It’s Christmas eve, and I just got off a long mail negotiating the final payment with my employer, as I am let go.
Before I started this annual review, I checked the title of the one I crafted last year. It was – laughingly – let me get prepared.
Well, prepared, ready, those are not feelings, and they are decisions.
What have I done this year to get myself prepared? I prepared for finding a new job, and crafted my resume, and it got bounced fairly quickly.
I prepared for moving; and I was forced to find a new place, or more accurately, offered a new place.
I prepared for the contract renewal, and then book a flight home → well, what to prepare for this?
I prepared to get a new car; and yes, I planned it for a long time, comparing models, test driving, talking with dealers etc. And nothing happens.
I want to change to a new job, and guess what? Nothing happens. Until the email came.
Readiness is a decision, once I make it, I start it.
Let me think –
January, I was too focused on the Advent of Code 2024 → I did not prepare, and just do it
February, got stuck with all the vintage iPod repair, to bring them back to life → I don’t know if I would be able to, but eventually, I was able to
March, walked from White Plains to Grand Central. → It was just a feeling that I need to do it. And then I did.
April, moving → offered a nice place by a family friend, and then just moved, well done.
May, no hot water → taking cold shower, flinching, hard at beginning, then, did it.
June, running for a half marathon, and another 10k the second day, taking cold showers, driving to Albany → no readiness, no preparedness, just did it.
July, just book the flight and go → I did it, without preparation, without being “ready”
August, what the heck did I do in August? Cannot even remember one → Was I preparing something? If I did, I already forgot.
September, nice weather, hiking during labor day → just do it.
October, driving to boston, rock climbing → kind of being offered to, but nope, I just wanted to do it.
November, August daycare Thanksgiving dinner, signed up for the steamed bean → I had no idea how to cook that, but i still did. Just do it.
December, apply for UK visa, bring August to UN, farewell speech with UN → I did not prepare for any of that, just do it.
There’s no safenet. What I deem ready may not be the true ready. What I think was safe is only subjective.
In hindsight, what have I done right? Shift the mindset – I am making decisions for the future, not for the past.
Like when I started talking to people, I don’t think about how I behaved in the past, just to focus on the current. And what I decide now is the most important things going forward.
Like learning Kafka – I don’t care what I knew in the past, just treat it as a new tool, and start implementing the pipeline.
Like working on the prospero project – Be humble on the process, it’s not like I know everything in SQL, I need to stay foolish.
It’s all about perspective. Once I change my perspective, those things seem easy, natural and actually help me to learn.
Like stepping out of the comfort zone. Like mentoring a new teammate, listing down everything I have done in the past, and imparting the knowledge to others, it’s not only giving the knowledge to others, but also a good way to refresh my knowledge on the things I worked on, to see them from a different angle.
So, yeah, it’s not like I am writing this doc , and all of a sudden my action paradigm is going to shift or my thoughts would be different. Maybe for one or two hours, but on the long run, still, I am me. Habit does not start from now. Action starts from now.
So, what am I tagging for 2026?
2026, action.
As in previous yearly review, some nice photos for 2025 –
