Reflections from 2024

Over the course of this year, I feel that I have gained more maturity and wisdom than I had at the beginning of the year. Maybe everyone feels the same way.

This year I think I understood what it actually means to be a senior engineer. What I should be striving towards. While I don’t have the ‘senior’ badge at my current role from my employer, but that story about the moth and the fly which Yask told me always sets things straight.

I understood that communication skills are extremely important if you want to grow. You should be able to tell a good story.

You should dress for the job you want and not the job you have.

I realized that one should never have a victim mentality. That the more you think about your problems, the bigger they grow. Never blame your environment for anything. While there will always be things which impact you and you cannot control, but the more you think about it, the more it hinders your ability to do hard work and get out of those situations. Instead, just focus on what you can do.

I understood what cheap dopamine does to your brain. I actively put efforts to limit my Instagram and YouTube shorts usage. While I’m not perfect at it but I’m happy with the efforts. The farther I am from these social media apps, the happier I am.

I understood that it’s not that I didn’t have enough time to do something, I just didn’t prioritize it enough. I have been trying to set things straight in terms of what I need to prioritize and make time for it.

Peter Thiel always asks this question, “*What is one opinion of yours that others often disagree with?*”. As Yask also says, “have strong opinions but weakly held”. The book ‘The Stoic Mind’ by Addy Osmani has this quote “Speak as if you’re right; Listen as if you’re wrong”. I understood the importance of being opinionated, speaking up, speaking with confidence, along with listening actively.

Just like every other year, this year went by fast. I didn’t do as much travel like previous year, but I think I took out enough time for watching sunsets, going for a walk or run, playing soccer, ping pong, tennis with Yask, having fun times with my girlfriend, good concerts, showing my parents around the US who were visiting for the first time, and hitting the gym.

Concert highlights:

The Rolling Stones (May) - Full satisfaction
Sonu Nigam (Aug) - Har pal yaha, jee bhar jio, jo hai sama, kal ho na ho.
Green Day (Sep) - This concert was special. Green Day is my favorite band, and it was the 30th anniversary of their album Dookie and 20th anniversary of American Idiot.
Weezer (Oct) - Always fun listening the Sweater Song
Hans Zimmer (Oct) - Amazing show. Almost cried in Gladiator.

Happy New Year 🎉

Chai at a cabin near Mt Rainier