⛰️2024 Year Reflection

First and foremost, Happy New Year! I planned to publish this on the last day of 2024, but eventually forgot, so here we are.

Every year I have a self refection written on my blog, mainly for personal growth and publishing it online for accountability. Sometimes I’d read my previous posts and I can’t believe I wrote them. It feels like I’m reading someone else’s thoughts but really they’re actually my own.

I wish I blogged more with technical stuff but I have been pretty busy with life in general and finding a blogging habit is becoming a bit more difficult with a full time job.

What I have accomplished and highlights of my year

Went to the gym 105 times
I went to Physiotherapy to fix my back and improve posture health
After 12 years of Android, I have switched to iOS and completely entered the Apple walled garden. Life is too short not to try new things, and it seems like I might stay on this side permanently
Completed my reading challenge of 7 books this year - reading a total of 10 books
I took care of my mental health as well as my physical wellbeing which is one of the most important things I value at the current moment

What I want to accomplish in 2025

Earn a promotion to Senior Developer through my efforts and growth from 2024
Increase my reading challenge to 10 books from 7
Do the Greatfrontend dev challenges weekly, starting in the summer - this will keep my programming skills sharp and keep my fundamentals in programming in check.
- The ability to dive deep will be the most valuable skill, especially with AI, so I’d like to train my ability to do focused work as much as possible and be prepared to utilize AI as a productivity driver
Discover new hobbies!

Highlights

Coffee

I became super addicted to coffee. I just love it. It makes me feel alive
I got my own Hario filter and I've been grinding coffee beans

Gym

Integrated a very effective cardio workout into my weight lifting which is a simple 30 minute 15% incline at 2.7mph which burns around ~350 calories, but I’m not losing weight because my diet is absolutely atrocious. At this point, I only go to the gym to make sure I’m not gaining excessive weight 😂
Strength gains across the board and maintaining my strength for my overall health. I’m not looking to gain anymore weight as I’d like to stay on the slimmer side

The Apple Experience

I noticed that iOS apps still receives first class citizen treatment, its just the nature of Android and how many operating systems the apps need to support
- Application support from iOS is still unmatched compared to Android
I have been enjoying the seamless integration with all their accessories, including their watch apps, Airpods and AppleTV as well as the premium hardware

Career

I have been taking a lot more responsibilities, one including being a mentor for our interns
Mentoring in tech has been a significant experience for me. Having previously mentored students in academia, I’ve found it both similar and distinct from real-world mentoring, especially in the tech industry
Being around lots of senior developers made me realize that I could also be a senior dev by inhibiting traits of others, it also forces me to grow out of my comfort zone

Although this year has been relatively quiet, work kept me quite busy. I didn't take any vacations, focusing instead on budgeting for some major expenses coming up in 2025. I’m hoping my efforts in improving at work will earn me a promotion this year in 2025. It will be one of the biggest milestones to achieve after becoming a developer 5 years ago.