2023 Recap. 2024 Plan.

Published: December 30, 2023 / Updated: December 30, 2023 Ihor Hadzera Common, Misc

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%
SwimGymRide

Strava stats 2023
  • 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

  • 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

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

Professional & Personal Development

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

Family

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

Leisure

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

Miscellaneous

  1. Make at least 12 contributions to nonprofit organizations (~ 1 per month)
  2. Donate at least 10% more money in 2024 than in 2023
  3. 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!

Happy New 2024 Year!

P.S. A few highlight photos from 2023

2022 Recap. 2023 Plan.

Published: December 29, 2022 / Updated: December 29, 2022 Ihor Hadzera Common, Misc

`Year recap has already become a good tradition for me (check 2020 and 2021 recap posts). This habit allows for summarising the last 365 days and creating a solid plan for next year. Additionally, last year a received a few quite complementary feedbacks (undeserved but very appreciated ☺️) from people who said my recap/plans posts helped them to create their own to-do list.

Well, before I go into details about progress and plans, it is worth underlining, that my whole blueprint for the current year was deprioritized on Feb 24, when russia started its terroristic and occupational war against my homeland – Ukraine (you can read more about that in one of my recent posts). I would never forget that day and how it changed my world perception. Since then, the main priorities are to ensure my family in Ukraine has everything it needs to endure this tough time and provide Ukrainian defenders as much aid as I can to increase their safety and ability to protect my homeland against russian occupational army. If you would like to join me in this crucial aim, you could find a list of the biggest Ukrainian Fundations for different purposes here – saveukraine.org. Every penny matters!

2022’s plans progress

Health

  • Do 48 gym sessions (~1 per week)?️‍♂️ – 100% – due to Strava, I’ve done about 16 workouts + 32 swims.
  • Run at least 100 runs with a minimum of 600km distance and take part in a race ?‍♂️ – 100% – due to Strava, I’ve done 100 runs with a total distance of 645 km + 3 races.

Professional & Personal Development

  • Receive AWS Certified Solutions Architect certificate ? – 100% (cert link)
  • Receive a Professional Scrum Product Owner certificate ? – 0% – I rescheduled that 10+ times since January, but just a few days ago, it became so clear to me, that if you postpone something so many times, then maybe it is not a really what you want to achieve.
  • Solve 48 HackerRank problems (~ 1 per week) ?‍? – 100% (in fact more than 100%, as some of the problems have been solved multiple times in different ways)
  • Learn at least 1 new programming language or fundamental framework ? – 0% – I improved by Java a bit, but that improvement is far from my minimum “learn” threshold.
  • Have at least 100 “active days” in my GitHub account ? – 89% – at some point, I focused less on committing something “finished” to my Github account and more just creating tiny proof of concepts.

Leisure

  • Hike to Gerlach peak ⛰ – didn’t have a chance to do that this year, but hopefully the next year will be more conducive.
  • Do glider flight ✈️ – 100% – that was one of the most positive and emotional moments in a whole year. I highly recommend that to everyone who likes a feeling of freedom and a tiny dose of adrenaline.
  • Visit 1 new country ? – 100% (visited 1 new country I’ve never been to before –Greece)
  • Complete First Aid Course ⛑ – 100% – this course has been finished at the beginning of February, and at that point, I didn’t know how handy those skills could be in a future reality.
  • Add a 1 new board game to the home collection ? – 100% – new game “Teotihuacan: City of Gods” added to my collection.

Miscellaneous

  1. Post at least 12 new posts in the blog (~ 1 per month) ? – 16% – I added only 2 posts. Also, it became clear to me that adding a target of post amount per year does not work for me, as it just creates redundant pressure, which was not the essential idea of this blog.
  2. Donate at least 1.5 liters of blood (3 times) ? – 133% – 1.8 liters of blood (4 times) have been donated in 2022.

Summarise:

  • 67% (10/15) – Fully completed targets
  • 6% (1/15) – Progressed well, but not completed
  • 27% (4/15) – Have not been started or progress is negligible

So, looks like last year’s baseline of 60% has been met, which is a good thing. What is even more strange, is that I’m really happy that I have not fulfilled 100% of my goals for this year, as otherwise, it would mean sacrificing flexibility over just marking something as done without recap if this goal is still relevant.

Nevertheless, my baseline for next year will remain at a level of 60%, I also would consider something as “done” if it has >= 80% completing progress.

