For the past 3 or 4 years I’ve been publishing my annual accomplishments and upcoming year goals. It’s always fun to do this, and I encourage everyone to do it – even if you don’t share it out. Taking a moment to look backward at what you got done, evaluate where things got left, and setting a vision for the future is a great exercise for success. You don’t have to, but don’t be afraid to publish it to a blog.

This post is still in draft mode, so I welcome any feedback you have on what to add or subtract, or tips on how I can accomplish my goals! Share your ideas in the comments!

Here was my post from this time last year.

First, here are the goals I set for myself at the start of 2016:

  1. Achieve internal Classana goals & milestones. Semi-success. There is still a long way to go here, but we scored some pretty cool victories! Grade: C
  2. Read a book a month. Failed. This one has been hard for the past several years. I actually think I may be picking the wrong kind of books to read. I like business books, but I don’t typically feel compelled to complete a book after its pretty clear that I got the point. On the other hand, I do enjoy books on politics. I’m currently re-reading The Audacity of Hope. Maybe I’ll spend more time in the political sphere of books in 2017. Grade: C
  3. Continue podcasting. Success. I’m halfway through Season 4 of the of10podcast. Grade: A
  4. Track my food intake with myfitnesspal. Fail. While I’m much more conscious of what I eat, this app got deleted a long time ago. Grade: F
  5. Complete a class on Treehouse. I won’t make any excuses for this one. I have some good ones, but its still a Fail. Grade: D+

Here’s a taste of some other things I accomplished in 2016:

  • Was appointed to the University of Toledo Board of Trustees (Link)
  • Currently halfway through Season 4 of the oft10podcast (Link)
  • Was appointed to serve as Chair of the Ohio Martin Luther King Jr. Commission
  • Added a workout to my morning routine. I’m up at 5:42am every Monday-Friday. I’ve been doing this for the last 4 months or so pretty consistently.
  • I hosted a show on Puff Daddy’s REVOLT TV where I moderated a discussion about technology. The episode was called Leaders of the New School. Here’s a bts photo:


Pictured from left, Rashad Drakeford (REVOLT), Rodney Williams (LISNR), Tanya Menendez (Maker’s Row), Emeka Anen (Throne), Me, Jessica Matthews (Uncharted Play), Dave Salvant (Squire), and Maci Peterson (On Second Thought)

2017 Goals (Draft)

  1. Be Great.
  2. Get serious about what I eat
  3. Take more and better notes with pen and paper.
  4. Grow my staff (I probably need to add 3 people)
  5. Commit to my weekly newsletter (Link)
  6. Travel with Angela
  7. Write an ebook
  8. Drink my breakfast daily. (Here’s my supplement of choice.)
  9. Double my water intake
  10. Read a book a month
  11. Continue podcasting
  12. Add another content channel to my repertoire. Possibly video… maybe just double-down on blogging.