I used to look down on the whole idea of making an annual plan. Even if I made one, I assumed I would never actually pull it off. That only changed after I saw a post from someone I really admired and, for whatever reason, felt provoked enough to make one of my own.
So, with more confidence than sense, I came up with four goals. Now that the year is almost over, it feels about right to look back and see what became of them.
Read 10 million characters' worth of books
Thanks to the miracle that is the Kindle Fire, reading became much easier than I expected. What had seemed like a huge challenge was already finished by early July. To be fair, a lot of what I read was not especially nourishing, and even the worthwhile books probably did not sink in as much as they should have. But reading is supposed to be a pleasure anyway, so that part feels fine.
Go to Tibet
Ahem—actually, Hangzhou and Tibet are more or less the same. Really, more or less the same. For someone whose previous southernmost destination had been the south outer ring of Cangzhou, crossing the Yangtze already counted as an adventure, so heading farther out did not feel all that different.
Spending more than a month there made me realize that the south is actually pretty nice. More importantly, it got me away from the capital for a while and gave me space to think about things beyond life there.
Find a lover who truly clicks with me
With you in it, my world feels completely different. I have been too busy lately, but I will make it up to you and spend more time with you.
Finish a full marathon
This happened to overlap with one of my idol's goals. In truth, it was not as hard as I had imagined, though it did a fair bit of damage to the body. From now on I need to put some weight back on. I am not doing that again.
What's next?
With the little bit of the year that remains, I can probably shift into a kind of recuperative vacation mode: write some blog posts, learn a bit of Mindong dialect, and take it easy for once.