2021 year in review and what's next in 2022

Hi everyone, today is the last day of year 2021 and I wanted to do a year end review and also share my plans for the next year with you all.

2021 plans and goals

Amidst all the chaos of pandemic that 2020 brought upon us, I did not plan extensively for 2021 but instead I focused on a theme.

I wanted the year of 2021 to be my year of YES.

I decided to not hesitate when new opportunities come up and go for exploring new things in life.

There were three high-level things which I wrote to focus on 1st January 2021 in my journal, they were:

1. Health
2. Career
3. Growth

Health

In 2021

I had multiple health issues and I wanted to focus on improving it.

What did I do about it?

I did meditation, walking and kept my diet in check for most of the days. And also took consultation from a Doctor whose medication turned out to be effective for me.

As of today my health conditions have improved by around 70% and it is a huge win for me.

For 2022

My first and most important goal again is to focus on my health.

Everything else is secondary.

Career

In 2021

I wanted to take my career to next level and get a relocation job.

I started my job search in Jan 2021, accepted the job offer for my current company in April and then moved to Netherlands in end of September.

This was not an easy decision for me.

I was pretty anxious and scared, this was a huge step for my life and I was pushing myself way out of my comfort zone.

But today I can say proudly that I'm glad that I took this decision and did not step back due to the fear of unknown.

I just tried to live by my theme of saying yes to every opportunity that I felt could be a good step for me instead of doubting myself.

For 2022

I plan to take my career to even more heights by exploring new technologies and working towards being a better developer and developer advocate.

I specifically want to explore more and more about accessibility and continue sharing my learnings and spread more awareness about it in the tech community.

Growth

The third focus for me was on growth - in whatever I was already doing.

In 2021

I wanted to do more conferences and grow my technical expertise.

Speaking in events

I aimed to participate in at least one event per month and I ended up speaking at 20 events in 2021.

Among these were two workshops for college students where I taught web development and React JS.

I also spoke at JS World conference which was attended by around 50,000 people and it is the biggest conference I have ever been part of till now.

I also got the chance to speak at some amazing events like Google I/O extended UK and Ireland event, at DevFest India, Next JS conference and React India conference.

MCing at conferences

I also wanted to try hosting an event and I got an opportunity to MC at the GraphQL Galaxy conference in December 2021.

For 2022

I absolutely loved being Master of Ceremonies and for 2022, I would like to MC for more events.

For speaking apsirations, in 2022, my goal is to deliver talks in few in-person conferences (of course only if the travelling is safe).

I would like to meet more people in tech in person and I also want to try giving a keynote talk at a conference.

Wins in 2021

GDE and MDE

Among my most favourite wins of 2021 is that I became a Google Developers Expert for Web technologies and also a Cloudinary Media Developer Expert.

These titles definitely boost my confidence and motivate me to contribute more and more towards helping the developer community.

Started YouTube Channel

And last but not the least, I wanted to start my YouTube channel but I procrastinated for almost 11 months out of 12 months in 2021 before actually starting my YouTube channel on 29 November 2021.

I have posted three videos on my channel till now and in 2022 my plan is to create a lot more content on YouTube channel.

Reading books

I also did a lot of reading in 2021. I started with a goal of reading 15 books and I ended up reading 21 books in 2021.

Now for 2022 I want to make a reading a daily habit, even if it's just for 30 minutes daily but I would like to start my day with reading a book.

And my goal for 2022 is reading at least 25 books.

Journaling

In 2021, one of the best things I did was to journal daily.

So I have my whole 2021 written out at a high level in my journal and due to this I was able to reflect throughout my days in the year.

I like to go back to it and re-read on the days I am feeling low and I try to remind myself that it's okay I'm doing good and that i do not need to push myself a lot.

I have prompts written in my journal to take rest, breathe and just pause for some time.

This was very effective for me, and I would continue this journaling habit in 2022 as well.

People and connections

I met some wonderful people from different parts of the world, and made new friends.

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So these were my reflections for year 2021 - on what were my goals and wins and also what I plan to do in 2022 on a very high level.

Now I would also like to take some moments to share what did not went well and what learnings I have to take from 2021 into the New Year 2022.

What did not went well in 2021

A few things which did not work for me were:

• despite not having a good health, I was still not able to meditate and exercise consistently and hence I had some really tough days both physically and mentally.
• I wanted to write more technical blogs but I was not able to contribute much via the writing medium.
• I had so many plans for my YouTube channel, but they are yet to be executed.
• I struggled with the sudden drop in the temperature when I moved from India to Netherlands, it was pretty harsh encounter and I had a tough time adapting to the new climate. Also, some of the experiences would have gone smoother if I had planned better. But, it's all good now.

Inconsistency

I see inconsistency in my habits and due to this I have seen some of my plans drop and also I have procrastinated and started something is very late.

What are my learnings/ takeaways from these?

I'm trying currently to meditate daily and go out for walks and runs at least three times a week because I want to be in good health.

I'm also trying to plan out my days and weeks so that I stay consistent and do not procrastinate on what I want to do.

Theme for 2022

I would also like to share with you my theme for the year 2022.

And it will be the year of saying NO.

What do I want to say no to?

• I want to say no to devaluing myself. I often play myself down, and my achievements, and it diminishes my confidence. I just don't want to do that anymore.

• I also want to say no to the self-deprecating thoughts which always holds me back from doing something new.

• I also want to say no to apologising for dreaming big and going all in on whatever I want to achieve.

• I often feel that I am not doing good enough and in 2022, I want to say no to this feeling of not feeling competent enough.

• And I want to say no to anything and everything that can have a negative impact on my physical and mental well being.

Towards a better year

So, these were some of my reflections of the year that 2021 was and what goals I have in mind for the year 2022.

Tweet and let me know what are some of the goals and plans that you have made for year 2022.

I pray for the pandemic to end this year. Let’s welcome the new year with hope of good health, blessings and happiness for everyone.

Happy New Year! Take care, stay safe and healthy!