 0 hours of VR. Feels good to rest like this! BTW, play We’re Really Not Strangers with someone important in your life ASAP.

Moving In: More than a work-week’s worth of time installing, cleaning, updating, and entertaining in my new digs. Learning some cool skills, but will aim to lay-off just a bit.

Taking no credit for any of it nor the suggestions posed last month. That is where December comes in:

December Goal Proposal

1. EOY Letter
   • Every year I do my retro and send it and a few nifty bits out to close family and friends. This is the most important thing on the list me-thinks, so it gets top recognition and dedication to complete.
2. ‘Decline’ -cember
   • Going to practice setting better boundaries. Every day I have a ‘No’ token that I must spend before the end of the day, declining to do something I normally would. This extends to any video games I play – ‘no’ to side quests and ‘extra’ content that isn’t the main plot. Wish me discipline 🤞
3. Mörk Borg Art
   • I have made not one, but two end-of-the-world game tools. But… they lack the look. I or someone I pay to will make and append artwork to these products.
   • Bonus: Gunslinger in The West art!
   • Bonus: As Above, So Below art!
4. 10 Blog Posts
   • Done this before, doing again. Getting blogs up into the new year so it is less to worry about!
5. D&D +1
   • I am already the Game Moderator / Dungeon Master for a D&D group, but have been invited to GM another group of friends. I like the work, so setting aside time in December to provide the best experiences possible. (If you are looking for holiday gifts, get me a big book of fantasy maps, dungeons, and loot tables!)
6. Holidays
   • The end of the year means end of the year holidays. This year perhaps may be a trip back to Zion, something for New Years, and definitely dog sitting. Regardless, hedging my bets.

–

As it is written, so may it be done! I am off to get *waves hands at everything* accomplished.

If you have artists with open commissions who work in the style of Mörk Borg or has examples of the Wild and Weird West, please send us each other’s way.

Stay warm out there, folks. Cheers to your holidays and annual reviews~

It is that spooky time of the year! 👻🎃💀 When we review the last month and propose for the new 😱

October Goal Review

1. A Trip and a Wedding
   • Won! Despite exhaustion, the overlanding trip taken and wedding afterward were absolute blasts. Seeing old friends (some not since 12-14 years ago) and making new ones has been… I need more of it in my life. A few other lessons were learned too, some I will capitalize on in November. (See photos and follow on https://www.instagram.com/jimmychattin/)
2. Mörk Borg Module
   • Won! Made the module The Final Day, or The Final Hours of the Final Day. D66 world-destroying cataclysms meant to wipe out all player characters and every monument that ever stood. Blog post on this later 😉 No bonus for the artsy splash or BITS conversion (very close to this conversion, though!).
3. 20 Hours Machine Learning
   • Failed. Didn’t touch the lessons 🤷‍♂️
4. 20 Hours Unity
   • Won! I now know more about the engine. Enough that I could talk shop about it, so onto the ol’ resume it goes~ No bonus for making a game over 10 extra hours, though I dedicated about 4 hours to remaking Flappy Bird 😃
5. 15 Minutes Daily Engagement
   • Won! Time was put in, but not consistently >_> I hold responsible goal #1, a 9-10 day affair that wiped out the first third of the month from being online. No bonus here for 20 total engagement hours.
6. Move or Half-Year Review
   • Won! The move is underway! Getting to live with some great and grand folks because of it 🙂 But, that means November will require EOY reviews!
7. Bonus: Marathon War 2P
   • Nothing here – did not touch the bonus.

November Hiatus

After some realizations in the first half of October, I have decided to take November as a month of hiatus. I’ve done so before, and the close of the year is just… convenient!

Write blogs, read articles, brainstorm projects, visit friends, build something new, and maybe play a game or two. Also getting ahead on the year-end review is a thing I should do too. Here are some prospect for your review (that I may make into goals if I get ready to):

• EOY Review collection, with a bonus for Media and an Outline.
• 6 Blog Posts to help fill out the year.
• 20 Game Hours, especially since I am like to have a VR headset at my disposal 😎
• 20 Study Hours of game engines, both for tabletop and virtual environments.
• 8-10 Hours of Outreach again.
• Private Engagements of personal and social nature.

–

October was uncomfortably tough. It felt like a constant rush to get all the goals and other things handled (you know, the stuff of life). Led to an 83% success rate which, while acceptable, made me feel guilty for taking any rest.

