2022 - Annual Review

What do you have to show for your time?

• I took up employment
• I finished Season 3 of Daak
• I did a photo essay on Independence Day in Bombay
• I travelled to Almora, Bangalore and then paid a visit home in Palakkad. Took a weekend break to a place called Awata
• I earned a certificate on User Experience Design
• I found a contractor and designer for building a house in my village. We have finished the drawings for the home
• I finished 100 days of meditation and 200 days of working out. My targets were 200 days of meditation and 250 days of working out.

What took most of your time?

The biggest chunk of my time went in doing work matters at my job. Some highlights of the work included training nearly 150 people on communications and storytelling. I also helped ideate some branding and marketing related work for the company. Outside of this most of my time went in reading newsletters and essays and other internet consumptions. I also watched a lot of movies. I also spent time learning and reading but finished very few courses and books.

What did you care about?

I cared about crossing off a few pending errands and duties that had piled up over the last one or two years. Unfortunately, for some I was very late and it took a toll on my relationships and mental health. I cared about continuing my learning efforts, although the actual efforts on this matter fell short. I did try to care and stick to my values I chose for to stick to this year -

1. Routine
2. Health
3. Determination
4. Timeliness
5. Learning

But for most part I only stuck to health and learning. Determination, timeliness and routine fell short.

How do you feel about your mind and body?

My diet has been up and down this year, but I stuck to the discipline of working out almost constantly, and it has kept me in a better shape than last year. Due to some personal events, and the hassle of working in a young company my mind space is not where it ought to be, however, under the circumstances I believe my mental health is also doing fine. I am concerned however of my internal health, for which I need to make big changes in my eating habits.

What kind of adult were you? What changed within you?

I was an adult who took care of his growth and fortitude. While I fell short on some key values such as timeliness and routine, by keeping myself aware of my failings I acted responsibly and with maturity and kindness that I have lacked before. I am an adult with a system to recognise things instead of banking on memory and bias when evaluating myself. I was an adult who cared. But I was also an adult who had phases of shirking from responsibilities and not acting on time for some key things that led to personal losses. I was also an adult who did not take care of his financial health.

A summary of the year

So many things have happened this year, that despite having a monthly review process, I don’t remember how I felt or was at the beginning of the year. I might if I strain, or go through my monthly reviews, but as I stand today, bare in my mind, I don’t. I know that I badly wanted to be a person of routine and it was my biggest failing this year. I am wondering if I should pursue it harder next year or give up and pursue a more feasible value for myself.

I discovered the values based thinking for planning and reviewing ones time only last year. I think it is an incredible tool. By limiting my values to five, I also gave the whole business an intent I would have otherwise lacked.

Another aspect of my time review such as this and the ones I do monthly that I need to consider going ahead is reviewing my professional life and personal one in parallel. I mean, I do not know right now how to go about it. I can see that the biggest chunk of my time will go in executing my employment’s needs. But I also do not want my time in this world measured against it. I have a life beyond work now.

I will either need to make separate reviews for both or find a way to make my work an extension of my life’s goals.

The eyar was a mixed bag, I moved forward in my professional sphere, whereas my personal space that had grown in the last three years stunted or worse, drew down with my pace of learning slowing down, the amount of creative outputs diminishing and personal relationships failing. This was expected as I took my new job, and to be fair, it is not as bad as how others are faring relative to me. I don’t say that with any sadistic pleasure, but to just put perspective that I am not falling way behind on my view of how my life should be. I am just a tad behind on it.

For my next year then I must seek to balance it, stay kind to me and others and focus on the things I wished I did better and give myself a better chance to try and meet those expectations.

For my birthday this year, I wrote about three things that I wish to focus on in the coming year -

• I want my life to be more present than it is now.
• I also want to wear life lightly.
• I also want to continue keeping speed at the top of my mind.

I keep them in mind as I head to plan out my next year.