14 ms·

Ask HN: 2018 resolutions?

176 points by justswim 9y ago

koevet 9y ago
Mid 2017 I started reading more and I ended up reading 30 books. It has been incredibly fulfilling, my head is constantly full of new ideas and I find myself a better person. I want to continue with this trend and read 50 books and write a review for each of them. Additionally, as I just moved to Berlin, I want to make new friends here.
mcrdev 9y ago
I want to leave my teaching job and work as a developer full-time: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16042744 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16042744
ogdoad 9y ago
Less HN!
- coding123 9y ago
  Seriously, it's so addicting.
  - mbrock 9y ago
    Coding as a vocation is somewhat unique because of our access to high quality global discussion forums. It can be a bit too much fun, but it's also a really interesting part of life.
skwb 9y ago
To host more dinner parties!
FLUX-YOU 9y ago
Die a bit more slowly
vvdcect 9y ago
Sorry
- IgorPartola 9y ago
  You ok vvdect? Need to talk to someone?
- DoreenMichele 9y ago
  Comments from a couple of people who left tech and started life over: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16043552 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16043552 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16043669 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16043669 Offered as food for thought from someone who has spent a lot of time suicidal. Maybe part 1 of your goal can negate part 2.
- dataminded 9y ago
  Want to chat? As long as you are living there is an opportunity to change things.
- beeskneecaps 9y ago
  Hey you’ve got a lot to live for. Hope you know that.
coffeemug 9y ago
This year I sat down to write some 2018 resolutions and realized that I've either already been successfully beeminding them for a few months, or am waiting to add beeminder goals in the next few months. I wrote down resolutions before and never stuck to them. Beeminder is a gamechanger.
senatorobama 9y ago
Improve attractiveness by 10x
- godelmachine 9y ago
  Reckon I should make this mine as well.
- ronnier 9y ago
  Why?
  - akhilcacharya 9y ago
    Maybe he wants to run for President?
    - tehlike 9y ago
      I don't think that's a criterion now.
  - senatorobama 9y ago
    It affects everything. From job prospects to finding a partner.
- napsterbr 9y ago
  Hey, here's something that took me quite a while to realize: people have different tastes. I don't find myself attractive at all (and I'm quite far from any western "beauty standard"). And even though I'm overweight, bald and definitely not rich, there's still people who find me attractive. Likewise, those I find attractive others don't. It's a though spot to be if you are actively looking for a partner (whether through apps or real life), but just be yourself. I know it's cliché but it's the truth. From time to time you will get to know / match with people who do find you attractive.
- excalibur 9y ago
  Move. But do some research first. Obviously you need to consider things like employment prospects and cost of living. But the important thing here is to get away from the crowds of people who look, sound, and act just like you. Find an area where you're a bit more exotic, and watch your romantic prospects open up. Diet and exercise don't hurt either.
Trundle 9y ago
No porn Less comment reading, more article reading.
- adamnemecek 9y ago
  Comments aren’t as bad as you think and articles aren’t as good as you think.
  - Trundle 9y ago
    Given that I read both I find that hard to believe.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
IgorPartola 9y ago
My 2017 resolution was to become involved with my local and regional community (outside of tech). It has been a tremendously fulfilling experience. My 2018 resolution is to do more public speaking/teaching in it. I am done doing the usual fitness, diet, etc. ones. I either do them already or not at all. But these new ones that took me three decades to try have been more fulfilling and more fun than anything else.
wannabebarista 9y ago
Put work into starting a podcast. Make some progress on my reading list (just kidding, it'll grow forever)
mlmartin 9y ago
Less consuming, more creating. Doesn't matter what it is, doesn't matter if it's bad.
- willart4food 9y ago
  I'm stealing this one.
- nitins 9y ago
  I like this one.
- sidcool 9y ago
  > doesn't matter if it's bad What are you planning on creating? /s
  - mlmartin 9y ago
    > What are you planning on creating? /s Maybe I'll start with posting on sites rather than just reading the comments :) For a few examples I have in mind: Instead of just playing games, try to create them. Theres the global game jam coming up. I'll make some time for it. And spend the first few weekends this year going over unity tutorials. Instead of just using apps, hit the hackathons join the teams and try to make a few. Learn new frameworks and maybe even languages while doing so. Instead of listening to podcasts, write a couple on topics I'm working on or in proximity to (Not just tech, but political activism im my case). Record a few. See what the feedback is like. Instead of just voting, get involved in political parties (I already do this I must admit), get out campainging and creating new support. Instead of just passively using open source libraries, have a skim through the issues and see if theres anything I can spend an hour or two helping with. Even if it's just documentation or tests. The main point of it all is, even if it's bad or goes nowhere, I've found at least trying to create rather than just passively read/play/consume tends to have positive outcomes, even if that's just learning new things, getting new contacts, or getting new ideas to try further down the road. Hence, the resolution: More creating, less consuming.
    - 9y ago
Kluny 9y ago
I found this line in an old blog post from 2013 in my drafts folder. > But honestly, I've been thinking back, trying to remember the last time I felt like I was really in control and being the person I wanted to be. That was 5 years ago and I now realize I've felt like that almost the whole time, with brief breaks. My goal is to treat this as a real problem and solve it.
- adamnemecek 9y ago
  Let me guess you are employed? I was in a similar situation and quitting my job helped me get out of this. Beginning was bumpy and I regreted it somewhat for some time, but I don’t even think about it anymore. It’s ok if you don’t have a plan or a project, you need some curiosity and general area of what you are interested in (a stack of unread books counts). You aren’t betting on your project but on your skills. Like if you spend a year doing a thing, you’ll be a beast. And even if your thing doesn’t work out, you’ll be fine. Email me (<my username>@gmail.com) if you need someone to help you plan it. I don’t have all the answers but I have some. This counts for anyone else reading this as well.
  - Kluny 9y ago
    I left my job early in 2017, did an internship for a few months, moved to another country at the same time, lost the job I was supposed to get after the internship, came back to my home country, and got another job. I'd say I've done my "year off", looking for stability at the moment. I like the idea though. The thing is, I'm not super self-motivated to work on programming. It's fun when I'm getting paid, but when I'm not getting paid I'd rather play outside. I'm a lot more interested in management-type stuff, running projects and working at a higher level. Any idea how to practice that on your own time? So far my best idea is to throw parties and activities for my friends, which is fun, but hard to put on a resume.
    - adamnemecek 9y ago
      I know where you are coming from. Since quitting, I’ve been contributing to a lot of open source on github. It solves the resume problem. And strangely enough, these contributions turned into social events, I’ve met people working on this one project called audiokit that I contribute to.
zitterbewegung 9y ago
Get a Higher resolution display (around 4k maybe) and be more ergonomic in general. Release an Open Source Project and develop it for a year. Turn my comments into blog posts instead of just comments. But most important to have fun!
- danieka 9y ago
  So, is this a meta resolution? :)
  - zitterbewegung 9y ago
    Yes, thats the joke :) I would like to get a 4k display and have it partition itself into a different set of aspect ratios but I'm not sure that is possible.
- ixacto 9y ago
  4k display and a standing desk is where it's at.
  - icpmacdo 9y ago
    I want the 5K imac on a standing desk pretty badly but its insanely expensive.
kramer1416 9y ago
- Continue with habit forming practice - Run and exercise at least 3 times a week - Delta-debug how to get into flow state as many time and as fast as possible
- RickJWag 9y ago
  Good post-- looks like a recipe for success to me.
edude03 9y ago
Ship something written in Scala, Rust and Haskell.
- vortico 9y ago
  All three for one project?
arawde 9y ago
I'd like to play more guitar. Get a better grip on my habits and my health. Graduate university.
danharaj 9y ago
Implement a Haskell compiler from scratch.
pacomerh 9y ago
Write a short tech book and publish on github. Related to front-end dev
kiba 9y ago
New Year resolution? Keep to goals I already kept and started from last year.
t2riRXawYxLGGYb 9y ago
- Self study cryptography, algorithms, linear algebra, machine learning - Work on some side project either being a startup or open source project - this will take priority over self-studying if I can find the right thing to work on - Get a treadmill so I can run every morning when it's too cold to go outside - Hit savings goals for retirement and buying a home - Spend some time abroad - Do a combination train/biking/camping trip
Karupan 9y ago
- minimise food wastage (realised that I throw away a lot of food but still keep buying stuff) - no gadget purchases (I have enough)
keithwhor 9y ago
- Introduce at least another 30,000 developers to StdLib [1] - 1,000lbs combined 1RM on Squat, Bench, Deadlift - Run two half-marathons - Spend more time with my girlfriend and my dog Hold me to it, HackerNews. [1] https://stdlib.com/ https://stdlib.com/
- perkee 9y ago
  Good way to hold yourself to that total: sign up for a meet as far out as you can. Or if you're competing in a fed that has an annual membership (USAPL or USPA, for instance) buy your membership now. Putting some money on the line makes me feel that yes, I am going to put my best effort in this one beautiful day in the future, and helps guide my training leading up to there. Best of luck big homie!
- poyu 9y ago
  Just signed up for StdLib! Looks cool, so it's basically a streamlined version of AWS Lambda + API Gateway?
  - keithwhor 9y ago
    Thanks! Yep, you can think of us like that. Our first prototype (launched in August 2016) was really just a shim layer on Lambda, but we’ve grown to much more in a really short amount of time. Developer response has been nothing short of amazing. Tens of thousands of developers and growing rapidly. Our core thesis is we aim to turn remote function calls into first-class citizens of your development environment, with all that entails. We’ll have some very exciting news in the New Year about this, so definitely stay tuned!
- gourneau 9y ago
  Will do ;)
  - keithwhor 9y ago
    Not fair, you have my phone number.
nitins 9y ago
Be more mindful. Try to smile more.
smilesnd 9y ago
1. Build a 2d side scroller. 2. Build the website currently codename saw. 3. Up my CS game. 4. Build a robot that will at least pickup one object. 5. It is time I buy that school bus to live in for a while.
dillon 9y ago
#1 Blog more #2 Work on my book #3 Grow all my own food #4 Sell everything (already in motion) #5 Backpack in Europe for 90 days: Switzerland, Germany, Scandinavia Optional: #6 Interview at a bunch of places abroad #7 Work in a language I enjoy (Clojure, Erlang, ect ect)
emerged 9y ago
11 years ago my resolution was to stop making resolutions. So I've got some great resolution ideas but am screwed because I never fail to deliver on a new years resolution.
starpilot 9y ago
Ask out a girl in person and forget about online dating. Get my hiking rate of ascent to 2,500 ft/hr.
- parvatzar 9y ago
  That's the spirit ...Good Luck!
- s0rce 9y ago
  Nice, that's fast. I wonder what the optimum grade is to maximize ascent rate.
  - codefined 9y ago
    That's an interesting question. Speed climbing[0] is for 100% vertical climbs and seem to attain speeds of 6,000+ft/hr rate of ascent for only a minute. Over 30 minutes, people are very close to climbing a kilometer in vertical height[1]. One of the fastest times that author found was 0.568m/s (6708.6614 ft/hr), with an elevation of 16.4 degrees. I'm going to assume it's roughly similar for 60 minutes, as well as 30 minutes. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_climbing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_climbing [1] http://www.irunfar.com/2012/04/the-30-minute-kilometer-a-look-at-the-vertical-kilometer-record.html http://www.irunfar.com/2012/04/the-30-minute-kilometer-a-loo...
- chillacy 9y ago
  I haven't found a greater thrill in life than meeting a girl in day-to-day life (like at the supermarket). Always a mixture of deep fear and excitement, despite any attempts to rationalize the heart-pounding away.
  - 1337biz 9y ago
