Reflecting on 2017
Last year I read Ellen Chisa’s 2016 in Review post and was inspired to do a review post myself.
I kind of have a love hate thing with the end and the beginning of a year. Part of me loves the fresh start feeling you get — that anything is possible! At the same time, I constantly feel like I’m trying to squeeze every minute for fun and productivity to capitalize on the time of year.
One thing I always take time to do is reflect. For many years now, I’ve done some sort of end of year exercise. Either writing something I never publish (here’s my post from 2014, never published) or answering questions just for myself, like the ones here. This year, I decided to actually hit that dreaded publish button with the results of my reflection. Mainly, because, one of my goals this year was to write and publish more. 🙊 So this counts!
My main goals for this year were the usual “be a better adult” goals of meditating, exercising and being more fiscally responsible. For fun, I wanted to cook more and continue to travel with friends and family. For personal and professional development, I wanted to read and write more and lastly, move into a product management role.
Let’s just say I’m not better at adulting
When it comes to being a “better adult,” I’m exactly where I was — spotty at best with meditation and exercise and still ignoring my budget 😒
One thing I’ve realized throughout this year is this: saying “I don’t have time to do X” is really saying “X is not a priority for me right now.” And that’s fine; we can’t do it all. But until we prioritize things like exercise over watching TV or meditation over one more hit of the snooze button, those habits won’t change. I’m hoping to prioritize these things more in 2018.
I did want to cook more since it’s something I really enjoy, and was successful at that. My husband Kush and I also had a ton of fun furnishing, decorating and hosting friends and family in our new home. We’ll do more of that in 2018, too!
Reading momentum: the more you read, the more you want to read
This year, I did a few things differently when it came to reading:
- I gave myself permission to stop reading anything I wasn’t enjoying or getting anything out of
- I always had the next book picked out and tried to alternate between fiction and non-fiction
- I actually tracked what I read (also inspired by Ellen Chisa) which was really motivating
I started 39 books and ended up finishing 34 books (as of 12/27/17). Reading more meant that I watched less TV and spent less time surfing social media on my commute and even inspired my husband to start reading more!
My favorite fiction books from this year were: City of Thieves, Sing, Unburied, Sing, The Idiot and Visit from the Goon Squad. The non-fiction I read this year was all over the map, intentionally. I read about cryptocurrency (Digital Gold), algorithms (Weapons of Math Destruction), productivity (Deep Work), product (Product Leadership) and running a company (The Hard Thing about Hard Things) among others.
Check out the full list from this year here, including the ones I started and didn’t finish.
In 2018, I want to broaden my non-fiction scope even further. I’m looking for reading recommendations about philosophy, human psychology and behavior, and societal and organizational design.
I wrote more but still don’t feel like it’s any easier.
This year, I finally started hitting the publish button on my writing. Writing is hard and scary but I want to get better and the only way is to practice and get feedback. I wrote 7 posts this year (not including this one). My most read post was Is Your Research Project Adding Any Value? and it was published in the UX design publication, uxdesign.cc 👏 which I was really excited about.
The fruits of writing make the whole thing worth it for me. This year, colleagues reached out to discuss ideas I shared in my writing for ways that we can work better. New people found me and reached out for mentorship and advice about getting into product management. And mainly, I felt like I learned a lot and really challenged myself through writing. In 2018, I want to write more consistently — I’m hoping that will help both the quality and quantity of what I publish.
Being a product manager is awesome
I got the role I’ve been working towards for awhile now — 2.5 years ago, I got my first product job because some people took a chance on me (looking at you Nate and Gilbert) and I’ve never looked back. I enjoy what I do even more than I expected to (and I had high expectations). You can read about how the first hundred days went here. I’m so grateful to be working on interesting learning challenges with an amazing team and surrounded by some of the smartest, funniest and kindest people I’ve ever worked with.
This year I got to see the product my team and I work on, Pluralsight IQ, launched on the mainstage at Pluralsight LIVE and featured on TechCrunch.
I also leveled up my product management practices and shared some of my lessons learned at Boston Product’s first product management conference, Unbox. In 2018 I’m looking to get even better at understanding customer needs and developing solutions and sharing more of my learnings through writing, speaking and mentoring.
I’ll never regret time spent with friends, family and traveling
I did a decent job at planning things with friends and family this year but always feel like I can do a bit more. I took 4 big trips this year: Miami, Denver, Yellowstone and India. Each one was amazing in different ways. We already have a trip to Iceland planned in 2018 and looking forward to planning more!
I’m happy with how 2017 turned out and looking forward to the year ahead.
I hope to actually prioritize meditation and exercise for myself in 2018 😬 Reading is easy and enjoyable but I need to continue working on my writing.
Professionally, I want to continue to level up my product management skills.
In reflecting on how I spend my time, I’m realizing that I do a lot of consuming — reading articles and books, surfing social media, watching TV and movies. The few things I do to create (cooking and writing) challenge me and give me a great sense of pride and joy. I used to make jewelry, throw clay and do other activities to work with my hands and I want to get back to something like that as a way to destress and take a break from screens and constant consumption. So that’s a new goal for 2018!
