As the year comes to an end the most common sentence is: "Time flies". And that's absolutely true, especially this year.

Before beginning to write this article my first thought was: "What did I do this year?". I did nothing. We were under lockdown for half of the year, and the rest of it we were walking around with masks, without hugging our friends and colleagues, but when I try to think deeper, this year wasn't so bad at all. I accomplished a lot of things that I'm proud of and are worth mentioning. Also, there are some failures as well, which I will mention too because I'm driven by the phrase: "If you are afraid of your own failures you will never succeed."

In this article, I decided to put down all of my achievements and failures in 2020 and make a short plan of what I want to achieve in 2021.

Achievements 🏆

I started the year with a full focus on DevOps. I got a chance to be part of a great team in my company where I learned a lot, and after a few months of working, I fell confident with Linux servers, Dockerization and etc.

In the meantime, I started working on a new project for a big client. The project had an old codebase, but I had a chance to be part of a really good team which made me learn a lot from them and from the project itself.

I started improving my skills in React during the summer, which was one of my goals for this year. After the project with the old codebase, I started developing our company's website using Next.js, Strapi, and Tailwind CSS. That was a great experience for me, and big thanks to Lazar Nikolov for introducing Tailwind and Next.js to me. 🤩

In September I began working for a new client, but now with a different role: UI Automation Testing. That was a challenging job for me, but I like challenges. So, I gave my 100% to learn the technology, satisfied my client and also added another skill to my resume. 🧐 🤓

I finally started eating normally. Previously, I had one or two big meals and practiced a lot of unhealthy habits. Now I got three main meals and two snacks. That was a long and difficult process for me, but I did it. 👏

Some of you might know that I've been training CrossFit for almost 2 years. I'm really happy that I improved some of the techniques and skill that I didn't have before. Also, after my eating habits stabilised, I got more strength and power. I made a lot of PR (personal records) in a lot of exercises like Deadlift, Front/Back Squats, Power Clean, etc.

I also got my first tattoo! 😇

Failures 👎

I love reading. I like to read non career related books, that's how I relax myself. My plan for this year was to read 10/12 (which means 1 book per month) but I failed. I've read only 6. 😢

I was planning to go snowboarding in the Alps with my girlfriend, but the virus made us stop traveling. I'm hoping next year I won't have any blockers to achieve this.

I also wanted to get into Kubernetes this year, but I never actually started.

2021 Goals

My plans for 2021 are to accomplish all of my goals that I failed this year. I want to read more, at least 5 career related books and 10 non-career related.

I want to reach at least a beginner level of Kubernetes, and improve my React proficiency.

I'd also like to travel more and visit the Alps (this is a must 😂).

And that's it. Happy holidays! Enjoy these lovely days 🎉.