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Goals for 2023

2 years ago1,478 words

New Year's Resolutions! A chance for a life revision, as I see it. How well did I achieve last year's? And what do I hope for from this year?

First, my 2022 resolutions:

❌ Earn at least as much as I did in 2021

In 2021, I earned £11,113. In 2022, hmm...

£8,788, apparently. Down about 20% from last year. Though I'm surprised it's that high, honestly. About half of it's from Patreon, and MARDEK's still selling a few dozen copies a month, making up the bulk of the other half.

27 copies of Memody: Sindrel Song sold in 2022 for US$159 (~£132). Wow. Sad though that that's better than the bulk of indie games will ever do.

For reference, if I were on the dole (benefits, or 'Universal Credit' as the government website seems to call it?), I'd be getting about £4000 a year. So it's more than that.

If I were a hairdresser - one of the lowest income professions in the UK, based on some website Google just spat up - I'd be getting about £15,000 a year. So it's less than that.

❌ Run a Kickstarter for Atonal Dreams

I feel like I'm close, but not quite there yet. Just a lot of thinking and writing about it. Hopefully soon??

✔ Also run another alpha test

I actually did two! Gasp!

❌ Port at least one old game to Steam

I came close to porting CBC towards the end of the year, but fell into a mental pit instead. Considering that MARDEK's still bringing in money, maybe it's worth looking into this port again though.

❌ Finish putting music albums on Bandcamp

I've been thinking a lot about putting them on YouTube instead - it comes up every day in my mind - but I just assume it'd be more effort than it's worth because nobody would care, or I'd be wasting an opportunity for potential monetisation, or something, but... ehh. I don't know. I only got as far as creating a new sub-channel, but I haven't uploaded anything to it yet.

I did at the very least put one album on Bandcamp last year?? Another wow.

❌ Compose 20 pieces of music

Hmm! Let's see...

Apparently I only have 16 finished compositions from this year, though a handful of half- or unfinished ones. Disappointing; I thought I'd composed more. I'm proud of most of them, though, and a couple top my list of my favourite compositions. So that's something.

I apparently composed 17 pieces last year adding up to 42 minutes, and this year's 16 pieces add up to 57 minutes. So fewer pieces but more music, I suppose.

✔ Get used to posting on Reddit regularly(ish)

It took most of the year, but I'm actually getting better at this. Not really fearing it like I used to. Still some anxiety about saying the wrong things, not fitting in, or being ignored relative to others, but it's a work in progress. I posted a handful of times yesterday and today.

✔ Get a new PC!!

I did this!! It sat unopened for an embarrassingly long time though, for reasons I can't recall. It runs so much more smoothly than the clunky thing I was using before.

❌ Move Out

Not yet, unfortunately.

❌ See a therapist

Embarrassing that I put this off all year. I've made some moves towards doing it, but got put off by a phone call being the only way of setting it up. I think that's stupid. Like needing to climb a ladder to get a wheelchair.

❌ Do some volunteering!

I wanted to see a therapist (or more likely a counsellor) first, so I could find out about any opportunities from them. So since I didn't do that, I didn't do this either.

❌ Play 20 games

I wish I'd been making notes about the games I've played this year, but I haven't. Let's see what I can remember, probably not in chronological order:

- Pokemon Legends: Arceus

- Chrono Cross Remake + Radical Dreamers (I'll count those as one even though they're technically two separate games)

- Aperture Desk Job - some free thing (I think it was more of a tech demo than an actualy game?) that I played in like an hour in March and only remembered about when checking my Steam library just now

- LEGO: Builder's Journey

- Final Fantasy VII

- The Eternal Cylinder - Did I ever write about this one? A quirky, intriguing thing

- Live A Live Remake

- Horizon: Zero Dawn

- Pokemon Violet

- Child of Light (I started this during my depressive December slump and finished hours before 2022 did; I had a decent enough time with it)

I also spent some time replaying emulated old games like Super Mario World, Wario Land, and I think Commander Keen (and some ancient DOS game from my childhood called Secret Agent which I wouldn't expect anyone to know of), though those don't really count, in my mind.

So what's that, ten? Ten point something? About half of what I intended. And no indies! (Child of Light felt like one, but its credits suggested otherwise.)



So that's 3 out of 12, a 25% success rate. Unimpressive! But better than 0, so that's something, right? Right?? Making these lists isn't pointless, is it???

2023 Goals

These will mostly be similar to previous years:

See a counsellor

I'm intending to make enquiries about this next week.

Get some experience with employment, or at least volunteering

This could be in the real world, or remote gig-type stuff like Fiverr. Ideally something to get out of the house though.

Make socially engaging online a regular habit

It used to be, but hasn't been for a few years. I've already made steps towards this over the past month or so; I just need to cement them as a habit.

Connect with other indie devs

This would be a part of that.

Make a friend?

By friend I mean someone who's not (initially) a fan of my games, like someone I'd meet through some mental-health-related space. Ideally someone I could meet up with in person. Someone I could message relatively regularly. I don't know what the chances of actually finding such a person are, but they seem higher than finding a partner (which is what I'd prefer).

Earn more money than I did in 2022

Shouldn't be too high a bar... but I said that last year and failed to surpass it.

Move out

I don't know what the chances of this are, but I might as well add it anyway.

Learn to drive

I've heard that getting a car unlocks a lot of freedom and opportunities that would be worthwhile to at least get a taste of. I started learning in Australia when I was around 18 or so, but gave it up when I moved back to the UK, and never had any reason to resume lessons because I never go anywhere (plus my anxiety was worse than ever). Might be a big step towards overcoming my life of isolation though.

Run a Kickstarter for Atonal Dreams

Should happen soon, hopefully.

Play at least 10 indie games, and at least 20 games total

This combines goals from the previous two years, both of which I failed to achieve, so... let's see how that goes. Maybe I should actually start making a list of them this time too.

Port at least one old game to Steam

Likely Clarence's Big Chance, but if I can get that working, maybe porting a compilation of my other old unfinished projects would be worthwhile too.

Try yoga again

This was a goal I failed to achieve for 2021. There's a yoga group that meets in the community hall right next to my house, and I've thought a few times about joining in... though I'm aware I'm the elusive weirdo adult step-son of the caretaker, which makes things awkward, plus it mostly seems to be elderly people (the hall's entrance is right outside my kitchen window, so I see them arriving).

I've done yoga in the past, though back then I hoped then that I could find connections through it. This time I'd be more interested in any fitness benefits, since I don't exactly exercise ever.

Get into lucid dreaming or astrally projecting

If I could have at least one more lucid dream in 2023, I'll consider this a success, but I'd also love to astrally project, which is supposedly a different but related phenomenon. You might not believe it's an actual thing, but I'm curious and open-minded enough to at least try the suggested techniques so I can find out for myself. To achieve success requires practice, though, so I'll need to find the time and discipline for that.

Post at least some of my music on YouTube

Since I think about it all the time, I might as well at least see what happens, to test the accuracy of my assumptions if nothing else.



So yes! There! Good! I hope I can do better than a 25% success rate this time!