    I know. That's a bit of a problem. Once you get into it there is nothing that can replace that adrenaline rush. You are getting so bored when you are in a relationship and have to stop doing it.
parvatzar 9y ago
Learn new tech stacks , and get into Big data & ML. TO not be a generalist dev anymore, and get into either Amazon or Microsoft. May be find the right girl and get married. Lesser Netflix , more reading books and writing (blogs/Medium).Not to laze around on weekends and invest that time into building new skills and advance my career. As always lots of stuff to do and hope I can achieve the maximum possible till Jan 1 2019. Happy New Year HN !
derekp7 9y ago
1) Freshen up my open source backup system (Snebu) 2) Take a second shot at creating a programming language
jerkstate 9y ago
I'm resolving to produce a lot less garbage, cardboard, and plastic recycling, and plant 50 trees. Probably the biggest problem is going to be my Amazon habit. Does anybody have suggestions for reducing packaging from Amazon?
- parvatzar 9y ago
  I was thinking the exact same thing a few days back when I got my package delivered. With the volume of packages that get unpacked each day around the world, it is bewildering to think about the amount of waste bubble wrap and cardboard boxes that we throw away.
- ranveeraggarwal 9y ago
  Use the waste packaging to craft stuff for your home and workplace. Start a forum/slack with makers interested in stuff like this and share ideas. You can probably build a lot of eco friendly solutions to your everyday problems with the high quality packaging.
  - davnicwil 9y ago
    This is an excellent idea! I often 'save' packaging from Amazon in case it comes in handy but honestly don't usually find a use for it. The best I've done is to reuse the thin packages as padding for devices in backpacks and cases when travelling. If this forum existed I would definitely use it.
- tonyedgecombe 9y ago
  Does anybody have suggestions for reducing packaging from Amazon? Don't buy things from Amazon?
applecrazy 9y ago
Blog much more, especially in a exploratory, engineering-notebook-y kind of way, detailing my thoughts, ideas, and failures. I've found those kinds of articles fun to write and even more fun to read. I think this is because code doesn't live in a vacuum–it has a story behind it. Sometimes I like to read git histories of people's personal projects, to see how some of the stuff I use daily came to be. That's the kind of stuff I want to share with people.
yza 9y ago
No alcohol for a year. While getting ready for exams this november-december, I had to quit all social activities and as a side effect, I haven't had any drinks for a month or so. While it did not improve my studying or sleep significantly, it helped me realize the effect alcohol has on my body. Couple of drinks after the last exam gave me quite a hangover, something i did not experience much before. Now the interesting observation is that my hangovers got much easier to a point of almost disappearing as I got into drinking again. The realization of this semi-permanent effect combined with studies showing connection to cognitive impairment (memory, concentration etc.) got me into trying a year without alcohol. Edit: formatting
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- canadiancreed 9y ago
  Ran into something like this with caffeine. I used to drink four to six pops a day. You wouldn't think it'd be a big deal, but cutting that out for a month took me from being tired all the time and getting up twice a night to take a piss, to sleeping through the night and actually feeling decent in the morning. While I'm sure doing the same with alcohol would be different and potentially deadly (so I've read anyways), it couldn't hurt to cut it back or out completely. Livers definitely like it according to my doctor.
  - 0xcde4c3db 9y ago
    > getting up twice a night to take a piss Highlighting this for a quick PSA: this is not normal. People (at least Americans) seem very eager to dismiss this as a thing that just happens for no particular reason, or because you dared to have a small glass of water within 4 hours of going to bed. It's not highly specific to any condition, but it points to an abnormality in some physiological process [1]. It can be anything from lifestyle factors (e.g. high caffeine or alcohol use, or unusually high sensitivity to them) to chronic disorders, to having no identifiable cause. For me it was sleep apnea. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocturia#Causes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocturia#Causes
kregasaurusrex 9y ago
Get some IT/programming certificates, skill up to a job with a wage to get out of debt faster, and start a side project I've been wanting to get off the ground for a while.
- adventured 9y ago
  What's the gist of the side project? If you don't mind answering of course.
  - kregasaurusrex 9y ago
    Go-playing robot. I'd gotten some parts about a year ago but fell short on cash so it's been sitting in my brain for a while. Should revisit it around tax return time.
aizatto 9y ago
I put together a list of questions to ask yourself questions about your past year, and the new year https://www.deepthoughtapp.com/packages/130/new-years-reflections/ https://www.deepthoughtapp.com/packages/130/new-years-reflec... This is a site I developed to really help me understand myself better
raawlls 9y ago
"I don't make resolutions, I set goals" (TM) (A purposely eye-roll inducing quote I've been saying to myself for a few years). But: - Contribute to Swift - Finish 6 books - Ship 2 iOS apps - Run 10km in under 50 minutes - 195 lbs
booleandilemma 9y ago
Learn things that benefit me, not my employer.
cabalamat 9y ago
Make a success of my website, WikiFork[1], an inclusionist fork of Wikipedia. 1: http://wikifork.org/mw/index.php/Main_Page http://wikifork.org/mw/index.php/Main_Page
sharmi 9y ago
* Exercise Everyday (intensity/duration may vary, but never ever miss) * Make healthy diet changes one at a time (Very very hard to do. Try to do multiple stuff and drop them all. ) First change, start with raw veggies in the morning. * Delta-debug how to get into flow state as many time and as fast as possible (Kramer's rule from below, couldn't be better stated). For starters, work on one and only one thing at a time. Suffering from analysis-paralysitis and spread-too-thiningitis
- red0 9y ago
  With respect to your first point I would advise to give yourself some slack. Not only does the body need some rest days, but it will also help with willpower. My usual goal is no less than three days and no more than six.
  - MikkoFinell 9y ago
    I exercised every day in 2017, but with varying intensity like the parent suggested. That means some days gym, some days a 3 mile walk, some days a yoga pass, but definitely something every day. It's been so good that one of my resolutions is to continue doing it this year as well. Another thing that I tried and really enjoyed is the following: I started getting up from my desk once every hour, grab a pair of 7.5 pound dumbbells and do some mini sets of exercise, for example 20 squats, 20 overhead press, and 20 good-mornings. It takes like a minute, but it gets the heart pumping blood to my brain, and most importantly counteracts the "sitting is the new smoking". Give it a try for a day, I believe you might like it.
- b0rsuk 9y ago
  I advise against daily workouts. You'll end up overtraining. You need days of rest for your muscles to grow. A common advice is either 3 days of general exercise, or 2 leg days + 2 upper body days. Note some exercises can't be pidgeon-holed that way, like swimming. This is currently my favorite training program: http://www.50pullups.com/ http://www.50pullups.com/ You get the essential exercises: pushups, squats, pullups, with advice how to train, how to rest, how and when to advance.
canadiancreed 9y ago
Work on my health, release an application, hopefully have some stability life and employment wise, maybe do some talks at a conference or two. Hell maybe release a book. Depending on how all that goes, maybe i'll go back to school. Maybe I'll see the world. Hell maybe I'll get married. Stranger things have happened.
vinrob92 9y ago
1. Ship every day - keep momentum going (talking to new customers, fixing bug, building new feature) 2. Be more accountable - write on Skype every day to my business partner what I will work on today. 3. Stay focused - Keep putting the gas on the 1 or 2 things taht work. 4. Stop seeking perfection - find 90% of results with 10% of efforts. And of course: 5. Travel more - I plan to visit South Korea, Japan, China, Russia, Ukraine, Estonia this year!
- owenversteeg 9y ago
  Ukraine! Not a common one but one of my favorite places I've visited. Why do you want to go there?
- JSONwebtoken 9y ago
  How do you plan on shipping every day, being more accountable, and staying focused when you take enough time off to visit 6 different countries in one year? Sounds like resolution #6 should be to stop bullshitting yourself.
  - dang 9y ago
    We've banned this account for repeatedly violating the HN guidelines and ignoring our requests to stop. If you don't want to be banned on HN, you're welcome to email hn@ycombinator.com and give us reason to believe that you'll follow the rules in the future.
    - lma21 9y ago
      Honest question - if this user creates another account and keeps violating the rules, how would he be stopped?
      - novisse 9y ago
        Blacklisting their IP address would be my guess.
nicolewhite 9y ago
No buying books on Google Play. All the books I read will come from the library this year. Get back into a weight lifting program. Revive some of my open source projects that I've abandoned.
xstartup 9y ago
1. Stop chasing girls 2. Complete projects 3. Stop paying bonus to people in my company, just because I like their attitude or face.
jacques_chester 9y ago
Most likely: raise money, start a business and spend the rest of the year dealing with GERD. I don't know how people do such things so nonchalantly, so oblivious to the near-certainty of total failure. I never feel ready enough for anything. There is always more to check, elaborate, investigate, experiment, compare, prepare, plan, ponder, defend ... I am never ready enough. Never. But I also don't feel like playing "what if?" for the rest of my life. I've already spent a lot of it spinning wheels and I currently have relatively little to lose. If not this year: when? There's no less-shittier time, really. So if you were sick of me talking about BOSH, Cloud Foundry and Pivotal, buckle up. At some point you'll be sick of me talking about Robojar.
- sgarman 9y ago
  Any tips for dealing with GERD? My doctor hasn't really helped at all.
  - jacques_chester 9y ago
    I may have been using poetic license. For me it's usually responded to medication.
- adventured 9y ago
  > I don't know how people do such things so nonchalantly, so oblivious to the near-certainty of total failure I've been starting Internet companies since I was a teenager in the mid 1990s. I've failed a lot in that time. Having observed a large number of different types of people do start-ups (of all variations), the conclusion I've reached is that there is a genetic component to it for some people that gives them a larger buffer against that fear, and for others it's a rather terrifying leap no matter what. There's something abnormally wired in my brain as it pertains to the risk concern of starting a business. Rather than being oblivious to the odds, I don't feel the same fear that most do when confronted with that. I have a normal sense of fear around most things, for example I'm not a huge risk taker about thrills (wingsuit? nope), and I would be afraid to run into a burning building like most people would. I believe it's an aspect some people are born with, for whatever reason and however it functions exactly, as I've met a number of other entrepreneurs that have an extra large buffer against that dread, which from the outside comes across as unusually non-chalant. I also think it gets to everyone at some point, even those more naturally resistant to it; I've had some really difficult stretches of time that burned that buffer thoroughly. Then I'm right back to wanting to do the next thing; I can't explain it other than that there seems to be a throttle missing. If you have that throttle, you have to force yourself to override it; if you don't, you have to learn to restrain yourself while having a less healthy sense of fear about it.
ioddly 9y ago
Figure out how to get more consistent freelance work and then do that. Keeping it simple -- 2017 was a pretty good year for me otherwise so I don't need to really add anything to the mix so to speak other than this. Share more things that I create.
mikelj99 9y ago
A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other
olingern 9y ago
Health - Undo minor case of hip impingement ( sitting down too much! ) - Connect with more people / foster better relationships. Who knew making friends in a city could be so hard? Programming - Finish SICP. Made it through four chapters with co-workers, and then everyone dropped off. - Continue exploring functional programming - Finish my homegrown Japanese kana / kanji language learning tool Other: - Take some of the wisdom from this thread[1], and make myself more "marketable" through blogging, giving talks, etc. - Pass the JLPT 3 test [1] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15994410 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15994410
