Update on 'My Projects'

Checking in after two years

Sep 18, 2023

In late 2021, back before anyone read my blog, I published My Projects. In that article, I wrote about the various passions I was pursuing and my goals for each of them.

Roughly two years have passed, so it's a good time to take a look at how things are going. There have been some successes and some frustrations; overall I'm happy with my progress.

For those who don't know me in real life, it's worth pointing out that I haven't been working full-time these past two years. I think of it as a "starving artist"-type situation—I keep my expenses really low and that gives me a lot of freedom to spend my time how I see fit. It's just that in my case, I spend it playing/writing about/coaching frisbee (and working on a few other things) instead of making music or painting.

Why post something like this? To be honest, I hope to inspire a few of you to feel more comfortable with dreaming big and working patiently to achieve your goals. And as a side benefit, the public commitment to my goals helps keep me on track. Let's take a look:

1. Chinese:

Here were the goals I had in mind two years ago:

...continue learning new words, practicing reading, and practicing listening...I'd like to at least double my current vocabulary size. I'd like to feel confident in my ability to read a random book written for adults without needing a dictionary by my side. Some day, I'd like to improve my spoken Chinese as well...
My "realistic" goal is to get a job (and be successful at it!) where I speak Chinese at work. (But obviously if my career takes me in another direction, I may set a different goal.) My "stretch" goals are to write a book directly in Chinese or to translate a well-known Chinese book into English.

I've continued studying flash cards, reading, and listening to podcasts for the past two years. I'm not sure exactly how large my vocabulary was two years ago, but a rough guess (based on data in my flash card app) suggests it's grown 50% since then. Doubling my vocabulary was an eventually goal, and not a two years from now goal, so it's not a failure that I haven't made it there yet—I'm progressing steadily and expect to be there some day. (For the curious: I know roughly 18,000 Chinese words/phrases based on the number of flash cards I've studied. Since I'm not practicing speaking much, the number of words I can fluently use in conversation is far less.)

I can read books for adults without a dictionary (as long as they're written in a modern style), but there are still lots of words in every book that I either interpret from context or just skip over. For example, a book I read recently had about 1,000 phrases I highlighted to look up later.

I've rarely practiced speaking Chinese in the past few years. Finding a conversation partner is a logical next step that I've been procrastinating on for a long time.

My skills keep growing slowly as I study, but if I want to become truly fluent I'll need to move back to a Chinese-speaking country. Moving is an option I'm open to but not a certainty. There are many factors involved in deciding where to live, and I'm not going to move solely because I want to speak Chinese better.

How would I rate my progress overall? Slow, but steady. I'm proud of the time I've put in, and I can tell how much my reading and listening skills have grown in the past few years. My main regret is not stepping out of my comfort zone to find a conversation partner. I think my "realistic" goal (being able to work in Chinese) is already achievable, and just depends on my desire to find a job where I use Chinese. My "stretch" goals (translating a book) are still a ways off but not impossible if I continue learning.

Goals for the next two years: Slow and steady progress. Continue putting in the work reading, learning new words, and listening to podcasts/watching TV. Find a conversation partner.

2. Ultimate frisbee

Here's what I said two years ago:

For ultimate frisbee overall, my realistic goal is to play (any amount) at club Nationals. My stretch goal is to be one of the best players on a Nationals team (or equivalent AUDL team).

I highlighted a few specific athletic goals:

Get more athletic (cardio): Realistic goal is to run a sub-5:30 mile. Stretch goal is to run a sub-5:00 mile
Get more athletic (jumping): Realistic goal is to dunk a basketball, jumping off of both feet or off of my right foot. Stretch goal is to dunk jumping off my left foot.

The last two years of my ultimate journey have been frustrating. Around the time I originally posted 'My Projects', I hurt my knee—tearing the meniscus and breaking some cartilage in the same part of my knee. Because cartilage doesn't really heal, my knee has never felt the same—there's a lot more crunchy stuff in there. From late 2021 until early 2023, my knee didn't seem to be improving much. But earlier this year it finally started feeling better. As a result, I'm feeling more optimistic lately.

