New years are a time for both reflection and looking forward. I’ve never been good about resolutions—I’d inevitably forget or de-prioritize my resolutions as the year progressed. This was because I’d set my resolutions based on whatever whim I was pursuing at the time.

This year, for the first time, I followed a structured goal-setting process: I started with a set of 25 goals and whittled them down to a single goal across each of four axes of my life. Those domains are fitness, finance, mental, and social.

I designed each goal to be specific, realistic, and falsifiable. Each one also encompasses several goals from my original list as milestones or as indirect results of the root goal.

First up: my fitness goal for 2021!

I thought it’d be fun to take a look at some stats from 2020. Here they are:

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It’s the end of the year! I’ve had a wonderful time during my two weeks off, and I hope you did too! Here’s what my month looked like:

Rules: unless otherwise specified, these predictions are for what will be true on 1/1/2022. I’ve redacted some predictions about my personal life and friends. Next year, I’ll publish and score my results.

As a baby I never wanted to go to sleep: I stayed alert until I was completely exhausted (and my parents were too)! In high school and college, I regularly stayed up past 2AM. But for most of my professional life, I’ve been an early riser. I started out of convenience: gyms are less crowded early. Even after those circumstances changed, I found enough benefits to waking up early that I kept the habit. These days, I’m awake well before 6AM (and in bed by 9PM) almost every day. Here’s why I still do it: