2011 was a great year for me, and I kept to most of my resolutions.
FITNESS AND EXERCISE
Runs:
- I kept to an almost consistent schedule for runs, and I did roads, trails and/or climbed hills almost every weekend. (Almost, except when I was sick or not at home or had other appointments/duties to cater to or just couldn't muster up the energy for it.)
- I finished my first half-marathon, which was excruciating but super fun as well.
- In total, I ran/walked/climbed approximately 200kms or so in 2011.
- I've lost about 6 kgs since I started.
Karate and boxing:
- I missed not too many of my Kyokushin karate classes, except for when I couldn't make it (e.g. transport problems, car problems, work overload), or if I just couldn't find the energy to attend a particular day's session (sleep/energy exhaustion, etc.)
- I finally took up boxing classes; this has done wonders for my upper-body flexibility and strength. (And by the way, boxing really complements Kyokushin karate.)
LANGUAGES
Japanese:
- I studied a lot of Japanese in 2011. Most of this consisted of reading and Anki repetitions: in fact, my Anki deck of Japanese sentences alone (which I almost haven't touched for the past few months, as I've been reading more than doing sentence reps lately) accounts for 91624 reps over its lifetime.
- Reps for my other Anki decks (CorePLUS, Japanese expressions, etc) -- stand at around 40000 reps.
- I finished one whole videogame (探偵神宮寺三郎) in full Japanese -- without any translation -- which, put in perspective, is quite an achievement, considering that two years ago I could barely read basic, much less complex, Japanese sentences. I've moved on to playing other Japanese games (like Snatcher, Policenauts) and I've also been going through some other interesting Japanese game scripts (e.g. Final Fantasy Tactics, 水滸伝, etc.)
- My Japanese vocabulary certainly extends beyond 10,000 words, probably hovering around the 15,000-20,000 range.
- I probably know close to 2,500 to 3,000 Chinese characters -- at least in the sense that I can read them, even if I sometimes forget how to write them.
French:
- I attempted studying French seriously in 2011. However, towards the middle and end of the year, my French studies began suffering, due to my own personal scheduling inconsistencies. But I really intend to remedy and work on my French in 2012.
Arabic:
- I've begun my Arabic language studies.
- I'm taking Arabic slower, as I'm trying to establish to base a somewhat respectable lexical base before working on anything else. (This is different compared to how I approached Japanese and French: for those I gave both vocabulary and grammar equal importance from the very beginning.)
STUDIES AND WORK
- I completed my legal training, and I'm now a fully qualified lawyer.
- I took up a postgraduate degree in finance, finished all 14 of my postgraduate papers in about 10 months, and am now finishing the final part of the required industry training. I've learned so much about economics (macro, micro) and finance and financial maths in the past few months.
- Learned lots and lots and lots of other new stuff this year too, and I'm still hoping to learn lots more!
- Learned some new productivity techniques: timeboxing, Pomodoro.
PERSONAL
- Met a lot of new people in 2011.
- Made a ton of new friends (and lost some old ones too, sadly).
- Got closer with and have become more acquainted with (formerly, somewhat estranged) relatives.
INTERESTS
Music and guitar in 2011
- I forced myself to learn a number of new musical pieces this year; Guthrie Govan, Joe Satriani, etc.
- Learned recording techniques -- VSTs, MIDI interfaces, mixing and EQ techniques, etc.
- I've signed up for proper jazz guitar classes, and I'm now training under an experienced master who's a former GIT and Berklee graduate (although that doesn't necessarily mean I'll go anywhere without hard work on my part :/ ).
- I've started studying music theory very seriously -- modes, modal progressions, chord theory, extensions, intervals, etc
- I learned to read music, and I can now do so, albeit with a degree of difficulty. (I can read pieces, but I definitely can't sightread them yet. Key-based finger positioning is still a very new concept for me.)
Art in 2011
- I finally decided to learn how to draw.
- I've bought a ton of pencils and sketchbooks; I even invested in a Wacom tablet, despite knowing that I wouldn't be able to use it well, if at all, yet. I've no interest in doing digital art or paintings -- I'd just like to learn to do realistic portraits, still lifes, and landscapes/scenery with pencils and values.