I've missed two club seasons in that time—lost experience that there's no way to get back. Although my knee kept me from playing, I did continue to throw a whole lot, and my throws have continued to improve.

My "stretch" goal (to be one of the best players on a Nationals team) has likely slipped out of reach given how the past two years have gone. I'm 32 with 3 ACL surgeries and more knee injuries on top of that—it's doubtful I'll ever be athletic enough (and have enough trust in my knees) to reach that level.

My "realistic" goal (play any amount for a Nationals team) is a more interesting question. I've played with a number of players at that level, and I generally don't feel overmatched. Some of my throws are close to "Nationals-level"—though other throws could still use work. But if I continue to throw a whole lot, my throws should continue to improve. The biggest question is whether I'll trust my knees to cut hard and not get hurt over a multi-day tournament. I value staying healthy even if it means not challenging myself against the stiffest ultimate competition. I'll see how the next couple years ago and decide if it makes sense to try to play for a Nationals-level team.

My athletic goals are highly dependent on how well my body holds together. If you'd asked me six months ago, I would've said there's just about no way I'll ever dunk or run a 5:30 mile. But now that I'm feeling a bit healthier I think there's still a small chance. It'll take dedication, and it'll take lots of patience to not overtrain and get injured, but there's a chance.

How would I grade myself overall? I've done about as well as I could, given the (injury) circumstances. I've put in the time to get better at throwing, and my field sense has stayed strong. We'll give this one an "incomplete" for now.

Goals for the next two years: Continue to throw a whole lot. Re-build my athleticism while prioritizing avoiding injuries. Play as much as my body allows. Try out for a high-level club team if I feel confident in my health.

3. Meditation

I plan to continue meditating 20-30 minutes per day for the foreseeable future. I've never done a meditation retreat; I think that may be what I need to break out of my beginner-level plateau...
A (very) stretch goal is to become "enlightened". A realistic goal is to be able to consistently enter a state of sustained, pleasant, calm focus in my daily meditation sessions.

Meditation is the one passion on this list that I've (mostly) given up on. I still meditate, but only for 10 minutes a day. It's enough to help with my calmness and focus, but it's not enough to make progress as a meditator.

Meditation continues to intrigue me, but after years of not making any noticeable progress, I eventually decided to stop trying to "improve". As I wrote above, perhaps what I needed was just more meditation. That still may be true, but I didn't want to commit to hours of daily meditation.

My goals are still as achievable as they were two years ago. I'd just have to take up meditation again—which I don't plan to anytime soon. So I have to grade this one "unsuccessful", but not in a bad way. I took what life gave me and decided to spend my time in other ways—a decision I feel good about.

Goals for the next two years: N/A.

4. Writing

Two years ago I said this:

I'd ideally like to average 5-7 writing hours per week...
A realistic goal is just to continue writing, trying to get better, and publishing on my blog. A stretch goal is to become a relatively well-known blogger (vague, I know) or to publish a book.

Before I re-read my old post, I (mis-)remembered having quantitative goals — "have a blog post with 1,000+ views" or similar. But apparently I never actually wrote that down. I don't have any posts that have passed 1,000 views, but a few are in the 200-400 range. In total, I have about 11,000 pageviews since I started the blog. I'm relatively happy with that!

To be clear, I'm not worried about "being a content creator". My goal with the blog is to help people learn to play frisbee better. In other words, to have a positive impact on the community. I'm interested in whether my posts get views only as a rough measurement of whether I'm succeeding at that goal.

Anyway let's get to the goals that I did write down in 2021. I didn't average 5+ hours per week writing over the last two years. My average is probably around 3.5 hours per week. I'm little disappointed with myself over that, but at the same time I feel good about the number of posts I've completed. When I wrote two years ago, I had 20 posts, and I'm now at 90, meaning I've posted an article roughly every 10 days for the past two years.

