I was reading a blog by James
Clear and got an insightful idea of looking back at the previous year to gauge myself
at various parameters and plan for the coming year for the betterment of myself
personally and professionally.
So before the New Year starts and
I get busy in party bash on the New Year eve to welcome 2014, it’s an attempt
to understand and analyse my previous year. It is not a resolution list but a
review of what went well, what could have gone well and what am I working
towards.
In the past few years, the little
wisdom I have gained is that your life is your own, you are not bound with the
way you see others progress and fail, but you have to measure your own success competing
with yourself and learning from your failures. The up and downs become so
critical in transforming you in a better person. I know this is my personal process and it’s
not about comparing how much or how little I did to someone. It’s entirely
about my actions and what I want to do to myself.
So…Are my choices letting me live
the life I want to live? Let me analyse.
What went well? (My Highlights)
Marriage – 2013, gave me the best life partner I could ever think
of. I got to marry a wonderful person I have known and loved for more than 3
years. I see in him a great partner and a caring and loving husband. I am grateful
that I could marry him against all odds. I am proud to say that though its only
7 months that I am married but I am very happily married and enjoying every bit
of this relationship. Being in this relation has taught me so many things and
made me aware of a different Amrita which I was totally unaware of.
Professionally – I started with “work from home” model. In May 2013, we setup the office and hired a team.
It’s going great. Talk about numbers, the first hire in this year happened in
March and then a few in the following months. I plan to work rigorously on sales
target this year.
Swimming – I learnt swimming, something that I have been wanting to
do all my life. My fear of water is still persistent though. I plan to get
regular in swimming and overcome this fear eventually.
Weight loss – I managed to shed considerable weight in the
beginning of the year, thanks to various emotions and mind strength for being
regular in my workouts. Though I got distracted later and I plan to continue
with some good habits that I acquired in the process of losing weight.
Travel – Starting from end of 2013, I travelled to Ooty, Mudumalai,
Kunnor (Tamilnadu), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) (twice), Tirupati
(Andhra Pradesh), Thekkady (Kerala), Mumbai (Maharashtra) which makes it 5
states. I wish to travel to see new places in coming years of my life.
Mindset – I have been achievement focussed all through my life and
gave little importance to the process of achieving something, but in the last
year I realised that the great success lies in the process and not always at
the target. I learnt that it’s important that I keep doing and moving in spite
of number of failures.
What didn’t go so well in 2013?
Reading – I haven’t been reading enough lately. I can think of only
two books in the entire year that I read which makes me embarrassed. I plan to
read at least 2 pages everyday so that I can count on the enormous knowledge
existing whether in books or online materials.
Writing – I haven’t really blogged this year and I better get back
to my writing. May be this review becomes the beginning of getting back and writing
more often.
Exercise – Though the beginning and mid of the year was remarkable,
I lagged behind in being regular for exercising and maintaining a routine of
workout. I must do a 20 minutes workout, 5 days a week for this year.
Visiting my parents – Though I call them every day but visiting
them personally is my top priority in the initial months of this year. I could
not make it to visit my parents in Ranchi, now that they shift to Delhi, I must
make a visit to them at the earliest as that would be my first ever visit after
marriage.
Photography - I’m not sure that I got better as a photographer. The
only way to get better at the craft is to do the craft, and I spent too much
time doing other things. I’d like to fix this in 2014 by scheduling a handful
of photography trips and start to write a few tutorials as blogs for my own
interest.
Delegation and Management – I have been doing an okay job when it
comes to managing my team. This year my priority will be to delegate more work
to make my team efficient and perfect in what we do. Building a team of people
who believe in the mission is something I want to become better at in 2014.
What am I working towards?
1) Habits
– I understand that all strength lies in developing the right habits. Be it
following a routine or being honest. So, my top priority will be to set right
habits like drinking more water, eating healthy, spending and investing wisely,
regular workouts, no procrastination etc.
2) Experience
– I look forward to experiencing life in small moments, with loved ones,
without being judgemental.
3) Strength
and confidence – Pushing yourself to extremes helps you raise your strength and
brings great confidence. I will work on being more active physically, setting
new targets and achieving them gives me great satisfaction.
4) Service
and Teamwork - Regardless of what projects I work on in the future, I hope they
will serve others and focus on a cause that is bigger than myself.
I have many things to learn and
these are just a few of the things that I would want to inculcate this year. I
hope the New Year brings a lot of health, wealth and wisdom to all.
Goodbye 2013 and welcome 2014.
