“An unexamined life is not worth living.” – Socrates
I have a lot of different ambitions, and I’m very aware that I could easily drift off track or forget about something altogether. In my day-to-day life, I keep track of things with a series of Field Notes. This blog serves as a place where I share a curated view of those writings.
Some of my ambitions don’t require a long-form update or understanding. A simple paragraph or two would suffice to allow me to share where I am in the process of each ambition and where I intend to go. A stretch goal for these reviews would be to have them quarterly, too. Only time will tell if that’s possible.
The format of these reviews will be laid out in A.D.V.E.N.T.U.R.E. Each ambition will: 1) state what I’d like to accomplish, 2) what has been done recently to accomplish this ambition, and lastly, 3) next steps I’ll be taking to accomplish my ambition.
A.ssemble
This category tracks the ambitions that I have to build something with my mind and hands. If I’m building something from my design or instructions, it’ll fall under this category, too.
Build a Harry Potter train layout to place under the Christmas tree. This has slowly started to happen. I’m currently collecting the newest release of the Hogwarts Castle. I plan on having the town of Hogsmede included in some way as well. I haven’t decided on the best way to incorporate the Hogwarts Express, but I want it to travel on the tracks and be mini-figure scale, much like TommyCBricks has done with their Hogwarts Express.
Put together a dream desktop PC with a top-of-the-line GPU. This is on standby. Initially, the plan was to invest in a 5090, but due to the high prices and the issue with plugs catching on fire, it’s on pause right now. I might even wait for the 60 or 70 series, as I have a pretty neat 4070 in my laptop, and that has proved to meet my current needs.
Build a master grade Gundam. I’ve settled on eventually purchasing the Master Grade Gundam Epyon. It was a favorite of mine growing up, and I had the 1/144th scale version long ago.
Build a trebuchet for launching tennis ball-sized items. Although I designed and built a desktop version in high school, I have made no progress on this ambition. It might be something that I wait to do when my kids get a bit older.
Repurpose my desk into a standing desk with a hidden ultrawide monitor. I know how I want to do this, but it’s going to take a lot more planning and time.
Build mechanical keyboards to use all my Lord of the Rings keycaps. This is close to being done. I have three prominent keyboards: the Akko MU02, Drop + OLKB Planck Mechanical Keyboard Kit V7, and RK ROYAL KLUDGE RK84. The MU02 is my daily driver, and I think I’d like to swap out the switches for the Oil Kings that I have. The Planck v7 is a bit high for my taste, so I might try to lower it to make it sit flatter. The RK84 was my daily driver for the longest time, and I only plan to paint the case to match the keycaps at a later date.
D.esign
This category is where I’m the most artistic. I enjoy drawing and creating things. Any creative endeavors that do not involve physically building something fall into this category.
Sketch as close to daily as possible. This is currently not happening. It’s something that I need to build into my daily routine.
Complete one drawing or 2d art piece a month. Like the daily sketches, this is not currently happening unless coloring pages count.
Recreate and finish an old animation that I started in college. This is something I should start working on. I would need to find a new open-source animation program since the original was created in Flash.
Create my dream video game. I’ve identified a lot of the software that I’d like to use. I just need to start learning Python and make forward progress on this.
V.ocation
Life is not all about work, but I do have a few ambitions to be better at what I do.
Make the next military rank(s). As a Reservist, I want to keep my eyes upwards. I may not be the best, but I’d like to give it my best. I have an unfinished associate’s degree that I can complete with three classes. Once I do that, it will unlock the path to level 7. I’m currently at level 5 and have met the qualifications for level 6.
Get a master’s degree in something meaningful to me. This one is a soft target. I know I want it, but I don’t know what to focus on.
Seek at least one professional certification each year. I have technically completed this for 2025. I completed Airman Leadership School this past year, which was something that I had to do even though I finished the Warrior Leader Course years ago. A scrum master certification and PMP are up next.
E.ntertainment
Board games, card games, and video games. Let’s have some fun!
Learn to play Magic: The Gathering. I’ve got a whole bunch of cards. Now I need to learn how to play and enjoy it.
Learn to play Warhammer Old World. I’ve got the rule books and I’m building the armies.
Learn to play Warhammer Age of Sigmar. I’ve got the rule books, and I’m also building the armies here as well.
Play each suggested deck of cards in Dominion. It’s been a long time since I’ve played this game. My wife and I could play, but I think it would be more fun if we had a few others to play with as well.
