My goals for 2025

Today is my 28th birthday 🥳!

The best thing about being born in January is that you only have to face your own mortality and the uncontrollable passage of time one month out of the year. Snow on the ground is also nice.

At the beginning of the year, I like to spend time reflecting and celebrating the past. And on my birthday, I like to set my intentions for the future and define my theme for the year.

Last week, I reflected on 2024 and my "Year of Surrender." This week, I want to share my theme for 2025. I'm calling it my...

Year of Goof

2024 was the year I got "serious" about writing. I published a weekly piece, started working on my first book, and began identifying as a writer.

Writing isn't just something I like to do; it feels like something I have to do to be myself.

I'm grateful for this relationship with writing. It's special to have work in your life that feels important—it compels me to respect the craft, grow my skills, and take my work seriously.

But I'm worried this shift has also led me to take myself a little too seriously. In my Year of Surrender, I learned to keep drudging through the drudgery even when it feels like I'm going in circles.

This lesson in trusting the process is incredibly valuable to my life as a writer and as a person. But I also want to remind myself this year that it's okay to enjoy the process. In fact, the process needs to be enjoyable—or eventually, I'll burn out.

So this year, my goal is to reconnect with the carefree, childlike creator inside me. The part of me that isn't worried about whether my work is good or important. The creator who makes stuff simply because it's fun.

To help me rediscover that inner creator, I've outlined some goals to bring more goof into my life this year:

🎨 Doodle daily

Doodling can increase focus, reduce stress, and improve short-term memory *. But that's not why I want to doodle every day this year. It's because I suck at drawing, have terrible handwriting, and want to become more dangerous with a pen.

Let me know if you'd like to see a future post on my doodling practice.

🪄 Learn four magic tricks

Who doesn't love when a friend breaks out a card trick, right? Right?

I don't know— I did a little street magic in high school and thought it would be fun to get back into it. Maybe I'll even put on a little show for friends and family at the end of the year. Who knows?

My hope is that these activities will remind me that self-expression is fun. There are serious problems in the world, but none so serious that we need to forget that life is special, precious, and worth enjoying.

✍️ Write a short story

This is a goal from my "35 Before 35" list that fits perfectly with this year's theme. No strings. No expectations. Just a fictional tale that's short and, hopefully, makes me laugh.

📕 Read three fiction books

Three might sound like a low number, but this would be a 50% increase from last year. Fiction and fantasy help our brains learn to empathize, give ourselves the freedom to suspend disbelief in what's possible, and inspire us to see life as an epic adventure.

Right now, my fiction TBR includes Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut and The Odyssey by Homer, but I'm open to recommendations! Some criteria:

1. No series (unless the first book has a definitive conclusion)
2. No more than 400 pages
3. No portals
4. No orphans

The "Serious" Goals for 2025

Of course, I'm still me. So, although my theme this year is to take life less seriously, I still have some more "serious" goals I want to accomplish...

🎥 Publish 10 YouTube videos

For the past four years, I've been telling myself I want to get back into making YouTube videos. Well, this is the year I'm committing: once a month. I can do once a month.

I write enough that, hopefully, I can just read some of my posts to the camera and call it done. But I know it won't be that easy to make something I feel is good.

The first step, though, isn't for things to be good—it's for them to exist.

🎤 Interview 5 guests for my podcast

Starting my podcast, Just Business, with my friend Henry was a highlight of 2024. This year, I want to expand the scope a little and incorporate interviews with guests to discuss issues at the intersection of technology, society, ethics, and entrepreneurship.

If you know people who know people who might be interested in coming on the show, let me know!

🪑 Build 2 pieces of furniture

Last year, my interest in woodworking was reignited when I designed and built a Scandinavian-inspired floating shelving unit for my office.

I used to be much more of a physical maker than I am now, and I'd like to continue developing that skill with two larger-scale furniture projects. I'm sure I'll end up turning them into some metaphor for life in a future post.

But until then, here's the intention.

🤪 Let's Get Goofy

As always, we'll see how the year develops and what lessons teach me more about goof.

Life is hard. It's messy. We live in uncertain, unpredictable, and often scary times. But as Kurt Vonnegut said:

“It’s dangerous, I know, and it can hurt a lot. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s serious, too.”

Until next time,
Drew