I decided not to turn these into concrete goals, but here are general areas that I’d like to invest more time and attention into in the coming year.

• Take care of my body: This definitely includes exercising more, but more broadly, I’d like to pay attention to how I’m feeling. For example, this year I realized sugar was causing me to crash hard, so I’ve cut it out as much as I can during the day (and save it for dessert).

  Exercise makes me feel great, so I need to discover which types of movement work best for me.

• Write more: After struggling to get back into the practice for a few years, I started First Draft Club as a way to force myself to write – and I’m now on a 20+ week streak of sharing something publicly.

  I want to keep pushing myself here. Quantity leads to quality, so I’m not upset about the consistency, but I do want to take some bigger swings. At the end of 2025, I hope to have a few essays I’m proud of.

• Read more: This past year wasn’t as good for reading. I spent too much time online, and most of the “reading” I did was short-form. In 2025, I’m hoping to carve out more time for deep reading.

  Since I tend to finish fiction books more consistently, I'll use novels to rekindle my joy of reading. For non-fiction topics, I'll focus on essays and articles, which better match my learning style than books with a lot of fluff.

• Engage with my local community: While I've built a strong online community, this year I’d like to deepen my real-world connections in New York City. This means connecting with both people and places – from neighborhoods to local institutions.

  I want to be a more active presence in my neighborhood – getting to know the baristas at my local coffee shop, showing up to weekly game nights at the bar on the corner, and becoming a "regular" in a few places.

  Beyond the neighborhood level, I want to build on my growing interest in city politics. While I’ve started paying more attention to what’s going on, this year I want to put "boots on the ground" and find ways to contribute to positive change in my city.