My Top 5 Career/Tech Goals for 2023
January 11, 2023
After a 2022 which was both exciting and trying, I am nervous but eager to step in to 2023. I already have some things planned for which I am insanely excited (including getting married to the love of my life in June 😃).
One thing I really want to do in 2023 is to continue focusing and expanding my career as a software developer and freelancer. In that spirit, here are my five career/tech-related goals for 2023 (in order of importance/excitement):
- Grow This Blog
- Switch to Neovim from Vim
- Try Out Go or Rust
- Try More Front-End Frameworks
- Grow My Freelance Career (aka Digital Ground)
5. Grow This Blog
I think there are a lot of people who have said they're going to start a blog. I know I have a bunch of times. This time, though, I am really committing to it. I love the idea of having a place where I can share my thoughts, opinions, and experiences all while connecting and helping others.
The two things I really want to accomplish with a consistent blog are to:
- effectively communicate complex ideas in a clear and concise way
- build a network of other developers
The first point is something that has been rattling around in my head since I heard Chris Coyier mention it in an episode of ShopTalk. He likened the ability to clearly communicate a complex idea or skill to a superpower. That really resonated with me. The skill of being able to clearly and concisely share thoughts, ideas, and opinions on the particularities of complex issues like software development, infrastructure, and the like is something always worth working on. This is especially true when you love talking about something as complex as software development.
The second point is really important to me as well since I don't often find myself surrounded by others in the software development world. This is pretty much entirely down to the fact that I work from home in a small city. Technically I am in the greater Chicagoland area. In practice it's a two-hour trip to get to downtown Chicago (and that's just one way). And so I hope this blog will keep me engaged with the broader developer community and prime/prompt me to participate in the conversations via local and regional events and the like.
Goal
This year I will write one blog post per week (at least).
4. Switch to Neovim from Vim
I'm a VSCode user, through and through. It's where I feel most comfortable, it has everything I need and more, and it just plain works. I don't anticipate that changing for a LOOOOOONG time. Sure, it takes a while to load and hogs RAM but, realistically, I have more than enough RAM to spare. When I'm knees-deep in a project I want that IDE feel which VSCode provides.
That said, I also find myself using Vim a lot. Like, more than one would reasonably think. As a borderline terminal power-user, it's just so convenient to have a snappy, light-weight editor right where I already am in the terminal. I mostly use it to write my git commits and to edit config files quickly.
However, my .vimrc has gotten out of hand: I have a ton of plugins that I don't use; I have never really taken the time to properly learn vimscript; and it's just become an absolute mess of spaghetti. Sure, I could sort that out, but where's the fun in that?
Instead, I really want to give Neovim a try. This has been years in the making. I've said time and again I would give it a try. There's a lot of things to like: an open and clear roadmap of new features and enhancements; a focus on a clean, maintainable codebase (they boast 30% less source code than Vim); and it uses Lua for scripting. That last bit is really what I'm most excited about, since Lua has more utility than vimscript (it's also used for scripting in Redis and some video games) and is supposed to be insanely easy to learn.
Goal
This year I will use Neovim as my only editor for a week. This means no vim and no VSCode. I know this is going to be frustrating (again, I'm a VSCode guy) but I think it will ultimately be rewarding. It might finally be the push I need to clean up all my dotfiles (not just my vimrc) and I'll finally see what all the fuss is about.
3. Try Out Go or Rust
Both Go and Rust have been part of the software development zeitgeist since before I became a part of it. Neither have ever really been on my radar, though. I have been perfectly content writing Python, JavaScript, and the occasional line of PHP (😬).
Lately, however, I have really been feeling some FOMO not at least giving them a try. It seems like every article, video, and project announcement is talking about the benefits of using one of these languages. That's not to say I think I am going leave Python behind. I think Python will always be my default language to just get things done. Still, I want to give one or both of them a try, if only to be able to contribute to the conversation.
Goal
This year I will build at least one project in Go or Rust. By "project" I mean a full-scale project that actually accomplishes something, even if it's just a simple CRUD app.
2. Try More Front-End Frameworks
I feel similar here as I do with trying out Go or Rust: basically, I want to see what I'm missing out on with the new hotness that is Svelte and SvelteKit. Here again, I think I'll have a preference for React and Next.js for a long time to come. But I want to see what Svelte is all about. Another library that has really caught my eye is Alpine.js. I have a feeling I'll definitely be using Alpine.js in WordPress projects where a full React app isn't necessary (or easy).
Goal
This year I will build at least one project in SvelteKit. Similar to above, I mean a "full-scale" project that accomplishes something. I'll probably just default to the traditional ToDo app, but I would like to include authentication in the mix.
1. Grow My Freelance Career (aka Digital Ground)
Since getting laid off from my job in December I have been hard at work getting my freelance career off the ground. In doing so, I have established Digital Ground. My goal is to grow Digital Ground into a full-service web design and development agency. For now, though, I am treating it as my freelance hustle. Ideally, I'll be able to continue focusing on Digital Ground full-time throughout the rest of the year and beyond. That said, my "Minimum Viable Goal" is to grow it to be a solid, reliable income stream which can supplement any income earned from a traditional job.
Not only am I excited to bring my technical expertise to folks who need it but I am also excited to be able to focus on my own business skillset. As an employee I have always yearned to understand more of how the businesses I work for operate. Now's my chance to not only learn that firsthand, but to also put my money where my mouth is and actually do all the things I have said I would do better 😄.
Goal
This year I will build Digital Ground into an established web design and development business with a solid and reliable stream of clients and income.