- Broken_Hippo 9y ago
  "Who knew making friends in a city could be so hard?" I've never found a place where it was easy to make friends, though the easiest has seemed to be language class full of other immigrants. We all had that one thing in common.
  - olingern 9y ago
    > I've never found a place where it was easy to make friends, though the easiest has seemed to be language class full of other immigrants. We all had that one thing in common. Learning and/or shared discomfort has seemed to foster the closest relationships I've had to date. Perhaps, it's time for more classes. Coming from the countryside, it's such a strange paradox -- to be surrounded by so many people, but alone at the same time.
- sirtel 9y ago
  Is the Japanese learning tool online? Are you going to share it with others? I'm just curious.
  - olingern 9y ago
    It's still in development. I didn't think anyone would be interested, since I see one pop up on /r/learnjapanese each month. Perhaps, I'll clean it up and submit my first ShowHN
benatkin 9y ago
I'm trying to take a middle of the road approach to resolutions. They aren't the most important things, because it should go without saying that I should try to do them, regardless of what year it is, but they aren't frivolous either. Mine are: 1. Go for a 10 mile run each month 2. Study Spanish for at least 10 hours each month 3. Run my first triathlon I posted them to my blog several days ago: https://benatkin.com/2017/12/28/2018-new-years-resolutions/ https://benatkin.com/2017/12/28/2018-new-years-resolutions/
crypticlizard 9y ago
Work consistently on my startup.
autotune 9y ago
- Finish two intermediate songs I've been trying to cover on guitar and vocals by 2019, and create some of my own. - Do a grocery shopping every week and spend less on food/eating out. - Finish a side project related to application of AWS and GCP deployment strategies and put it on GitHub. - Get promoted at current job.
Afforess 9y ago
I don't like resolutions. They are lies we tell ourselves, false promises from our present self about our future self. If you actually believe you can accomplish your resolutions, you don't need a manufactured holiday, like New Year's, to decide to change your life. Any day of the week should work. Don't wait until 2018 - start today.
- keithwhor 9y ago
  “Don’t wait until 2018 - start today.” Posted on January 1st, 2018 for the majority of the world. ;) I get your point, but resolutions are powerful tools. Ever walked into a room and forgotten why you did? It’s because you artificially create a new cognitive context when you walk through a door. A new year is similar. It may only be symbolic, but shedding dead weight and planning for a new year is an important exercise for many people - successful goalsetters included.
  - kevin2r 9y ago
    > Ever walked into a room and forgotten why you did? It’s because you artificially create a new cognitive context when you walk through a door. Wow I did not know that there was an explanation for this. Makes sense. :)
- JSONwebtoken 9y ago
  If resolutions were so powerful, why not have monthly, weekly, daily, or hourly resolutions? Imagine the things we could accomplish if all it took was to attach a goal to a discrete unit of time. My new day resolution is to get some more sleep.
  - chillacy 9y ago
    A lot of companies set quarterly goals, that's probably not a bad idea. Also, goals need to be etched into habits to work, and values determine goals, so it's worth introspecting all three at a time.
  - kraftman 9y ago
shubh2336 9y ago
Contribute to an open-source Project. Read at least 30 books from my reading-list (mostly non-fiction). Run a half-marathon by mid-year. Travel to an unknown place unplanned.
ronilan 9y ago
2018 will be 1334-by-750-pixels at 326 ppi for me. Same as last year. No real need for upgrade.
- taneq 9y ago
  Oh you poor thing, at least invest in an external monitor!
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
- dukeflukem 9y ago
  Boom boom cha!
faebi 9y ago
bash-scripting: 23:20, I was waiting on a public event for new year to happen. There was no big countdown screen visible. I checked my android phone if there is any clock with seconds, nope (iOS has something I think). I usually would download an app but I am on holidays and there was no Wifi. So I thought, 40 minutes to go, lets fire up termux with ruby and make a oneliner. I discovered that I didn't install ruby yet. Ok, I need to use bash. MAN is also not installed yet. Termux thankfully has a 'help' command. It offers for "while": "while COMMANDS; do COMMANDS;> { COMMANDS ; }". I tried for 30 minutes, but there was always a syntax error. Another solution would be "watch -n1 echo $(date)", but then I would have an update only every second. Also this somehow didn't work because of some buffer issues. It always showed the same time. 23:56, I give up. Now at home, I lookup the syntax for while and here it is: "done" was missing. Easy to find out, unless you never use bash for scripting. I tried tons of keywords and combinations, but just couldn't remember that it was "done".
- mbrock 9y ago
  Your "watch" command didn't work because the first thing that happens is that your shell expands the $(date) word into the current date, and then it runs "watch -n1 echo 'Mon Jan 1 ...'". You should have just done "watch -n1 date". BTW, the manual for bash is really good: https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/bash.pdf https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/bash.pdf
desaiguddu 9y ago
- Provide mentorship to 4 Students - Support a non-profit with technology - Travel to 14 new places - Write 40+ blog posts
whatyoucantsay 9y ago
Remain committed to reason, especially when emotions run high. Grow more willing to stand up to bullies, including on HN. Be kind to people, including myself. Cause 10% less animal suffering through my eating habits. Spend at least one week in a country and culture I don't understand.
- olalonde 9y ago
  > Cause 10% less animal suffering through my eating habits. That is oddly specific.
  - whatyoucantsay 9y ago
    In the past I've tried and failed to be a vegan. Thinking about the ethics around how much suffering living, feeling beings are subjected to just so that I can experience a few moments of mouth pleasure throughout the day puts me into a very dark place emotionally. It's the most abominable the we do as humans and yet our society is constructed in such a way that it's very, very difficult to stop without economic, social or dietary consequences. I don't want to beat myself up for failing to resist the pressures of both biology and society, but I don't want to give up either. I know I can do 10% better. I can avoid the foods that cause the most suffering, and reduce or pay more for others and do so without any real cost to my social life, health or happiness.
    - PerfectElement 9y ago
      Subscribe to /r/vegan if you haven't yet, and feel free to ask for help. You'll find people with similar goals and lot of people willing to help.
- cube00 9y ago
  > Grow more willing to stand up to bullies, including on HN. Don't waste your time arguing with the internets.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
jurassic 9y ago
Improve my Spanish vocabulary by extensively reading at least one million words of Spanish. I’m currently at the level where I can read about 12 pages of Harry Potter per hour without a dictionary, or faster with Readlang. One million words is about the length of the entire Harry Potter series. Continue my porn-free streak to prioritize real life sexual experiences.
- akkat 9y ago
  Good luck on learning a new language. Be careful that when writing in Spanish you also have someone check that your Spanish is correct. Otherwise, you may be practising something wrong.
  - jurassic 9y ago
    Thanks. I feel like the hard part is over now that I can read and watch Spanish tv and follow enough to enjoy it. Bootstrapping myself by cramming the first 1500-2000 words or so of vocabulary felt like a lot of work. I almost never practice speaking and writing because I don’t want to become fluent in my mistakes. I like the way [antimoon](http://www.antimoon.com/other/myths-mistakesbeg.htm http://www.antimoon.com/other/myths-mistakesbeg.htm) writes about this aspect of language learning.
ctrlrsf 9y ago
Eat less sugar. Drink less coffee.
isthisnagee 9y ago
A few things I want to try to accomplish this year: 1. Read fiction slower. Sometimes I just read to get to the ending and I miss _a lot_. 2. Read more non fiction. I read 1 or 2 non fiction books in 2017. I want around 30% of my reading to be non fiction in 2018. 3. Go to the gym at least 3 times a week. I've started this two weeks ago and I hope to keep going :) 4. Finish a side project.
dejv 9y ago
- make my company profitable by focusing more on sales and marketing - build new winery (building for production, lab and so) - extend my body flexibility: after decades of sitting I am able to just reach my knees while standing. I want to be able to reach toes by the end of this year. Also work on my posture and remove my back pain.
- prashant10 9y ago
  Build new winery? Can you please explain this a bit more? how are you planning to achieve this?
  - dejv 9y ago
    I am making wine for 5 years. During this time I was subletting small part of another winery, but now it is time to move to my own place. Winery can have many different forms, mine is going to be oversized garage/small warehouse. I hired architect who did many of those projects and we are currently waiting for building permission, which is very tricky. After that I will simply pay contractor to build whole thing and then move in my equipment. As you see it is not that complicated, it just cost a lot of money. There is also going to be phase two which will add tasting room and underground cellar for aging and storing wine, but thats a project for another year.
arenaninja 9y ago
Probably try for a Master's degree since my employer would essentially pay for it. I've been wondering what the next step is for me after 5 years as a (professional) web developer. I still enjoy it but I can't help but think that there's something after. I work on a very modern stack (React, Redux, TypeScript, etc.) and I imagine many here would be satisfied with that. But lately I keep trying to define the value that I bring to the table and it's hard to verbalize, when it shouldn't be. So learning to express that is also on the table. I've also been getting my feet wet with crypto, machine learning and FinTech. They may turn out to be 2017 fads but so was JavaScript and jQuery back in the day.
cylinder 9y ago
I'd like to slow down time but that's definitely not going to happen in 18. Routine = quick time passage
jl6 9y ago
I’ll be doing a slightly-silly personal challenge that I made up: walk 7,777,777 steps, write 777,777 words, do 77,777 jumping jacks, 7,777 press-ups, eat 777 different types of fruit, achieve target weight of 77kg, and run 7 10K races. https://medium.com/@7sevens/the-seven-sevens-challenge-c7b7d669bf95 https://medium.com/@7sevens/the-seven-sevens-challenge-c7b7d...
- sAbakumoff 9y ago
  That'e excellent resolution because it has specific and measurable goals. Everything that says like "eat less junk food" is going to be ignored 1 week later. I like 777 types of fruit, gonna steal this one :-)
  - ChristianGeek 9y ago
    Are there 777 types of fruit (at least edible ones you have access to)?
    - jl6 9y ago
      I think yes, if you choose your definition of fruit. I chose it to mean any amount of any part of the fruit, in the botanical sense. I wrote more here: https://medium.com/@7sevens/1st-january-2018-fruit-and-running-f530333642b6 https://medium.com/@7sevens/1st-january-2018-fruit-and-runni...
    - pavelromashkin 9y ago
      But there is only one chmod
- zapperdapper 9y ago
  Heheh good one. I thought my plan to walk at least 10,000 steps a day for 365 days was quite a challenge. I can't help thinking that eating 777 types of fruit might be the biggest challenge there though! I've travelled pretty widely and am a great fruit lover, but would be surprised if I've eaten more than 100 types of fruit!
ochronus 9y ago
3840 x 2160
- tonyedgecombe 9y ago
  I hope you aren't planning to combine that with Linux because they don't mix that well yet.
hguhghuff 9y ago
I'm not going to burn my personal life programming any more.
chx 9y ago
Leave the house at least five days a week. Previous years I was going to the gym every workday but that gym is now closed and I plan to continue exercising with my trainer in the modest exercise room of our condo and I am really scared of becoming a total recluse.
- PascLeRasc 9y ago
  Do you work from home? If you do just find a different gym on the way to/from work; if not can you find a gym near a good workspace (like a library or good coffeeshop)?
zengid 9y ago
-Learn how to finish things. -Be on time more often. -Walk more.
PascLeRasc 9y ago
I'm spending more time working on things that I can touch. That means more woodworking, electronics projects without any software attached, and customizing real-world tools like my desk, coffeemaker, and bass amp for what I want them to do. I'd also like to get my bench press up from 170 to 225 and cut carbs down, but not eliminate them.
arca_vorago 9y ago
Audentes Fortuna Iuvat
meddlepal 9y ago
