The 2023 in review
Hi there!
It's been a full calendar year of writing! That's almost two years in total! I've started these writings on the end of January last year. And, as you may already know, it's cool to have a review of the year, so that is my plan with the last post of the year.
Disclaimer, it's not going to be like Spotify Wrapped, or what not, so don't expect much. I will reflect on the things I've written this year. What, how, and why. I'll also mention the things that inspired me, gave me ideas, and were wind at my back, so to say.
So, let's get started!
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Writings
Throughout the year, I've written about various topics. I was still in my exploratory phase, so I've started with couple of articles about Kubernetes. I've written the guide on how to get started with Kubernetes, ways to deploy it, and Kubernetes Ingress. How did that got in the list? Well, looking back now, I didn't understood how Kubernetes Ingress works, so I wanted to write about it. You might've discovered already, but the things I don't know is usually what I write about here. The one to point out from this list is the guide on where to start with Kubernetes.
Next in line were articles about learning and growth. These are the topics I go back to quite often. I like learning new stuff, and exploring ways to grow myself. I believe that writing helps me grow, hence the articles on various topics. Two that I would like to point out are about journaling and life-long learning, linked below.
I also wrote about climbing, so (I) you won't forget my hobby that is more than a hobby. There, I've touched one of the lessons I learned (and still learning) from climbing - patience!
Now that I look back, middle of the year was my patience-awareness period. I saw how I'm impatient, and wanted to do something about it. It's an everyday battle!
The topic I found the most interesting this year, and the one I will explore further is sustainability. I feel that by writing about this topic, I can do something that will be good for our planet. To learn, teach, and act.
As you may or may not know, the climate change is not just a today's problem, but the problem that will impact our future. The COP28 didn't go well, but that should not stop us from learning about new ways to help, and act. The articles I want to mention here are, well, all of them! If you have any time to spare during the holidays (and we all know we do), check them out!
Inspirations
This year, one of my articles was mentioned in the Green Software Foundation newsletter! The article shared is about Carbon Awareness. You can find it linked below.
And here is the screenshot where they mention my article under Latest Resources and Perspectives. I was THRILLED!
During this year, I started exploring Mastodon. I liked the idea of it, and got active there. I would highly recommend you to check it out, explore, and see for yourself! I think of this network as a social network for people. There are no ads, you follow what you want, see what you follow... Below is the link to my profile there.
One of my tut (post on Mastodon) was an inspiration for an article! It was about AI prompts and how we can start using them in a sensible way.
This tut was mentioned in an article from Friedemann Ebelt about AI and new AI legislation in the EU. I'm sharing below the original article in German.
Again, I was THRILLED!
Ideas
Here, I want to mention the things that impacted me the most - the books and articles I've read, podcasts I've listened... Sort of like the link dump of the things.
Podcasts
List of podcast episodes I've listened to is quite extensive, so I won't go into too much details. Here are the three podcast episodes that I've listened, re-listened, and re-re-listened.
A great episode on the science behind the growth mindset, and action points we all can take towards applying it!
One of the many episodes of Green Variables podcast. This one is a session where hosts answer questions and doubts about sustainability.
Last but not the least is the one about applying effort. It is about applying effort in climbing, but, I use it as a firecracker when I feel down about everything. It helps a lot!
Books
Somewhat like the podcast episodes, this year I've read quite a bunch of books. I want to mention only three (two plus a book series) that affected me the most.
Full of simple, hard, and honest truths about people, world, and life in general. I recommend it.
A great book about how to approach life when everything and everyone is aginst you. How to live through and persist!
This I've read in almost one breath, Era One, at least. Great books full of ups and downs, tragic deaths, and so forth. Even though the ending was a bit abstract for my taste, I find the Era One of the series great! We'll see how I feel about the Era Two in next years.
Articles
We live in the information age, thus, content is abundant. Keeping the list as short as possible, below are the three articles that affected me the most.
A practical guide on what to do when you have to make some choice. It's full of great advices!
How to actually read books and remember the most from them. Spoiler alert - note-taking!
This article motivated me to review my note-taking techniques. In the end, got me back to the handwritten notes.
Year in numbers
Now, to wrap up the story with some numbers. These are the following:
- 22 articles written (23, if we include this one).
- Somewhat similar number of posts on LinkedIn, where I shared the articles.
- More than 200 hours spent in exploring, reading, preparing, and writting. Then editing, and re-writting these articles.*
* 1 article x min 5h to write.
- More than 68000 post impressions just on LinkedIn!
My goals when I started all this were:
- Learn ✅
- Write ✅
- Stay curious ✅
- Publish every two weeks ✅❌
Reflecting to the goals, I've learned a lot! And I think the articles I've written so far can be a sort of a measure for that. And for the second goal as well, now that I'm mentioning. The range of topics I've covered this year can easily show me being curious. The fourth one is partially complete. Throughout the year, I wasn't always able to post once in a fortnight. I missed the schedule on couple of ocassions.
Continuing on, I'm keeping the above goals the same. The only thing I want to change is my approach to them. Write and learn in a more active way, and stay curious along the way.
Thank you for staying this long with me and see you next year!