Igor's plan for 2025

I like to begin in mind, so let’s write a report for 2025. This hasn’t happened, but if I don’t write it out and focus on it, it certainly won’t.

Major Projects

What I wish I knew at 42

Carrying this forward from 2024, with renewed focus. This year I’ll be 47, and the lessons keep coming. Time to capture and share them.

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Content Creation: Building Your Legacy in Real-Time

Finally getting intentional about content creation. Started some new series like Igor Fortune Cookie (life wisdom in 60 seconds) and documenting my experiments with AI agents. The goal isn’t viral fame—it’s leaving breadcrumbs for my kids and anyone else who finds value in the journey.

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EM Handbook: TikTok Edition

Taking the content developed in 2024 and transforming it into engaging, bite-sized TikTok content. The goal is to make engineering management wisdom accessible and entertaining. Key focus areas:

  • Making PSCs and calibrations stress-free through better preparation and mindset
  • Breaking down complex management topics into digestible chunks
  • Sharing real-world examples and stories
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AI Projects

Building on the success of CHOP and CHOW in 2024, focusing on:

  • Enhancing Tony (my Tesla companion)
  • Developing new AI tools for productivity
  • Exploring novel applications of LLMs
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Summer Vacation

Planning another memorable family vacation, building on the success of 2024’s adventures.

Goals

Physical Health

Metric Goal Jan June Dec Status
Weight 165 180 177 180 Held steady
Sleep 9pm - 5am Up by 5am Up by 5am Up by 5am ✓ Consistent
Gym 5d/week 5-6d/week 3-4d/week 4-5d/week ✓ Recovered
Swings 2H: 6x32, 1H:6x32 1H: 1x28, 4x32 1H: 4x28, 1x32 4x32 Shoulder injury
TGU 5x32 2x28, 3x32 1x28, 4x32 4x32 Shoulder injury
Pull-ups 3x10 3x8 3x8 3x8 Blocked by injury → chinups
Pistols 3x5 @ 0” depth 3x5 @ 13” - - Reconsidering → touchdowns
L-Sit 60s - - - Abandoned
Half Lotus 300s from cold - Injured 60s from warm Progress, not goal

Late December shoulder injury - see shoulder pain for recovery plan.

Focused on hip mobility and glute med - started doing shinbox situps. Got better shoulder stability in my TGU. Also started doing back extensions.

Emotional Health

Metric Goal Jan June Dec Status
Meditation Daily Daily - Lost, restart 12/30 Needs rebuild
Box Breathing 15s/side 12s/side 12s/side 12s/side Stalled
Journalling Daily Daily - Lost, restart 12/30 Needs rebuild
Gratefulness Daily Daily 2-3 d/week Sporadic Needs rebuild

Magic

Time to truly revive the magic practice. Focus on:

  • Regular performance for strangers
  • Building a new repertoire
  • Incorporating AI for practice tracking and improvement

Identity Health

  • Biking: Get back on the bike despite the Tesla temptation
  • New hobbies: Explore one new identity-expanding activity

Stuff I’m really proud of

Relationship with Tori - Made a deliberate effort to improve our relationship, and it worked. Intentional investment in what matters most.

Gap year thinking - Worked through what it would look like to not be working. With the kids getting older and economic uncertainty, this mental preparation gives peace of mind. The Igor’s Gap Year post became my most-edited file of the year (38 changes).

Continued AI investment - Kept building with AI tools, which brings genuine joy. CHOP sessions, Tony the Tesla, new productivity tools.

Zach’s spiritual journey - Zach got into religion and I got to explore alongside him. The 27 changes to Walking with God reflect real engagement, not just observation.

Amelia coming into her own - Watching her develop her identity. The highlight: overhearing her tell a friend, “Yeah, he’s a little weird, but he’s actually pretty cool.” Peak parenting achievement unlocked.

Mom’s 75th birthday - Flew down to celebrate with her. Also reconnected with my cousin for the first time in 30 years (all credit to him for making it happen).

Artifacts I created

Code and Blogs I wrote

By the numbers:

  • 1,010 commits to the blog
  • ~49 new blog posts created
  • 59 CHOP session logs documented

New posts created:

Most actively developed posts:

  1. Igor’s Gap Year (38 changes)
  2. AI Journal (34 changes)
  3. Gap Year (32 changes)
  4. CHOP (28 changes)
  5. Walking with God (27 changes)

Technical wins:

  • Migrated bundler from Parcel to Vite
  • Added 11 eulogy role reflection agents
  • Massive typo sweep across the entire blog
  • Pet projects deployed to surge.sh
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Fun Videos/Tik Toks

Igor Fortune Cookie series launched - life wisdom in 60-second bites. See the playlist embedded above in the Content Creation section.

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