This past year was notable for at least one thing: I wrap up 2013 with a rare sense of accomplishment. For several previous years, what I mainly felt at the end of December was remorse over unfinished projects and unfulfilled ambitions, prompting me to catalog everything I did in 2012, 2011, 2010, and 2009—just to prove to myself that those years were more productive than I’d imagined.
But this year I feel pretty good about what I managed to do. On my Publications page, you can read about my five new Take Control books, seven updated books, and dozens of articles for Macworld, TidBITS, and other blogs—not to mention 23 speaking engagements, 15 podcast interviews, and a few other assorted gigs. I was also turned into a comic character and even a superhero! My wife and I started a company, survived our first year of homeownership, and got our kid into preschool. We were privileged to spend time in Hawaii, France, and Spain. And I’m pretty sure I broke my all-time record for TV consumption, which was a great way to balance out all that work! And, as usual, I end the year with an empty inbox. I think that’s sufficient for one year.
Although I rarely manage to keep New Year’s resolutions, I do have a number of expectations for 2014.
For one thing, it looks like our family will be growing by one, as Soren becomes a big brother! That will mean a 21-year age difference between my oldest and youngest children and, most likely, a complete cessation of sleep for the foreseeable future. Woo hoo!
Of course, there’ll also be the usual long list of writing and speaking activities next year, as well as some nontrivial home- and self-improvement tasks and, very likely, significant international travel.
But now that I’m just a few years away from turning 50, I’m scrutinizing my Life’s To Do List and thinking hard about undertaking a Big Fancy Project that I just might be able to pull off by then. We’ll see how that unfolds, but let’s just say it would make me very happy indeed to be able to add a certain item to my list of first-half-century accomplishments.
Oh, and I’d also like to fix that whole problem of people not being kind to each other on the Internet, if I have a few spare days.
History tells me it’s unlikely that I’ll post on this blog very often, so if you’re interested in keeping track of what I’m up to, I suggest following me on Twitter and/or signing up for joeMail using the form in the sidebar or on the linked page.
Happy Holidays and best wishes for 2014!
