500 Words — Day Twenty-Three: The Year So Far
Rather than wait until the end of the year to review how well I did at accomplishing my goals for 2022, I thought I might take the moment and use this as a opportunity as a one month retrospective. A lot has changed in my life over the month and I expect a lot more to change over the coming months. While prior years were stagnant, I feel a lot of momentum heading into February and like a snowball running down the hill, the momentum grows stronger and stronger. Perhaps 2022 is year I finally fulfill my potential. Of course, only time will tell.
With ten minutes left in the year, I wrote down six different things I wanted to do more of or to accomplish or to see. These were the following things:
- Read more
- Write more
- Travel more
- Run more
- Earn more
- Snow more
With regards to reading, I set a pretty low bar in to exceed last year. I think I only ended up reading one book from front to back, reading another about 30%, and then starting the first chapters of a few more. Maybe it was the wrong book selection or the lack of any reading ritual. I have corrected by equaling that output so far this year. Picking a specific time to read each night has definitely helped consistently put those pages in.
We already know about the writing thing. By the end of this post, I’ll have written a minimum of 11,500 words this year. I think last year, I only had a couple of blog posts maybe totaling 2000–3000 words. Another goal reached.
In terms of traveling, I was able to take a trip to visit the high point of Delaware and hike the Appalachian Trail in Maryland for a few miles in the snow. While it was pretty cold outside, it was nice to get the fresh air and I look forward to making more excursions across the country once the current iteration of the virus settles down and my work-life balance returns.
In terms of running, I have done a pretty good job of getting those miles in and probably run somewhere like 100 miles in the month of January if not a little more. More than 50% of those miles were outside in the elements. Nothing a getting a good workout in and your face being numb. Here’s to another 100 in February.
I was able to acquire the yearly bump in salary in nominal terms and received a 3.5% pay raise. Not good enough to beat inflation though. But hopefully better news in the future on that front. Can’t say I’m super optimistic about markets and my portfolio heading into 2022. 2021 was a pretty breakeven year in terms of returns. It could become worst.
Lastly, the snow. I love the white stuff. Perhaps it is that creature that desires chaos deep within my soul, but the more snow the better. I can’t really control this, although I did travel to someplace with more snow when I visited Maryland. In Ohio, we’re expecting an ice storm, followed by a few inches of sleet and snow afterwards. Not too far away, some folks are getting two feet of snow somewhere. Close, but no cigar. Thursday is supposed to be windy, so here’s hoping that the power stays on and I get to write more tomorrow. Fingers crossed.