One more thing I'm happy about: recently I did have a bit of a breakthrough, and I've written for 7 hours per week over the last 5+ weeks. I hope to keep this streak going.

My stretch goals were to "publish a book" and "become a relatively well-known blogger". I don't currently have any plans to write a book. The latter goal is admittedly vague, but I think it's fair to say I'm on the right track. My subscriber numbers and pageviews have grown steadily over the past two years—admittedly from a very small base! Earlier this year I heard a story about a local frisbee coach who shared my blog with his club team, not knowing it was written by someone most of his players knew from summer league & pickup—I think that could count as "relatively well-known".

How would I rate my writing progress overall? Between writing, ultimate frisbee, and studying Chinese I see a clear pattern: things never quite work out as smoothly or perfectly as I hope they will, but the work I'm putting in over the course of multiple years is paying off. I could have done a better job with my writing goals, but I'm not embarrassed with the progress I've made, either.

Goals for the next two years: Double(?) my subscriber count. Write a couple posts that get over 1,000 views. Finish the posts I currently have planned. Submit a review that places in the top 25% of the Astral Codex Ten Book Review Contest.

5. Potential Future Projects

I finished my original article with a short discussion of things I might become more interested in moving forward:

Aerodynamics. (My professional expertise)....
Master another language....
Master another sport...
Become a coach...
Focus more on my community... [as opposed to my current goals which are personal-development heavy]

These 'future projects' purposefully had no specific timetable for progress. I could start them soon, or I could start them 10 years from now. So I don't stress if I didn't make progress here, the way I might about, for example, not having written as much as I set out to. Here's a quick look at how things have changed:

I've made very tangible progress on one project: I became an ultimate frisbee coach at the beginning of this year. (I also think of my blogging as coaching, for anyone on the internet who wants to read it.)

Mastering another language is still on my radar for "someday". It probably won't become a focus in the next couple years. I want to continue to focus on studying Chinese. But 5-10 years down the road I may be ready for a new challenge.

Mastering another sport is in the same category as mastering a new language—my frisbee skills are still growing, and my time spent practicing is paying dividends, so it's not yet time to switch to something new. At my age, I might need to pick a low-impact sport next time I decide to try something new. Maybe rock climbing—I already get asked semi-regularly if I'm a climber, might as well make it reality....

Aerodynamics remains a professional interest of mine, although I haven't focused on it over the last couple years. I hope to have one or two aero-related posts on the blog in the coming months.

Building community has been at the forefront of my mind recently, although I don't have any big progress to report. I've worked at the polls for the past two elections. Coaching is one way I support my local community. I recently met with a nonprofit I'd like to volunteer for, although (in typical small nonprofit fashion?) I haven't heard back from them in a few weeks.

Summarizing this section: becoming a coach became reality, and has become a part of my larger relationship with frisbee. Building community/activism and aerodynamics feel like they'll be coming to the forefront in the next couple years. A new language and a new sport are still on the radar, but probably not in the next few years.

Final thoughts

As I wrote above: "Between writing, studying Chinese, and ultimate frisbee I see a clear pattern: things never quite work out as smoothly or perfectly as I hope they will, but the work I'm putting in over the course of multiple years is paying off." I'm not a famous writer, nor am I a famous frisbee player, but I'm far, far more successful at both of them than I was before I started taking them seriously. I plan to continue working hard on these three projects, and I'm excited to see where I end up after two more years.

(One last question—are any new potential future projects on my mind? Chess might qualify. A friend got me into it, and I play badly every once in a while, but I've felt I have a knack for it and could get pretty good if I tried. Computer programming has long had a place in the back of my mind as something to try professionally further down the road. I've done a bit of it at previous jobs and it really scratches that "puzzle solving" itch.)

Some Flow

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