December 2023 – Ihor Hadzera

This is the 4th edition of my annual recap/plan posts (the previous year can be found here) and every time I find it more valuable than before. In my case, that is a chance to sum up accomplishments – both planned and not planned, as well as draw at least the very raw draft of what I would like to do for the next 365 days. If you are reading that post and considering trying to create your plan – just do it and I promise that will become your good tradition as it happened to me.

This year was very exceptional for me from a few perspectives, but undoubtedly the most important highlight is the fact that I became the father of a little beautiful Antonina, which shook my quite quiet daily routine and opened the marvelous world of being a parent.

Before I start my retro plans review, I want to remind you that russian aggression in Ukraine is not over. Russia’s terrorist attacks kill civil people of Ukraine every day and brave Ukrainian defenders fight with occupants on a more than 1000km length frontline. I encourage you to help Ukraine to defend and protect its people and freedom. You can find a list of the biggest Ukrainian Foundations for different purposes here – saveukraine.org. Every penny matters!

2023’s plans progress

Health

Do 48 workout (or other non-running activity) sessions (~1 per week) – 15 (5 gyms, 8 swims, 2 rides)
31%

Run at least 100 runs with a minimum of 600km distance and participate in at least 1 race – 57 runs (384km) + 1 race
57%

Professional & Personal Development

Receive Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate certificate as min and Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert certificate as max – An outdated plan that has been abandoned a few months after the year has started
0%
Improve soft skills (completing a course or attending communication/leadership community meetups)
0%
Solve 48 LeetCode problems (~ 1 per week) – 13 problems solved in HackerRank
27%
Read at least 8 books – 100%
100%

Visit at least 1 tech conference or tech meetup – Eric Evans, 15 Years of Domain Driven Design
100%
Have at least 48 “active days” in my GitHub account – 25 days (75 contributions)
52%

Invest 20% more money than in 2022 – invested 30% more than in 2022
150%
Meaningful work-related change (hard to set any specifics upfront, but definitely will be easy to identify as the success/fail in the 2023 retrospective) – this year I officially started the career of a Software Development Manager (even as non officially it has started back in 2022)
100%
Create small regular fortnight tracking reports summarising progress and main events – declined that idea after a few weeks. I was too lazy to check past reports to make any conclusions, so it was useless in my case.
0%
Improve my finance and investment awareness (read min 1 investment-related book) – unfortunately I have neglected that area in 2023.
0%

Leisure

Hike to Gerlach peak – has been postponed to next year (again)
0%
Do at least 1 “adrenaline rush activity” – first diving and skydiving (indoor) in my life
200%
Travel outside of Poland on a motorcycle adventure trip – short 1 day trip to south of Slovakia
100%
Complete Winter Mountain Tourist course – done, that probably was the most extreme time in the mountains in my life so far
100%

Add 1 new board game to the home collection – 3 new games in my home collection
300%

Miscellaneous

Make at least 12 contributions to nonprofit organizations (~ 1 per month) – 22 donations (at least those which have been tagged as Donation), mostly to Come Back Alive foundation
183%

Donate at least 1.5 liters of blood (3 times) – 1.8l donated (4 times)
130%

Learning from 2023

The Pareto principle doesn’t work for things that really matter, that just doesn’t work. That became obvious to me this year in many aspects, but especially in a human being relationship. Important areas of our lives require continuous attention, time, and engagement. Things like family relationships, well-being, and personal life principles do not accept shortcuts.

Summarise:

53% (10/19) – Fully completed targets
16% (3/19) – Progressed well, but not completed
31% (6/19) – Have not been started or progress is negligible

My last year’s baseline was 60%, and unfortunately, I haven’t met this level in 2023. I may use childbirth as a small excuse for not completing as many goals as I planned, but as the old Polish proverb says – “there are important things and more important things”. Apart from that, I do believe that better planning and regular check-ins will help me to have higher results in the next year.

I also will keep the level 60% completion rate as a target for 2024 and a 75% progress level of treating something as “done”

Plans for 2024

Undoubtedly the next year will be even more demanding due to new challenges, especially in terms of planning. Starting from 2023 and for the next at least 18 years my main “project” is my daughter, but that doesn’t mean there is no room for other plans and horizons, just now it will need a bit more forethought.

Health

Do 48 workout (or other non-running activity) sessions (~1 per week)
Run at least 48 runs with a minimum of 300km distance and take part in at least 1 race
Build a daily mindfulness routine

Professional & Personal Development

Receive a professional certificate which requires passing an exam (AWS, MS, CAPM, etc)
Complete the course for communication or leadership upskill.
Solve 48 LeetCode/HackerRank problems (~ 1 per week)
Learn 1 new programming language on an advanced level
Read at least 8 books (from which at least 2 on a technical or non-fiction)
Visit at least 1 tech conference or tech meetup
Have at least 48 “active days” in my GitHub account
Invest 15% more money than in 2023
Add at least 3 new posts on my blog (New Year recap doesn’t count)
Improve my finance and investment awareness (read min 1 investment-related book/finish course/adopt new financial instrument)
Limit daily phone screen time to 2 hours

Family

Sign my daughter up for swimming classes
Build a weekly routine of reading Ukrainian books for my daughter
First outside of Poland trip in an increased shape of our family

Leisure

Hike to a new mountain peak or try first Via Ferrata
Do at least 1 “adrenaline rush activity”
Spend at least 1 night camping/a tent
Attend at least 3 concerts/sports events
Add a 1 new board game to the home collection

Miscellaneous

Make at least 12 contributions to nonprofit organizations (~ 1 per month)
Donate at least 10% more money in 2024 than in 2023
Donate at least 1.5 liters of blood (3 times)

Final thoughts

We all know that 2023 was not the easiest year for us human beings and the planet as well. A new conflict has started in Gaza, COVID has “resurrected” in some parts of the world, climate changes are even more visible, and looks like global political stability is not as stable as it used to be. Nevertheless, the only way the situation can improve is to start taking steps towards that direction, despite all challenges and obstacles. One that would have the fruit must climb the tree.

I wish you all the best in the New Year, good physical and mental health, prosperity, fulfillment of your plans, and many smiles! I also wish my motherland Ukraine peace and victory in its fight for freedom and the future. I also me to finally be able to visit my motherland and meet my relatives and friends. Let this horrible war end!