end of year reflecting 2024

Looking Back

A year ago, what were your expectations for the upcoming year?

• Taking control of my health
• Reading more books for fun
• Growing into and showing my ability to be a tech lead
• Setting more boundaries
• Figuring out my personal style

What happened in reality, during the year? What were the highlights from the year?

• Had an amazing first trip to Japan with Ry
• Saw lots of concerts, my favorite being seeing Green Day live for the first time
• Started going to therapy
• Started getting real sleep
• I never used “jarlic”

What are the things that went really well?

This year was the first year in a while that I found a primary care doctor who I liked and I was able to figure out a few things about my health, all for the better. I also put effort into finding a therapist for the first time ever, and found one who I can see in person. I can say with confidence that my health was indeed made a priority this year and I am much better off for it.

According to my Goodreads account, I have read 25 books as of this writing this year (hopefully to end with a couple more before the year is up). The year prior, I read a whopping three. So yes, I’d say I’ve made a great improvement in my goal to read more books.

At work, I’ve had the chance to showcase my leadership skills while I focus on trying to enact some culture changes as a senior engineer on both my team and the wider org. I’ve really come to enjoy working on a platform team, and I’m excited what next year can bring. Hopefully, that also means I have some more responsibility into the new year.

Lots of boundaries have been set. All of them hard. All of them for the better.

I can happily say that I’m really feeling like I know how to put whole outfits together now. I used to be guilty of just buying one top or pair of pants because I liked them on their own, but never wore them because I couldn’t figure out how to turn them into an outfit. I still have some room to grow in this area, but at least I’ve branched out of my athliesure go-tos a bit more.

What are the things that could have gone better?

I think I could have been more fearless about setting hard boundaries sooner, but that doesn’t feel fair to say. I also could have maintained a close friendship of mine much more consistently, but we are catching up for lost time now.

I also tried to start a Substack but lost steam almost immediately. General malaise kind of set halfway through the year, but I feel like I’m getting out of that funk.

What have you learned?

I have learned a lot about myself and how I was raised. I still have some things I need to fully acknowledge, but there is a whole lot of unlearning to do next year.

How did you grow, professionally?

Sometime during this year, I really saw myself switch from being someone who only sought guidance from others to being someone who also is sought to for advice. I feel like as I approach a decade of working as a software engineer, I have grown much more confident in my ability to think critically about technical decisions and practice getting better at “herding cats.” I’m excited to keep honing these skills.

How did you grow, as a person?

I’m learning that I have people I can depend on and I don’t always need to be my own support. I can trust others to take care of me. I also learned that cutting out dysfunctional relationships is very, very hard but very, very worth it.

Looking Ahead

What will your priorities be for next year?

• Continue learning to re-parent myself
• Plan my next international trip
• Commit to going on my first annual BFF trip
• Enact (and maintain) one big sorely-needed culture change at work across Engineering
• Work on building my chosen family
• Help my community (my first goal is stocking community fridges quarterly)
• Commit to regular writing (I’m looking at you “Snark & Scalability”)

What will not be priorities?

• Trying to solve every problem at work
• Trying to solve every problem in life

What would a great year look like?

BFF Seattle Trip ‘25 on the books, my next international trip is on the books and/or some development is made in some .

What are things that you have learned from last year, and will do differently?

A lot of things are out of my control. I spent a lot of time this past year trying to over-prepare for some things I thought I had more control over. I will be more gentle with myself this time.

If you can only set one goal for the year, what will it be?

It feels nebulous to try and describe, but my main goal is to learn how to re-parent myself. That sounds hokey to say outloud, but that’s what I’ve got.