2021 Year in Review
December 31, 2021
Finally finishing this, the first week into 2022 should give you an idea of how 2021 ended and 2022 has started for me.
This is one of those times where at this point in the year, I’m frankly exhausted and 2022 is coming fast. I normally like to go into the new year feeling rested and at this point I’m not thinking that’s going to happen. 😅
So without further chatter, let’s take a look at some of the highlights from 2021.
Highlights
- Started my legal name change process! At the close of the year, most of my documents that can be updated have been updated!
- Promoted at work to Senior Product Developer
- Learned I have ADHD, and started taking medication for it.
- Launched my second course, Learn Hotwire by Building a Forum
- Shutdown AppLocale.dev, as it wasn’t justifying the time.
Professional
Professionally it was a great year, where I was able to contribute to a number of projects at work both updating old code and introducing new features for customers at work.
In July I was promoted to Senior Product Developer at work 🎉.
In not so great-news, the end of the year culminated with me recognizing that I was severely burned out.
In July I was promoted to Senior Product Developer at work 🎉.
In not so great-news, the end of the year culminated with me recognizing that I was severely burned out.
Personal
This year I wrote one of the most personal blog posts I’ve ever written “Becoming the main character in my story”. Which was about year one of my transition. Building off of that, in November I started the legal process for changing my name and at the end of the year was pushing through my updated legal name in all the various spots I need to have them update it at. Finally, as of December 30th, 2021… I had a temporary license with my updated information 🎉.
Felt good to leave my deadname in 2021.
Personally, I struggled with my depression, anxiety and other mental health issues. I did learn I was ADHD and started taking medication for it this year. One thing that fell off in the middle of this year was I stopped prioritizing my health and I stopped making time for working out and putting myself first.
Felt good to leave my deadname in 2021.
Personally, I struggled with my depression, anxiety and other mental health issues. I did learn I was ADHD and started taking medication for it this year. One thing that fell off in the middle of this year was I stopped prioritizing my health and I stopped making time for working out and putting myself first.
Side projects
Two updates here;
- Shutting down AppLocale.dev - I plan on writing a blog post or two on the interesting technical bits out of it, but I shut it down this year finally after letting it wither on the vine.
- Launched my second course, Learn Hotwire by Building a Forum at the start of the year, shortly after ‘Hotwire’ big Turbo updates came out. It massively exceeded my expectations with over 200 copies sold. Thanks for all of the support if you supported me.
2022 Initial Plans
In 2022 I’m focusing on a few things;
Boundaries - No slack or work on my phone or personal devices. Opsgenie can call or alert me if I need to get on, otherwise Work will wait. Separating my work and personal desk setups as well, which means I’ll likely need to pick up another mic and light setups but those can come later.
Health - I don’t know if it’s been the 2 years of the ongoing pandemic, but my mental and physical health are in some of the worst shape they’ve been in for years. That has to change.
Boundaries - No slack or work on my phone or personal devices. Opsgenie can call or alert me if I need to get on, otherwise Work will wait. Separating my work and personal desk setups as well, which means I’ll likely need to pick up another mic and light setups but those can come later.
Health - I don’t know if it’s been the 2 years of the ongoing pandemic, but my mental and physical health are in some of the worst shape they’ve been in for years. That has to change.