Shortly after I started my job at SAP Concur my manager and I sat down for a quarterly goal setting session. I highlighted places where I wanted to grow, assigned points to my skills and we came up with a list of goals that reflected that.

A few months later when it was time to review those goals and set new ones I was shocked to realize that what I'd set as goals before had become second nature.

That's the philosophy I'm applying to this post.

1. Meetup with more people

I have a core group of friends that I see multiple times each week or month but I really want to branch out and start meeting new people in the Seattle area. I've made a few friends by frequenting dog parks near my apartment; getting to know the people (and more importantly their dogs) that go there.

Last year, I started attending meetups and I'd like to take a few more steps out of my comfort zone and actually try to strike up conversations with the people there and get to know them better.

Ideally it'd be cool to find people who I could meet up with every once in awhile for coffee or dinner. Another sub-goal has been to try new cafes and restaurants in the area and this would be a great way to do it.

2. Be a mentor (cont.)

Throughout college I tried to do whatever I could to help mentor younger students in the program. I strongly believe that by teaching and mentoring others I go out of my way to learn new things or figure out better ways of teaching.

I'd like to continue this both in and out of the office. I've referred a few folks that have approached me at meetups and I'd like to keep in contact with them and see if there's anyway that I can help them advance their careers.

3. Speak at a conference

I've done a few talks for the Seattle area ReactJS meetup but I'd like to step my game up and actually do a conference talk this time. In college I did a lot of smaller talks and it's something I really enjoy doing.

The best way that I've been able to force myself to learn new things and learn them in-depth is to sign up for a talk about them. I think soon I'm going to try and give a "how to give a talk" talk but for the most part I want to work on developing my more technical presentations.

4. Better music discovery (more concerts)

I love music but I don't go out of my way often enough to find new stuff that I might like. I tend to build playlists 2-3 times a year and listen to those until I burn out and make another playlist.

I'm thinking about trying to use Pandora a little bit more and make my radio stations more friendly to less popular artists so I can get a greater mix of songs and moods. I'd also like to find smaller bands in the Seattle area that I'd be able to see more often (for a little bit cheaper).

There are a few things that didn't make the list (eating better, working out) that are part more aligned with where I want my life to go in general but these four areas are where I'm going to be putting the most of my energy this year.

A few other ones that just came to mind are:

• Cook for myself a lot more
• Explore new hikes and trails
• Keep trying the casual dating thing

If any of these resonated with you feel free to reach out, I'd love to hear how you're starting out your year.