2023 - A year of fulfilment, failures, frustrations, and of course fun!

2023 has been yet another finest years of my life both personally and professionally. I would like to sincerely thank god for blessing better health to everyone around me and also me.

Thank You God, You have been kind to everyone I loved & cared deeply.

The Good Parts

Here are some of the best moments of 2023 chronologically.

Jan 2023

1. National Faculty Development (FDP) Program: Got an amazing opportunity to help Professors & lectures of India's finest colleges & helped them upskill on topics like Web Development with React & Infrastructure as Code.

   1. Some stats from my program:

      1. Overall 5 hours of mentoring.

      2. Close to 100+ professors/lecturers attended the sessions across India.

      3. Rated my session as 4.4 out of 5.

      4. Shout out to my teachers for this opportunity. Without their support, this was not possible.

2. Daughter's Annual Day

   1. Speaking in front of a crowd of over 1000 parents/teachers and other students is not a small feat for a 5 yr old.

   2. Yet the little one aced it. It was the biggest stage she had faced up to this point and she aced it with grace & confidence. Something I can never forget in my life - Jan , 22nd 2023.

Feb 2023

1. Wins brings wins

   1. After my successful FDP in Jan, I got invites from few other colleges to speak to their students on various topics.

      1. Acharya Institute

      2. Dayanand Sagar College

      3. Christ College

1. Found a mentor/friend in Rajesh Pawar.

   1. Though we had connected On Jan 9th, Thanks to Twitter/X - We started speaking more in Feb. I still remember, the day I called him, he was appointed as the CEO of Kasmo. Thanks Rajesh for everything.

2. Discovered a mentor/friend in Radhika

   1. Though we were connected from much earlier ( Thanks Instagram), Radhika has been a great friend/mentor and has been a great support for all of my initiatives. Thanks Radhika for everything.

3. SuperGrads Cohort 4 kicked off.

   1. Had the pleasure of meeting the RRR of Cohort 4. (Rakesh, Rakshitha and one more Rakesh) and Aniket. Looking back, I had the change to mentor some awesome students.

   2. Helped more students get better with JS and React - For free, as always.

Now that I think about it, My Feb 2023 was all about friends who names started with R (Co incidence ? Surely No..)

March 2023

Actually & Finally started my LinkedIn Journey - My first ever post on LinkedIn happened in March 2023. I still do not know why I did not use this platform for the last 17 or so years.

April 2023

1. An unforgettable trip to Davanagere

   1. A 21 hour trip filled with Fun, Mirchi, Mandakki & Benne Dose(local food).

   2. Helped Kasmo with hiring from BIET College, Davanagere.

2. First Fresher hired at Techvito

   1. One of my dream (of giving an opportunity for a fresher to prove their skills) came true. Later in the year, it happened again.

1. Upskilling our Team

   1. Did a session about "How to think while writing automation tests" to my team at Techvito. One of the many sessions that happened though out the year.

2. Thank you MMS

   1. Mrs Radhika & Mrs. Nandini from MMS came forward and donated books for my NGO. Grateful to have met them.

May 2023

1. Code Sandbox Recognition

   1. For the work I do with SuperGrads, CodeSandbox recognized my efforts. The icing on the cake for me was to be mentioned alongside the legendary Indie Hacker and Educator Josh W. Comeau. This was more than a dream come true.

2. Lunch and Learn Session at Techvito around various topics like:

   1. Brand Building

   2. Leadership

   3. Time Management &

   4. Hobbies

3. May means Happy Birthday Techvito.

   1. Pizza for folks working Remote

   2. Lunch + Bowling for the Bengaluru team.

Unforgettable + Grateful to God.

June 2023

1. Hashnode Meetup

   1. My first ever meetup post covid

   2. Made more friends.

2. Samarpane NGO

   1. My NGO where my friends & myself help underprivileged children get access to better education. Some stats from 2023:

      1. Books donated worth more than Rs. 2,00,000 to multiple schools across Karnataka.

      2. Enabled Yoga for a school.

      3. Raised 100+ used books to donate to government school libraries across Karnataka.

      4. I would like to take a moment here and thank all our donors who support our work. You are all the unsung heroes.

3. SuperGrads Cohort 5 also kick started in style.

July 2023

1. The highlight of the month has to be meeting Jyothi Noronha & meeting my SuperGrads Students.

2. More NGO activities & fun at work.

3. And Inspiring more students.

Aug & Sept 2023

1. Marked a full year without a full time job.

2. First time in my life, I got an Income tax refund. Leaving a full time job has its after effects :-)

3. Daughter's Song Performance.

4. Mostly networking with friends and seniors.

5. Fun events at work like

   1. Book day

   2. Coffee with Techvito etc.

Oct 2023

1. The family trip after 2 years

2. The birthdays, Festivals & celebrations.

3. LinkedIn Recognition as Top LinkedIn Voice for Software Development

Nov 2023

1. More Birthdays, Festivals and celebrations.

2. Company Insurance Finally - What a milestone!

Dec 2023

Last month of the year was actually the most exciting one [ most probably because I'm writing all this blog on December 31st, 2023 :) ]

1. Opened our first office. Back to back Milestones.

2. Wore formals for the first time since March 20, 2020.

3. Took a Lunch box to work. Again first time since March 20, 2020.

4. Went on my first Bike Ride. First time in my life.

5. Reviewed about 1000+ resumes for internship.

6. Rolled out the first experimental product - The Learning Buddy

Well, this is not an exhaustive list. Just those things which came to mind over the last few hours :)

The "Not so good" parts

While the above captures the best parts of the year, it was not always this nice. There were so many failures, missed opportunities, consistent follow-ups without response, one-way help seekers ( where people need you for something & disappear later) and whatnot. I do not regret anything. I sincerely Thank God for the experience.

23 lessons from 2023

1. Family is all you will have/need. Rest everything will change.

2. Enjoy what you have today, tomorrow will be different.

3. Life is a lot unfair; Get used to it or do something about it (Hint: Choose the later).

4. Building a life is more important than building a lifestyle.

   1. Network more, Help more, Share more.

   2. "Earn" things that money cannot buy.

5. Motivation is pure BS. If you need something, go get it.

6. Put in "work". It beats everything almost every time. I work all 7 days.

7. Cut losses early - Incorrect Hire, bad decision or bad client. Cut, Cut, Cut.

8. People Lie. What they do not know is, I recognize a lie right away, lol!

9. There is a huge difference working with Smart & Passionate ppl vs others.

10. Entrepreneurship is a lot harder than one can image. Very few will care about "you". Skins' getting thicker every passing day.

11. Being a "leader" is super hard, being a "boss" is easy.

12. Do not hire anyone just because you can. Interview, Interview & Interview.

13. Finding energy after a hectic day is not at all easy.

14. People take your time for granted & hardly gets bothered about it.

15. Days where I wish I had "screamed".. but remained calm.

16. Days where I overate due to unmanage-able stress.

17. Weeks of almost zero physical exercise, perks of being an Entrepreneur.

18. Listen to ppl who have been there & done that.

19. Difference between dreamers & Doers is "commitment".

20. Believe in God. God has better plans when things do not work out as expected.

21. Never expect everything to go your way. "Life" happens quite often, almost daily.

22. No one cares unless you provide value/benefit.

23. Share what you learn without expectations. This is the formula to sleep well.

Future

Whatever 2024 brings, it will be another exciting year surely. Let's trust in God. Wishing you all a very happy 2024.