2021 Goals

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by Dustin, Dec 19, 2020.

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  1. Dustin

    Dustin Well-Known Member

    New Years Resolutions, or goals, what do you want to work on in the next year? Personally, professionally, etc.

    For me:

    I'm A2 (on the CEFR scale) in French right now. I'd like to get to B1. My plan is to ramp up my Lingoda courses as finances permit. I did the marathon (90 hours, one hour a day) and got a full refund. Right now I've signed up for one lesson a week, which I'd like to make 3 lessons a week by June and 5 lessons a week by September.

    If I stick to that schedule I should get about 150 hours of French instruction plus additional self-study on my own. Since it takes about 300 hours to get to B1 I should aim for one hour of targeted self-study for every hour of Lingoda instruction I do, or about one hour of French every day to hit my target.

    I've never done a calculus course. I'm working through the Navy's math textbooks to brush up and I'd like to get myself back through Pre-Calculus in 2021 so that I can complete a series of calculus courses in 2022. I have statistics and econometrics books on my shelf that I can't read because I don't know the calculus (or even the notation) and it will be nice to be able to finally work through them.

    I'd like to read the Qur'an. I read the Bible in 2018, and now I want to move on to another text. I've started the Qur'an several times, and own a really nice copy in English, Arabic and Urdu (the English translation is this one by Abdullah Yusuf Ali).

    My last goal is to run a 10K. I did run one in 2018, but I injured myself during it and my running never really recovered. I need to get back into running regularly and build myself back to the 10K so that in 2022 I can run a marathon.

    What are your goals?
     
  2. GregWatts

    GregWatts Active Member

    Try and keep my job...
    Try and live a healthier lifestyle... we can always improve...
    Develop a lecture on business ethics...
    Since I am a glutton for punishment, probably apply for another grad degree :)
     
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  3. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    Great goals, and great thread! I appreciate that you don't have pipe dreams, but realistic and challenging targets to reach.

    I expect to be starting a Master's program in late 2021, when my employer tuition reimbursement benefit kicks in. For now, I'm still narrowing down options.

    Like Johann, I'm always in the middle of a few languages with varying degrees of competency and dedication to the cause. I feel like I'm on the brink of feeling fluent in 2 more languages than currently, and 2021 is the year to cross that threshold.

    I'm also starting to pursue another collection of goals that have been on the backburner for a long time now. Freelance writing projects, voice acting and voiceover projects. Working towards buying a multifamily house to meet the dual goal of buying my first home and making my first real estate investment.

    Last but not least, I aim to pick up my book reading rate. I'd like to read 1 book in print per week and listen to 2 audiobooks per week.

    I'm looking forward to a hopeful new year, now that I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel after some brutal hard times I've had recently. One optimistic step at a time!
     
    Last edited: Dec 19, 2020
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  4. Dustin

    Dustin Well-Known Member

    Last night I was eyeing signing up for an APUS degree...I already got admitted to the BS Mathematics last year (I withdrew after my transfer credit eval because they'd only give me 36 credits and I didn't want to spend $24K for what is essentially vanity), but I could easily change my application to their MPP or MS in Applied Business Analytics. So tempting! What degree(s) did you have in mind if you went back?

    I attempted the How To Learn Any Language (HTLAL) Super Challenge a few years ago. You set a goal to read 100 books (minimum of 50 pages each so a minimum of 5000 pages) and watch 100 movies (minimum of 90 minutes so 9000 minutes of audio) in 18 months. It really helped, and you might find it helpful! Also, I buy 100% of my foreign-language books (French for me, and Hebrew/Spanish/German for my step-son who is always dabbling in something new), at AbeBooks or Thriftbooks. If you're not familiar with either one, their cheapest books start at $5, they offer free shipping with small purchase amounts (like $10) and you can filter by language. I always check both sites because they're almost always cheaper at one site than the other and both are dollars below Amazon.

    I just started using my Kindle more actively recently and once I got over the differences between paper and Kindle books, I haven't gone back. I realized it's a lot easier for me to move quickly through because my eyes and hands don't get as tired reading on the Kindle as they do with a paper book. I also love that it can fit into a coat pocket and I can bring my entire library with me on the go.

    Love this!
     
  5. Mac Juli

    Mac Juli Well-Known Member

    Hello!


    I will try to be more focused on my studies. In my private life, I am happy all along, and in my professional life too. I have a good and demanding job. I am married for 16 years and (mostly) happy. I will do my best to keep it this way as this is something one should not take for granted. But in my academic life, I am the opposite and I am always ogling with something else I could do. This will stop 2021, dang it!!

    And I will finally reduce my consumption of Caffeine. There has recently been an article in the local newspaper that my community has the first place for three years in a row of all German communities regarding Caffeine consumption, "but if you subtract out Mac Juli, we fall on a more reasonable 44th place!!".

    Yeah, regarding the rest, I am fine... :)


    Best regards,
    Mac Juli
     
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  6. Dustin

    Dustin Well-Known Member

    I used to be terrible about drinking lots of Monster Energy drinks. I substituted a 200mg caffeine pill each morning instead. You lose out on the ritual but if you're someone who has several cups of coffee a day (at 100mg or more each), it can help to remind you that you already got your caffeine for the day.
     
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  7. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Less time on social media, the same goal as this year. I haven't categorically left any of them, but at the beginning of 2020 I deleted the Facebook app off my phone, which made a big difference in how much time I wasted on it. Now I've kicked Twitter off my phone as well, having previously written about why Academic Twitter is problematic.

    Other than that, there's a lot of travel I need to do that I couldn't in 2020, so my goal is to do all that, although that's up to the pandemic, I suppose.
     
