2020 — Year in Review
2020 is the year when all our best-laid plans were thrown out of the window and we learned to survive.
Personally, it's one of the most enriching years for me as I incorporated lots of good habits into my daily routine. Many of my friends who met me after a long time told me that I have changed a lot (in a positive way :)).
Yoga
I have been attending yoga class since 2014 but never able to practice it regularly. It's like one of the things you know is good for you but you never get around doing it daily. When Modi announced a 21-day lockdown on March 22, I remember reading somewhere it needs 21 days to build a habit. So, finally thought of giving it a try as I can't give any more excuses for not finding the time. I have started doing Pathangaasana, Sishu Balasana, Naadi Vibhajan, and Surya Namasakaram. Since then, it has become part of my daily routine, and it's one of the best things that happened in 2020.
Meditation
I was going through lots of mood swings during the lockdown and wanted to calm myself down. What started as a 10 min meditation session every morning, now become 30–40 mins every day. I make sure I do it the first thing in the morning. Doing it regularly improved my self-awareness and mindfulness.
Journaling
Every new year, I try to recollect all the important events that happened the previous year. But I could recall only a few big moments and the rest usually look like a blur. I always get frustrated why I couldn't remember the other moments and life is usually made up of all these smaller moments (Watch Pixar’s new movie Soul, they have portrayed it beautifully). So I decided to start journaling to keep track of my everyday activities. On May 1st, I started my journaling. I write down my thoughts about the day before I go to sleep. It was awkward in the beginning, but over a period, my thoughts start flowing. I usually highlight anything important that happened that day. It gave me an idea of what I am doing right and what mistakes I am making
Now I do journalling in the morning immediately after my meditation session and one more time before I go to sleep. The next step is how to do it in a more effective way so it will be easier for me to go back and refer to what happened that week/month. Reading an interesting book on that topic now ( The Bullet Journal Method).
If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it
Journaling helps you to track how you are actually spending your time. In this highly distracted world, we lose track of time as we constantly switch between our work, social media apps, OTT, etc. Journaling helped me to pause and reflect on my day.
Journaling is really a life-changing experience and I keep telling everyone to start doing it, preferably with paper and pen
Reading
Usually, I read 15–20 books in a year. But this year I finished 30 books, thanks to all the free time because of covid. What I loved about this year is the breadth and the width of the topics that I read. I read some of the best books like The Psychology of Money, Atomic Habits, Unlocking Customer Value Chain, Shoe Dog, You’re not listening, Microcopy, The Spy and the Traitor Build Trap, Alchemy. Lots of practical take ways which I have implemented in my personal and professional life.
Writing
It's one of the most underrated skills. I wanted to give it a try a few times but never managed to do it regularly. When I was reading Atomic Habits, came across the concept of Accountability Partner. Thought of putting it to practical use and asked my friend Kiran to be my accountability partner. This is the deal. I should publish an article every Sunday, otherwise, I have to pay him 1000 bucks. I have written about it here. I published my first article in Medium on 1st Sep 2020. Now, this is my 20th article and I am yet to pay him 1000 bucks.
There is a famous saying “ Writing is nature’s way of telling you how screwed up your thinking is”. To communicate effectively and connect with the readers is one of the most difficult undertakings. I believe I have become a decent writer in the last few months but still a long way to go.
Became a Morning Person
I am a night owl since my school days. I can stay awake till 5 AM, but could never ever wake up at that time. But I wanted to become a morning person as I wanted to spend ‘me time’ before starting my day. And everything changed when I decided to join a Bootcamp, HabitStrong conducted by Rajan Singh.
Now, this is my routine.
Wake up at 4.30 AM
Meditation:5–5.40 AM
Journalling: 5.40–6 AM
Exercise: 6–6.20 AM
Yoga: 6.30–7 AM
Go to bed before 10 PM
Many of my friends couldn’t believe this. Even myself. But yeah, this is my routine for the last 3 weeks. Before that, my calendar dictated my day and I was not pausing and reflecting enough. I realized how much time I have now with this new routine before starting my day. Hope to continue this forever.
Finally, Decision to quit my job
Quitting CaratLane after 4.8 years. It's one of the most difficult decisions I took in a long time. I have an excellent rapport with so many of my colleagues and it made the decision harder.
This is the longest stint in my career. Whenever I meet my friends, they always ask me how I am staying with CaratLane for such a long time. My answer is usually, it's challenging, and am getting to learn a lot. In the last few months, I realized I have become stagnant and there is no guidance on my career path. I was not enjoying my work and it's become too much of a comfort zone.
So decided to explore the opportunities outside. Loved most of the interview processes as it was challenging and every interview was completely different. I usually end up getting a curveball in almost every interview and am becoming an expert in dodging it :). Excellent learning experience.
I am yet to decide where I am going to join. Excited to face a new set of challenges in the new workplace. And hoping for another enriching year.
