Category Archives: Yearly Summary

120 odd blog posts this year! Out of these, 100 or more have been published daily for the last 100 or so days. Total Words 41,227+. Average words per post 352. That’s a big achievement so a self-pat-on-the-back is a given. So, I have nothing to sum up as consolidated thoughts today. 2020 has been a year that taught us a lot of things. I will share what I think were the 3 most important lessons we should have learned.

You

Your and your family’s health is above everything else. Money is required to keep the health intact as well. But if you are not healthy to earn money, then all the best. In case you fail to keep yourself healthy for any reason, the only thing which can save you is Insurance. If you don’t have yourself insured, then it is like bungee jumping with a rope made of noodles. Take care of yourself. You matter.

This and That

So many things are there that we take for granted. Internet and People top that list so thank you Tim Berners Lee and Evolution. But there are things which, if taken away, everything would crumble. To each, his own, but savoring small things should be our priority always. This year showed us if our basic things are taken away from us, we might implode.

The Off Switch

Beginning with the start of this year, till at least October end, I worked more than I have ever worked in my life. I took up more responsibilities than I have ever had. Then I took on some more challenges. I experienced a few things that were life-altering. What did I achieve out of that? Nothing as of now. Probably, the results would show in the next few years. But one big lesson learned is the missing Off Switch. I spent all my time this year in front of a screen and kept my eyes closed only when I was sleeping. This is unsustainable and impractical. It fast forwards you to old age. An Off Switch needs to be found and that’s going to be my focus in 2021. One cannot get back the lost moments (and people). So, spending time rightly is to be cherished.

Wishing the millions and millions of the readers of this blog the best for the upcoming year. For rest of the world, read more people! Let’s hope 2021 acts as the start of a wonderful decade for humanity. Do the due.

*cough*

What a year 2018 has been! I mean, seriously. This year, I had some experiences which I have never felt in my life before. Most of the experiences were life-altering. I will come back to them later in this post but first, let us look at the so-called resolutions I had promised at the end of the last year. And their outcomes, of course. I don’t make resolutions-resolutions per se but everyone has some things in their minds they want to tick mark every year.

Here’s the breakdown of how my objectives of the year fared.

Resolutions 2018

• Write daily. This is really important. Seth Godin, here I come.
  • Outcome: 33 blog posts. About 300 posts short but highest blog posts in a year by me, ever!
  • Verdict: Fail
• Take more photographs. Edit them better. Make better stories. Be a better photographer, better editor.
  • Outcome: About 150 Instagram Posts. I crossed 1000 posts this year. And I didn’t use Photoshop this year at all.
  • Verdict: Pass
• Be a better storyteller. Better speaker. Better. And don’t let anything distract you from that.
  • Outcome: I completed by Toastmasters Advanced Communicator Bronze which included Storytelling. So technically, yes! Still a long way to go.
  • Verdict: Pass
• Indulge in Video making and editing. Tough task but time is now! Casey Neistat and likes keep inspiring and sharing new people to get motivated from.
  • Outcome: Video editing is a tough job. I didn’t start a Vlog yet but getting there slowly.
  • Verdict: Pass (barely)
• Learn something new every week. New technology, science, history, word, technique, skills, something! And write about it.
  • Outcome: Huge scope in this task. I certainly could do a lot more. I will consider myself failed.
  • Verdict: Fail
• I didn’t have an actual big cycle when I was a kid. I had a small kiddy bike until I was 13. But then my younger brother got a proper bike. So I used it. But not as much as I wanted. So, if all goes well, I will buy a Bicycle soon and just ride it.
  • Outcome: Big fail.
  • Verdict: Fail
• Overhaul the overall brand. Come up as a person people should look up to. Learn from others. Teach what you know to others. Learn more, be more!
  • Outcome: Long way to go. It is better to stay perpetually fail as this.
  • Verdict: Fail
• Basically, just do. Don’t complain. Don’t indulge in politics. Don’t share irrelevant details. Don’t consume bad stuff.
  • Outcome: Subjective thing. But I am still sane.
  • Verdict: Pass
• Don’t intake negative vibes. Just do your thing and be better!
  • Outcome: Same as above
  • Verdict: Pass

Experiences

Chanakya wrote,

A man is born alone and dies alone; and he experiences the good and bad consequences of his karma alone; and he goes alone to hell or the Supreme abode.

Karma is a funny thing. It is certainly the outcome of your actions which you deliberated yourself or someone made you do it. Nevertheless, you must face them at some point in your life. The year 2018 left me with some experiences (which were not my doing necessarily but still I had to face) which were quite new. I am going to jot down these experiences in the classy Health-Wealth-Wise trio format which made me ponder about life a bit more than I would have. This is going to be somber like all previous year-end posts.

Health

I traveled to Goa in the beginning of the year and needless to say I was not interested in sharing my beach pics. I have put more pressure on the weighing scales this year than I ever have. Some of this could be blamed on me living alone for 5 months and using Zomato, Swiggy, and FreshMenu to the fullest. I was, in fact, happy to note that Google Pay got me a lot of cashbacks. But then I fell sick later in the year so the medicines evened out the cashbacks. The silver lining was that I was able to keep the clothes still fit my waist. This sounds all negligible experience actually. This is not life-altering by any stretch of the imagination, to be honest. In more seriousness, the truth is that most of us take health for granted. Only when either we ourself or someone close falls ill, then only we understand the importance of taking care. Some of the people around me kept on falling sick or fell into the trap of diseases which are life-threatening. Even if when you are not suffering yourself, when people around you suffer, that hurts a lot, if not equally. And the fact that one cannot do anything about it, is a tough bullet to chew. To say the least, healthwise 3 of the major experience happened to me this year was:

1. Having to take someone to a hospital in an ambulance when they had just collapsed and getting to know that it was the case of D.O.A.
2. Still dealing with the ongoing ordeal of a close one suffering from the monster called Cancer. It sucks the life out of one in all possible ways but you still have to deal with it.
3. Got to hear about someone giving up on life due to Depression. Enough said.

Wealth

Till July of this year, I went to the Airport every month. Sometimes, more than once a month. I am not at all a frequent traveler but circumstances made me do it. That also brings me to the fact that, one, everyone knows how painful it is to travel to Bengaluru airport so many times, and second, the amount of money which gets consumed in traveling is immense. People get so much impressed by Travelogs but what about unplanned travels? Who budgets that? So, the first experience was to think about money. Frankly, I have never paid any attention to it. I have been privileged enough to not to worry about it, yes! But also, how much more do I need to be more responsible and be ready for the unplanned things. I finally started investing. Nothing fancy but even investing in FDs and RDs was the first time for me. (I am so posh or what?). But seriously, I should have started this a decade ago. The one thing nobody teaches properly is how to use your money. Those who actually professionally teach have ulterior motives I guess. One important thing I did this year though was to travel to Shravanbelgola and attend the once in 25 years Mahamastakabhishek in proper attire. I don’t know if I will ever get a chance like this.

Wise

With all of the learnings from above, the only take away is that we don’t really have much time. How we spend the time we have makes us who we are! We can get bothered about the events on social media or politics, or we can try to make small differences in anyone else’s lives. We can either Netflix and chill (and that is important too to stay sane but in limited quantity) or we can try to boost confidence and morale of someone by sharing a good positive quote or just talking and listening to them. We can stay in one place or travel.

All in all, 2018 was a somewhat unusual year which sets the tone of future too. But since we have less time in our hands, we can try to be optimistic and just do something about it than letting life happen to us.

The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.

 

– John Maxwell