New year, same me?

#new-years-resolution #personal

My last declaration about writing more didn't work, did it?

Long time no see!

So it's been a while. Over half a year in fact. But I didn't forget about this page. I had the opposite problem, in fact.

So last year, just after my pizza sauce article, I did in fact find a good project to work on. I also wanted to finish the project before writing about it, so I'd have something to show.

That was my mistake.

I spent a good deal of time working on a programming language for games within the Godot engine. I might try a write-up of it if I get in the mood, but suffice to say, I didn't end up finishing that project.

In fact, I tend to have trouble finishing my personal projects. I have a veritable graveyard of half finished prototypes and projects strewn about my ~/projects folder and GitHub.

And yet, I never have trouble getting my work projects done. And stranger still, I have run fortnightly TTRPG sessions as a GM for nearly ten years now. Besides taking time off when my kids were born, I've almost never missed a session, or quit because I got bored.

What is the crucial difference?

Deadlines, and Accountability

The simple answer is, if I don't do it, someone gets upset. That's it, the magic sauce that makes me go. But is there a way to simulate that pressure, to get me to actually work on the things that make me happy?

I think there is, and I'm writing on it right now. This blog! If I have to write for this blog, then I'll need something to write about, and for that I'll need to code. Make something to show, so to speak.

Which brings me to my new year's resolution for 2026

New Year's Resolution 2026

1. Write 50 articles in this blog.
2. (BONUS) Release a game on steam.

Nice and simple, incredibly measurable, and achievable. All the things the productivity gurus say you need for a goal.

I'm usually not a big new years resolution guy, CPG Grey once temporarily convinced me to try the "seasons" thing, but I tend to drop it relatively quickly, I imagine like most people. But I really do want to work on a game, and actually finish and release it. I've made plenty of game jam games, lots of small games in my youth, and I think it's time I properly knuckle down and make a proper game, something worth selling.

To trick my brain into actually working on it, I'm going to use this site as a game dev blog. 50 Articles in a year means a pace of one article a week, which is completely doable. Even if some articles could be a bit short, the writing is the important bit. Worst comes to worst, if I have literally no progress on the game, I can write a nonsense article like the pizza sauce one. I do really need to make that again, that sauce was good.

New year, same me

I'm not going to pretend like I'm a whole new person. While I'm not old, I'm not exactly young anymore either, so wholesale transformation is out of the question. But, I hope by hacking my brain into keeping my weekly deadline, I'll have a years worth of game work done by this time next year.

Best of luck to me, and everyone else out there trying stuff.