Last year for the first time in my life, i created and documented a set of goals for myself. Here I evaluate my performance in each one of them, providing a %age to quantify how well i feel i’ve done against that goal, followed by comments about the effort . The process for arriving at the %age is .. that there is no process, i just put a number there based on my own understanding of my actions and assume that i’m honest there . So here goes,

1. Be an asshole and say NO more often
Success: 50%
Comments: The new job definitely helps. But there’s still work to do here; i’m still not able to say to nice people coming to me with good intentions . The deal is simple, i could help you and I would love to but my time and attention is finite so you’re going to have to wait (forever). Maybe i need to find a way to help people solve their problems rather than me baby-sitting them through solutions.

2. Save > =  ₹25k a month
   Success: 120%
   Comments: Yay for new job which is kind of cheating but whatever.
   Also, made my first investment in a not so great instrument - an RD, but it’s a start. Also started calculating my net worth thanks to simple but great framework by ex co-worker Anshul Dixit . Next year shall be about learning more about stock markets + economics and maybe making a few riskier financial bets.

3. Give up drinking, etc.
Success: 0%
Comments: Dumb goal. Should’ve been drink in moderation; due to the sheer pleasure i get out of being hammered, this was a bad goal to have. No progress on drink in moderation either.  4. Finish a full triathlon 
Success: 50%
Comments: I did develop the ability to wake up and start running/cycling regularly but i haven’t improved on it nor has it translated into finishing any events. 5. Weigh <78 kgs 
Success: 20%
Comments: Lost weight at the start of the year, but gained it all back while belting Hyderabadi delicacies during Ramadan which coincided with my last days at Facebook (aka the land of infinite free food). Again, this is a bad goal, i’m actually the correct weight for my height, what i have to fix is body fat percentage and physique . This will need regular exercise and some tears in the gym.

6. Master computer programming
7. Build at least one useful piece of software and sell it
Success: 20%
Comments: #6 is the most ambitious and most hilarious of all goals. #7 should’ve been learn enough to build something useful quickly; i did learn enough to build something useless quickly though. Even though i’ve transitioned to a manager role, this is definitely something I will maintain as a hobby to scratch an itch to build things. 8. Become deeply informed about current affairs
Success: 125%
Comments: Hitting Google news has become a regular habit, browsing twitter (instead of facebook) to waste time has had the positive side effect of bringing a lot of news to my attention. I’m also a paying subscriber of The Economist & National Geographic now! #CrushingIT
9. Publish my own periodical
10. Write one well researched blog post a month
Success: 20%
Comments: While i did read a lot this year, writing efforts have remained scattered and mediocre. I did start a flipboard curated mag but haven’t put stuff onto that either. Final comments Averaging it out, I stand at a success rate of 44.5%. Borrowing from my experience setting goals at Facebook, if you’ve set aggressive goals, you’re allowed to miss half of them, in other words a success rate of 50% is fair performance. However, coming in slightly below that number, you can say i’ve mildly under achieved this year :( <- Sad smiley in bold because i’m really sad . However, having a documented set of targets to chase has been a fun ride and i’m obviously going to do this again; not the least of all good things to come out of this exercise is that (1) I know that I could’ve done better (2) I know where (and possibly why) i underwhelmed at the things i did . Look back at the kind of goals I set, one obvious theme is that they were all very individualistic, all contingent on me doing something or the other; changing jobs and switching to a management role relying heavily on communication has changed the way I look at lot of things . Also, conspicuously missing are goals about .. having fun .. maybe I forgot that i’m a human and not a robot, whoops. Notable absentees are goals around being nicer to family & friends . All of that is coming in the goals for 2015, stay tuned.