I first saw Life Quests when I read Brent Ozar’s. After my life-changing news in 2023, I decided to start my own list of Life Quests.

The Renaissance Project #

I am in awe of mastery. I see the results of mastery all the time: while watching youtube videos of outstanding musicians performing, seeing athletes at the gym lifting 2-3x their body weight, reading captivating blog posts or novels, and witnessing colleagues solving novel problems.

Something that isn’t noticed is the process to arrive at mastery. Achieving mastery is difficult. Arriving at mastery is not glamorous. Mastery takes time.

I admire people who show mastery across multiple disciplines. Renaissance men/women. Polymaths. Badass electrical engineers with art studios, expert home cooks with a knack for sewing, bakers that are experts with the TCP/IP stack, and world class musicians with their own psychiatry private practice.

I think I could become one of these people that I admire! (or I might be one already?) The Renaissance Project is a series of Quests, over a very long time period (decades), that I hope will bring me closer to becoming a master of my body, my mind, and my creative abilities.

The Renaissance Project is my attempt to intentionally create and nurture mastery across a few disciplines.

My goal isn’t self-optimization. It’s becoming a more sustainable, capable, driven, and creative person that contributes more to the people and communities I care about.

There are 4 “pillars” of The Renaissance Project:

Health/Body
Music
Learning
Building

The good news is I’ve been unintentionally slowly plodding away at all of these for quite some time now!

Quests In Progress (March 2026) #

Health/Body: Do 5 Pull ups, Participate in a weightlifting competition, participate in a cycling event
Music: Rejoin and perform with RCPA after a brief hiatus, Practice Piano Daily for 180 days
Learning: Publish a book review per quarter on an non-fictional, non-technical topic**
Building: Post on this site and my tech site, Ship the 2025 year’s Cloud Insight Index, Finish unpacking and decorating the condo

Completed Quests: #

Home Ownership - We rent. It’s not the worst, but we want to own a home. Interest rates are pretty gnarly these days (Nov 2023) - Completed Dec 2025!
Enjoy Technology - Completed in 2024, continuing in 2025!
Sprint Triathlon - Completed March 2025!
Weightlifting - 2023 was the first year I lifted weights in my life. One rep max: bench press: 20kg, squat: 111 kg, deadlift: 115kg. 2024 I’ll focus more on upper body strength =)
Participate in a cycling event - In 2019 I rode a half century (50 miles) for the Santa Fe Century.