1. Get back under 200 lbs (~225 right now so should be doable with some diet and routine changes)... 2. Create a money generating side project.
thdn 9y ago
Get certified RHCSA - RHCE
kuerbel 9y ago
Try to keep my add in check even more. Less smartphone use(that is a though one, I get crabby and irritated if I don't look at it every few minutes...). Try to draw every day for at least 30 minutes.
madiathomas 9y ago
- Complete my IT Diploma with Cum Laude. 5 Subjects left out of 30 - Lose 10kg - Grow my side project which is currently making $1,000, to make at least $10,000.
rct42 9y ago
Socialise more. Get a girlfriend. Commercialize a side project. Run the New York Marathon!
rayalez 9y ago
1. Complete my SaaS projects and generate enough revenue to become ramen-profitable. 2. Keep up the habits I have finally developed: - Clean diet - staying away from bad food, coffee, nootropics. - Exercise - running every day. - Coding every day - learning from courses or adding features to my projects. - Writing every day - working on blog posts, video scripts, or at least writing quora answers. - Writing at least 4 jokes per day. Striving to post them regularly (tweet, use them in my articles, write routines). - Info diet - reading, staying away from reddit, consuming news only through RSS and HN. That's pretty much it. I want to stay healthy, make money, and get better at my craft. Nothing else needed.
- arkona 9y ago
  > staying away from coffee Huh? Why?
  - rayalez 9y ago
    I was drinking too much of it, it became a problem - tolerance, withdrawal, messed up sleep cycles. Also I've read that it stresses adrenal glands and may cause cortisol issues. Bottomline is - I want a sustainable lifestyle, and with coffee it became unsustainable. This year I've learned that to achieve my goals I have to learn to think long term, treat it as a marathon, not a sprint. From a big picture point of view, steady, measured, consistent pace is better than short term highs followed by inevitable lows. Green tea is fine tho =)
drdrey 9y ago
No more push notifications
- kbyatnal 9y ago
  This really is a great one. Life feels so much calmer without constant notifications.
brango 9y ago
Start teaching yoga.
aaronbrethorst 9y ago
Run a 5k, help flip Washington’s 5th and 8th congressional districts, get better at baking.
0b01 9y ago
Start planning my time in blocks. Don't spread myself too thin Start commenting on HN Sleep before 12am
snarfy 9y ago
If you forget the grandiose ideas and keep them simple they are more likely to happen. I'm left handed and my resolution last year was to use my right hand more. I had to make a conscience effort to do so, but that effort has stuck with me. I still think about which hand to use before performing a task, something I didn't do before the resolution. Keep them simple.
- ambivalents 9y ago
  Did you notice any benefits from doing this? I imagine challenging yourself to do familiar things in an unfamiliar way has some cognitive benefits, but I'm curious about specific examples.
kampsy 9y ago
1) Grow my Search startup company cognifly.com 2) Learn Rust and Kotlin. 3) Contribute more to open source projects
LifeisFaith 9y ago
Here goes mine- Focus on health and reduce 5 kg weight. Do some exercise at least 10 min a day. Become a morning person. Invest in good relationships/friendships. Launch a product on Product Hunt and market it. Level up my skillsets in Digital Marketing(By Consulting/Internships/PR..). Start Video Blogging(Vlog) or Master Video Marketing. Inspire at least 100 people. Meet and Interact with at least 100 new people. Read 10 non-fiction books.
ruxkor 9y ago
Alex Vermeer's guide "8,760 hours" [1] could be helpful if you didn't already come up with your resolutions: Its method gives you a framework how to analyze and prioritize your long term goals for this or the next year. [1]: https://alexvermeer.com/8760hours/ https://alexvermeer.com/8760hours/ HN post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13249796 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13249796
purplepilot 9y ago
My new years resolution was not to make a new years resolution. Hmmmmmm maybe i need to think about that a bit more.
S7012MY 9y ago
Eat almost no sugar http://www.theage.com.au/interactive/2017/what-sugar-does-to-your-brain/ http://www.theage.com.au/interactive/2017/what-sugar-does-to...
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
taway_1212 9y ago
Don't quit my (shitty) job, and bank the (awesome) money.
gkya 9y ago
- Read a ton. In about six months I'll be applying for a masters degree programme in literary studies, and from this year september I'll have about an academic year to stabilise the topic of my thesis. But as a rather late-comer to literature (I was all about IT my late teens, interested in humanities when I was 19-20, and re-started undergrad education in the faculty of letters a bit later), I find my knowledge rather shallow. I've been reading lots of books, both fiction and things like major philosophical works, ancient literature, the scriptures, art history, theory of art, etc., but much slower than the rate I'd like to maintain. This year I'd like to read about a hundred books, and complete reading the scriptures (I'm reading it cover to cover, takes some time...), the Odyssey, the Histories, and maybe a couple more. The coming 6-7 months will probably be the last ones where I can postpone working as a 24-yrs-old, so I must make good use of them. - Fix my sleep cycle. For lots of time I've been sleeping every now and then, randomly, and the last months I feel like I can't do so anymore, especially can't wake up with little sleep. I should get to sleep more regularly. - Learn at least one of French or Portuguese. Certify my knowledge of English and Italian (both foreign languages I know). - Do some travelling, both to shake off some stress and to find a cosy place for my PhD.
rxever 9y ago
1. Spend less time on binance.com 2. Spend more time on a side project I have that solves a real problem and that I've been neglecting 3. Commit new code every day 4. Decide whether dating a current girl should continue or not. 5. Talk to your family members more, especially grandma and sister
t176 9y ago
no alcohol before breakfast and try to remember to change my underpants at least once a week. no seriously, I like kramer1416 idea of figuring out how to get into flow state on a regular basis. I reckon that would be an overall win for personal productivity. Also, lose weight through exercise and learn how to brew cider.
- Broken_Hippo 9y ago
  Ritual. Some of this helps with sleep, too, if you do it before bed. Choose a smell, music, a special way of sitting. A cup of coffee, a snack. A combination of things. Perhaps use headphones. The more often you do this before time you have flow, the more likely it is that your body and mind will view that ritual as a signal to get into a flow state. Resource: Occultism. Some mind states used with occultism are likened to the state of flow and folks work some time getting to those states faster.
dukeflukem 9y ago
Ask the UN security council
inv 9y ago
Have a better relationship with my dad by being more kind and accepting. Proper exercise 2-3 times a week. Less time reading random stuff online and social media, more time writing and learning. Switch jobs to learn more and progress in my career, don't get comfortable and stuck in one place.
amirouche 9y ago
My resolution is to stop worrying about my career and stop doing Python in my spare time and instead focus on GNU Guile code!
sigi45 9y ago
Working on my amount of energy i put into answering to other people when i'm irritated by there 'stupid/simple/obvious' questions. I have that sometime, that i'm answering to short (=properly harsh?) but i do think i have the time to answer someone else properly and spend more energy in doing so.
lma21 9y ago
Hike again this year, and hike beyond 150 KM. Positively impact at least 50 people. I'm not sure how to measure that, be it teaching a thing or two, helping homeless people, or talking to friends...
GreyZephyr 9y ago
To stop consuming and start creating. Also to actually interact with people online. I haven't really commented online or been social online since the late 90's and I want to try and change that and actually create and interact again.
playing_colours 9y ago
1. lose 15 kilo, 2. keep doing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, ideally, get a blue belt, 3. learn Clojure.
b3b0p 9y ago
1. Get a job 2. Finish a side project 3. Go on a date with a girl 4. Finish an NES game on my backlog 5. Read the second book in The Chronicles of Narnia (I've only read The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe) 6. Relax
- xrisk 9y ago
  The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is actually the second book in the series, even though it was written first :)
  - SamPatt 9y ago
    The Magician's Nephew is definitely worth a read too.
  - b3b0p 9y ago
    Thank you as I didn't know this. I guess I need to read the first book in the series. Should I read them in chronological or publication order? Perhaps I'll stick with publication order since I've already started that way. I found this link: http://www.narniaweb.com/resources-links/in-what-order-should-the-narnia-books-be-read/ http://www.narniaweb.com/resources-links/in-what-order-shoul... It reminds me of Haruhi Suzumiya https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruhi_Suzumiya https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruhi_Suzumiya (also excellent series)
diegoperini 9y ago
* Clean up what's left from my dead startup. * Get a job.
ixacto 9y ago
Less carbs. Study for GRE every day until I take it. No reddit. No procrastination. Make my GF smile every day.
iamwil 9y ago
Talk to more customers, at the same time as building. The first couple of versions are really a glorified mailing list, for people to talk to you about what they really want.
icpmacdo 9y ago
abs, 100k in the bank
123ol12313 9y ago
run a half marathon
fillskills 9y ago
- Learn: Machine learning, Deep learning - Build: Plant 100 trees - Teach: Programming lessons for parents - Be: Healthy. Workout 3 times a weeks
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
ryanchants 9y ago
Personal: Watch less TV and read more. I have a list of books to read, and shows I'd like to keep at/below 2 half hour, 2 hour long per week. Complete /r/photoclass_2018 Learn Swedish spoon carving. Make at least one spoon I'm happy with using. Get good enough to attempt a dala horse. Relearn Spanish using Fluent Forever ideas/products. Get good enough to help translate for Spanish speakers in stores. Lose weight. At 260, my goal is 199. Going to use a mix of weightlifting and metcon-style workouts. Work: Focus more a la Deep Work Learn more AWS and Docker stuff Lead refactoring of our code base Help guide the core philosophy changes we need to move from survival mode startup to strong engineering culture Edited to put some more specific targets around my personal goals.
maxdeviant 9y ago
Here is what I'm going to focus on in 2018: - Work less, achieve more - No alcohol - Read more - Write more - Practice my Mandarin - Produce 1 song/week (https://weeklybeats.com/ https://weeklybeats.com/) - Continue to make one thing every day
- thecupisblue 9y ago
  Gotta make 5 beats a day for 3 summers :)
- thecupisblue 9y ago
  You know what, screw it, I'm joining weekly beats. Thanks for this. I always wanted to learn to produce music, let's try it.
seanmcdirmid 9y ago
- Abstain from sugar (already into week 3!). - Release a new programming experience that can at least make me more productive (if no one else).
senjindarashiva 9y ago
Make an effort to say something nice to someone on the internet every day. I have never been uncivil online however I've also never been especially good at voice my positive feelings either. Therefore I will make the effort of putting mentioning positive things and not just nod approvingly at home.
estomagordo 9y ago
Still 1920x1080 :(
bibryam 9y ago
2018: #Blockchain 2017: #CloudNative 2016: #Kubernetes 2015: #Microservices 2014: #ApacheCamel
thatthatis 9y ago
Same resolution I've made every year for the past ten years: when I see a way to change my life for the better, make the change as soon as reasonable
drakonka 9y ago
Eat less sugar.
Mouse47 9y ago
I quit my job yesterday, going to start working full-time on a personal project of mine. Got a two-year long runway, looking to have my first customer in 6 months...
pruthvishetty 9y ago
* Read more. * Become more fit. * Travel more. * Avoid sugar, caffeine, social media. * Take meaningful conversations offline. * Help more. * Get better at Spanish. * Become more aware of passing time.
EnderMB 9y ago
1. Expand my development horizons. I've been a .NET developer for most of my career, and I've recently taken a job at a company that is mostly Node/Ruby. This year, I want to learn enough RoR, Django, and Node to be able to contribute wherever needed. 2. Compete at blue belt at a BJJ competition. I've a fresh blue belt, so my training needs to be more consistent in order to hang at that level. 3. Learn to enjoy travelling more. For the first time in my life I've got the money to travel and see the world, and rather than being constantly anxious of being somewhere different I want to embrace it.
pranitbauva1997 9y ago
Smoke weed and find recursive patters in music and nature! ;) Also finish Godel, Escher and Bach

