Last year I wrote a 2022 -> 2023 post. Reading it again, I like the approach, even though a lot of things didn’t go as planned.
- I didn’t complete/share something I was working on and that was pretty important at the time
- I haven’t graduated yet
- I didn’t share enough raw content
- I did track my finances and adjusted my earning and spending habits accordingly
In last year’s piece, I talked about flexibility and open-mindedness. To stay true to those statements, I’m now saying I changed my mind, again. What I didn’t mention is that my idea at the time was to try and embark on a PhD journey after my MSc, but then completely dropped the idea and went for an industry career.
Research still seems very cool, especially around machine learning, but I’m now even more sure that I’ve gone down the right route.
Software engineering is an extremely exciting career, with great challenges and great rewards. After a few freelance jobs, I felt like the next best step in order to learn the most and to grow would’ve been to join big projects. So I did that.
So far the experience has been amazing! I’m surely going to report back on this in a while with more remarks. In the meantime, here’s a last-minute list (because everybody loves lists) of “goals” (they’re not strict goals, etc., you know it) for 2024. I’d like to:
- graduate (doing my best, almost there)
- make my work better and my impact higher each day
- write a lot
Even less than last year. I’m focusing a lot on removing instead of adding, and I have to admit it’s a joy every time I do that. Apart from item 1, I really value item 2 and especially 3, as I believe it to be the key to everything.
Writing is amazing, that’s no secret. I’ve tried several forms of expression - like video, which I still like but have to abandon for a lack of interest, time, and energy - but writing is what I go back to. Actually, “go back to” is a bit of an overstatement, since I never fully committed to it. I’ve always known I love it, yet I’ve never pursued it seriously. With the tools we have today (like Substack), I’m seeing wonderful creations and businesses being built. That’s at least worth a try.
I’m using Kleia to get the purest form of my creative outlet out (it’s heavily stained with tech and business anyway). Let’s see what we can do.
Besides publishing, writing is a useful tool for a lot of other aspects, like work - read this article from Ryan Peterman - and reflection. I’ve experimented with these forms already and I’m more than convinced of the power of jotting words down.
Hopefully, writing can bring more peace and better work down the line.
There’s a not-written last item: feeling. I don’t wanna say feeling more because I consider myself already pretty alert in this regard, but if you need it, add that word there.
These are difficult times, and besides all the major events happening, there is also an ongoing epidemic of overstimulation that does nothing but harm. In this scenario, I often find it hard to develop my own voice, and also to feel things, as they seem to vanish too rapidly.
Slowing down, unplugging, thinking, and feeling are top priorities.
I personally think that’s a much closer experience to real life than the one we’re all building online, with its speed and clutter.
An abundance of information remains a good thing and a nice opportunity, but counteracting the mess that’s on social media today has become even more important. Giving the importance they need to feelings is one of the main tools I plan to use for this.
I’m not gonna include moments I’ll remember from 2023 since I think these can become personal, but here are a few reminders that made me reflect lately:
- integrity is fragile, learning to build it should be a top priority
- death is close, we shouldn’t be paralyzed by its thought nor avoid thinking about it
- the world’s filled with opportunities and hopes, wanting to give up is understandable, but there’s always a way
- if we look for the intersection between our interests and others’, while being open about it, we get the best results
That’s all for now. Have some good time off, and here’s to more life in 2024.