- My main aim for 2012 is to learn perspective, anatomy, and values (shading).
Books in 2011
- I got a Kindle 3 in March and an iPad around September last year; and that led me on a book-reading rampage, through which I've managed to finish some 16 fantasy/sci-fi books -- and I still have another 5 which I've begun reading, but haven't yet finished, and which I'm now reading simultaneously in rotation.
- I've amassed a collection of non-fiction books on science, finance and politics, which I'll also have to find some time to read in 2012.
BAD STUFF TO FIX
Reddit:
- I discovered Reddit only this year -- and have discovered that that place is best to be avoided at work, since it's a complete time sink.
- I once spent an entire weekend going through the posts, even skipping breakfast and lunch, just to read. It's spilling over into my office hours as well ("Oh, lunch is over... just 5 more minutes... OH CRAP I'VE BEEN ON REDDIT FOR AN HOUR ALREADY.")
Steam:
- I discovered Steam during 2011's Square Enix sale.
- I don't play videogames that much -- I'm grateful that Steam reports my hours to me clearly, so that I know when I stop, because I can't stand even the thought of a game telling me that I've sunk 600 hours into it. So unless it's a game that I absolutely love and must finish (e.g. Batman: Arkham Asylum, Portal 2) I try not to use Steam that much.
- Steam's sales are way too tempting, and can be so hard to resist even though you know you'll never find the time to play those games you've just bought -- it's only with sheer willpower that I'm able to achieve some degree of immunity to the sales, and I intend to continue resisting until I finish the games I already have (which will probably take years anyway).
Time management:
- I zone off a bit too much when doing work. I remedied this using the Pomodoro technique, but I've still some productivity kinks left to iron out.
- ManicTime is useful and scary and saddening, all at the same time. Therefore I intend to make better use of it this year.
2012's New Year Resolutions
So, all in all, the following are my specific resolutions (and which may expand therefrom) for the new year of 2012:
Japanese:
- Complete Anki's corePLUS series - with 49622 unseen cards, that averages to around 165.40 new cards per day. Oh my.
- Resume Japanese sentence decks -- clear 5000 due cards, and finish all new cards.
- Finish one whole Japanese novel.
- Work on my listening skill -- be able to dissect the majority of a 1-hour episode of colloquial/slangy Japanese
- Listen to all J-Pod pocasts.
- Listen to all available audiobooks.
- Work on my speaking skills.
French:
- Learn at least 10,000 new French words.
- Finish drilling through all unseen cards in my French grammar deck: 'The Ultimate French Verb - Review and Practice'.
- Finish French in Action at least once, and go through all of the relevant PDFs and transcripts.
- Get in at least 100 hours of FSI's French.
- Finish 2 French short stories, and 1 novel.
Arabic:
- Learn at least 7,000 Arabic words.
- Finish Wightwick/Gaafar's 'Arabic Verbs & Essentials of Grammar'.
- Finish 2 short stories.
Fitness:
- Complete at least 300km in running for the whole year.
- Be able to run straight for 45 mins.
- Go up one belt for karate.
- Miss less karate and boxing classes.
- Work more on the mitts and bags.
- Lose another 10kgs.
Music:
- Memorize Frank Gambale's "Chopbuilder".
- Memorize 25 new 2-5-1 jazz licks.
- Learn 3 new jazz standards.
- Finish that jazz sightreading book (I can't remember its name now).
- Learn 2 new virtuosic guitar pieces. (Guthrie Govan, Alex Hutchings, or Eric Johnson, etc.)
Hobbies and personal:
- Begin saving and investing.
- Learn how to draw realistic portraits, and anatomy and perspectives.
- Finish Mass Effect, Bioshock, and Batman: Arkham City.
- Don't waste time as much (less Reddit, less Metafilter, less Slashdot, less Facebook).
- Establish a consistent schedule for learning new things -- languages, skills, etc.
- Read more Wikipedia, grok more stuff.
- One of my greatest temptations: salt. Eat less salt.