“Out of targets achievements of 2022”

In addition to the planned achievements described above, there are a few things I’ve managed to do and am happy to share with you:

  1. In addition to regular foundation donations, with the priceless support of my friends, we’ve managed to raise funds, buy and send a few parcels to Ukrainian defenders on the frontline.

2. Finished 2 motorcycle courses: “Precision Motorcycle Riding L1” and “ADV Basic”. Both of them helped me as a newbie rider to create a bit less danger on public roads for myself and other people.

3. I’ve managed to pass the IELTS English exam for level 7.0 (C1), so hopefully, communication with me in English became a bit less painful this year ?

Plans for 2023

I’m certain that next year will be challenging for me in a few different ways, but I’m also absolutely sure it will also bring a lot of happy moments and unforgettable memories. Life is always looking for balance and looking back at 2022, damn, next year has to be so freaking exceptionally good!

My list for next year contains a few fixed points, and a few new things:

Health

  1. Do 48 workout (or other non-running activity) sessions (~1 per week)?️‍♂️
  2. Run at least 100 runs with a minimum of 600km distance and take part in at least 1 race ?‍♂️

Professional & Personal Development

  1. Receive Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate certificate as min and Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert certificate as max ?
  2. Improve soft skills (completing a course or attending communication/leadership community meetups) ?️
  3. Solve 48 LeetCode problems (~ 1 per week) ?‍?
  4. Read at least 8 books ?
  5. Visit at least 1 tech conference or tech meetup ?
  6. Have at least 48 “active days” in my GitHub account ?
  7. Invest 20% more money than in 2022 ?
  8. 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) ?
  9. Create small regular fortnight tracking reports summarising progress and main events. ?
  10. Improve my finance and investment awareness (read min 1 investment-related book) ?

Leisure

  1. Hike to Gerlach peak ⛰
  2. Do at least 1 “adrenaline rush activity” ?
  3. Travel outside of Poland on a motorcycle adventure trip ?️
  4. Complete Winter Mountain Tourist course ?
  5. Add a 1 new board game to the home collection ?

Miscellaneous

  1. Make at least 12 contributions to nonprofit orgs (~ 1 per month) ❤️‍?
  2. Donate at least 1.5 liters of blood (3 times) ?

Final thoughts

My last year’s “Final thoughts” section was dedicated to COVID and my hope to “get back to normality”. Today, a year later, the word “normality” means something completely different from what it used to mean. Nevertheless, I wish you all the best in the New Year, good physical and mental health, fulfillment of your own plans for next year, and a lot of smiles! P.S. Don’t forget to support each other, it is absolutely vital in a current tough and complex world!

Happy New 2023 Year!

P.P.S. A few highlight photos from 2022.

Let’s talk about our good and bad habits

Published: January 28, 2022 / Updated: January 28, 2022 Ihor Hadzera Common, Misc

How often do feel guilty about watching Netflix series instead of doing preparation for your next week’s math exam? Do you remember the last time you’ve set a goal (like to lose weight by 5kg) by the next 3 months, but at some point just forgot about that for the long long months until yet another life event trigger reminds you about that goal? If so, then you are not alone. I constantly struggle with keeping myself on track with moving from where I am to where I want to be. That doesn’t mean there is no progress in reaching desired goals, but rather an underling the fact, that there is always a “fight” inside me, between a quick small reward (such as watching YouTube) and doing something which will not bring instantly visible payoff, but it is a small step to the big desired goal. There is a popular sports proverb

No Pain, No Gain

Even though I believe it is absolutely true, that doesn’t mean we have to suffer on our way to reaching long-term goals. There is no chance for this post to discover any unknown secrets of our brain, but maybe techniques that work for me will help someone else in their own “internal fight with themselves”.

Fresh Start

I believe almost everyone is familiar with the concept of New Year Resolutions. Even if according to statistics only 9% of them are successful, does not mean they are useless. The same statistic source says:

“In comparison, of those people who have similar goals but do not set a resolution, only 4% are still successful after 6 months.”

https://discoverhappyhabits.com/

So even from a pessimistic point of view, 9 is much much better than 0. In addition to that, there is no need to wait for the next year to start doing gym or eat more healthy. A fresh start could be any day (even today ? ). Even if we as human beings usually tend to find a huge symbolic date as New Year, it is always possible to find a meaningful fresh start date without waiting till the end of December, e.g. by using such websites as timeanddate.com which provide different calendars.

*Fun fact, the day I started writing this blog post is Jan 16, and due to timeanddate.com, today is a Nothing Day. Isn’t it a perfect time to start something new in our life? 😉

So just remember that fresh starts increase your motivation to change because they can give you either a real clean slate or the impression of such one.

