A record of doing a new thing every day in 2011
Well that was fun wasn’t it?
I’m not sure if I’d have known when I started how much this would take over my life, I would have even begun, but now I’ve reached the end of a year of new things what have I learnt?
Other than the stress of having to do something new (and vaguely interesting) every single day, it has been a worthwhile experience. I definitely think I’ve changed a little for the better, and I’m certainly more likely to choose the novel option if offered a choice rather than the safe one. This is a good thing, although for the first days of 2012 it’s been nice not to have to do it so obsessively!
The main thing I’ve learnt is that if you want to do something that requires some commitment, then stating in public what you’re going to do is a hugely motivating factor. The feedback from friends was very useful, even if most of it was along the lines of “that was a bit shit yesterday” or “that cooking didn’t look very well presented” :-)
Following the same principle of public commitment, by real achievement this year has been to lose over 20 lbs in weight via dieting, as can be seen from my public spreadsheet tracking my weight.
I’m not sure what my favorite posts of the year were. I most enjoyed the travelling to new countries (Sweden, Denmark and Germany), and many of the things I cooked were honestly much better tasting than they looked!
I also enjoyed the experience of writing something every day, and even managed to squeeze a few weak jokes in there too.
So what’s next? I’m definitely not carrying on, and have really enjoyed the year so far and have been able to cook something I’ve done before and know will taste nice!
What I am going to do - as I posted in October - is try to ship 12 different pieces of software in 2012 (obviously one a month), and see if I can start up something interesting. Even if they all fail I hope it will be interesting doing so, and I’m hoping to share how I get on at via my website at http://www.bravelocation.com
So that’s it. I hope you enjoyed reading about my adventure a little bit, and maybe it’s inspired you to try something new every now and then?