That is no good, especially for someone who tends toward workaholism 😐

High time for a break, wouldn’t you say? I may give myself task credit if I change my mind after Halloween. For now, I collect myself and my notes from the past year, write a few blogs, attempt to relax a minute.

Cool? Cool. Forget not to take some time for yourself too, shared with friends and other family. Cheers to your November, folks!

My gosh – 6 goals and extra? As compared to the usual 4??

It has been tough, yet did what it needed to. September’s goals, in review, forced me out of my comfort zone towards some serious progress.

Let’s see if the same can be repeated in October:

September Goal Review

1. Update Gunslinger in The West Rules
   1. Won! Rules are updated from the 2-pager. An excellent exercise – I highly recommend taking a full system and push it onto 2 sheets of paper 😉 Got neither of the bonuses complete (a future offer list, and updating the first adventure).
2. Update As Above, So Below Rules
   1. Failed. Kinda. After years on ice, AASB needed a complete overhaul. A review of all the guides really needed them rewritten from scratch, getting rid of ideas like damage types and such. So this won’t count as a win, and the bonuses are… postponed. Brought about in part by the next outcome:
3. All About Business
   1. Won! I did the research, put together business plans, and… discovered the viability of all the potential offers I have in mind are not financially sound (at least without a 10-item-ish backlog!). Going to write a post on the findings, but it has caused me to re-evaluate October goals twice now. The more you know, right?
4. Marathon War 1-Pager
   1. Won! After a few revisions after eye-opening playtests, I have the 1P! Because it took a lot of mechanical evaluation to get something “fun,” I failed to achieve the bonus 2-pager 🙃
5. 20 Hours of Leisure Study
   1. Won! Got my studying in. Reviewed the Warhammer 40K: Deathwatch TTRPG system, took notes, have some valuable additions to BITS rulesets and general RPG shenanigans.
6. 20 Hours of Art
   1. Won! I did half the hours, but had reserved this goal to be redacted if certain events came up. They came up, so getting 10 hours in I count as a win 🙂

October Goal Proposal

1. A Trip and a Wedding
   • What you see is what you get. Going on voyages that’ll take about 10 days out of October, so marking out the space here. (Not going to mention at least 3 important birthdays, too!)
2. Mörk Borg Module
   • Turns out one of my favorite game systems allows for modules to be added to the system 🤘💀🤘 As a break from innovating on my own BITS system, I figure I can create a module More Borg where instead of wandering around the wastes of a dying world, players can hold out in their own castle 🔥
   • Bonus: Get an artsy splash for this module.
   • Bonus: Convert this module to BITS rules!
3. 20 Hours Machine Learning
   • Bought a set of courses that include ML in Unity and Unreal 5; time to increase my value of insightfulness by getting acquainted with both the engines and the principles of their use!
   • Bonus: 10 extra hours here to make a game-playing, image-making, or advice-giving machine to help me out in *waves hands at whatever*.
4. 20 Hours Unity
   • To really get into the nitty-gritty of the engine, using the same set of courses, I will dedicate 20 hours specifically to the use of Unity and its systems behind.
   • Bonus: 10 extra hours here to make a game.
5. 15 Minutes Daily Engagement
   • While in September I came to understand a business is not right for me at this time, I do understand I need to ‘market’ myself long before a business would land. Thus, October will see me engage for 15 minutes a day across social medias, so about 8-10 hours total spent in the month. Doable!
   • Bonus: Make it a 20-hour total engagement for the month.
6. Move or Half-Year Review
   • Either I am moving around or will start my end-of-year review up to the first half. Keeping it flexible as situations demand~
7. Bonus: Marathon War 2P
   • Follow-up from September: Expand the content of Marathon War (and look at making a better name).

–

83% success rate for September is what I needed. 6 goals along with the bonuses really push me to be my best. While disappointing that ‘business’ is not in the cards (yet; I am looking forward to it!), I can still prepare myself for future success.

Mentioning future success, I am breaking a bit of my own principles by adding in the Unity and ML study – these have a professional influence to them, where I try to not include work-life in my personal goals.

Oh well. The knowledge will be good to have for myself if I ever get back to making video games on my own time, and ML programs are just plain cool 😁

So here’s to a vigorous and growth-oriented October! How are your goals coming along? What remains to be done before the end of the year? Rooting for you – cheers to all your accomplishments!