One thing I look forward to every other week during this pandemic are virtual meetups with friends where we talk about the things that motivate and inspire us to wake up every morning. When it comes to relationships, careers, wellbeing, hobbies, or interests, we don’t have a lot in common as we’re in totally different seasons of life but that’s not the point. What makes our conversations fun and exciting is learning and hearing what gets each person fired up.
Last month, we’ve evolved our conversations to explore how can we be more organized, intentional, and strategic with our time to live out our passions and achieve our goals. And that’s when one of them suggested we use the OKRs framework. While OKRs are something we often hear and practice at the tech companies we work for, we agreed to apply the same thoughtfulness to our personal lives.
What are OKRs?
OKRs or “Objectives and Key Results” is a popular and useful method to help companies, teams, and individuals track their progress towards goals. Objectives are simply the ideal goal to be achieved. They should be concrete, action-oriented, and inspirational. Key Results are the metrics and the direct outcomes that show you achieved (or failed) your Objective. Key Results are specific, time-bound, aggressive yet realistic.
Personal OKRs for 2021
1. Make room for dream projects
- Set clearer work boundaries (do not work earlier than 7am and past 5:30pm; do not work on weekends)
- Finalize Drek Happens podcast and complete the series by Q1
- Restrict social media and gaming to no more than 1 hour on a weekday
2. Cherish and be present with family
- Produce JereMaya Year 9 video in Q2
- Celebrate 15th anniversary with wife in Q3
- Continue individual weekly dates with wife and monthly dates with each twin
3. Learn, produce and publish music
- Practice the piano for at least 10 minutes a day for six out of the seven days of the week
- Learn the essentials of Ableton Live by Q2
- Produce first song by Q1 – even if it’s crappy!
4. Pursue that second marathon
- Increase Functional Threshold Power (FTP) every quarter
- Be marathon-ready (no injuries; able to run 18 miles painlessly) and register for a marathon by Q4
- Execute 20 pull-ups in a row by Q4
5. Commit to creative writing
- Blog at least once a month
- Write something I learned every week (not necessary to share)
- Share quarterly OKR updates (at minimum)
6. Explore the idea of becoming an adjunct professor
- Followup with friends in academia by Q1
- Update resume by end of Q1
- Make a clear decision by Q3
Here are some reasons why these objectives matter to me.
Make room for dream projects
For the past several years, I’ve invested the majority of energy and time in my work. And while career stuff is impacting and financially rewarding, my life felt unbalanced. And it’s not just work life. I’ve fallen into the trap of spending too much time on social media and gaming. I’ve been fortunate to spend time on one dream project – producing three seasons of my geeky tabletop gaming podcast, Drek Happens. This project went beyond my expectations with 28,000+ plays from fellow nerds across the globe, 15+ hours of audio production entertainment, and tons of learning. This year, I’m killing this “darling” project to dedicate quality time to my new adventures.
Cherish and be present with family
2020 has truly been a blessing and opportunity to maximize our family time together. If I had to choose a time for a pandemic to hit, it would be this season of life with our 9-year old twins as they love being with their parents. We understand that all the unasked kisses and hugs we receive everyday won’t last forever.
Learn, produce, and publish music
This objective has been on my mind for nearly a decade and I am finally taking action. Relearning the piano has been an absolute joy and it’s even more fun to see the twins play and practice as passionately as I do. The wife and I don’t have to ask them to practice – the twins play because they find it fun. I’m excited to learn and start producing instrumental, synthwave music as I’ve been listening to this music for decades.
Pursue that second marathon
Last year I ran my first marathon which is one of my proudest and most fulfilling moments. My goal is to avoid injuries and run my second when the pandemic is no longer a concern. In the meantime, I’ve been introduced to indoor cycling and Zwift (a virtual riding platform for cyclists). I’m a complete noob and my cycling legs are weak sauce but the good news is that I can only increase my Functional Threshold Power (FTP), which is a metric in cycling performance. All my friends are leagues ahead of me when it comes to FTP but I’m enjoying the journey and have been improving every week. With all this legwork, I realize my upper body strength has taken a hit so I began doing pull-ups again. As of now, attempting five in a row is a challenge. In my prime (2003 – 2006), I could easily do 20 in one session so that’s my goal by end of this year.
Commit to creative writing
Hey hey! If you’re reading this, then you know I’m off to a good start for my first Key Result. One thing I’ve observed in the past two decades of blogging is that when I’m not journaling and sharing my thoughts with my readers, something is amiss. It usually means I’m too focused on work or invested too deeply in other projects so that I forget to spend needed time to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Gathering my thoughts and organizing and processing them are crucial to my development and health.
Explore the idea of becoming an adjunct professor
Four years ago, a dear friend from Krav Maga training reached out to me. He’s a professor at San Jose State University and asked if I’d consider teaching corporate communications. He mentioned that my 10+ years of direct working experience and juris doctorate degree is an excellent combination for becoming a teacher. I never thought about this before but once he shared that he thinks I would be great a teacher, something within me awoke. At the time, I declined as I was focused on supporting Zuora with their IPO and then Slack’s direct listing a year later. I’ve learned plenty since then and I think it may be time to seriously consider what this potential career path can look like in the coming years.
The good news is that I’ve already been making significant progress in these 2021 OKRs. I look forward to sharing more soon!