176 points by justswim 9y ago

Mid 2017 I started reading more and I ended up reading 30 books. It has been incredibly fulfilling, my head is constantly full of new ideas and I find myself a better person. I want to continue with this trend and read 50 books and write a review for each of them. Additionally, as I just moved to Berlin, I want to make new friends here.

mcrdev 9y ago

I want to leave my teaching job and work as a developer full-time: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16042744 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16042744

ogdoad 9y ago

Less HN!

coding123 9y ago
Seriously, it's so addicting.
- mbrock 9y ago
  Coding as a vocation is somewhat unique because of our access to high quality global discussion forums. It can be a bit too much fun, but it's also a really interesting part of life.

skwb 9y ago

To host more dinner parties!

FLUX-YOU 9y ago

Die a bit more slowly

vvdcect 9y ago

Sorry

IgorPartola 9y ago
You ok vvdect? Need to talk to someone?
DoreenMichele 9y ago
Comments from a couple of people who left tech and started life over: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16043552 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16043552 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16043669 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16043669 Offered as food for thought from someone who has spent a lot of time suicidal. Maybe part 1 of your goal can negate part 2.
dataminded 9y ago
Want to chat? As long as you are living there is an opportunity to change things.
beeskneecaps 9y ago
Hey you’ve got a lot to live for. Hope you know that.

coffeemug 9y ago

This year I sat down to write some 2018 resolutions and realized that I've either already been successfully beeminding them for a few months, or am waiting to add beeminder goals in the next few months. I wrote down resolutions before and never stuck to them. Beeminder is a gamechanger.

senatorobama 9y ago

Improve attractiveness by 10x

godelmachine 9y ago
Reckon I should make this mine as well.
ronnier 9y ago
Why?
- akhilcacharya 9y ago
  Maybe he wants to run for President?
  - tehlike 9y ago
    I don't think that's a criterion now.
- senatorobama 9y ago
  It affects everything. From job prospects to finding a partner.
napsterbr 9y ago
Hey, here's something that took me quite a while to realize: people have different tastes. I don't find myself attractive at all (and I'm quite far from any western "beauty standard"). And even though I'm overweight, bald and definitely not rich, there's still people who find me attractive. Likewise, those I find attractive others don't. It's a though spot to be if you are actively looking for a partner (whether through apps or real life), but just be yourself. I know it's cliché but it's the truth. From time to time you will get to know / match with people who do find you attractive.
excalibur 9y ago
Move. But do some research first. Obviously you need to consider things like employment prospects and cost of living. But the important thing here is to get away from the crowds of people who look, sound, and act just like you. Find an area where you're a bit more exotic, and watch your romantic prospects open up. Diet and exercise don't hurt either.

Trundle 9y ago

No porn Less comment reading, more article reading.

adamnemecek 9y ago
Comments aren’t as bad as you think and articles aren’t as good as you think.
- Trundle 9y ago
  Given that I read both I find that hard to believe.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

IgorPartola 9y ago

My 2017 resolution was to become involved with my local and regional community (outside of tech). It has been a tremendously fulfilling experience. My 2018 resolution is to do more public speaking/teaching in it. I am done doing the usual fitness, diet, etc. ones. I either do them already or not at all. But these new ones that took me three decades to try have been more fulfilling and more fun than anything else.

wannabebarista 9y ago

Put work into starting a podcast. Make some progress on my reading list (just kidding, it'll grow forever)

mlmartin 9y ago

Less consuming, more creating. Doesn't matter what it is, doesn't matter if it's bad.

willart4food 9y ago
I'm stealing this one.
nitins 9y ago
I like this one.
sidcool 9y ago
> doesn't matter if it's bad What are you planning on creating? /s
- mlmartin 9y ago
  > What are you planning on creating? /s Maybe I'll start with posting on sites rather than just reading the comments :) For a few examples I have in mind: Instead of just playing games, try to create them. Theres the global game jam coming up. I'll make some time for it. And spend the first few weekends this year going over unity tutorials. Instead of just using apps, hit the hackathons join the teams and try to make a few. Learn new frameworks and maybe even languages while doing so. Instead of listening to podcasts, write a couple on topics I'm working on or in proximity to (Not just tech, but political activism im my case). Record a few. See what the feedback is like. Instead of just voting, get involved in political parties (I already do this I must admit), get out campainging and creating new support. Instead of just passively using open source libraries, have a skim through the issues and see if theres anything I can spend an hour or two helping with. Even if it's just documentation or tests. The main point of it all is, even if it's bad or goes nowhere, I've found at least trying to create rather than just passively read/play/consume tends to have positive outcomes, even if that's just learning new things, getting new contacts, or getting new ideas to try further down the road. Hence, the resolution: More creating, less consuming.
  - 9y ago

Kluny 9y ago

I found this line in an old blog post from 2013 in my drafts folder. > But honestly, I've been thinking back, trying to remember the last time I felt like I was really in control and being the person I wanted to be. That was 5 years ago and I now realize I've felt like that almost the whole time, with brief breaks. My goal is to treat this as a real problem and solve it.

adamnemecek 9y ago
Let me guess you are employed? I was in a similar situation and quitting my job helped me get out of this. Beginning was bumpy and I regreted it somewhat for some time, but I don’t even think about it anymore. It’s ok if you don’t have a plan or a project, you need some curiosity and general area of what you are interested in (a stack of unread books counts). You aren’t betting on your project but on your skills. Like if you spend a year doing a thing, you’ll be a beast. And even if your thing doesn’t work out, you’ll be fine. Email me (<my username>@gmail.com) if you need someone to help you plan it. I don’t have all the answers but I have some. This counts for anyone else reading this as well.
- Kluny 9y ago
  I left my job early in 2017, did an internship for a few months, moved to another country at the same time, lost the job I was supposed to get after the internship, came back to my home country, and got another job. I'd say I've done my "year off", looking for stability at the moment. I like the idea though. The thing is, I'm not super self-motivated to work on programming. It's fun when I'm getting paid, but when I'm not getting paid I'd rather play outside. I'm a lot more interested in management-type stuff, running projects and working at a higher level. Any idea how to practice that on your own time? So far my best idea is to throw parties and activities for my friends, which is fun, but hard to put on a resume.
  - adamnemecek 9y ago
    I know where you are coming from. Since quitting, I’ve been contributing to a lot of open source on github. It solves the resume problem. And strangely enough, these contributions turned into social events, I’ve met people working on this one project called audiokit that I contribute to.

zitterbewegung 9y ago

Get a Higher resolution display (around 4k maybe) and be more ergonomic in general. Release an Open Source Project and develop it for a year. Turn my comments into blog posts instead of just comments. But most important to have fun!

danieka 9y ago
So, is this a meta resolution? :)
- zitterbewegung 9y ago
  Yes, thats the joke :) I would like to get a 4k display and have it partition itself into a different set of aspect ratios but I'm not sure that is possible.
ixacto 9y ago
4k display and a standing desk is where it's at.
- icpmacdo 9y ago
  I want the 5K imac on a standing desk pretty badly but its insanely expensive.

kramer1416 9y ago

- Continue with habit forming practice - Run and exercise at least 3 times a week - Delta-debug how to get into flow state as many time and as fast as possible

RickJWag 9y ago
Good post-- looks like a recipe for success to me.

edude03 9y ago

Ship something written in Scala, Rust and Haskell.

vortico 9y ago
All three for one project?

arawde 9y ago

I'd like to play more guitar. Get a better grip on my habits and my health. Graduate university.

danharaj 9y ago

Implement a Haskell compiler from scratch.

pacomerh 9y ago

Write a short tech book and publish on github. Related to front-end dev

kiba 9y ago

New Year resolution? Keep to goals I already kept and started from last year.

t2riRXawYxLGGYb 9y ago

- Self study cryptography, algorithms, linear algebra, machine learning - Work on some side project either being a startup or open source project - this will take priority over self-studying if I can find the right thing to work on - Get a treadmill so I can run every morning when it's too cold to go outside - Hit savings goals for retirement and buying a home - Spend some time abroad - Do a combination train/biking/camping trip

Karupan 9y ago

- minimise food wastage (realised that I throw away a lot of food but still keep buying stuff) - no gadget purchases (I have enough)

keithwhor 9y ago

- Introduce at least another 30,000 developers to StdLib [1] - 1,000lbs combined 1RM on Squat, Bench, Deadlift - Run two half-marathons - Spend more time with my girlfriend and my dog Hold me to it, HackerNews. [1] https://stdlib.com/ https://stdlib.com/

perkee 9y ago
Good way to hold yourself to that total: sign up for a meet as far out as you can. Or if you're competing in a fed that has an annual membership (USAPL or USPA, for instance) buy your membership now. Putting some money on the line makes me feel that yes, I am going to put my best effort in this one beautiful day in the future, and helps guide my training leading up to there. Best of luck big homie!
poyu 9y ago
Just signed up for StdLib! Looks cool, so it's basically a streamlined version of AWS Lambda + API Gateway?
- keithwhor 9y ago
  Thanks! Yep, you can think of us like that. Our first prototype (launched in August 2016) was really just a shim layer on Lambda, but we’ve grown to much more in a really short amount of time. Developer response has been nothing short of amazing. Tens of thousands of developers and growing rapidly. Our core thesis is we aim to turn remote function calls into first-class citizens of your development environment, with all that entails. We’ll have some very exciting news in the New Year about this, so definitely stay tuned!
gourneau 9y ago
Will do ;)
- keithwhor 9y ago
  Not fair, you have my phone number.

nitins 9y ago

Be more mindful. Try to smile more.

smilesnd 9y ago

1. Build a 2d side scroller. 2. Build the website currently codename saw. 3. Up my CS game. 4. Build a robot that will at least pickup one object. 5. It is time I buy that school bus to live in for a while.

dillon 9y ago

#1 Blog more #2 Work on my book #3 Grow all my own food #4 Sell everything (already in motion) #5 Backpack in Europe for 90 days: Switzerland, Germany, Scandinavia Optional: #6 Interview at a bunch of places abroad #7 Work in a language I enjoy (Clojure, Erlang, ect ect)

emerged 9y ago

11 years ago my resolution was to stop making resolutions. So I've got some great resolution ideas but am screwed because I never fail to deliver on a new years resolution.

starpilot 9y ago

Ask out a girl in person and forget about online dating. Get my hiking rate of ascent to 2,500 ft/hr.

parvatzar 9y ago
That's the spirit ...Good Luck!
s0rce 9y ago
Nice, that's fast. I wonder what the optimum grade is to maximize ascent rate.
- codefined 9y ago
  That's an interesting question. Speed climbing[0] is for 100% vertical climbs and seem to attain speeds of 6,000+ft/hr rate of ascent for only a minute. Over 30 minutes, people are very close to climbing a kilometer in vertical height[1]. One of the fastest times that author found was 0.568m/s (6708.6614 ft/hr), with an elevation of 16.4 degrees. I'm going to assume it's roughly similar for 60 minutes, as well as 30 minutes. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_climbing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_climbing [1] http://www.irunfar.com/2012/04/the-30-minute-kilometer-a-look-at-the-vertical-kilometer-record.html http://www.irunfar.com/2012/04/the-30-minute-kilometer-a-loo...
chillacy 9y ago
I haven't found a greater thrill in life than meeting a girl in day-to-day life (like at the supermarket). Always a mixture of deep fear and excitement, despite any attempts to rationalize the heart-pounding away.
- 1337biz 9y ago
  I know. That's a bit of a problem. Once you get into it there is nothing that can replace that adrenaline rush. You are getting so bored when you are in a relationship and have to stop doing it.

