2020 Year in Review
After numerous existential crises, I’ve realized the core driver of all my actions is the desire to live a “fulfilling” life. But I’ve often struggled with the concept — what is fulfillment? What does it mean to live a happy and fulfilled life? I assume this answer will change over the years, but in 2021:
- I want to invest time in exploring and learning about things that interest me (curiosity)
- I want to work towards being best at my chosen craft (competition)
- I want to contribute back to my community and empower others to achieve their dreams (community)
Why does being the “best” at my craft matter?
“Always try to improve on yourself. Always strive to elevate your craft.” — Yoshikazu Ono, Jiro Dreams of Sushi
In a recent conversation with Jason (Seetoh Fam!) at Attaboy, I realized that I’ve been lucky enough to find a career as a Product Manager that I could envision myself doing for the majority of my life — this is my chosen craft. Developing a strategy to solve a certain problem, and then mobilizing a team to actually execute on the plan is not only work that fits my skill set, but also something I enjoy doing.
What it means to be the “best” is extremely subjective, but the definition matters less than the purpose — as a North Star to push myself to constantly do better. Beyond just a self imposed goal to work towards, being the “best” is also important because:
It’s beneficial to society: We need people who are passionate and good at what they do. Society is filled with tough problems that need solutions, and breakthroughs can only come from dedication.
It grants freedom: When you’re great at something, your skills are desirable and people will want to work with you. As I grew in my career and got better at my job, many doors opened up for me that previously weren’t even an option.
It encourages growth: Aiming to be great squashes complacency and pushes you to reflect on how you can continue to do better. One of the most satisfying feelings in life is looking back and seeing the consistent growth you experience as you hone your abilities.
In 2021, I want to focus on two themes:
- Sharpen communication skills: As I begin to present more and more to senior leadership or work with larger teams, being able to clearly communicate key takeaways and have effective discussions about differing viewpoints will be essential to me becoming a better leader.
2020 Lookback
I had two themes in 2020: focus and rejecting convenience. I think I’ve made big strides towards prioritizing what matters each week and making sure I focus on the “big rocks”, but compartmentalizing work/life through weekend personal time has been difficult. COVID was also disastrous towards my goal of reducing takeout/single use plastic, and not having an office cafe has made me a solid weekly active user of DoorDash.
However, I progressed in many of the key projects I laid out. Because I lived in a mini “hacker house” for half of the year, I cooked group dinners multiple times a week to pass the time and have gotten more confident in the kitchen. Projects at work have given me consistent opportunities to present in big forums and improve my presence. SQL and Statistics were harder to work on, but I spent many hours taking classes online, and feel like I know enough to be useful.
On to 2021
As the world slowly shifts back to a post-pandemic world, I’m excited to see what 2021 brings. Regardless of what happens, I hope to take each experience as an opportunity to learn, and continue to do things that make me happy. I wanted to close this year in review with an excerpt from the poem Ithaka by Constantine Cavafy:
Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you’re destined for.
But don’t hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you’re old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.