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# 2015 Resolutions
- URL: https://www.gwintrob.com/2015-resolutions/
- Published: 2014-12-31T00:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2025-07-06T16:59:21.000Z
- Author: Gordon Wintrob

Rather than write down New Year's resolutions, I tend to think of general areas to improve over the following year. Unfortunately, I'm left without any concrete, measurable improvements, so I'm going to take a different approach for 2015\. Here are two specific resolutions I'm gunning for over the next 12 months.

## Anfänger Deutsch 

For the past two months, I've been learning German via [Duolingo](https://www.duolingo.com/gwintrob?ref=gwintrob.com) and [Memrise](http://www.memrise.com/user/gordonw/?ref=gwintrob.com). I currently know roughly 500 words and I'll write more about my motivation and techniques in a future post. My overall goal is to become a competent beginner German speaker by the end of 2015.For a concrete task, I commit to learning 125 words per month, which means I'll be on the same level as a Kindergarten student according to [this paper](http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/2005-03588-011?ref=gwintrob.com). By the way, German "die Kinder" means "the children".

## Create More

It feels so good to binge watch House of Cards, read good novels, and plow through Twitter. [Mikael Cho](https://twitter.com/mikaelcho?ref=gwintrob.com) provides a good summary [here](https://medium.com/@mikaelcho/create-more-than-you-consume-9c1bc89dc71d?ref=gwintrob.com). As a software engineer, I'm lucky that my biggest hobby is also my line of work *and* it's a hobby with easily-shared output.

To deliver on this goal, I'm going to write at least one article here each month for the next 12 months. I have a backlog of posts on startups, data science, and half-baked side projects. Committing to monthly writing will force me to put pen to paper with these ideas. If I have nothing to say for a month, then I know I'm not following through on this goal.

Also, thanks to design inspiration from my roommate [Ian Storm Taylor](http://ianstormtaylor.com/?ref=gwintrob.com) and his open source [Metalsmith](http://www.metalsmith.io/?ref=gwintrob.com) for powering this blog. Lots of improvements to make to the site :-) Enjoy the New Year's Eve celebrations!