Farewell, 2017. Welcome, 2018!

It’s hard to believe that 2017 is over, and 2018 is upon us!

I’ve been reflecting a bit on the previous year, and looking ahead to the year to come. In this post, I want to share some of my rambling thoughts, hopes, and ambitions. I hope that at the very least, it is entertaining to read!

In reflecting on 2017, I feel that it was a “setting up for success” year. Particularly in my career.

Starting quite early in the year, I decided to start job hunting. My goal was to find a company in which I could contribute greatly, but also grow substantially. I felt as though I was stagnating a bit in my abilities, and felt that surrounding myself with very experienced, talented people would be a perfect way to learn and grow.

I did not expect the hunt to take most of the year! But finally, in August, I started working for Automattic, and I’ve been loving it! I’ve done a bit of traveling, worked on larger products (like Gravatar), and interacted with a really great team of people. Even after only 4 months, I’ve learned a lot.

The first line of Automattic’s Creed says “I will never stop learning”. I think that this is a great mantra to live by, and my plan for 2018 is to dig into learning as much as I can. I would like to get better at brewing coffee (greatly inspired by my trip to Italy). I also want to learn to play the piano better, and hope to be able to perform some challenging songs by the end of the year.

In 2017, I wrote a 750-word journal every day. I’m pretty proud of this accomplishment and want to keep it up. But I also want to take it to the next level and start blogging more. I want to do more public writing, rather than keeping it all private. I hope to write posts that are entertaining, educational, and maybe even inspiring or motivating.

So if 2017 was about “setting up for success”, then I think 2018 is going to be about “growing and sharing”.

I guess this is sort of like a “New Year’s resolution”, but not really. I think of it as setting the “theme” for the next year. Next up: setting some goals, and making a plan to achieve them.

Here’s to a great year!