2018 Year In Review

2018 Year In Review

December 31, 2018

This year has been a really great year for me. There are a lot of ups and downs. There are goals that I have completed and there are goals that I forgot to accomplish. There are things that made me happy and there are things that broke my heart. Those things change me as a person and I am grateful for it. This is my 2018 recap.

1. I Became a minimalist

Around May 2018 I discovered Matt D’Avella’s Youtube Channel. I was hooked into his videos, especially videos around minimalism. After a while I decided to try this thing called minimalism. I tried to declutter my stuff and it felt really bad. I used to be the person who holds on to everything that I own even the smallest thing is sentimental to me. It was tough at first but it gets easier for me. Then I realized that living with less is not that bad. The next thing minimalism teaches me is that you don’t have to own expensive watches, expensive clothing, expensive gears, etc to be happy. I was totally unhappy with my life earlier this year. I don’t have a lot of money but I have a lot of wishlists to buy. Every sneakers release was a nightmare for me because I could not afford it. Minimalism changes the way I think about stuff and after a couple weeks this feeling started to disappear. I don’t want those stuff anymore and I am happier. I want to thank Matt for changing my life this year. Matt D'Avella Becoming a Minimalist..

2. I Graduated from a Coding Bootcamp

I was an Industrial Engineer Student. I got stuck in it and in the last semester I found out what my passion really is. I started to buy Udemy courses on Web Development and I do the course every single day. I do my courses inside my class at the university, I don’t even care about those classes anymore. After a couple of months, I started to do some freelancing stuff and I made some money. Then I got stuck. I feel like I am not improving fast enough. My parents knew that I was hooked into this “Web Development” stuffs. They told me to find a course or school that can help me to improve. I did not expect this because my financial condition is not that great this year and Coding Bootcamp’s fee is a lot. I started to browse some of the options and I choose Hacktiv8, a coding bootcamp in Jakarta. It was around April and I was still working on my Undergraduate Thesis. The bootcamp started in late June so I had to rush everything and I am grateful that I finished everything on time. Long story short, I finished the bootcamp in 4 months and it has been a tough journey for me since I have to wake up at 5.30 am every morning and went back home at 8.00 pm every single day. But in the end, it is worth it. My Experiences in a Coding Bootcamp for 2 Months

3. I Started working as a Frontend Engineer

After the bootcamp I was accepted in a company as a Frontend Engineer. This is my first job and I can do the things I love the most which is Web Development. This is a surprising thing for me because I did not have this on my mind. I did not write it on my 2018 resolution. I learned that sometimes life can be surprising and we can own those moments by preparation. I was learning and grinding really hard this year so I was prepared for this kind of moment.

Luck = preparation meets opportunity

4. I started my personal brand on Instagram

I was not that brave to put myself out there. I wanted to share what I have learnt to others but I am afraid of people’s judgement. I was afraid to post my picture to Instagram and I was afraid to post that blogpost. The first picture that I post on instagram is the picture of my laptop showing my personal website. It is a simple picture and even the website did not look really great. I received nothing from that picture but I conquered my fear of putting myself out there. From that moment posting a picture seems a lot easier. The hardest part is to decide what content should I post. The more I post the harder to find another idea for the next post. I guess that is the main challenge of content creation and we all should embrace it.

5. I did not lose weight

To be honest my goal this year is to lose 5kg or around 11.0231pounds (according to google) and the most actionable thing that I can do is to go to the gym. I was planning to go 3 times a week then I started going to the gym earlier this year and I stopped after 3 months. I went back to my old habit of eating unhealthy and not going to the gym. As you can guess, I gain my weight back in a short amount of time. Why did I fail? I learned that building a habit is not that easy. I made unrealistic goals to hit the gym 3 times a week. It is hard going from 0 to 3. So around 1 month ago I tried to hit the gym again. I reduce my goal from 3 times per week to at least I hit the gym 1 time per week. It is easier to accomplish and I finally built a habit of going to the gym 3 times a week now. I feel healthier now and losing weight will be my main goal for 2019. It is okay to fail on a certain goal. The thing is you just have to keep going with a new strategy. Tiny changes will make a huge impact on your life.

1,01³⁶⁵ = 37.78 , 0.99³⁶⁵ = 0.03

Learned a lot about habits from James Clear’s Book — Atomic Habits. I really recommend the book. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

6. I failed to save money

I made a goal to save up Rp 500.000(around $35) per month. I succeed to save up only in January. I spent a lot this year so I have no money to save up each month. Most of my spending earlier this year is on clothing which is a terrible choice. I made a change in the middle of the year, I started investing in myself for more online course and books. Then another mistake happened, I overspent on myself. I did not make a plan for my spending. The lesson I learned this year is when you make a saving plan you should also track your spending.

7. I failed most of my New Year’s resolution

I just saw my New Year’s resolution last week. I forgot most of them because I did not review them daily or at least weekly. The thing that I will do for 2019’s resolution is to make them as visible as possible so that I can remember every single thing that I am going to write.

So 2018 has been an awesome year for me. I am grateful for everything that I have achieved this year and I also learn from all those mistakes that I have made.

I am still writing 2019’s resolutions.

I am excited for 2019 and I have a feeling that it will be one of the best year in my life.

What have you learned this year?

Make a recap of 2018 and I would be glad to read it. Just send me an email to julianjca11@gmail.com !

Don’t let 2018 brings you down because next year is a whole new year for you and don’t forget to write your resolutions for next year!

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