What makes you happy? about ama

[mxcl]

• Work
  Being able to build the creations I imagine is vital to my happiness. I have many ideas every month and I tend to build them all eventually.
• Iteration
  It’s vital to me that I can work iteratively, this was part of the reason I failed at Apple. I wanted to try things out and they were unhappy with that. With hindsight I understand their situation, I hadn't proved myself to them yet, but for me if I cannot try ideas out and then iterate them I cannot make good things.
• British beer
  I miss British real ales immensely, you just can’t get them in the States (and if you find them, they’re fizzy, ugh!). British beer is lower in alcohol and much more flavorful than US beer (including US craft beers which IMO are going a bit too crazy nowadays).
• Music
  The right music at the right time is soothing. I have varied tastes which lets me get the right music for the moment. My love of music was part of the reason I am in this career. I worked on Amarok from it's humble beginnings to its success and then worked at last.fm for almost four years.
• Releasing new tools that the community loves
  Nothing quite beats the sense of satisfaction when I figure out something new and interesting, release it and the community appreciates it.
• Setting goals and achieving them
  I have lists and I tick the items off. I find this maintains my inner peace.
• My cat
  He’s a nice cat.
• My wife
  She’s a nice wife.

[mlindner]

• Setting goals and achieving them
  I have lists and I tick the items off. I find this maintains my inner peace.

What do you use for tracking goals and ticking them off?

[mxcl]

I’m a huge fan of paper, but I’m not a fan of storing things. So I use the computer. I use Notes, Reminders and a single markdown document on my Desktop that I call TODOY.md.