A Personal Year In Review

And What I Will Change In 2019

This year was amazing. My life started falling in place in every aspect. This was the year where I would wake up happy to go to work, This was the year where I started living with a purpose, This was the year where I finally started working on things I want to work and the year where I picked up a few habits. Here are a few amazing moments of this year and what I will be changing in the new year.

The time I spent at TKS and with people who I met at TKS was amazing. I found so many amazing friends. These were the people who pushed me in every aspect of my life and held me accountable.

I also got mentors such as Navid and Nadeem, and the guidance they have given me so far is invaluable. I learned that to be happy, I needed a purpose, I need to not care about what everyone thought, I needed to wake up and work on growing myself 1% every day. These things have truly made me a better person altogether and have put me on a path of happiness and showed me the joy the building things gives me.

Every time I woke up in the morning, I would be looking forward to what I will be making that day. This is something that most people wish their whole life, and I was getting this feeling at the age of 17 and during a summer job as well. I got this feeling because I was challenged every day at work, building payment infrastructure to help millions of people get the basic banking services that they need to get out of poverty. Add amazing friends/coworkers like Ramy and Abhinav, and a mentor (Subu) who literally taught me so many things about good programming. It was truly an amazing experience.

I started the Nanotechnology Engineering at the University of Waterloo. This too was a really cool experience. Nanotechnology is something that will be shaping our future and This is one of the first steps I am taking to shape that future. I was scared about not passing the first term, I had a few bad habits of not showing up to lectures at all, and learning the whole course just days before each exam, but never the less, I still love being part of this program surrounded by people who are just as passionate about making an impact as I am and a startup environment that the City of Waterloo offers.

I started volunteering in a lab during my time this year at Waterloo and I learned quite a few things. I was pushed to read and truly understand research papers and expand my knowledge. I also learned basics lab skills through running experiments. The time spent in a lab is usually when I am the happiest in a day.

I picked up a few habits this year (some later in the year than a wished) that really made me become a better person. I started consistently going to the gym (except during exams) and I am already seeing that I am getting stronger and became more confident. I also started meditating again for 10 mins a day which has helped me keep calm during stressful times.

Another thing that I saw myself doing was asking questions like “What's the worse that can happen” so I would take more risks and put myself in situations that were uncomfortable for me. Of course, I am also really proud of the amount of music I listened to on Spotify as well!

Despite how amazing 2018 was, There are a few things I want to work on.

I had somewhat of a routine in 2018 but I want to extend it further. I want to dedicate parts of my day to just studying and just on learning more, and just on working out. This way, I can be more consistent with what I am doing.

My eating habits can be summed up with one word: Garbage. There will be days where I don’t eat at all and other days where I eat more than my family combined. Not to mention when I get stressed out (like during exam) I binge eat and drink a lot of coke. Eating is a key component of living a healthier life. I am not going to lie to myself and say that I will not eat any garbage food anymore, rather I will limit myself to only a few times a week.

My roommate’s alarm is my signal to go to sleep and I need to change that. Over the winter break, I will be resetting my sleep schedule and making sure it does not get ruined during the year.

A lot of times during the year I felt like I was not doing enough, and felt like I was wasting time (by wasting I don’t mean destressing by play video games or watching a movie or going to with friends, rather ignoring my responsibilities because I was lazy). I have to be more mindful of that. I also want to put my camera to good use and pick up photography, so I will be learning how to take good pictures as well.

I worked hard to develop the habits I made in 2018, and I will be mindful to keep them while I move on with life in 2019

I asked Navid about my problems and one thing he said was to follow the rule of 3s. Only focus on three things at any given moment. I will be using it to balance out my life more in the new year and keep and consistent and sustainable growth.

Of course, trying to change everything at once is like me setting up to fail, so I will be working on this one by one. 2019 was an amazing year, I hope 2019 is better, and that I am successful in developing all the habits that I wish to develop.

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