2022. Another Year to Remember

It’s finally 2023, and I have been sceptical about sharing this, but there is no better time to write and reflect. It’s my first time writing my year review, so I’ll freestyle this the way it comes at the top of my head.

My 2022 started with a lot of energy, challenges, and optimism, with a sprinkle of tears here and there. Last year gave me a unique experience, just like other years before.

2019 was the year I began to see growth in my career. I was too caught up in helping, mentoring, and guiding people on their tech journey early in my career. I did not take time to work on myself more; I always seemed to have answers to give and help people navigate their challenges, so they didn’t have to go through the issues I had when learning. I was doing this to the point where they grew fast, but it just happened to be that I was not. It felt like there was no growth in my life.

One of my old colleagues called me one day; he was a member of a developer community that I used to lead. He reached out to me and told me,” Guy, if it weren’t for you, I would not be where I am right now; you should have been way ahead of us; it’s as if you are not growing at all”. He was pissed on the phone and wanted to help me somehow. I told him everyone’s journey is not the same, and I’m walking my journey no matter how slow it may seem. He encouraged me to work at a cyber cafe and raise money to buy a fairly used laptop since Frankenstein (my old laptop) couldn’t take me any further; this happened around 2018.

In 2019 I decided to work on myself more, to focus on the things I was naturally passionate about, writing and community management. In 2017 I went from teaching Scratch and HTML/CSS to freelancing as a product designer and Web developer; I was into many things then. I could be called a jack of all trades due to my inquisitive nature to learn new things. I decided to slow down and listen to my advice because I lost myself to so much information.

Looking back at how my 2022 went, I learnt some things along the way and even achieved a few. Here are some highlights:

What I am Grateful for

• I decided to improve my writing skills by signing up for some Tech Writing courses. I finished 3 out of 4 technical writing courses.

• I started a Twitter Space called “Let’s talk Technical Writing”, which talked about all areas of technical writing.

• I moved to a bigger apartment and was able to set up my workspace.

• I was finally able to finish two books, Yes!!. I could have read more, but it’s a start.

• I wanted to work on a project that had an impact on society and was able to find one through Google’s Season of Docs program. It was challenging, but I’m so happy I completed it.

• I reconnected with my sister, who I hadn’t seen for over 20 years. No, I’m not that old if that’s what you were thinking.

• I had my first vacation out of Lagos.

• I had my first personal contract without third parties, and it took a while to break free from it.

• Built new relationships and made stronger ones too.

• I did not chop breakfast (Heartbreak).

• I practised the art of giving not just by providing support but also by giving my time.

• I was able to afford more things.

• Oh, and one of my Articles got featured in several publications.

Challenges

• I didn’t read enough books.

• I wasn’t very consistent with my Twitter space.

• I only wrote one article. Sheesh, I’m a writer who didn’t create personal time to write more content.

• My workout routine needed to be more consistent.

• I didn’t make the song I planned to release.

Some lessons learnt

• I learned how to handle feedback better, especially critical ones.

• Love me more and be healthy both physically and mentally.

• You lose friends as you grow. Your friends can either grow along with you or let it affect them and make them secretly toxic (trust me, I never saw my 13 years of friendship come to an end, okay, I had just one breakfast).

• Family is important. This family is the one you get to choose and the one that chooses you back, no matter what.

• To Speak up more about things I’m uncomfortable with without being offensive.

• I can only please some and not everybody.

• Speak less and do more.

Thank you for reading this; time is precious, and I assume yours to be one of them. I plan to do more for myself this year. I wish you an eventful year ahead.

Cheers.