2023 Ambitions retrospective

Last year’s ambitions were not very ambitious but I did end up achieving most of them.

I travelled more than I even intended (five significant trans-Atlantic trips), got my first tattoo, attended a handful of conferences and spoke at some of them. Contributed to a podcast. I blogged a lot, maintained the jobs newsletter and in fact ended the year relaunching it on a new platform.

My fiftieth celebrations were wonderful but I did not do a great job with my health nor with my artistic plans.

2024

I really need to improve my health so →

200 alcohol free days

10,000 steps a day (averaged over a week)

50% fewer takeaways (based on Deliveroo spend!)

Try yoga again

---

Doesn’t look like I am losing the travel bug any time soon →

Austin, TX in June for the ATX Television Festival

Somewhere not in the USA for a trip – Asia maybe?

---

Side hustle fun → 

Add 200 subscribers to the jobs newsletter

40 newsletters

Launch the Digital by Default Jobs website

Earn enough from the DXD Jobs website that it at least pays for itself

---

Blogging and unsocial media → 

Full year of weeknotes

Six work related non weeknote blogposts

Finally quit interacting with Twitter (continue to post links to jobs newsletter, blogposts etc for immediate future)

Publish to and promote BlueSky

---

Events and speaking →

Contribute to organising more Product for the People events

Target two conferences to speak at with a new talk

Mentor a new speaker and help them get at least one speaking gig at a conference 

Launch a civic tech/public service digital meetup in Bristol

---

Getting creative → 

I have this idea for a mini comic / ‘zine for the Govcamp community and intend to play with that idea over the year with a release date of Govcamp ‘25 😀

---

Oh and of course do well at the new day job – more on that soon.

That seems like plenty.

Onwards.