Goals for 2012 Part 2
My goals for this year are somewhat similar to last year, with a few notable changes.
- Rehab. The “incident” was a grand mal seizure that gave me two dislocated shoulders, both of which caused fractures, which need surgery. I’m on seizure medication, and I’m not supposed to drive a car until April. I have already gotten through one surgery, the other will be coming up in February. If all goes well, I’ll be about 80% by April, and hopefully 100% by July. This goal is much lower on Maslow’s hierarchy than any of my other goals, and thus is automatically the most important.
- Certification. I’m already scheduled to take an MCTS exam to help my employer remain in good standing with Microsoft, as well as to improve my knowledge of Microsoft products. I’m not overly concerned with certification(s) this year. If I have the opportunity to take more Microsoft exams or pick up some PDUs, I’ll take them, but I’m not going to be worried if I don’t.
- Android apps. I will get a handful more of apps into the store this year, whether they be Mono for Android or native Java. I already have one in the works, and ideas for several more. I’m also going to get some Windows Phone apps in the marketplace.
- Conferences/sessions. With the exception of CodeMash, I don’t have any plans for conferences, until–at earliest–after April. I’d be open to doing local presentations if I’m needed, but that’s about it. It will be enough of a challenge just to attend CONDG group meetings in the first half of the year. I would like to definitely make it to GiveCamp this year!
- Blogging. I’ve created another blog, one with a much narrower focus than mgroves.com. It’s called Cross Cutting Concerns, and it’s all about AOP news and information.
- Business. Our MonthlySauce.com business really needs to pick up this year. I will be exploring some creative ways to get exposure on our limited budget.
- Personal/Internal. As before, I have a number of personal and internal-to-my-employer goals that I won’t state here. And I may have another surprise or two up my sleeve this year if all goes well.
That’s it.
Goals for 2012 Part 1: Goals for 2011 recap
It’s a little disappointing to me that my Goals for 2011 post is still on the home page of mgroves.com. But que sera.
First, a review of my 2011 goals, and how well I did:
- Read books. Bender’s TDD book, yes. DDD, not so much (it’s a long book!). F# book, no. Beautiful Code, yes a little. I’ve pretty much abandoned the old dev lunchtime book club due to dailys with my employer at that time, but I’ve managed to sneak in a couple other books too: One on PHP5, reread of Don’t Make Me Think, ASP.NET MVC 3 from Wrox, Lauren Ipsum, and a few fiction titles here and there. With my new Kindle, I’m able to read a lot more conveniently, though code-heavy books could be an issue.
- Certification: I think I got a few PDUs from going to the Cincinnati Day of Agile last year, but I’m really slacking in PDUs. I will take an MCTS exam (70-515) in a couple weeks.
- Android apps: I exceeded my goals here for sure. I have 5 apps in the store: 1 free, 1 paid. One of them (Yeah Dog!) has sold well over 150 copies. My free one has been downloaded over 1000 times.
- Conferences & presentations: I also exceeded my goals here, speaking in Pittsburgh (twice), Findlay, Codestock, Devlink, Columbus, Louisville, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Richmond, Stir Trek, New York, and probably one or two more that I’ve forgotten. The travel has been a bit of a strain on family and finances, so I was already planning to reduce my speaking, even before the “incident”, which I’ll get to later.
- User groups: I regretfully didn’t participate in GiveCamp (because of Richmond) in any capacity, but I did help to organize Central Ohio Day of .NET, and I performed okay on the board of CONDG. I chose not to pursue re-election though (mainly because of the “incident”).
- Project Euler: I definitely dropped the ball here. I ended up spending more time preparing and presenting on Euler than I did doing new problems.
- Blogging: Another fail. I spend more time on Twitter than blogging, that’s for sure.
- Surprises: My wife and I successfully launched our first small business, MonthlySauce.com. Business isn’t exactly rushing in, but we did launch it on schedule.
Stay tuned for my 2012 goals and details on the “incident”.
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