This yearly review is going to be a little different, there's a lot to talk about the past, and then some stuff on the future.

Personally

I'm doing as well, if not better than I was personally last year. My mental health situation is in better shape and something I look forward to continue to nurture and grow in 2025.

Really not much here to write about, other than my dating life is going well too. That's a novelty for me, haven't ever had one before because I always prioritized my work over personal stuff. That changed in June and has been going mostly well for me.

Professionally

Whew, buckle up. January - August 7th I worked for my previous employer where I worked for over 5 years, Podia. In August I was laid off and spent all of August and the first week of September looking for a new job. Layoffs are never easy, for people being laid off and those who have to give the news, and I won't lie it hurt for a long time I loved what I did at that job. But at the same time, I can either move past it or get hung up on it if I let myself. I chose to move on and make the best of the situation. I was discussing this with my therapist recently and she remarked on how level I remained even in the face of the difficulties I was going through. I think she expected me one day to come in and be crushed by it all.

Hindsight being what it was, ultimately I'm choosing to believe it was a good thing for me, I was pretty burnt out (to no ones fault but my own), and my productivity at work was not what it once was. That's my one regret and wish I could have a do-over. I wish I could have given that a different ending than the one that got written for it. I'd still love to work with that team again one day, but for now I'm focused on what the next five years of my career looks like.

It is so easy to want to play the what-if game when you get laid off. What if I would have just done better work in the last 6 months leading up to it? What if I would have communicated differently? What if... if you're in those shoes, try not to let yourself sit there too long.

Anyway, back to my new job. I joined a company called Soundstripe, we do music licensing and make it easy for people to get royalty-free music. It's really fun and has brought back a lot of fun to coding for me. I got an offer on a Thursday, and by the following Monday I started. I was ready to get back to work. Huge thanks to them, for onboarding me so quickly too, it really helped take a lot of the stress off me when I was laid off and looking.

With everything that happened, I still had to give a talk at RailsWorld 2024 in Toronto, Canada, this was in the midst of me being laid off, looking for a job, finding a job, starting and then a few weeks later giving my talk. I spoke about some things that I was working on at Podia, a little awkward but made the best of it and went over well.

August 2024 was the hardest month of my life but I survived and I'm glad I'm on the other side of it.

My failure to launch and deliver a full course

I failed this year to deliver my Learn Hotwire by Building a Calendar course. It's a huge disappointment for me to admit this, but it's the truth. I bit off more than I could chew, promised something, took money and then couldn't deliver. I'm of course worried about the damage this has done to my name and reputation, but I'm doing what I can to make it right for those who trusted me with their money. It's a painful lesson to learn, but I've learned it early in life, so that's a win I suppose.

2025 plans

I'm doubling down on one sole mission for 2025, make great content to share with the community. Truthfully I'm afraid to try charging for content again, and I won't be taking pre-orders for an unfinished course/book/whatnot again any time soon.

I've finally dusted off and done something with my https://learnrails.dev domain, so far publishing five guides in just the first few days of 2025. I hope to have dozens of high quality guides on there by the end of the year.

I'm still not sure if there's a book I want to work on, or just make some killer guides. Either way, should be a win for the community one day when there's a good amount of content there.

Focusing in one a few things

I was too unfocused last year, so I'm channeling my energy into a few things (LearnRails.dev, my personal life, work), so I can give each of them the attention they deserve.

See you next year

See you for next years rendition of this year in review.