Starting 2014 with the Best of Intentions
I’ve spent the last few days thinking about professional development resolutions for the new year. This time around I want to set goals that are realistic but challenging enough to push me a bit. I also want to make my efforts public so that I can be mocked mercilessly should I fail to meet my goals (especially if I fail early).
My first goal is to finish reading at least two technology related books a month. The finish part of that goal is important because of my tendency to start a book and then move on to another before finishing the first. There’s more than a few books from last year that fall into this category. My goal here should help me to wrap up some of those and dig into some new subjects more completely (node.js, angular.js, MongoDB, HTML5 canvas, etc.).
My second goal is rather open ended. I just have to produce something outside of work at least once every two months. This something can be a new project, a non-trivial contribution to an existing open source project, or a blog post about a particular technology. I just want to produce something that will help me cement my understanding of what I choose to read about. This goal should guide me in investigating new technologies to the point where I can actually produce something (even if it’s something small) and go beyond a superficial understanding.
I’m really hoping this year to broaden my skills, expand my understanding of technologies that I work with already and really jump in and learn some new and interesting things. In the meantime, feel free to either suggest new topics for me to dig into or share your own resolutions for the new year.