I have always taken the time to analyze my thoughts and reflect on the past year. Since last year, I started writing about my reflections on the past year.
Taking time to assess my yearly objectives, measure my progress, and analyze my time management has become a valuable practice. This exercise consistently brings a fresh perspective for the upcoming year. There’s an inherent thrill in both maintaining ongoing projects and embarking on new ventures - it creates anticipation for what’s ahead. The process of documenting these thoughts reveals areas needing adjustment and helps identify necessary changes in direction. Moreover, it provides an opportunity to celebrate successes, pinpoint areas for growth, and acknowledge the many blessings for which I’m appreciative.
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I wrote about my reflections for the year 2023
🙏🏼 Gratitude
This year has been truly remarkable, filled with numerous transformations both professionally and personally. I find myself deeply thankful for the divine blessings that have provided me with abundant vitality, wellness, and means to accomplish my goals. My heart overflows with gratitude for my family’s unwavering support and enthusiasm towards my endeavors and daily practices. Having my mother’s presence in my home and the endless love and backing from my sister and her wonderful family fills me with immense joy.
My professional journey has been equally enriching, marked by the incredible support from both my leadership and team members. Despite facing significant workplace challenges, our collective spirit of determination, resilience, and collaborative effort has seen us through. Looking back, I feel an immense sense of pride in our team’s achievements, especially considering the pressures we faced and the organizational changes we navigated.
💼 Work
It was a bittersweet year at work. I was promoted and led a large team at the beginning of the year, and I was then let go at the end of the year, as part of a reduction in the workforce. Losing your job is never easy, but I always believed that “what happens, happens for good”. I am fortunate to have a loving and supportive family that has made it easier to traverse through the transition.
🙋🏼 Personal
- 📖 Reading:
- Goal of 48 books, read 32 books
- I wrote about my 2024 reading challenge and how to develop a reading habit
- ✍🏼 Writing:
- Goal of 12 articles, wrote 7 articles
- Read my articles at rupakganguly.com
- 📝 Journaling:
- Started gratitude journaling this year
- ✉️ Newsletter:
- 2nd year for my newsletter
- Goal was 12 posts, wrote 8 posts
- Subscribers: From 13 to 26 (that is a 50% increase YoY)
- I would love your support. If you like to get my posts in your inbox, subscribe to my Explorations of Growth in Tech newsletter
- 🎸 Guitar:
- 3rd year in my learning journey
- Lacking cadence for daily practice
- I can play a few songs, but I am not performance-ready
- Stuck on C & G chord shifting
- 🎾 Sports:
- Golf: 2nd year, played sparingly this year, still learning. Need to play more in 2025
- Tennis: 18th year, practiced twice a week, played 2 ALTA leagues, and played my first Indian league (PSO)
- 🧘🏼 Meditation:
- 4th year in my journey
- 10-15 mins every day, missed a few days
- Max. streak of 91 days
- Started using InsightTimer app for meditation.
- 🇪🇸 Language:
- 1st year learning Spanish
- My wife and I, started learning Spanish via Duolingo. It is a lot of fun having weird and random conversations in Spanish 😊
- 🏋🏼 Exercise:
- Cardio: Walk/Run 3-5 miles, at least thrice a week, although inconsistently.
- Build muscle: Irregular visits to the gym. I hibernated starting in October and gained back some weight 😟 I need to get back to the gym again.
- 🍱 Food:
- Healthy home-cooked meals with occasional eating out
- Increase proteins, reduce carbs
- Reduced my coffee intake, and switched to decaf. Although, I got on a Cappuccino drinking spree in Nov and Dec.
- 🫀 Health:
- Manageable stress, overall healthy numbers, slight weight gain.
- Goal: Weight: 155 lbs, BMI < 20, and Body Fat < 15%
- ✈️ Travel:
- Europe Trip: An epic 30-day trip with the whole family to Europe. We covered UK (London, Oxford), France (Paris, Nice, Èze, Antibes, Cannes), Monaco (Monte Carlo), Switzerland (Basel, Interlaken), Czech Republic (Prague), Spain (Barcelona), Portugal (Lisbon, Algarve). We traveled in planes, trains, buses, taxis, and on foot.
- Houston Trip: Had a fun and relaxing trip to Houston. Met with all our old friends, had a nice dinner event, and stayed at one of our closest friends’ house.
- 💗 Friends:
- Occasional poker nights. Although I don’t gamble, I am there for the fun.
- 2 boys-only trips including one to Barbados to watch the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup
- Weekend, Christmas and New Year Eve’s parties with friends
- Overall feel blessed to have our close circle of friends
- 💝 Family:
- Son started working at Bank of America and moved to NY in July
- Daughter transferred to Georgia Tech from UGA and changed her major to Computational Media
- Empty nesters, more time for me & my wife to travel and enjoy quality time together, lot of Netflix, and some Pakistani web series.
- Mom is healthy, and overall, we feel blessed.
What were your reflections for this past year?
I would love to hear from you.
If you have questions or feedback, please let me know in the comments below.