The quarter has not ended yet, but it is about to. Just 12 more days. Or 13? Who is keeping track.

At the beginning of the year I set some goals for myself, across 3 disciplines. Lets see what I have done, what I have not done. And what I am going to do different.

Personal Goals

I am still on track to move to Japan by September 2025. In fact, we actually might arrive earlier in August, July or even June. All my papers have been submitted to immigration and now we essentially have to play the waiting game.

I also opted to read more, one book a month, with a total of 12 books for the year. I have finished two so far. One book about the rise of Morrocan Gangsters in The Netherlands, and The Plague by Cammus. I enjoyed both books greatly. I am currently reading a book in the Dutch language on how greed and corruption (how often those go hand in hand) are slowly spreading through society.

Working out was also in the cards, at least 4 times a week. I can tell you have worked out exactly 0 times this year and I do hope to get back on this horse sooner rather than later. I will definitely not be able to make it to 4 times a week, but if I can do it twice I will consider it a win.

Lastly, I made a goal to study Japanese more diligently. This goal I also did not reach. However, I have begun to communicate with my father-in-law via email recently, and enjoy communicating with him. Often accompanied with a dictionary and websites on spelling and grammar rules.

Professional Goals

The goal was to get a customer in Japan, I’ve dropped some hints and rekindled some old connections that I hope will turn into real leads later in the year. If not, I will not consider it a loss because just think about the friends I have made along the way!

Social Goals

Lets start with what I did not achieve: I wanted to make YouTube videos but that is simply not happening anytime soon. It is what it is.

The Famichiki Mastodon Meetup of 2025 is still in the cards and I will make this happen. Like before, more announcements will come later in the year.

I also want to attend more events when I’m back in Japan. I’m not back in Japan yet, so it’s impossible to evaluate this goal at the moment.

The Unplanned

Thanks to a conversation with @slims over on Famichiki, I accidently built an activity tracker with built-in ActivityPub functionality. I consider this a massive win. Although it’s not done yet, I’d say we’re about 80% there with the majority of it working.

In Conclusion

I am quite happy with my first 3 quarters of the year. My wife gave birth to a healty baby boy who is growing rapidly. I was able to rediscover some of my passion for programming by building Fedletic, I am reading and learning Japanese, and it looks like my plans to move to Japan are on schedule. How is your year going? Let me know on Mastodon!