M4D16. A change of course

I'm disappointing myself by saying this, but I'm going to have to give up on the original plan for this challenge. Last I posted, I was still hoping to somehow close out my first month with a success. As I write to you today, I haven't even approached any aspect of this challenge in the past three months. Part of the reason is that I've simply been too busy.

However, I still believe in this challenge. So rather than give up on it entirely, I will approach it from a new, more developed, and more realistic angle.

First, my initial challenge operated under the assumption that I'd be taking a heavy machine learning course next Fall. Since I changed my mind and took it this Spring (part of why I've been so busy), I'm changing my April challenge to Machine Learning (it initially was September). Second, I'll be defining my goals right off the bat for each month to come, so that I know what to set my eyes towards. Last, since I really do want to see through each of the skills I mentioned in my first iteration of the challenge, I'm resetting my challenge start month to this one - March 2018.

Here's the resulting calendar:

1. March: Blogging - Post once a day for one week.
2. April: Machine Learning - Receive A in Machine Learning.
3. May: Triathlon - Complete Half Iron Triathlon.
4. June: Reading - Read three 600-page books in three days.
5. July: Book writing - Develop solid idea for book writing seminar.
6. August: Mountain climbing - Summit a mountain that involves rope climbing.
7. September: Callisthenics - Perform an unassisted handstand pushup.
8. October: Guitar - Record an eight-song album.
9. November: Cooking - Cook entire Thanksgiving dinner.
10. December: Filmmaking - Produce a video journalism piece.
11. January: Comic drawing - Draw 10-page comic.
12. February: Bouldering - Climb a V7.

I'll get into more details as to what each of these goals signify when the month in question rolls along. Some goals are significantly harder than others, but they align well with where I plan for my life to be at the time.