I need to visit Taiwan so I can visit Beer Bicycle. The vibes of this video are off the charts (also, a Brompton!).

Welcome to my year in review post...a few days into the new year. See previous editions for 2023, 2022,  2021, and 2020.

Spending more time in front of my computer was de-prioritized this year. Like last year, I did not start any new side projects.

Tanzawa
I didn't do much work on Tanzawa. That said, I still managed to make some small quality of life enhancements:

Sunbottle
The site that powers solar.jamesvandyne.com (and the Solar widget on the top page) did not see any commits in the past year. Which is problematic as I should update the fuel adjustment costs monthly-ish so my savings are calculated accurately.

I finally found a way to run consistently, squeezing out 101 runs totaling 458km. Running consistently has been a boon to my mental health. If I'm grump, going for a run usually solves it. It gives me time to think deeply about things away from screens. I ran my fastest ever 5ks, with the fastest being a few seconds under 30 minutes (I did that one while jet lagged, too!). Hitting the 30 minute 5k feels like a major milestone. I also discovered just how great running is for seeing a the sights of a city by running in Waikiki, London, and Paris. Technically Valencia is on that list, but I ran when it was dark, so I didn't see much while running.

I had two annual health checks this year. The first was in February, just before the end of the Japanese fiscal year and the second was in December. Despite the running, my weight and waist circumference stayed the same.. I hope that won't be the same when I write this report next year. Thanks to running though, everything else improved. :success-kid:

Leo started primary school. The first semester was really hard. Everyday was a struggle to get him out the door. He asked good question like "Why do I have to sit down and listen to adults talk all day? That's boring.". I think letting him spend his 3-years of pre-school at a school that let kids be kids and play was worth this struggle. He now mostly goes without issue.

We went on a trip to America so Leo could meet G-pa, my dad, for the first time. Communicating in English wasn't as smooth as I was hoping it was going to be, but they still got along. On the way there we stopped in Hawaii for a few days and Leo could meet some family that live there as well. Everybody is genki.

I read more books this year –mostly on my (new? I forget when I got it) kindle paperwhite. Trying to change my default from staring at my phone and scrolling for dopamine to staring at my kindle has been good for me learning new things and for living a more intentional life.

Kraken continues to be fun and exciting. The impact we're enabling is really motivating. I went from leading a regional team of 15 to a global team of just over 50. This firmly put me in the position of "person who writes documents  in Notion" instead of "person who writes Python in PyCharm". I still manage to sneak in a cheeky PR when it's a 1 or 2 liner when I'm able. Leading large teams is a much different challenge, but I find myself really enjoying it.

In classic James fashion, after writing my goals for the year last year I didn't look or think about them after posting. Still, I managed to achieve them. I will take the same approach this year. One difference is that I'm going to introduce a keyword to keep my centered. This year that keyword is "health".

Read More Books
Reading books on my kindle makes me feel better than endlessly staring at my cellphone when I'm bored or need a dopamine hit. There's an opportunity to learn from the greatest minds in history (often for free!) and I should do that more. It keeps my mind healthy and sharp.

Run 100 times
Same as last year. Setting this goal last year helped me run consistently. This year I'd like to run at least 100 times as well. I'll also introduce two stretch goals: 120 runs in a year and 550km distance.

Weights and Yoga
On the days when I don't run, I want to do some other exercise. I think those will be weight training (using my kettlebell) and yoga. Last year (or was it the year prior?) I bought some nice kettlebells. I want to use them consistently. Yoga should help me with general mobility and limberness. It might even help a bit with my next goal for 2025...

Balance
Work was my main focus last year. This year I expect the intensity of work will continue (🎉). While there isn't a specific measure for this goal, I'd like to be more intentional and balanced approach to work this year. I'm setting up habits already to enable this (e.g. putting my phone on the charger downstairs at night so I don't look at Slack when I first wake up... and then inevitably peak in regularly until work starts at 8:30 - 9am).

Using regular and consistent physical activity and reading books to create a better and more balanced self. This focus will be key to keeping me present and positive and able to do good for those near me when it could be so simple to wallow in despair given <gestures all around himself> everything.

Less Snacking
All of the points above are adding things. You can't have balance if you're always adding, so I'd like to remove something too. I have a (bad) habit of snacking between meals. Especially when I work from home. I'd like to, ideally, not do that at all. However, absolutes set you up for failure because there will be that day when you do it... so I'd like to snack less. My main strategy for this will be to wait until 7am when the rest of the eats rather than eating when I first wake up...as that puts 7 hours between breakfast and lunch, which is long enough that you're gonna want a snack.