Play at least one video game a year to completion. I haven’t had much time to play games recently, and I picked up a few more games during a sale. I think it’s time to stop buying and start playing. I have an SSD expansion for my Steam Deck, but I’m looking for the tools I purchased to open it. They have been misplaced…
Mod Skyrim into the game I have always wanted to play. A few months ago, I worked on this a bit, incorporating some overall graphical mods and built-in changes using Nvidia presets.
N.utriment
This section focuses on building a better body and mind for the second half of my life.
Reduce soda consumption from daily to less than once a month. I haven’t been good at this at all. I plan to switch to using a SodaStream, cutting the syrup additives in half before moving to just bubbly water.
Minimize my digital footprint to only what I need and use. This has been given some considerable effort in the last months. I have been reviewing my accounts and spending habits in places I no longer use or hardly use at all. I’m also working to identify services that I do pay for that overlap with others.
Run one race a year. It appears that my first race will be a 5k in about two months. It should be more of a walk/run type of race.
Score 100 points on a PT test. I’m happy to say that this is in the works. In July, I took this test and scored an 84. I’m reaching a point where I need to work harder to get those last 16 points.
Participate in each level of the GoRuck challenges. I’m only starting to get back into rucking after taking time off. I’ve found carrying the kids is a great training opportunity for training!
T.ranscribe
Getting better at writing can only be done through more writing. This ambition focuses on improving that core ability.
Record the Japan trip in a book for preservation. I haven’t made progress on this yet, but I need to get started before I forget all the amazing experiences we had on that trip.
Rewrite the old short story that I have always tried to expand on. Progress has been made here! I have identified how I want to write this story and expand on it. I have found AI tools which I’m testing to ensure suitability and I’m experimenting with a way to show what AI is vs my writing.
Rewrite a great classic work of literature as if I were an apprentice. I’ve identified that I wish for this to be The Lord of the Rings for its density. However, I might also rewrite Michael Crichton’s library as he is a favorite author of mine. The ambition here isn’t to rewrite their works as my own, or to redistribute them, it’s for me to try and walk in their shoes and learn from them as if I were their apprentice learning from a master.
U.nderstand
Focusing on learning to expand my big brain and skill set, mental and physical.
Learn passable German and Spanish. I’m finding that learning another language is more complicated than I’ve anticipated, even when dedicating time each day to it. I think that I’ll need to find a new way to learn German. At the halfway point of this, I’ll evaluate if I can dedicate to learning Spanish.
Attempt to learn archery. I’ve found a few local places where I can take lessons. I’m going to give that a shot first, and if I like it, hopefully I’ll have found a new hobby?
Learn to play golf. I have some of the basics down now, but my drive needs work.
Decide in which direction to double down in learning AI. I think for me, it’s natural to take the prompt engineering route, but also a business analyst developer with a concentration in AI.
Learn to read and write Cirth from The Lord of the Rings. If learning another language is any indication, this might be a really ambitious goal for sure!
R.ead
I like to read, and reading is one way of learning. Ideally, I hope this sets a good example for the kids. This category tracks any reading that I do in both physical and digital formats.
Read or listen to one book a year. I’m happy to say that I’ve completed this ambition for this year! As a Harry Potter fan, I wanted to see if J. K. Rowling’s other book, A Casual Vacancy, was any good. I didn’t care for it and don’t recommend it.
I’ve also completed Agile Manifesto: Unleashing Innovation, Collaboration, and Adaptive Excellence in Modern Development Practices by Daniel Green. I’m seriously considering getting my Scrum Master certification.
Read The Lord of the Rings. Haven’t started yet, but this might tie into a transcribe ambition.
Read or reread every Dirk Pitt adventure. I haven’t started this either, but I do need to get started. There are still adventures coming out!
Read to my kids as much as possible. Succeeding at this, but I have no way of tracking or quantifying it.
E.xtra
Ambitions that don’t fit into other categories are placed in this bucket.
Skydive. It’s a classic bucket list item, and I think it would be fun!
Travel once per year, which is non-work related. I completed this ambition for 2025 with a family vacation to Virginia.
Travel outside the country at least once every five years. That’s only two times in the next ten or so years. That seems plausible, right?
At some point in the next few months, I need to create a way to show what is in progress visually. Perhaps it could also show what is still needed? A simple table, maybe?
That’s it for the mid-year review! Ambitions are starting, and progress is slow to start. That’s why I started a year before the actual start date. I wanted to work out some of the potential issues as I get this started. The official launch of Ambitions Afoot won’t come till May of 2026.