Goals for 2019

It's time to look back at my goals for 2018, see how I did, and set a few for 2019.

It's time to look back at my 2018 goals, see how I did, and set a few for 2019. Of paramount importance is looking where you want to go, but a glance in the rear-view mirror is a good thing to do, just don't linger on the past.

1. Communication system for the medical system. Status: ongoing. Doctors are a fickle bunch, but the network is growing (still using the brilliant little communication app called Qlqisoft). Furthermore, we have successfully bridged across different medical systems, and even into the community. The larger the network becomes, the more powerful it is. I am predicting even more engagement in 2019.
2. Re-engineering the way cancer patients move through our system. Status: ongoing. We successfully created our hub and navigation process, and now we are beginning to exploit the possibilities. Our goals for 2019 include providing nurse navigation services to our colon cancer or other gastrointestinal cancer patients, a large group that historically has been difficult to corral; a bit like herding cats, actually. We are also building a community-based survivorship program centered around the newly-created YMCA-LiveSTRONG program, and we have a few wild cards up our sleeve for this one. Stay tuned.
3. Establish a sustainable, annual, city-wide elementary school anti-smoking program. Status: one down, improvements on the way. It was no mean feat to coordinating a small army of enthusiastic Liberty Public Health graduate and undergrad students to engage with 31 classes of 5^th^ graders across the entire school system, but I just kinda kicked the ball into the field and let Shauntee, Anita and Cheryl run with it. And run they did! We made quick changes to account for vaping and a new evil: Juul. This is probably the most egregious scourge to come out of the minds of creative venture capitalists since the payday loan or price gouging on pharmaceuticals, and for 2019 I intend to spread the word to all that will listen, and a few that won't. They have targeted our kids directly with the most addictive nicotine delivery system ever created (it's patented!) and if you don't know anything about it, you should ask yourself why (because they never intended to sell it to you). There is a special place in hell...
4. School system stuff. Status: I didn't do shit. (Can't do it all).
5. Online training program for phlebotomy. Status: hard copies done, online version being submitted as I type this. This effectively enables high school grads to start a job in phlebotomy three months earlier and $3000 richer (and better trained, IMO). That's not a small thing, and I hope it becomes a discussion point for critically evaluating the cost of education, because we need some of that ($250,000 for college? $400,000 to become a doctor? WTF?) It is also allowing college students interested in pursuing careers in healthcare to develop a valuable skill and gain invaluable experience while bolstering our available workforce. I am going to count this one as a big win.
6. Create an integrated electronic infrastructure for the city. Status: ongoing. MoveUP is just the first phase of my nefarious plan to get you all to live together better, and you can't stop me now! Muwhuhahaha!
7. Compete in the entire IMSA Prototype Challenge Series in 2018. Status: Nope. I did get to race at Daytona, and that was pretty epic. Unfortunately, I will always remember that race as the weekend before coming home to the literal destruction of my extended family, and I have struggled all year as I watched the inevitable come to fruition. It almost destroyed me, and that's not an exaggeration. The only thing I was able to pull from the smoldering ruins was a guiding theory on human connections. This new viewpoint helped me to recognize the paramount importance of those very same connections in my own life, such as the one between myself and my wife. Connections I will never allow to be threatened again. And I decided to keep the racecar, so it might be that Marty will ride again in 2019, albeit in a much more low-key manner better suited to my cooperative ideology.

Changes for 2019: I took too much away from my family and myself, and that won't do. Denying yourself the things that make life worth living is counter-productive. Family, fun, fitness, these will get more directed attention, and I encourage you to do the same. If there is one guiding principle the millennials nailed, it's that you only live once. Just don't use the acronym, it just encourages them, and we don't need any more acronyms, IMHO.

Look where you want to go!