parvatzar 9y ago

Learn new tech stacks , and get into Big data & ML. TO not be a generalist dev anymore, and get into either Amazon or Microsoft. May be find the right girl and get married. Lesser Netflix , more reading books and writing (blogs/Medium).Not to laze around on weekends and invest that time into building new skills and advance my career. As always lots of stuff to do and hope I can achieve the maximum possible till Jan 1 2019. Happy New Year HN !

derekp7 9y ago

1) Freshen up my open source backup system (Snebu) 2) Take a second shot at creating a programming language

jerkstate 9y ago

I'm resolving to produce a lot less garbage, cardboard, and plastic recycling, and plant 50 trees. Probably the biggest problem is going to be my Amazon habit. Does anybody have suggestions for reducing packaging from Amazon?

parvatzar 9y ago
I was thinking the exact same thing a few days back when I got my package delivered. With the volume of packages that get unpacked each day around the world, it is bewildering to think about the amount of waste bubble wrap and cardboard boxes that we throw away.
ranveeraggarwal 9y ago
Use the waste packaging to craft stuff for your home and workplace. Start a forum/slack with makers interested in stuff like this and share ideas. You can probably build a lot of eco friendly solutions to your everyday problems with the high quality packaging.
- davnicwil 9y ago
  This is an excellent idea! I often 'save' packaging from Amazon in case it comes in handy but honestly don't usually find a use for it. The best I've done is to reuse the thin packages as padding for devices in backpacks and cases when travelling. If this forum existed I would definitely use it.
tonyedgecombe 9y ago
Does anybody have suggestions for reducing packaging from Amazon? Don't buy things from Amazon?

applecrazy 9y ago

Blog much more, especially in a exploratory, engineering-notebook-y kind of way, detailing my thoughts, ideas, and failures. I've found those kinds of articles fun to write and even more fun to read. I think this is because code doesn't live in a vacuum–it has a story behind it. Sometimes I like to read git histories of people's personal projects, to see how some of the stuff I use daily came to be. That's the kind of stuff I want to share with people.

yza 9y ago

No alcohol for a year. While getting ready for exams this november-december, I had to quit all social activities and as a side effect, I haven't had any drinks for a month or so. While it did not improve my studying or sleep significantly, it helped me realize the effect alcohol has on my body. Couple of drinks after the last exam gave me quite a hangover, something i did not experience much before. Now the interesting observation is that my hangovers got much easier to a point of almost disappearing as I got into drinking again. The realization of this semi-permanent effect combined with studies showing connection to cognitive impairment (memory, concentration etc.) got me into trying a year without alcohol. Edit: formatting

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
canadiancreed 9y ago
Ran into something like this with caffeine. I used to drink four to six pops a day. You wouldn't think it'd be a big deal, but cutting that out for a month took me from being tired all the time and getting up twice a night to take a piss, to sleeping through the night and actually feeling decent in the morning. While I'm sure doing the same with alcohol would be different and potentially deadly (so I've read anyways), it couldn't hurt to cut it back or out completely. Livers definitely like it according to my doctor.
- 0xcde4c3db 9y ago
  > getting up twice a night to take a piss Highlighting this for a quick PSA: this is not normal. People (at least Americans) seem very eager to dismiss this as a thing that just happens for no particular reason, or because you dared to have a small glass of water within 4 hours of going to bed. It's not highly specific to any condition, but it points to an abnormality in some physiological process [1]. It can be anything from lifestyle factors (e.g. high caffeine or alcohol use, or unusually high sensitivity to them) to chronic disorders, to having no identifiable cause. For me it was sleep apnea. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocturia#Causes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocturia#Causes

kregasaurusrex 9y ago

Get some IT/programming certificates, skill up to a job with a wage to get out of debt faster, and start a side project I've been wanting to get off the ground for a while.

adventured 9y ago
What's the gist of the side project? If you don't mind answering of course.
- kregasaurusrex 9y ago
  Go-playing robot. I'd gotten some parts about a year ago but fell short on cash so it's been sitting in my brain for a while. Should revisit it around tax return time.

aizatto 9y ago

I put together a list of questions to ask yourself questions about your past year, and the new year https://www.deepthoughtapp.com/packages/130/new-years-reflections/ https://www.deepthoughtapp.com/packages/130/new-years-reflec... This is a site I developed to really help me understand myself better

raawlls 9y ago

"I don't make resolutions, I set goals" (TM) (A purposely eye-roll inducing quote I've been saying to myself for a few years). But: - Contribute to Swift - Finish 6 books - Ship 2 iOS apps - Run 10km in under 50 minutes - 195 lbs

booleandilemma 9y ago

Learn things that benefit me, not my employer.

cabalamat 9y ago

Make a success of my website, WikiFork[1], an inclusionist fork of Wikipedia. 1: http://wikifork.org/mw/index.php/Main_Page http://wikifork.org/mw/index.php/Main_Page

sharmi 9y ago

* Exercise Everyday (intensity/duration may vary, but never ever miss) * Make healthy diet changes one at a time (Very very hard to do. Try to do multiple stuff and drop them all. ) First change, start with raw veggies in the morning. * Delta-debug how to get into flow state as many time and as fast as possible (Kramer's rule from below, couldn't be better stated). For starters, work on one and only one thing at a time. Suffering from analysis-paralysitis and spread-too-thiningitis

red0 9y ago
With respect to your first point I would advise to give yourself some slack. Not only does the body need some rest days, but it will also help with willpower. My usual goal is no less than three days and no more than six.
- MikkoFinell 9y ago
  I exercised every day in 2017, but with varying intensity like the parent suggested. That means some days gym, some days a 3 mile walk, some days a yoga pass, but definitely something every day. It's been so good that one of my resolutions is to continue doing it this year as well. Another thing that I tried and really enjoyed is the following: I started getting up from my desk once every hour, grab a pair of 7.5 pound dumbbells and do some mini sets of exercise, for example 20 squats, 20 overhead press, and 20 good-mornings. It takes like a minute, but it gets the heart pumping blood to my brain, and most importantly counteracts the "sitting is the new smoking". Give it a try for a day, I believe you might like it.
b0rsuk 9y ago
I advise against daily workouts. You'll end up overtraining. You need days of rest for your muscles to grow. A common advice is either 3 days of general exercise, or 2 leg days + 2 upper body days. Note some exercises can't be pidgeon-holed that way, like swimming. This is currently my favorite training program: http://www.50pullups.com/ http://www.50pullups.com/ You get the essential exercises: pushups, squats, pullups, with advice how to train, how to rest, how and when to advance.

canadiancreed 9y ago

Work on my health, release an application, hopefully have some stability life and employment wise, maybe do some talks at a conference or two. Hell maybe release a book. Depending on how all that goes, maybe i'll go back to school. Maybe I'll see the world. Hell maybe I'll get married. Stranger things have happened.

vinrob92 9y ago

1. Ship every day - keep momentum going (talking to new customers, fixing bug, building new feature) 2. Be more accountable - write on Skype every day to my business partner what I will work on today. 3. Stay focused - Keep putting the gas on the 1 or 2 things taht work. 4. Stop seeking perfection - find 90% of results with 10% of efforts. And of course: 5. Travel more - I plan to visit South Korea, Japan, China, Russia, Ukraine, Estonia this year!

owenversteeg 9y ago
Ukraine! Not a common one but one of my favorite places I've visited. Why do you want to go there?
JSONwebtoken 9y ago
How do you plan on shipping every day, being more accountable, and staying focused when you take enough time off to visit 6 different countries in one year? Sounds like resolution #6 should be to stop bullshitting yourself.
- dang 9y ago
  We've banned this account for repeatedly violating the HN guidelines and ignoring our requests to stop. If you don't want to be banned on HN, you're welcome to email hn@ycombinator.com and give us reason to believe that you'll follow the rules in the future.
  - lma21 9y ago
    Honest question - if this user creates another account and keeps violating the rules, how would he be stopped?
    - novisse 9y ago
      Blacklisting their IP address would be my guess.

nicolewhite 9y ago

No buying books on Google Play. All the books I read will come from the library this year. Get back into a weight lifting program. Revive some of my open source projects that I've abandoned.

xstartup 9y ago

1. Stop chasing girls 2. Complete projects 3. Stop paying bonus to people in my company, just because I like their attitude or face.

jacques_chester 9y ago

Most likely: raise money, start a business and spend the rest of the year dealing with GERD. I don't know how people do such things so nonchalantly, so oblivious to the near-certainty of total failure. I never feel ready enough for anything. There is always more to check, elaborate, investigate, experiment, compare, prepare, plan, ponder, defend ... I am never ready enough. Never. But I also don't feel like playing "what if?" for the rest of my life. I've already spent a lot of it spinning wheels and I currently have relatively little to lose. If not this year: when? There's no less-shittier time, really. So if you were sick of me talking about BOSH, Cloud Foundry and Pivotal, buckle up. At some point you'll be sick of me talking about Robojar.

sgarman 9y ago
Any tips for dealing with GERD? My doctor hasn't really helped at all.
- jacques_chester 9y ago
  I may have been using poetic license. For me it's usually responded to medication.
adventured 9y ago
> I don't know how people do such things so nonchalantly, so oblivious to the near-certainty of total failure I've been starting Internet companies since I was a teenager in the mid 1990s. I've failed a lot in that time. Having observed a large number of different types of people do start-ups (of all variations), the conclusion I've reached is that there is a genetic component to it for some people that gives them a larger buffer against that fear, and for others it's a rather terrifying leap no matter what. There's something abnormally wired in my brain as it pertains to the risk concern of starting a business. Rather than being oblivious to the odds, I don't feel the same fear that most do when confronted with that. I have a normal sense of fear around most things, for example I'm not a huge risk taker about thrills (wingsuit? nope), and I would be afraid to run into a burning building like most people would. I believe it's an aspect some people are born with, for whatever reason and however it functions exactly, as I've met a number of other entrepreneurs that have an extra large buffer against that dread, which from the outside comes across as unusually non-chalant. I also think it gets to everyone at some point, even those more naturally resistant to it; I've had some really difficult stretches of time that burned that buffer thoroughly. Then I'm right back to wanting to do the next thing; I can't explain it other than that there seems to be a throttle missing. If you have that throttle, you have to force yourself to override it; if you don't, you have to learn to restrain yourself while having a less healthy sense of fear about it.

ioddly 9y ago

Figure out how to get more consistent freelance work and then do that. Keeping it simple -- 2017 was a pretty good year for me otherwise so I don't need to really add anything to the mix so to speak other than this. Share more things that I create.

mikelj99 9y ago

A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other

olingern 9y ago

Health - Undo minor case of hip impingement ( sitting down too much! ) - Connect with more people / foster better relationships. Who knew making friends in a city could be so hard? Programming - Finish SICP. Made it through four chapters with co-workers, and then everyone dropped off. - Continue exploring functional programming - Finish my homegrown Japanese kana / kanji language learning tool Other: - Take some of the wisdom from this thread[1], and make myself more "marketable" through blogging, giving talks, etc. - Pass the JLPT 3 test [1] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15994410 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15994410

Broken_Hippo 9y ago
"Who knew making friends in a city could be so hard?" I've never found a place where it was easy to make friends, though the easiest has seemed to be language class full of other immigrants. We all had that one thing in common.
- olingern 9y ago
  > I've never found a place where it was easy to make friends, though the easiest has seemed to be language class full of other immigrants. We all had that one thing in common. Learning and/or shared discomfort has seemed to foster the closest relationships I've had to date. Perhaps, it's time for more classes. Coming from the countryside, it's such a strange paradox -- to be surrounded by so many people, but alone at the same time.
sirtel 9y ago
Is the Japanese learning tool online? Are you going to share it with others? I'm just curious.
- olingern 9y ago
  It's still in development. I didn't think anyone would be interested, since I see one pop up on /r/learnjapanese each month. Perhaps, I'll clean it up and submit my first ShowHN

benatkin 9y ago

I'm trying to take a middle of the road approach to resolutions. They aren't the most important things, because it should go without saying that I should try to do them, regardless of what year it is, but they aren't frivolous either. Mine are: 1. Go for a 10 mile run each month 2. Study Spanish for at least 10 hours each month 3. Run my first triathlon I posted them to my blog several days ago: https://benatkin.com/2017/12/28/2018-new-years-resolutions/ https://benatkin.com/2017/12/28/2018-new-years-resolutions/

crypticlizard 9y ago

Work consistently on my startup.

autotune 9y ago

- Finish two intermediate songs I've been trying to cover on guitar and vocals by 2019, and create some of my own. - Do a grocery shopping every week and spend less on food/eating out. - Finish a side project related to application of AWS and GCP deployment strategies and put it on GitHub. - Get promoted at current job.

