It’s the season for ‘Year Rewinds‘, ‘Annual Reflections‘, and ‘Goal Setting.‘
I thought about how I should structure this article. Should I share and review the goals I set in 2021? Should I simply recap major events for me this year? Or perhaps I should focus on the future and talk about goal setting.
I decided against any single option. Instead, I will tell the story of how Deep dives was started, share lessons from this year, and finally talk about what 2022 may hold for us.
But first, we need to address the elephant in the room that is 2021.
2021 stirs mixed feelings for different people. On one hand, many have experienced the loss of friends and loved ones in 2021, maybe even more than in 2020. This adds a somber undertone to 2021.
In the last few weeks, I have seen many posts saying that it’s fine not to reflect on the past year especially if it held a lot of pain for you.
While that is advised for the specified audience, there are many of us who had a better but lukewarm 2021. For many of us, though 2021 brought Omicron, it was also the year of vaccinations!
So in my recap, I won’t pretend 2021 was a horror story and I won’t pretend it was a bed of roses either.
The Deep Dives Story
This story starts with an ethics class I took at the end of 2020. I did not enjoy the class content very much but the Professor was kind and seemed to care about her students.
As part of the Engineering Ethics class, you have to submit a final paper communicating to the public (so similar to an article) on an ethical issue in technology today. This was tough.
Ordinarily, this shouldn’t be terribly difficult. But 2020 should have taught you to question the word ‘ordinary‘. In fact, the Covid pandemic was the reason I was taking classes with a spotty internet connection in a city in a time zone 6 hours ahead — Lagos. I was also with my siblings after almost a year away from home.
Though the situations were not ideal, I still submitted my paper on time, right? No. I actually could not make the deadline, so I asked for an extension.
This is one of the lessons I’ve learned this year:
Deadlines and rules aren’t always rigid. Sometimes they exist simply to inspire the right actions.
I postponed this paper to test my interest. I knew I would be unmotivated to write about a topic I didn’t care about. So, the question became whether, with proper research on a topic I liked, I would enjoy ‘Communicating with the Public‘.
Eventually, I finished the paper by Spring break (mostly because of procrastination) and it wasn’t even an impressive paper! But it gave birth to the first of a series of posts — Deep Dives.
It’s somewhere between comical and ridiculous that this newsletter started from a paper that was more than 3 months late. But it has since grown. I have since grown.
(Brief) Takeaways from 2021
Starting up momentum is difficult
It was really difficult to write the first few posts. My writing was sloppy. My sentences were too long. I barely understood the concept of paragraphs, and I hadn’t discovered the power of editing.
Fast forward 6 months and writing a blog post feels like something I just do every week.
Efforts compound. Choose a focus.
We learn more than we realize from school
At the end of both semesters this year, I felt a distinct increase in my confidence in solving problems. Many people, including myself, frequently highlight the inefficiencies of higher education systems.
However, I reinforced that I could dedicate myself to a pursuit (some of my classes) and see it through in over 4 months. I practiced making deadlines. I practiced balancing social life, work, and sleep. I practiced working with others. I also discovered I could learn/cram a semester’s content in 2 days when preparing for some finals.
Oh, and I learned a lot of actual content in my classes!
When you change your environment, revise the system for your habits
I fell for this over and over again in 2021 so I know there’s no helpful way to sugarcoat it.
Be deliberate about predicting the habits you will struggle with when you change environments!
How?
Step 1: Choose up to 3 habits (no more!) that you suspect you may struggle with later (during the semester).
Ex: You are at home for the holidays and can take your time at the gym for hours but you will face many more time constraints when you’re back at school.
Step 2: Identify the step of the Habit Loop that you may struggle with
Ex: The action of cooking (and not eating out) in your parents’ home may be easier since you have many ingredients and even helping hands, but you don’t have groceries at school (because you were away for weeks) and your roommates don’t cook.
Step 3: Fix that step with a plan while you have time!
Ex: If you’re struggling with a cue, you can set up Google Calendar events as reminders. If it is making the action easier, is there an order you should place ahead now?
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The Year Ahead - 2022
I was hesitant to set specific goals going into 2021 and I feel the same way now. It feels as though the past couple of years has required us to be ‘nimble but robust‘.
This meant choosing what is important (and implicitly choosing what is not). Writing is important. I want to put more time into Deep Dives. But I’d be lying if I said I knew what that entails.
More posts? Guest posts? Writing on other platforms? A podcast? A book?
Part of the work is figuring these out! And I am very grateful to everyone who has supported me on this journey. Yes, that includes you reading right now.
Every time I write, it’s with the hope that just a few people can find it as one of the most important reads of their week. Though I am sometimes slow to respond, It brings me a lot of joy to hear your reactions and support!
I wish you a healthy and happy 2022!