2019: Year in Review

As the end of the year is almost here I decided to write a short post of all the “goods and bads“.

The purpose of this post is not to give any advice. It is just for me to remember and reflect on my events, keep that in mind when you read this.

2018 was a big year for me, the birth of my youngest son 🧒 (Aris) and buying a house 🏡 were two events in my life that changed a lot so 2019 felt like a pause for what is next to come.

The goods

  • I started the year with a party 🎉 🎊 , by visiting Kyiv to attend the bachelor party of my closest friend (Guillaume). We only stayed in Kyiv for 3 days but I made some incredible memories, had a great time and made new friends.
  • I taught my 3-year-old son (Albert) how to ride a bike. This was a very enjoyable & rewarding activity that will remain in my mind for a long time.
  • I attended two conferences. RevoJS that aims to bring JavaScript enthusiasts two full days of tech-focused talks and HowToWeb witch is more product focus.
  • I attended my first big concert Metallica: WorldWired Tour 2019 in Vienna. A unique experience and a nice city to visit.
  • I read a lot more. Reading started to be something I do every night and I enjoy it.

    I was thinking these days, how can I do it now without any effort? For me, the answer is the quality of the books I read.

    The rule I follow, if I don’t get hooked by the book in the first chapters I stop reading that book. There are so many good books and lots of valuable information out there you can always find something that will keep you engaged. You can find my 2019 list here.
  • I have learned to play the piano 🎹. I bought a digital piano (for my kids) but as it turns out in the end, I am practicing every day and enjoy it.
  • I finally managed to create my personal blog and write more frequently. The goal here is to exercise writing ✍️ and share some of my technical knowledge.
  • I manage to put some money aside every month and invest them in stocks with a 27% return at the end of the year. To be honest 2019 was a year where I read a lot about stocks and investment opportunities. (I use eToro as my broker you can follow me here)

Thanky

At the start of the year, Toma, Adrian and I decided to give us another 6 months working on Thanky. And as much as we had tried to find new customers and push the project forward, our 2-year journey ended this year.

This was a big disappointment for me. I personally invested a lot of time and money in this project. It breaks my heart by just writing this 😢 and processing all the info.

I will write a detailed post on what I think we did good and what we could do better but until then I will take the learnings and prepare for a new journey.

The ONE Thing

Looking back at this past year, I think the reason I feel most disappointed is that I worked on to many projects without performing at my peek on any of them.

What I will try to do next year is to find my ONE Thing and focus all the energy and resources on that.

Until then I wish you the best in 2020 and a healthy, fulfilling year.

Thank you so much for reading!

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