Afforess 9y ago

I don't like resolutions. They are lies we tell ourselves, false promises from our present self about our future self. If you actually believe you can accomplish your resolutions, you don't need a manufactured holiday, like New Year's, to decide to change your life. Any day of the week should work. Don't wait until 2018 - start today.

keithwhor 9y ago
“Don’t wait until 2018 - start today.” Posted on January 1st, 2018 for the majority of the world. ;) I get your point, but resolutions are powerful tools. Ever walked into a room and forgotten why you did? It’s because you artificially create a new cognitive context when you walk through a door. A new year is similar. It may only be symbolic, but shedding dead weight and planning for a new year is an important exercise for many people - successful goalsetters included.
- kevin2r 9y ago
  > Ever walked into a room and forgotten why you did? It’s because you artificially create a new cognitive context when you walk through a door. Wow I did not know that there was an explanation for this. Makes sense. :)
JSONwebtoken 9y ago
If resolutions were so powerful, why not have monthly, weekly, daily, or hourly resolutions? Imagine the things we could accomplish if all it took was to attach a goal to a discrete unit of time. My new day resolution is to get some more sleep.
- chillacy 9y ago
  A lot of companies set quarterly goals, that's probably not a bad idea. Also, goals need to be etched into habits to work, and values determine goals, so it's worth introspecting all three at a time.
- kraftman 9y ago

shubh2336 9y ago

Contribute to an open-source Project. Read at least 30 books from my reading-list (mostly non-fiction). Run a half-marathon by mid-year. Travel to an unknown place unplanned.

ronilan 9y ago

2018 will be 1334-by-750-pixels at 326 ppi for me. Same as last year. No real need for upgrade.

taneq 9y ago
Oh you poor thing, at least invest in an external monitor!
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
dukeflukem 9y ago
Boom boom cha!

faebi 9y ago

bash-scripting: 23:20, I was waiting on a public event for new year to happen. There was no big countdown screen visible. I checked my android phone if there is any clock with seconds, nope (iOS has something I think). I usually would download an app but I am on holidays and there was no Wifi. So I thought, 40 minutes to go, lets fire up termux with ruby and make a oneliner. I discovered that I didn't install ruby yet. Ok, I need to use bash. MAN is also not installed yet. Termux thankfully has a 'help' command. It offers for "while": "while COMMANDS; do COMMANDS;> { COMMANDS ; }". I tried for 30 minutes, but there was always a syntax error. Another solution would be "watch -n1 echo $(date)", but then I would have an update only every second. Also this somehow didn't work because of some buffer issues. It always showed the same time. 23:56, I give up. Now at home, I lookup the syntax for while and here it is: "done" was missing. Easy to find out, unless you never use bash for scripting. I tried tons of keywords and combinations, but just couldn't remember that it was "done".

mbrock 9y ago
Your "watch" command didn't work because the first thing that happens is that your shell expands the $(date) word into the current date, and then it runs "watch -n1 echo 'Mon Jan 1 ...'". You should have just done "watch -n1 date". BTW, the manual for bash is really good: https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/bash.pdf https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/bash.pdf

desaiguddu 9y ago

- Provide mentorship to 4 Students - Support a non-profit with technology - Travel to 14 new places - Write 40+ blog posts

whatyoucantsay 9y ago

Remain committed to reason, especially when emotions run high. Grow more willing to stand up to bullies, including on HN. Be kind to people, including myself. Cause 10% less animal suffering through my eating habits. Spend at least one week in a country and culture I don't understand.

olalonde 9y ago
> Cause 10% less animal suffering through my eating habits. That is oddly specific.
- whatyoucantsay 9y ago
  In the past I've tried and failed to be a vegan. Thinking about the ethics around how much suffering living, feeling beings are subjected to just so that I can experience a few moments of mouth pleasure throughout the day puts me into a very dark place emotionally. It's the most abominable the we do as humans and yet our society is constructed in such a way that it's very, very difficult to stop without economic, social or dietary consequences. I don't want to beat myself up for failing to resist the pressures of both biology and society, but I don't want to give up either. I know I can do 10% better. I can avoid the foods that cause the most suffering, and reduce or pay more for others and do so without any real cost to my social life, health or happiness.
  - PerfectElement 9y ago
    Subscribe to /r/vegan if you haven't yet, and feel free to ask for help. You'll find people with similar goals and lot of people willing to help.
cube00 9y ago
> Grow more willing to stand up to bullies, including on HN. Don't waste your time arguing with the internets.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]

jurassic 9y ago

Improve my Spanish vocabulary by extensively reading at least one million words of Spanish. I’m currently at the level where I can read about 12 pages of Harry Potter per hour without a dictionary, or faster with Readlang. One million words is about the length of the entire Harry Potter series. Continue my porn-free streak to prioritize real life sexual experiences.

akkat 9y ago
Good luck on learning a new language. Be careful that when writing in Spanish you also have someone check that your Spanish is correct. Otherwise, you may be practising something wrong.
- jurassic 9y ago
  Thanks. I feel like the hard part is over now that I can read and watch Spanish tv and follow enough to enjoy it. Bootstrapping myself by cramming the first 1500-2000 words or so of vocabulary felt like a lot of work. I almost never practice speaking and writing because I don’t want to become fluent in my mistakes. I like the way [antimoon](http://www.antimoon.com/other/myths-mistakesbeg.htm http://www.antimoon.com/other/myths-mistakesbeg.htm) writes about this aspect of language learning.

ctrlrsf 9y ago

Eat less sugar. Drink less coffee.

isthisnagee 9y ago

A few things I want to try to accomplish this year: 1. Read fiction slower. Sometimes I just read to get to the ending and I miss _a lot_. 2. Read more non fiction. I read 1 or 2 non fiction books in 2017. I want around 30% of my reading to be non fiction in 2018. 3. Go to the gym at least 3 times a week. I've started this two weeks ago and I hope to keep going :) 4. Finish a side project.

dejv 9y ago

- make my company profitable by focusing more on sales and marketing - build new winery (building for production, lab and so) - extend my body flexibility: after decades of sitting I am able to just reach my knees while standing. I want to be able to reach toes by the end of this year. Also work on my posture and remove my back pain.

prashant10 9y ago
Build new winery? Can you please explain this a bit more? how are you planning to achieve this?
- dejv 9y ago
  I am making wine for 5 years. During this time I was subletting small part of another winery, but now it is time to move to my own place. Winery can have many different forms, mine is going to be oversized garage/small warehouse. I hired architect who did many of those projects and we are currently waiting for building permission, which is very tricky. After that I will simply pay contractor to build whole thing and then move in my equipment. As you see it is not that complicated, it just cost a lot of money. There is also going to be phase two which will add tasting room and underground cellar for aging and storing wine, but thats a project for another year.

arenaninja 9y ago

Probably try for a Master's degree since my employer would essentially pay for it. I've been wondering what the next step is for me after 5 years as a (professional) web developer. I still enjoy it but I can't help but think that there's something after. I work on a very modern stack (React, Redux, TypeScript, etc.) and I imagine many here would be satisfied with that. But lately I keep trying to define the value that I bring to the table and it's hard to verbalize, when it shouldn't be. So learning to express that is also on the table. I've also been getting my feet wet with crypto, machine learning and FinTech. They may turn out to be 2017 fads but so was JavaScript and jQuery back in the day.

cylinder 9y ago

I'd like to slow down time but that's definitely not going to happen in 18. Routine = quick time passage

jl6 9y ago

I’ll be doing a slightly-silly personal challenge that I made up: walk 7,777,777 steps, write 777,777 words, do 77,777 jumping jacks, 7,777 press-ups, eat 777 different types of fruit, achieve target weight of 77kg, and run 7 10K races. https://medium.com/@7sevens/the-seven-sevens-challenge-c7b7d669bf95 https://medium.com/@7sevens/the-seven-sevens-challenge-c7b7d...

sAbakumoff 9y ago
That'e excellent resolution because it has specific and measurable goals. Everything that says like "eat less junk food" is going to be ignored 1 week later. I like 777 types of fruit, gonna steal this one :-)
- ChristianGeek 9y ago
  Are there 777 types of fruit (at least edible ones you have access to)?
  - jl6 9y ago
    I think yes, if you choose your definition of fruit. I chose it to mean any amount of any part of the fruit, in the botanical sense. I wrote more here: https://medium.com/@7sevens/1st-january-2018-fruit-and-running-f530333642b6 https://medium.com/@7sevens/1st-january-2018-fruit-and-runni...
  - pavelromashkin 9y ago
    But there is only one chmod
zapperdapper 9y ago
Heheh good one. I thought my plan to walk at least 10,000 steps a day for 365 days was quite a challenge. I can't help thinking that eating 777 types of fruit might be the biggest challenge there though! I've travelled pretty widely and am a great fruit lover, but would be surprised if I've eaten more than 100 types of fruit!

ochronus 9y ago

3840 x 2160

tonyedgecombe 9y ago
I hope you aren't planning to combine that with Linux because they don't mix that well yet.

hguhghuff 9y ago

I'm not going to burn my personal life programming any more.

chx 9y ago

Leave the house at least five days a week. Previous years I was going to the gym every workday but that gym is now closed and I plan to continue exercising with my trainer in the modest exercise room of our condo and I am really scared of becoming a total recluse.

PascLeRasc 9y ago
Do you work from home? If you do just find a different gym on the way to/from work; if not can you find a gym near a good workspace (like a library or good coffeeshop)?

zengid 9y ago

-Learn how to finish things. -Be on time more often. -Walk more.

