This is a bit of an odd blog post, I thought it could’ve been a LinkedIn post but you can always consider it a personal spin-off to my usual editorial line.
For reference it usually goes like this:
“Matteo’s newest rant against [insert something in IT here] that doesn’t work like it should”.
Last tini-tiny rant of 2023:
This year I’m not using any Spotify wrapped theme-d blog, because well, they laid off more than a thousand people.
I am not boycotting them, only because they have some sort of monopoly of the music streaming market, but I’m still considering feasible alternatives that may (or may not) include the P-word 🏴☠️
So back to us, 2023 has come to an end. YAYYY, finally.
Let’s now see what I achieved (or not) this year.
I moved to a new country, set up all the bureaucracy, joined and pivoted a startup, started blogging regularly, ended the startup (almost) gracefully, opened another company in the Netherlands, restarted freelancing, organized a KCD, contributed to KubeCon EU, grew my blog from 20 to 1200+ readers, lost 10 kg and started regularly go to the gym so I can stay fit in 2024!
I contributed to OSS and generally I coded more:
Not 1000, but still kinda ok
It’s time to take a serious look at my last year resolutions to see if I followed through and achieved what I expected from myself.
- Focus on continuous learning ✅
I did dove deeper into Golang, some React, definitely Open-Tofu/Terraform and Kubernetes. I’m quite satisfied with this year’s learnings and some OSS contributions too!
For next year I might aim for more certifications even though I find it a bit lame they cost quite a bit. I missed the advent of coding too but I was too busy applying for jobs to prepare and then I was onboarding, it’s ok, I have next year. - Build strong relationships with people in tech and my team🟡
Unfortunately my startup didn’t launch the product and ended up kinda badly so I probably broke some of the relationships I created during the journey but I’m happy with the way I handled stress, getting laid off and starting over.
I managed to help some of my team members get a new job, even before getting mine, so I’m grateful.
I have quite a lot of new techies in my network and I know I can count on them, for next year I would like to keep in touch with people even if I move to the US as I plan to try. - Communicate effectively with non-technical stakeholders✅
I definitely upped my game on explaining deep tech ideas to businesspeople and investors. I can and will surely improve further in 2024 but I’m quite happy with the way I’m evolving this important skill. - Prioritize diversity and inclusion✅
My first hire has been a woman, I co-organized KCD Utrecht with a diverse team, aiming for diversity and I feel that I opened a little bit more since I moved away from Italy, that unfortunately has a very big problem on diversity (not limited to gender gap). Another big point is that I have been selected on two program committees: KCD Utrecht and KubeCon EU, so I had the chance to focus on diversity when selecting and voting talks.
For next year I would love to ask more and more questions to keep my mind open and as bias-free as possible. - Protect my and others well-being 🟡
I almost burnout myself to death, but I am taking care of it now and even though it is a long journey I’m sure that I can recover from all the stress. I am sorry if I have been a source of stress for someone else and I will strive to become a better person both on the job and off. - Embrace innovation✅
Well, I went full on Platform Engineering, explored and learnt about AI more, also thanks to a family member that is studying in the field. Kept my cybersecurity game updated, mostly thanks to a bunch of good hackers I follow, some CTF playing, bug hunting included (with some nice rewards too). - Improve my (spoken) English ✅
I started public speaking, I interact daily with native speakers (and other expats), I feel very proud of the — always improvable — level I reached. Especially coming from Italy where English teaching is not the best. For next year I wanna read more books in English, starting with some psychology books - [Personal] Get to play music more❌
I only published a single cover and that’s super duper sad. I need to find some more time to practice, maybe learn a new instrument and definitely record songs and play live music. - [Personal] Find a place to call home❌
Not easy as it looked when I moved to northern Europe, welp, maybe the US will be easier to approach, especially when it comes to socializing and welcomeness, at least I hope so! - [Personal] Handle my finances better 🟡
I surely started tracking my networth in a thorough way but there’s still room for improvement, especially in the income field, if you know what I mean. I also decided to share publicly my personal finance templates which are basically an improved version of Mr.rip’s NW sheets. - [Bonus] Got a new job ✅
I will release a blog post talking about the new role! - [Bonus] Traveled to new countries ✅
Welp, I visited like 3–4 new countries and it was not really planned so yay! Excluding 4 States in the US in the count btw. - [Bonus] Packed my whole life in a big check-in luggage, a hand luggage and a backpack ✅
This is a big achievement, I let go of a lot of stuff and now I can move without looking back, for real!
Overall? I’m quite happy. I’m not complaining too much.
Todo list for 2024
- Protect my and other people’s well being
I’ll keep trying to be the best version of myself, have boundaries, don’t overwork myself to death, practice mindfulness, stop getting into negative places and being with negative people. - Find a place to call home
Move the f- away from Northern Europe to somewhere sunnier and warmer, both in terms of climate and people. - Get to play music more
Start a new music project that is not limited to vocal covers (I do need to scream from time to time). - Stay fit
This is easier than before, I just need to come back to the gym after these wonderful Holidays in Italy. - Don’t stop learning
I don’t think I would but a reminder never hurts. - Succeed in my new role
This is a challenge that I gladly take, as always, giving my professional 100%. - Foster the relationships I built last year and grow my network
I’ll keep close the nice people I met in 2023, reach out to new people, create more content, contribute to open-source and community. In short: I’ll be myself openly and see what happens. - Learning more about diversity and inclusion
I have a thousand questions about this and I will continue asking those, to discuss and to educate myself, because I want to become a better person. - Handle my finances (way) better and earn more
Now that I have a structure it’s way easier to keep my finances in place I can focus on maximizing my income and keeping the expenses fairly low. Not saying I’m gonna live a super-frugal life but I don’t need to buy more stuff in order to be happy. - Find time to have fun (so I don’t get a burnout after a few months)
Go to concerts, go to concerts, GO TO
CONCERTS. I can’t stay another whole year without going to metal concerts, sorry. I’ll fly to whatever city if I need to.
Is this the only way I have fun? Weeeeeell maybe I’ll play some videogames but that’s it, I’m a simple man.
This is me thinking about 2024
I find it really useful to publicly state what I will do for next year, it’s like saying “Hey I’m going to the gym later today” to your roommates so they can shame you in case you don’t.
I support anyone who is willing to share their journey, good or bad, online, in a transparent way.
That said, I wish all of you happy Holidays and happy new year!
Peace out, see you in 2024. 🎁🎄
Find all my links 👉 here.
That’s all for now, ciao :)
Originally published on blog.mb-consulting.dev.