What an unpredictable year
Yearly reviews are a great way to look back and ask yourself what you have done so far. After all, we forget the little things that mean the most — this is a small way for me to remind myself and relive those moments. Hopefully, it gives you an idea to do yours or just take a few moments to think back on your own year. We are always in a rush to think about the future and fail to acknowledge the past that brought us here.
What I learned this year
- Value everything in life — starting with toilet paper. Your current friendships who help you don't go sane. The food you eat, and the job you are currently working at. Your family who checks regularly for your wellbeing. Your pets, who greet you with joy. Your body that keeps you alive. Your peers, mentors, teachers, whoever, or whatever. Circumstances like these taught us to cherish everything we have today and be ready to adapt to what's going to happen the next day.
- Meet as many people as possible — people help you grow, they share their knowledge, if you are lucky they will give you advice, they will lend you their time, teach you something that will blow your mind. It's hard to move up in life by yourself, it all starts with a hello — trust me you won't regret it. We met around 15 people through our podcast; new individuals and old relationships that we were able to reignite. There is no better feeling than to share a smile with someone.
- Work harder, learn more, help people around you — this year made us realize how grateful we are to be able to food on our table. I learned to work harder to give back, learned more about the major events going on in the world to educate, support myself, and others. I took some DevOps classes to help with my career, started a podcast to meet and listen to people — which later led to deep conversations. Spent time with the younger generation, and peers to share what I learned throughout my life.
What I was able to do this year
- Certifications — AWS SysOps Administrator, HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate
- Podcast — The Telugu Saga
- Moved back with my parents — It was long overdue, glad I'm back with them.
- Traveled — Drove to Philly two times, flew to Cali 3 times, drove to Cincinnati with my best friend, and explored North Carolina.
- Read books — The outliers, power of habit, and how to win friends & influence people.
- Relationship — First-ever long-distance relationship.
- DevOps Class — course taught by an organization. Went through a great overview of DevOps tools both theory and practical
- Personal website — wanted to showcase a sample website using AWS deployment. Used a ready-made template and tweaked it a little.
Goals for 2021 and beyond
- To do everything wild that comes to mind. However long I live, at the end of my story- I can say I did those things that made me smile. No one ever cares about what you do anyway, that shouldn't hold you back. If not now, when?