PascLeRasc 9y ago

I'm spending more time working on things that I can touch. That means more woodworking, electronics projects without any software attached, and customizing real-world tools like my desk, coffeemaker, and bass amp for what I want them to do. I'd also like to get my bench press up from 170 to 225 and cut carbs down, but not eliminate them.

arca_vorago 9y ago

Audentes Fortuna Iuvat

meddlepal 9y ago

1. Get back under 200 lbs (~225 right now so should be doable with some diet and routine changes)... 2. Create a money generating side project.

thdn 9y ago

Get certified RHCSA - RHCE

kuerbel 9y ago

Try to keep my add in check even more. Less smartphone use(that is a though one, I get crabby and irritated if I don't look at it every few minutes...). Try to draw every day for at least 30 minutes.

madiathomas 9y ago

- Complete my IT Diploma with Cum Laude. 5 Subjects left out of 30 - Lose 10kg - Grow my side project which is currently making $1,000, to make at least $10,000.

rct42 9y ago

Socialise more. Get a girlfriend. Commercialize a side project. Run the New York Marathon!

rayalez 9y ago

1. Complete my SaaS projects and generate enough revenue to become ramen-profitable. 2. Keep up the habits I have finally developed: - Clean diet - staying away from bad food, coffee, nootropics. - Exercise - running every day. - Coding every day - learning from courses or adding features to my projects. - Writing every day - working on blog posts, video scripts, or at least writing quora answers. - Writing at least 4 jokes per day. Striving to post them regularly (tweet, use them in my articles, write routines). - Info diet - reading, staying away from reddit, consuming news only through RSS and HN. That's pretty much it. I want to stay healthy, make money, and get better at my craft. Nothing else needed.

arkona 9y ago
> staying away from coffee Huh? Why?
- rayalez 9y ago
  I was drinking too much of it, it became a problem - tolerance, withdrawal, messed up sleep cycles. Also I've read that it stresses adrenal glands and may cause cortisol issues. Bottomline is - I want a sustainable lifestyle, and with coffee it became unsustainable. This year I've learned that to achieve my goals I have to learn to think long term, treat it as a marathon, not a sprint. From a big picture point of view, steady, measured, consistent pace is better than short term highs followed by inevitable lows. Green tea is fine tho =)

drdrey 9y ago

No more push notifications

kbyatnal 9y ago
This really is a great one. Life feels so much calmer without constant notifications.

brango 9y ago

Start teaching yoga.

aaronbrethorst 9y ago

Run a 5k, help flip Washington’s 5th and 8th congressional districts, get better at baking.

0b01 9y ago

Start planning my time in blocks. Don't spread myself too thin Start commenting on HN Sleep before 12am

snarfy 9y ago

If you forget the grandiose ideas and keep them simple they are more likely to happen. I'm left handed and my resolution last year was to use my right hand more. I had to make a conscience effort to do so, but that effort has stuck with me. I still think about which hand to use before performing a task, something I didn't do before the resolution. Keep them simple.

ambivalents 9y ago
Did you notice any benefits from doing this? I imagine challenging yourself to do familiar things in an unfamiliar way has some cognitive benefits, but I'm curious about specific examples.

kampsy 9y ago

1) Grow my Search startup company cognifly.com 2) Learn Rust and Kotlin. 3) Contribute more to open source projects

LifeisFaith 9y ago

Here goes mine- Focus on health and reduce 5 kg weight. Do some exercise at least 10 min a day. Become a morning person. Invest in good relationships/friendships. Launch a product on Product Hunt and market it. Level up my skillsets in Digital Marketing(By Consulting/Internships/PR..). Start Video Blogging(Vlog) or Master Video Marketing. Inspire at least 100 people. Meet and Interact with at least 100 new people. Read 10 non-fiction books.

ruxkor 9y ago

Alex Vermeer's guide "8,760 hours" [1] could be helpful if you didn't already come up with your resolutions: Its method gives you a framework how to analyze and prioritize your long term goals for this or the next year. [1]: https://alexvermeer.com/8760hours/ https://alexvermeer.com/8760hours/ HN post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13249796 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13249796

purplepilot 9y ago

My new years resolution was not to make a new years resolution. Hmmmmmm maybe i need to think about that a bit more.

S7012MY 9y ago

Eat almost no sugar http://www.theage.com.au/interactive/2017/what-sugar-does-to-your-brain/ http://www.theage.com.au/interactive/2017/what-sugar-does-to...

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

taway_1212 9y ago

Don't quit my (shitty) job, and bank the (awesome) money.

gkya 9y ago

- Read a ton. In about six months I'll be applying for a masters degree programme in literary studies, and from this year september I'll have about an academic year to stabilise the topic of my thesis. But as a rather late-comer to literature (I was all about IT my late teens, interested in humanities when I was 19-20, and re-started undergrad education in the faculty of letters a bit later), I find my knowledge rather shallow. I've been reading lots of books, both fiction and things like major philosophical works, ancient literature, the scriptures, art history, theory of art, etc., but much slower than the rate I'd like to maintain. This year I'd like to read about a hundred books, and complete reading the scriptures (I'm reading it cover to cover, takes some time...), the Odyssey, the Histories, and maybe a couple more. The coming 6-7 months will probably be the last ones where I can postpone working as a 24-yrs-old, so I must make good use of them. - Fix my sleep cycle. For lots of time I've been sleeping every now and then, randomly, and the last months I feel like I can't do so anymore, especially can't wake up with little sleep. I should get to sleep more regularly. - Learn at least one of French or Portuguese. Certify my knowledge of English and Italian (both foreign languages I know). - Do some travelling, both to shake off some stress and to find a cosy place for my PhD.

rxever 9y ago

1. Spend less time on binance.com 2. Spend more time on a side project I have that solves a real problem and that I've been neglecting 3. Commit new code every day 4. Decide whether dating a current girl should continue or not. 5. Talk to your family members more, especially grandma and sister

t176 9y ago

no alcohol before breakfast and try to remember to change my underpants at least once a week. no seriously, I like kramer1416 idea of figuring out how to get into flow state on a regular basis. I reckon that would be an overall win for personal productivity. Also, lose weight through exercise and learn how to brew cider.

Broken_Hippo 9y ago
Ritual. Some of this helps with sleep, too, if you do it before bed. Choose a smell, music, a special way of sitting. A cup of coffee, a snack. A combination of things. Perhaps use headphones. The more often you do this before time you have flow, the more likely it is that your body and mind will view that ritual as a signal to get into a flow state. Resource: Occultism. Some mind states used with occultism are likened to the state of flow and folks work some time getting to those states faster.

dukeflukem 9y ago

Ask the UN security council

inv 9y ago

Have a better relationship with my dad by being more kind and accepting. Proper exercise 2-3 times a week. Less time reading random stuff online and social media, more time writing and learning. Switch jobs to learn more and progress in my career, don't get comfortable and stuck in one place.

amirouche 9y ago

My resolution is to stop worrying about my career and stop doing Python in my spare time and instead focus on GNU Guile code!

sigi45 9y ago

Working on my amount of energy i put into answering to other people when i'm irritated by there 'stupid/simple/obvious' questions. I have that sometime, that i'm answering to short (=properly harsh?) but i do think i have the time to answer someone else properly and spend more energy in doing so.

lma21 9y ago

Hike again this year, and hike beyond 150 KM. Positively impact at least 50 people. I'm not sure how to measure that, be it teaching a thing or two, helping homeless people, or talking to friends...

GreyZephyr 9y ago

To stop consuming and start creating. Also to actually interact with people online. I haven't really commented online or been social online since the late 90's and I want to try and change that and actually create and interact again.

playing_colours 9y ago

1. lose 15 kilo, 2. keep doing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, ideally, get a blue belt, 3. learn Clojure.

b3b0p 9y ago

1. Get a job 2. Finish a side project 3. Go on a date with a girl 4. Finish an NES game on my backlog 5. Read the second book in The Chronicles of Narnia (I've only read The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe) 6. Relax

xrisk 9y ago
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is actually the second book in the series, even though it was written first :)
- SamPatt 9y ago
  The Magician's Nephew is definitely worth a read too.
- b3b0p 9y ago
  Thank you as I didn't know this. I guess I need to read the first book in the series. Should I read them in chronological or publication order? Perhaps I'll stick with publication order since I've already started that way. I found this link: http://www.narniaweb.com/resources-links/in-what-order-should-the-narnia-books-be-read/ http://www.narniaweb.com/resources-links/in-what-order-shoul... It reminds me of Haruhi Suzumiya https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruhi_Suzumiya https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruhi_Suzumiya (also excellent series)

diegoperini 9y ago

* Clean up what's left from my dead startup. * Get a job.

ixacto 9y ago

Less carbs. Study for GRE every day until I take it. No reddit. No procrastination. Make my GF smile every day.

iamwil 9y ago

Talk to more customers, at the same time as building. The first couple of versions are really a glorified mailing list, for people to talk to you about what they really want.

icpmacdo 9y ago

abs, 100k in the bank

123ol12313 9y ago

run a half marathon

fillskills 9y ago

- Learn: Machine learning, Deep learning - Build: Plant 100 trees - Teach: Programming lessons for parents - Be: Healthy. Workout 3 times a weeks

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

ryanchants 9y ago

Personal: Watch less TV and read more. I have a list of books to read, and shows I'd like to keep at/below 2 half hour, 2 hour long per week. Complete /r/photoclass_2018 Learn Swedish spoon carving. Make at least one spoon I'm happy with using. Get good enough to attempt a dala horse. Relearn Spanish using Fluent Forever ideas/products. Get good enough to help translate for Spanish speakers in stores. Lose weight. At 260, my goal is 199. Going to use a mix of weightlifting and metcon-style workouts. Work: Focus more a la Deep Work Learn more AWS and Docker stuff Lead refactoring of our code base Help guide the core philosophy changes we need to move from survival mode startup to strong engineering culture Edited to put some more specific targets around my personal goals.

maxdeviant 9y ago

Here is what I'm going to focus on in 2018: - Work less, achieve more - No alcohol - Read more - Write more - Practice my Mandarin - Produce 1 song/week (https://weeklybeats.com/ https://weeklybeats.com/) - Continue to make one thing every day

thecupisblue 9y ago
Gotta make 5 beats a day for 3 summers :)
thecupisblue 9y ago
You know what, screw it, I'm joining weekly beats. Thanks for this. I always wanted to learn to produce music, let's try it.

seanmcdirmid 9y ago

- Abstain from sugar (already into week 3!). - Release a new programming experience that can at least make me more productive (if no one else).

senjindarashiva 9y ago

Make an effort to say something nice to someone on the internet every day. I have never been uncivil online however I've also never been especially good at voice my positive feelings either. Therefore I will make the effort of putting mentioning positive things and not just nod approvingly at home.

estomagordo 9y ago

Still 1920x1080 :(

bibryam 9y ago

2018: #Blockchain 2017: #CloudNative 2016: #Kubernetes 2015: #Microservices 2014: #ApacheCamel

thatthatis 9y ago

Same resolution I've made every year for the past ten years: when I see a way to change my life for the better, make the change as soon as reasonable

drakonka 9y ago

Eat less sugar.

Mouse47 9y ago

I quit my job yesterday, going to start working full-time on a personal project of mine. Got a two-year long runway, looking to have my first customer in 6 months...

pruthvishetty 9y ago

* Read more. * Become more fit. * Travel more. * Avoid sugar, caffeine, social media. * Take meaningful conversations offline. * Help more. * Get better at Spanish. * Become more aware of passing time.

EnderMB 9y ago

1. Expand my development horizons. I've been a .NET developer for most of my career, and I've recently taken a job at a company that is mostly Node/Ruby. This year, I want to learn enough RoR, Django, and Node to be able to contribute wherever needed. 2. Compete at blue belt at a BJJ competition. I've a fresh blue belt, so my training needs to be more consistent in order to hang at that level. 3. Learn to enjoy travelling more. For the first time in my life I've got the money to travel and see the world, and rather than being constantly anxious of being somewhere different I want to embrace it.

pranitbauva1997 9y ago

Smoke weed and find recursive patters in music and nature! ;) Also finish Godel, Escher and Bach