Thoughts on 2019

Happy New Year! Each year I love to start with a note on some of my upcoming goals and reflecting on the past. I'm not a huge fan of cliche resolutions, but I do like to set goals and continuously strive to be better. Below are some of my thoughts, and likewise I'd love to hear what you're excited about in 2019!

In no particular order, my thoughts as we enter 2019: 

1. Leadership – Entering into our 4th year of business, Josh.ai has a growing customer base, team, product line, and ambition. As a result we're having to formalize more policies and create more scalable infrastructure for both the product development cycle as well as culture and how we develop the team. I'd like to spend part of this year really diving into being a better leader and honing my craft. To start, I recently picked up Andy Grove's High Output Management which I highly recommend!
2. Laugh – 2018 saw some of the most stressful moments I've been part of for not just myself, but my business partner and team. This year I want to remember to keep perspective, have fun, and remember why we're doing this. I am fortunate to get to work in an exciting area with super bright colleagues and hard rewarding problems to solve. Maintaining gratitude and taking time to go skiing and be with friends and family are key to keeping myself balanced and motivated.
3. Learn – Each year as I get further and further away from school I feel like I need to double down on my efforts to keep learning and improving. Whether it's better food and exercise management, an understanding of politics and economics, knowledge of art and culture, or improving my technical skills, I want to really focus on continuing to learn and improve and make myself a better person.  
4. Love –  After almost 6 years with Brian I was excited to have proposed recently and can now say I am officially engaged. This is the first time in my life and I am excited about the prospect of really investing in my relationship. That said, love is about more than just my primary relationship. There's love for my family and my friends and there's empathy and understanding for those I get to work with or even just people I interact with from day to day. I want to really focus on keeping compassion front and center and letting those I care about know how much they mean to me.
5. Take Chances –  Last but not least, I want to make sure I don't settle and I don't get stuck doing the same things over and over. Last year I took a chance learning to ride a motorcycle and fly aerobatic airplanes and proposing to my now fiance. As we enter into 2019 I want to continue to take chances and push myself outside my comfort zone as that is really where the magic happens! 

In addition to my goals for 2019, I'd like to reflect on some memories from 2018. Below are photographs from the year. Notably this year my company Josh.ai grew quite a bit and we started shipping our first hardware product, Josh Micro, which I am extremely proud of. I traded in my car for an electric motorcycle from Zero which I'm loving. A buddy is teaching me to fly aerobatics and once again I am enjoying a great ski season. Last but not least, I got engaged recently! To say it was a big year would be an understatement.

Let me know what you're excited about as we enter 2019!