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  8. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    LOL! This sounds like heresy to a lot of people, but I switched to decaf. I couldn't really taste the difference, and it more or less solved the caffeine problem.
     
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  9. GregWatts

    GregWatts Active Member


    I am looking into the area of epistemology, religion, neuroscience (personal interest with a side-line into moral psychology). There are some challenges; First, the subject area isn't exactly "online MBA" which I can pickup at the corner gas. Second; my undergrad was unremarkable but I have a couple decent grad degrees. No interest in studying with institutions of ill-repute. Third: Would really like the option of extending the degree over several years. My last degree was a 1 yr program spread over 2; too difficult to manage with a a full-time job. Fourth: To quote Tekman, "is it worth it"? Hell no, don't expect to earn a dime from it, albeit it may open up some interesting opportunities. Since this is on my own dime with to expectation of revenue, I need to keep the cost within some level of reason. I do have a degree in mind that may work, but they don't accept all applications... so I would still need to be accepted.

    On the language front; no interested but I did pass-up an opportunity that killed me. As a student at Leeds I had access to Rosetta Stone... all languages and all levels...but absolutely no time to take advantage.
     
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  10. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    I will be 78 in January.

    My first resolution is to live through the pandemic and reach 79.
    One year at a time.
    Not ride madly off in too many directions
    Continue learning Navajo and get back to Polish.
    Become a better musician. (Could hardly be worse!)
    Finish hands-on projects that I've started - or have been waiting for years.
    That includes things like rebuilding speakers, firing up single-board computers I have, like Raspberry Pi and Beaglebone Black
    Try not to look for too many new hands-on projects that are hard to do in apt. building.
    Get more into the nuts and bolts of Linux - finest OS in the world.
    Earn an "e-degree" in Javascript from Eduonix (India-online)
    Write something. Create something graphic. Write programs. Play music.
    Finish building my pile-of-parts Telecaster
    Take good care of all my stuff and not buy TOO much more.
    Keep courses etc. to a manageable level - I'm not too bad at that.

    That's about it.
     
    Last edited: Dec 20, 2020
  11. chrisjm18

    chrisjm18 Well-Known Member

    1. I want to finish my Ph.D. in time for the May 15th, 2021 graduation (otherwise, sometime in the summer).
    2. Learn Spanish.
    3. Start a career in juvenile justice and get some more online adjunct gigs.
    4. Buy a house.
    5. Get my son :) and start a family!
     
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  12. Dustin

    Dustin Well-Known Member

    I am a huge fan of Duolingo for the basics and Lingoda (if you can afford a paid course) for the intermediate and advanced content.

    Also, Destinos is a free set of 50 half hour video sessions available online to train your ear to full-speed spoken Spanish by having you watch a specially written telenovela.

    Good luck!
     
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  13. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Igualmente. Buena suerte. I might watch it - but only if Eva Longoria Bastón is in the starring role. :)

    From Wiki: "From 2015 to 2016, Longoria starred as Ana Sofia Calderón on the short-lived NBC sitcom "Telenovela,"
    Unforgivable series, but Unforgettable Eva. :)
     
    Last edited: Dec 20, 2020
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  14. TeacherBelgium

    TeacherBelgium Well-Known Member

    Finishing my postgraduate in tax (so nervous for my January exams).
    No longer be single (meeting the right person, not an abusive relationship that consistently depends on me to validate them like last time).
    Winning the lottery (I play once every three weeks and put in 2 euro but then feel bad when I lost my money and didn't win anything).
    Finishing my last two eneb degrees left (human resources and project management).
    Making a trip to Canada to visit some family (if the situation improves in the new year).
    Getting a good job with good pay at PWC.
     
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  15. TeacherBelgium

    TeacherBelgium Well-Known Member

    Learn how to cope with stress better.
    Got rejected for my dream job at PWC.
    Feel so disappointed.
    Can't put it out of my head.
    :-(
     
  16. GregWatts

    GregWatts Active Member

    FWIW, some of my dream jobs turned out to be terrible and some of my "best available" opportunities turned out to be dream jobs. As a PWC alum, the firm can be tough... don't dwell on what you don't know may never have been and move on. Probably some Stoicism in that comment :)
     
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  17. chrisjm18

    chrisjm18 Well-Known Member

    Trust me, "It's All Good." Be positive!

     
  18. eriehiker

    eriehiker Active Member

    1) Keep my 82-year-old dad alive.
    2) Finish cleaning out my dad's house.
    3) Get my house ready to sell in 2022.
    4) Transfer my MI teaching credentials to WI.
    5) Increase programming at the school radio station that I run.
    6) Get a few more teachers to join the teachers' union before I step down as president.
    7) Learn enough Hungarian to pass citizenship test.
    8) Complete some of those ENEB degrees.
    9) Start writing a letter per day to friends and family.
    10) Pick up a side gig or two that can be done while moving to supplement pension.
     
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  19. chrisjm18

    chrisjm18 Well-Known Member

    How exactly do you achieve this one? I thought this was beyond our control. Anyway, I wish your dad a long life.
     
  20. eriehiker

    eriehiker Active Member

    Well, I was writing in a Covid sense. I used a heavy curtain to seal off half of his house so that I can visit and bring the kids over without being in the same room with him. I moved almost everything out of the family room, basement and garage so that the kids can run around and make noise and he can hear them. I also put in a hotspot and set up an Echo Show so that we can video chat. I bring him groceries, etc. and try to convince him not to attend church, or, at least "Make Wednesday your new Sunday." But that doesn't really convince him.
     

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