Public Commitment 2018 – Update

This year my theme is Curiosity. I’ve done some things with it, but there is surely more work to be done there. One of the ways that I’m exploring it is with the catalogue of things I’m keeping with the Timeline.

Here is a reflection on the goals I made previously and the goals I have defined for the remainder of the year. I might update them at the end of Q3 again.

 

Goal 1: Write a Sci-Fi novella
I’ve started with this goal. But it’s in the very early stages and I haven’t taken the time besides a few spare moments to write more. I do feel that I have a good structure to write around, I just need to take more time to write.

Goal 2: Assemble a personal board
I haven’t done anything with this goal and it’s kinda stupid of me not to do so. It’s something that takes some courage, but after that takes no more than a few hours every month, maybe even less than an hour a week to keep them up-to-date and make a better feedback loop for myself (see more about feedback loops in Triggers). I’m writing this down for tomorrow.

Goal 3: Blog 1x per week
Yes and no, I’ve started blogging again on this website and have rearranged the structure. I think I have a good grip on what I can do here now. I do think that it’s still a lot of work to get things from earlier times on here and to link everything together. So I will take my time to do that and try and keep updated whilst I continue to work on it. I’ve also added some other pages for essays, Spero, Things I Do, and a dedicated page for the book reviews. Of course, I still have to make most of them, but the framework is here.

Goal 3a: Consistently share what I’ve learned on my website
– I’ve let go of the 1x per week, and want to focus on sharing my lessons as I learn them.
– This means more timeline updates, some articles, and some updates around Spero

Goal 4: Track my finances with precision
Yes. I’ve been on point with this goal and have consistently tracked my spending behaviour. What I can now start to do (more) is to also analyse it and start acting more on the things I see. An example would be that I could see that I’m spending too much on dining out, so I can make a goal for the next month.

Goal 4a: Improve my spending for happiness with feedback loops
– The money I spent should lead to happiness because why else spend it
– This means that I will track and fine-tune what spendings lead to what happiness outcomes and what spending I should avoid or lower in the future

Goal 5: Cooking basics level 2
I’m learning more and more about cooking. I can highly recommend Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. In combination with sports, I think I will enjoy cooking more and more.

Goal 6: Bi-weekly sport challenge
I’ve done these challenges only at the beginning of the year. They were a cool idea but in practice, they were too random and didn’t fit my schedule or lead to real results. Currently, I’m doing personal training at CrossFit and I really enjoy that I’m getting better (at flexibility/mobility). I hope that in the coming months I will progress further and will be able to get to my goals as also mentioned in the Happy Body review.

Goal 6a: Hit my fitness goals
– from most to least important: Achieve squat flexibility, be able to do Squat Press, achieve weights on Squat Press and Clean & Jerk, achieve 10% body fat

Goal 7: Share about Effective Altruism
With EA Rotterdam we’ve been keeping busy with events and have had a blast with our in-depth meetups. There are way more options for reaching people, but here again, it’s still a question about the time that we can and want to invest. I do truly hope that I will be able to influence a few people this year.

Goal 8: Make my house even more beautiful
I still haven’t done much with this goal. I did make a water bowl for Max and that was great to do. Now I do want to make about 2 or 3 things before the end of the year. In terms of style, I also have some ideas for making it look even better than it does now.

Goal 9: Do something crazy for love
On our anniversary Lotte and I have an amazing day in Rotterdam. My final surprise didn’t go through so who knows if I will do something else later this year.

Goal X: More slack in the system
On one level this has been true. But on the other hand, I do still fill all of my time doing things. Now with the timeline, I do see that I’m consuming fewer podcasts and that might have a positive impact on my slack in the system. I also listen to more music which is a nice (and not taxing) thing.

New goals:
Goal 1: Write a Sci-Fi novella
Goal 2: Assemble a personal board
Goal 3: Consistently share what I’ve learned on my website
Goal 4: Improve my spending for happiness with feedback loops
Goal 5: Cooking basics level 2
Goal 6: Hit my fitness goals
Goal 7: Share about Effective Altruism
Goal 8: Make my house even more beautiful
Goal 9: Do something crazy for love
Goal X: More slack in the system