I’ve never been one to spend much time setting goals. I make most decisions by asking, “What feels right to do right now?” rather than, “What best fits my goals over the next five years?” But as this year came to a close, I felt myself naturally looking farther down the road and thinking, “That’s something I’d really like to do in five years.” I feel settled in enough for the first time in ages (or ever?) to really think in that way. And that feels nice. Here are a few of my goals for next year.
1.Write 15 new acoustic songs.
I’ve had this pipe dream since I started recording music of making an album like Damien Rice’s O or Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska where all the bells and whistles are left at the studio door and it’s just me, a guitar, and my songs. All I need now are the songs.
2. Be able to comfortably ski blues.
Now that I live in California and am a generally likable person, everyone assumes I’m a good skier. Except I’m not. Yet.
3. Take an AI prompt engineering course.
I’ve always had a tinge of regret for not studying computer science, so I can’t just sit on my hands now that the most valuable programming language has become English.
4. See three new musicals or plays.
Musicals are one of those things where every time I walk out of one, I think, “Gosh, I need to go to more of these,” and then life happens and I don’t step foot in a theater for another year. But I love theater and I forget that unless I make myself get in bed with it again every now and then. So let’s do it.
5. Spend at least 10 nights this year camping.
I’ve done a good job getting around to national parks but I haven’t done as well exploring the parks right in my backyard. There’s God knows how many beautiful state parks within a 150-mile radius of San Francisco, and I want to spend more time this year doing weekend trips to those. I’m grumpier when I shower anyways.
6. Do a better job of calling my siblings and friends regularly.
I’m really lucky to have close, meaningful relationships with a lot of people in my life that don’t require constant communication. We can just pick up where we left off when we see each other again in five months. But as much as I value that, I also don’t want to be that friend or brother that is MIA for all the in-between days. I can do better.
7. Go to Bottom of the Hill, The Roxie, and a comedy club each three times.
I go to dozens of concerts every year but it’s almost always artists I know and love. I really want to spend more time in 2024 going out and supporting musicians, filmmakers, and comedians who aren’t household names yet and might actually suck for all I know but they made art and so they deserve a shot right?
8. Get really good at using Luminar Neo.
I finally bought a professional photography software a month ago because using Apple Photos wasn’t really cutting it anymore. But I don’t want this to be one of those purchases that collects more dust than it does memories. I want to know what each and every little toggle does.
9. Play live music somewhere.
I haven’t performed live music anywhere since college, and the idea of finding an open mic night to play at is intensely terrifying. And that’s why I should do it.
10. Publish my Substack newsletter on-time every month and grow it to 100 subscribers.
I don’t want to have super ambitious growth numbers for this newsletter. It was never intended to be an overly commercial thing. But there’s a reason new parents shove photos of their child in your face every chance they get and that’s because if you make something you’re proud of, you want as many people to see it as possible. So why not try and grow it?