2025 Resolutions

Invest in Learning

I love learning new things, and I want to spend more time and money to keep pushing myself here. "Learning" is intentionally broad; I'm not sure how this will manifest, but if at the end of the year I can say I'm obviously more proficient in a new area, I'll consider this a success. Bonus addendum: something not directly related to tech.

Dive Deeper Into Finance

I'm pretty damn good at managing my money. I'm able to stretch a dollar further than anyone I know; not by being cheap, but through strategic investing. In fact, I just reached a big milestone: my investments are up 100% all-time, meaning I've doubled every dollar that I put into the market. Last year alone, I was up 48%. For those that don't know, this is huge! I was able to use the returns on these investments to fuel my food, traveling, and fun expenses.

This year, I want to get even better. I'd like to learn more about finance in general to see how I can maximize the returns on my investments. I also want to use my technical background to help me make better investment decisions, specifically by using quantitative measurements to identify undervalued companies ready to boom. Beyond that, I also want to create tooling to analyze the performance of individual trades, tax implications when selling, and more insightful measurements.

Move to New York City

A big mystery for me last year was the internal question where to next? I was torn between moving closer to friends in Philadelphia, moving closer to Austin, or maybe somewhere like San Francisco with a lot of career opportunity. After thinking deeply about this, I realized New York City was the only option that offered what I was looking for: good career opportunities, great social atmosphere, close to family, and energy. Yes, there's downsides like cost and lack of outdoor space for the summer, but I learned no place has everything I'm looking for. The city's life, vibrancy and opportunity will make the downsides more than worth it.

Gotta live in NYC at least once, right?

Watch More Movies In Theaters

Movies are so much fun. I should see more in theaters, always a great time.

Eat Better

I do intermittent fasting a lot... unintentionally. The "only coffee until 2pm" thing needs to stop, and I need to make a better effort at eating breakfast. Increase protein intake, especially as I'm working out.

Say Yes

It's easy to say no or make excuses to avoid doing things. It's harder to find the activation energy to get my butt up and out the door. I want to avoid declining the dragon:

Medieval knights used to wander around hoping for honorable adventures to pop up so that they could demonstrate their bravery. They were desperate for big, scary dragons to appear. When I put off doing the brave thing, I am declining the dragon: missing an opportunity to do something that might be scary in the moment but would ultimately make me feel great.