The Month of December

Environment: On a holiday flight back to Salt Lake City

C1x Deep Stats

One of the many things I've always enjoyed about the holiday season is the existence of an artificial deadline (travel) wby which I can race to finish all of my projects. This year was no different, and my goal was to get the latest C1x update out the door for testing.

It felt like I was back in the throes of launching an app, and I ultimately put in close to a hundred hours this month into the Deep Stats update. The update is finished, and by the time you're reading this, Deep Stats will be live for testing. It's an update I'm quite excited about, but I'm not confident that the new features accomplish what I want them to. My goal was to create a tool that helps casual players and touring pros improve their disc golf scoring, but I worry that I've instead just built a fun gadget to use on occasion as so many of my apps have been.

We'll see what initial feedback comes in. I am hopeful that this is at least a step in the right direction, and that I can ultimately build something widely used by top disc golf professionals. At a minimum, I can take a break from coding and start connecting with disc golfers/users again. Probably what I should've been doing all along instead of building in a vacuum.

Note: For a bit of context, Deep Stats is an update which allows users to log all kinds of information about each shot during a round, well beyond the location of each shot (i.e. "Fairway" or "Rough") available in the current version of C1x. The update can then present all kinds of data to the user based on this information. from best shot types to common misses, and even including a round momentum graph and suggested targets for practice.

New Work

I'll be starting a new volunteer position next month as a project manager/consultant for startups in the life sciences industry. I don't know much about it yet, but I have spent the past month doing research and reading multiple books in preparation for the role.

Again, doing this on a volunteer basis outside of my day job, but it still feels like a step in the right direction in terms of finding work I find meaningful and can make an impact with.

I plan on giving it as much attention as I can over the next handful of months, and we'll see what comes of it. Worst case scenario, I think it will be a great learning experience.

Better Habits

I'm constantly looking for ways to prioritize personal growth, and unfortunately I'm terrible at targeting the basics. I'm trying to be better about this, and have recently started with a new regiment in an effort to eliminate a dry skin condition I've had for nearly a decade. Why I waited until now to start is beyond me, but the results are noticeable. Hopefully more to come in the new year.

Other

I very much enjoy giving gifts, and can occasionally go a bit overboard with them. One of my gifts to Michaela this year was a personal website I built for her, fit with all kinds of pages and features. Took quite a bit of time, but I think it was worth it and hope that it's something she will enjoy having.

I also spent some time on disc golf form work, and had a breakthrough I'm hoping to continue developing over the next couple of months. Trying to use my arm more like a whip and not like a bat. I've also been practicing the guitar quite a bit, which has become a favorite hobby of mine.

That's about it for this month. Lots of things in the works and lots still to do.

Onward,

Dylan