Present Bias

Do you prefer to scroll newsfeed on Facebook for 5 (or maybe 55 minutes) or do 4 hours boring course of investment basics? Well, my honest answer is Fb newsfeed, and … this is normal behavior of the human brain and this is called impulsivity or a Present Bias. In a nutshell, present bias is

The tendency to favor instantly gratifying temptations over a larger long-term rewards

This means that our brain always tends to choose fun useless (or even destructive) pursuits over some boring but useful activities. But there is a small trick, we always can try to combine “fun” and “useful”. Yeah, now I sound like a Captain Obvious, but for me, that was not so obvious, or at least valuable before I tried that on my skin.

So in my case, I adore the podcast Music with History, but some episodes could take up to 2 hours to listen to, almost always it’s “too expensive” in terms of time. But sometimes this temptation to listen to that was stronger than my willpower and after listening I felt a bit guilty that now I don’t have time to do other things. So the solution for me in that situation was to combine a long run (which I’m not the biggest fan of at all, but it helps to keep my spine in a good enough condition) with listening to my favorite podcast. Now, when I want to listen to the new episode, I know that for doing that I have to do at least a 15-kilometer run, and at the very end, it brings a double satisfaction: a – satisfaction of doing something useful, b – the satisfaction of doing something I was waiting for the whole week ?.

So my small tip at this point is to create a “Gamification” connection between things you “want” and “have” to do. It can help reduce overindulgence in temptations and increase time spent on activities that serve long-term goals.

Procrastination

Procrastination is another evil that tries to put us away from our goals. This one is very connected with Present Bias, but I found additional ways to handle procrastination such as “commitment devices”. So, whenever you do something that reduces your own freedoms in the service of a greater goal, you’re using a commitment device. An example is a “BlockSite” app that prevents you from visiting web pages like YouTube or Facebook until you’ve finished your working day between 9 AM and 5 PM.

There are 2 types of “commitment devices”: hard (e.g. cash commitment devices which allow creating a financial incentive to meet the goal by letting put money on the line that you’ll forfeit if you don’t succeed) and soft (e.g. public pledges, that increase the psychological cost of failing to meet your goals).

The costs we can impose on ourselves to help with goal achievement range from soft penalties to penalties. There are also soft restrictions (such as eating from a smaller plate) and hard restrictions (such as putting money on a deposit locked account). The softer the penalty or restriction, the less likely it is to help with change, but the more palatable it is to adopt.

Forgetfulness and Laziness

Well, last but definitely not least is forgetfulness and laziness. I’ve generalized those 2 things even they are not the same because the tool helps me work for both of these “sins”. The main word in this section is planning.

So for example timely reminders, which prompt you to do something right before you’re meant to do it, can effectively combat forgetting. Also, sometimes such reminders could be triggered all at once (e.g. in the morning after breakfast), which helps to plan the whole day.

Forming cue-based plans is another way to combat forgetting. These plans link a plan of action with a cue and take the form “When **** happens, I’m going to do ****”. Cues actually can be anything that triggers your memory, from a specific time or location to an object you expect to encounter.

Planning also has other benefits, e.g. it helps to break your goals into “bite-size” chunks, relieves you of the need to think about what you’ll do at the moment, and acts as a pledge to yourself, thereby increasing your commitment to your goals.

Repetitive plans could help to build habits, which are like a default setting for our behavior. The more you repeat an action in familiar circumstances and receive some rewards, the more habitual and automatic your reaction becomes in those situations. Such default setting is the outcome you’ll get if you don’t actively choose another option. If you select defaults wisely, you can turn laziness into an asset that facilitates changes.

Final Thoughts

The very final thing I wanted to underline, is that there is no golden bullet that will change your life and makes you not forgetful, not lazy, or not procrastinating person. There are only tools that could help you to mitigate these temptations. We just have to remember that achieving transformative behavior change is more like treating a chronic disease than healing after a cold. You can’t just drink some paracetamol tea and expect it to disappear forever. All of these “symptoms” won’t just go away once you’ve started “treating” them. They’re human nature and require constant vigilance.

P.S.

I very much enjoyed reading a book that helped me to understand my own attitude to good/bad habits and inspired me to write this post. A lot of things described by me above were written by Katy Milkman in her book “How To Change“. I highly recommend that for people like me, who want to improve “self-discipline” and integrate good habits in daily life.