Annual Review 2014 — Rating 6/10
I have divided my life across various focus areas and try to invest in each of the focus areas for a well rounded life. Here they are in no particular order:
- Travel
- Social
- Personal Growth
- Learning
- Health
- Habits
- Professional career
- Friends
- Finance
- Family
- Creative Life
- Charity
What went well this year?
2014 would be one of the vital years of my life because this was a year where I had put in a lot of effort on self-improvement and have succeeded in good measure. In 2013, I had committed myself to some audacious goals and I executed many of them in 2014 with a commitment and sincerity I had demonstrated never before. This has been a year of hard work. I haven’t worked as hard in any of my previous years in my career. I have slacked in the last quarter of the year because of some career disillusionment setting in. This is also the year I finished my MBA. I do not give big credit to myself except for my ability and boldness to pay off the exorbitant MBA fee. But yes, a feat accomplished nevertheless.
Professional Success
- This was a satisfying year in terms of the extent to which I stretched myself at work. I did much more than what was expected of me. I demonstrated varied skills, industry and creativity. I met varied customers voluntarily and provided inputs to the management. I performed competitive analysis for competitor products and presented to the team. I delivered many presentations at site level. I also went beyond my capacity to fill in as product designer when we had lost a product designer in the team. When I look back, I feel proud of what I achieved. And for these efforts, I was also presented with an Autobucks award from my company, awarded for exceptional performance.
Learning
This was also a year of massive learning — I read more books in a single year than ever before. Here’s the list of books I read (45 in number):
This was also the year, I invested a lot of my time learning about Product Management. I ran Product Camps consistently with more discipline. Not just that, we also began monthly meetups for Product Managers in Singapore. This was a huge personal achievement for me.
This was also a year where I was a much improved self after putting in a lot of deliberate effort. I had put in structures around me to stick to and build some new habits — some stuck like glue, some fell off by the way side, some still struggling to build.
Built New Habits
I would consider this a satisfying year also because I built some new habits:
- Doing daily plans everyday. (have achieved 70% consistency)
- Meditation (80% success. In fact I have been able to maintain a non-breaking streak for the past 28 days now)
- Having a glass of lemon and honey first thing in the morning
- Maintaining Inbox Zero
- Keep record of daily expenses
Well the habits may look simple and inconsequential, but to me the sheer fact that I could build a previously non-existing habit is a big deal. This is a sign that I can affect behavioural change, a vital component for achievement and self-growth.
Some of the other habits that I am not being consistent are:
- Waking up at 6 am
- Evaluating the day before hitting bed
- Make healthy breakfast
- Leaving for work at 9 am.
However, I am not loosing sleep over them because research shows that man can only change a few habits at a time. So, when my newly acquired habits are solidified and they run on auto-pilot, I would then pick the new set of habits.
Formalised my Life’s Mission Statement
This was also a year when I formalised my Life’s Mission Statement. Here’s how it looks.
https://www.evernote.com/shard/s244/nl/31709046/3e69d320-84e6-41ff-8186-b37d57c26440/
It was a draining exercise that took me a few weeks to complete. Though it is mostly in final shape, I still tweak it once in a while. I try to have a look at my mission statement first thing in the morning after my meditation. I will share more on Mission Statements in a separate blog post.
A year of several personal projects
After I finished my MBA, I found myself with a lot of time and I wanted to maintain the rigor of my MBA routine. I did not want to slack a bit. So, I took up a few personal projects. These projects were also the result of my mission statement. A part of my mission statement says:
“TO CHASE BOLD AUDACIOUS GOALS AND KEEP BUILDING MEANINGFUL THINGS ALL MY LIFE AND PRESENT TO THE WORLD.”
Hence, I began projects that would be meaningful and that I could present to the world.
Project 52 Lunches
One of the satisfying projects that I began was Project 52 Lunches and has paid soft dividends. As part of this project, I began a life experiment of meeting new people for lunch every week for 52 weeks.
https://medium.com/@yoursproductly/project-52-lunches-4163bb779cf0
Though I have completed 12 weeks, the experience has been out of the world. I will write a post on how it has impacted my life.
The Moving Wheel
This is another exciting personal project, a weekly podcast on productivity, that I started with my friend Allan from Phillipines. We will soon publish more info on the podcast.
GTDEvernote.me
Year 2014 was also an important year for me because it was this year that I mastered David Allen’s GTD techniques and applied it to manage not just my professional life but personal life too. After having spent refining and integrating with Evernote, I have turned the entire system into my life management framework. I call it the Control Panel of my Life. It has given me amazing control and a sense of balance to my life.
With all the lessons acquired and applied, I began a GTD-Evernote reference repository that would contain all that I have acquired. I also intend to come up with an 50 page e-book on the same topics that would be available by March 31st, 2015.
Followed my Heart
This was also a year where I pushed myself to do what I believed in than indulge in mere tokenism. India was recently taken over by fascist forces that is a threat to the secular fabric of the country. I went to Varanasi to do my bit in stopping that from happening. I feel proud that I made the move.
What didn’t go well?
This was also an year where I made some grave mistakes and suffered biggest failures. The irony of this year was that though I was an improved self in many areas I also mismanaged a lot of other areas of my life.
- I had been slacking with taking right financial decisions. The financial burden of doing an MBA took its toll and I slacked in keeping key records of loans and credit cards. In short I lacked discipline which put me in financial debts. However, the good news is I have learnt my lessons from it and built some failsafe structures to prevent this from happening again.
- The later part of the year was when I committed some professional blunders that were akin to career suicides. Sadly, I had never paid any attention to educate myself on corporate gamemanship and savviness. This was a costly mistake and after that I read a few books to acquire the necessary acumen.
- The other aspect I have ignored is mending some sour relationships with people. I guess I should have shown some spine and magnanimity in making the first move and let bygones be bygones. I consider this as a failure this year.
Professional Failures:
- The single most goal for me this year was to transition to product management. I had invested in money, education, and energy. But at the end of the year, nothing fell in place and all chances for transitions were shattered.
- The later part of the year is when I lost all motivation to work in professional life. I tried many times to pick myself up but I fell back. Though I had my reasons for this, no excuse is big enough for such a lackdaisacal approach. I am committed to be one of the most prolific employee from next year.
How do I rate my efforts for this year?
- Travel — Travelled to some exotic places in North India like Delhi, Allahabad, Varanasi, Bhubaneswar. I also visited Shanghai on a company visit. Travelling was dull this year because of my MBA. Ratings — 2/10
- Social— Had good social gatherings at home and outside with friends and family. Ratings — 4/10
- Personal Growth — This is the area I have had the biggest improvement on with building new habits and personal development frameworks. Ratings —6/10
- Learning — This is the area I have had a steep improvement again. I have read more books than ever before. Ratings —6/10
- Health — This is also an area that I picked in the last part of the year. And I can say I am the fittest form in the last two years. Ratings —5/10
- Habits — This is also an area I have had tremendous growth. I picked several new habits and internalized them. Ratings -7/10
- Professional career —Lots of hard effort and strategy put in the first three quarters. Was never as prolific as this ever in my career before. But the last quarter has been a dismal in performance. Ratings -6/10
- Friends— I am a loner by nature. I have always tried to build on this area, but I dont succeed much. However, this year would be important because I made some great new friends, with whom I share common passions and habits. Ratings — 4/10
- Finance—Put myself under immense debt because of MBA, property purchase, credit cards. I mismanaged my finances. Ratings —2/10
- Family
- Creative Life—
- Charity—
How would I rate my efforts for this year 2014? 6/10
