2019: In public

Escalating commitment 😬

I wrote about certain aspects of goal setting that worked for me last year. One thing that sustained goal commitment was making it public; research supports this as well.

Although i’m a big proponent of goals, I try to be open to opposing views. Scott Adams has presenting an interesting argument against goals, calling for “systems” instead.

I don’t think they have to be mutually exclusive.

In this instance, it might be possible to have and eat the proverbial cake. Desires outcomes are listed below. Following that, is a space where I report weekly progress updates(or lack thereof). This represents my attempt to systematize. The hope is that the process keeps me honest, builds momentum and allows me to course correct, when necessary.

Outcomes

1. Developing technology products to help people in organizations get better at making data-driven decisions.

• ✍️ New Site: http://getwyze.com/
• ✍️ Technical Blog (Web Development progress): https://www.gitpush.net/

2. $10,000 USD in product revenue by December 31st 2019 💎

The clock is ticking. Source: https://gigazine.net/gsc_news/en/20160709-your-life/

Process

Jan 1– Jan 12

• complete Sales Safari workshop (and picked a target group)💎
• set up goal system
• set-up content calendar✏️
• complete 4 Safaris on audience pain
• download yearofhustle roadmap

Jan 13 — Jan 19

• complete 5 Safaris on audience pain (total: 9)
• analyze 9 Safari data (qualitative) to surface Pains 🤬 + Wins 😎
• signed up 30x500
• complete five sections of Data Structure/Algos (Colt Steele)

Jan 20 — Jan 26

• Complete onboard 30x500💎 (sign-up Tiny Habits, put Slay Your Schedule on calendar)
• 30x500💎 (Kick-off complete; Audience chosen; Mise en Place; Tools setup — domain, blog, plugin, email list)
• 30x500💎 continue (Painstorming, watering-hole sleuthing)

Jan 27 — Feb 2

• 30x500💎 (Watering-hole research)

Feb 3 — Feb 9

• 30x500 (Audience Pivot; Watering-holes found exceed 10+💪)
• 6/2/19 (OCM Painstorm x 1; I/O Painstorm x 1💎; 💻 ❌; ⛓️❌ )
• 7/2/19 (IO Painstorm x 2💎; 💻 ❌; ⛓️❌)
• 8/2/19 (Distinction Painstorm/Watering hole: IO, OD, ChMgmt)
• 9/2/19 (8 new watering holes; new potential audience niche)

Feb 10 — Feb 16

• 💻 backend project week; ⛓️ query Etherscan API v.1.0

Feb 17 — Feb 23

• Summarized 12 painstorm sessions across five potential audiences (1. Aspiring HR Analyst; 2. Social Scientists turned Data Scientist; 3. IO/OD/OC; 4. Learning specific tool (R, Python, SQL)) — need to clarify audience by finding own footing.💎 on backburner
• Start @ TruStory ⛓️, MVP Assessment Rubric.
• 💻 backend project week complete

Feb 24 — Mar 2

• 💻 Lambda Labs start

Mar 3 — Mar 9

• 💻 Lambda Labs: TDD, Merge Conflicts, Team Coding, Project Structure, First Sprint
• 💻 Lambda Labs: Controlled Components, Dynamic Forms
• 💻 Lambda Labs: AdvReactGraphQL (tutorial) start
• TruStory, Assessment Rubric (Beta) Rollout
• Career Coach 🔆

Mar 10 — Mar 16

• 💻 Lambda Labs: Invoice Form
• 🧙 Career Clarity

Mar 17 — Mar 23

• 💻 Lambda Labs: Google Cal API, Calendar Component, Vanilla Javascript-React integration
• TruStory: Onboarding Prep.

Mar 24 — Mar 30

• 💻 Lambda Labs: Backend-Frontend Integration pt 1 (GraphQL model, schema Invoice Form); FreeCodeCamp (GraphQL tutorial)
• TruStory: Onboarding Vid.

Mar 31 — Apr 6

• Career Coach 🔆

Apr 7 — May 11

• 💻 Lambda Labs: Home stretch (w/ extension); always WIP, but here it is: https://www.myautoinvoicer.com/
• Lab Sprint [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]
• Career Coach 🔆 Freelance idea with prior client (adding value with Tech),
• Lambda Career Coach 🔆: [To do] Website + Portfolio homebase, Audience-building
• Post-Lab coding project: Dashboard

May 12 — Aug 10

• 💻 Lambda INDEPENDENT Labs: Data-Visualization of Employee Engagement (Work-in-progress).
• Developing technology products to help people in organizations get better at making data-driven decisions.
• ✍️ New Site: http://getwyze.com/
• ✍️ Technical Blog (Web Development progress): https://www.gitpush.net/

Aug 14

• Twins arrive 🤯🤯🤯😍😍😍

😍😍

Aug 18 — Nov 29

• Complete MVP of Data Visualization Dashboard here. Lambda Independent Labs project complete. 💻
• Showed client, got feedback, proposed tier pricing for renewed consulting work
• clients: 🦗🦗🦗
• me: 😬
• Re-start commitment to Product Business (30x500 Academy). Complete multiple Safaris (it’s never done, ongoing); picked an audience; developing mini-products in the form of educational content. Check out: http://getwyze.com/
• New project in works: Pre-Employment Assessment
• Also, having kids is as advertised: No rest for the weary 🧟‍♂️, but 💯💯💯💯💯💯 worth it.

Dec 1 — Dec 7

• Educational Content for non-technical HR folks looking to get into People Analytics.
• Post 1
• Post 2
• Post 3
• Post 4
• Post 5
• Post 6
• Stay tuned for more!

Dec 8 — End 2019

• Looks like I’m not reaching the $10,000 goal 😔, but on the bright side things are much more clear going into 2020. My goal in joining Lambda School was to seriously level up my technical skills. Now, I have a clearer sense that what I should be doing is not web development, but data analysis (where programming skills are still expected to play a huge part; i’ll be trading in javascript/react for Tableau, SQL, Excel, R/Python).
• Most importantly, I’m going all in on creating a product business. Come hell or high water.
• My wife and I have also started educating ourselves on real estate investment. Since the end of 2017, I’ve invested a small portion of my savings in BTC/ETH — I’m long on those two cryptocurrencies, but what I have revised is my expectation around time horizon (we’re still early days). We’re looking to diversify our portfolio into real estate.
• Onward and upwards!