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My 2018 Review

In 2018, I found I wanted to go backward to go forward more than I expected.

At work and in my writing and my service, I differently assessed where I was last year to plan for this year. Where 2017 featured many public facing advances (I became CEO! a creative piece of mine was published somewhere! I), my 2018 featured far more internal or private advances.

I am proud of what I’ve done. There’s more to do.

Below find both a recap of important milestones in my year, and, farther down, find a review of how I did on my 2018 Resolutions.

Find my full archives here.

  1. JANUARY: Start submitting: I submitted fiction to a few publications but I came to an important conclusion. I want to focus on a single longer-term project I have. So I’ve resolved to set aside shorter fiction for now. [FAILED]
  2. FEBRUARY: Be healthier: I (mostly) succeeded in my temptation bundle of only having a drink when I’ve been to the gym. I’ve done a pretty good job of going to the gym regularly. I also, uhm, sorta, made progress on portions. [PROGRESS]
  3. MARCH: Return to French: I did an admirable job staying with my French learning to the summer but this fell off in the second half of the year. I’d like to return. [PROGRESS]
  4. APRIL: Be a great board member: I’ve stepped off one of the four boards I was on this year, though I then stepped into the chairman of another. [COMPLETED]
  5. MAY: Finally sync married finances: We did meet with a financial planner, and we had several important conversations but there’s a lot more work to be done here. [PROGRESS]
  6. JUNE: Advance publish project: This resolution ran into my first one, and I recognized I had to pick one of them. This didn’t move forward. [FAILED]
  7. JULY: Be a better CEO: I am proud of how much I delivered on this, considering how much time and energy this took. I led a company reorganization that feel distinctly my responsibility. [COMPLETED]
  8. AUGUST: Drink whiskey better: I got smarter about what I drank, why and my understanding about it all. I took a long-awaited trip the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, and I learned quite a bit about Pennsylvania’s own tradition. [COMPLETED]
  9. SEPTEMBER: Find my own platform: I wanted to explore a new creative project that was entirely my own to feel out my own creative platform, and I did so with a writing process podcast[COMPLETED]
  10. OCTOBER: Be a better mentor: I took several opportunities to embrace more thoughtful approaches about mentorship: asking questions and serving as a sounding board for younger and/or differently experienced people than I to whom we felt I could be supportive. [PROGRESS]
  11. NOVEMBERComplete the novel manuscript: I didn’t finish this, but I made progress and moved forward a plan. [PROGRESS]
  12. DECEMBER: Finish the basement: I didn’t finish. I did advance this with plenty of father-son time. [PROGRESS]

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