2018 was an awesome year for me. I wouldn’t say it’s a perfect year, though I improved personally and professionally and I’ll be sharing my accomplishments with you.

The year started with few resolutions to improve in some areas of my life and I made progress with these:

Relationship

I made conscious efforts to get to know my maker on a more personal level. He has been my guide and holds my head up when I’m feeble. I hope to do His will one day at a time.

Within the tech community, I have met a couple of people as a result of attending meetups. I hope to solidify these relationships and get to meet new people this year.

Career

My career as a software engineer hasn’t gotten to its peak. In 2018, I was faced with a couple of challenges which made me stronger. I worked as part of a team on an application being used by many. When I started working with React, it seemed overwhelming, then came Redux, Next.js, GraphQL, Docker and Kubernetes. It is fulfilling looking back at those tough moments when I thought I couldn’t pull through and the “aha!” moments when I nailed it. The best part of my career path is having to tackle something new every day thereby eradicating the possibility of boredom.

Volunteering

To help preach tech to the younger generation, I volunteered as a Learning Community Ambassador (Facilitator) in the Andela Learning Community program in partnership with Google and Udacity. It feels fulfilling listening to people and helping them solve challenges they are faced with. Seeing someone battle with a piece of code and being able to help. Watching them grow from writing “hello world” to solving more advanced challenges.

Writing

After putting up an article on an event organized by Facebook Developers Circles, Lagos, I was reached out to which led to my joining the Writers’ Corner arm of the community. My article was also published on Lean Women in Tech India. I got to publish a few articles on freeCodeCamp. My most popular article was How to Configure your macOS Terminal with Zsh like a Pro. Overall, I would say that I improved in writing and will write a lot more this year. To keep me in check, I launched this blog towards the end of the year.

Poetry

Asides coding, I love art and poetry. The act of playing with words, crafting scenes and getting to create a world out of your own thoughts. I wrote 10 poems and spoken words in 2018 surpassing the 3 poems that I wrote in 2017.

Photography

I enjoy taking random pictures. Capturing lovely moments and sharing with those involved and watch them beam with smiles. I try to live by the principle of leaving people happier than I meet them. I also love capturing places especially on cool evenings and at least get to know my environment better. I hope to tour Lagos in 2019 and document awesome places I think you should visit too.

Fitness

Doing this, I do not intend to lose weight, but to stay fit. I created a routine of exercising for 30 minutes daily to remain fit and energized to tackle each day’s challenges. I couldn’t stick to this after a while and hope to increase my perseverance level this year.

Reading

I spent a lot of time in 2018 reading tech articles, I learnt a lot from great minds. I came across The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason and wrote a few highlights on it:

Want to become rich but don’t have an iota of knowledge on how to accomplish your heartfelt desire, this book is a great asset that can help you through this quest. Going through the pages of the book, I noted the seven cures for a lean purse; becoming rich is not a miracle but can be actualized by the application of the following principles hereunder. Note that “A part of all you earn is yours to keep”

1. For every ten coins thou placest within thy purse take out for use but nine. Thy purse will start to fatten at once and its increasing weight will feel good in thy hand and bring satisfaction to thy soul.

2. Budget thy expenses that thou mayest have coins to pay for thy necessities, to pay for thy enjoyments and to gratify thy worthwhile desires without spending more than nine-tenths of thy earnings.

3. Put each coin to labouring that it may reproduce its kind even as the flocks of the field and help bring to thee income, a stream of wealth that shall flow constantly into thy purse.

4. Guard thy treasure from loss by investing only where thy principal is safe, where it may be reclaimed if desirable, and where thou will not fail to collect a fair rental. Consult with wise men. Secure the advice of those experienced in the profitable handling of gold. Let their wisdom protect thy treasure from unsafe investments.

5. Own thy own home.

6. Provide in advance for the needs of thy growing age and the protection of thy family.

7. Cultivate thy own powers, to study and become wiser, to become more skilful, to so act as to respect thyself

Go forth and practice these truths that thou mayest prosper and grow wealthy, as is thy right.

I listened to podcasts on Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World and So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport. I will definitely read “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” by Mark Manson and “Awaken the Giant Within” by Anthony Robbins this year. I think they are books worth your time.

In 2019, I hope to …

• Grow rapidly in my role as a software engineer
• Get involved in open source projects
• Read and listen more
• Write more
• Keep fit
• Meet new people
• Overcome stage fright and speak at conferences
• Definitely, enrol in a driving school
• Tour Lagos, Nigeria and document awesome places I think you should visit too