Wow. Time files. Same feeling as the end of Q1. This year went very quickly. Lots of great memories and some goals met and well, some didn’t. There is always scope for improvement I guess.

I started off this year with a big goal across different aspects of my life they can be seen here: New Year Resolutions - 2018.

What I achieved:

2018 Activity Report

Health:

The health goals I put for myself to make exercise and being active more a habit for me and it worked.

  • Goal 1: 8k or more steps: Goal achieved. As can see above 3.1 M steps tracked, this is, in fact, more than expected. An average of 8.5k a month :+1: :+1:

  • Goal 2: 2018 KMs :bicyclist: / :runner: : Started off well and then slowed down as the year progressed and as winter approached. Then picked up the pace during spring. Met with an accident and it stopped the progress. However, with the help of my bike and indoor trainer, I did cover 1500+ kilometres. That is 2 times to what I did last year. While I did not meet the 2k goal, I’m happy with what I did. Could have been better. :+1:

  • Goal 3: Yoga at least 2 times a week: This was exactly opposite to cycling progress, did not start very well but ended very close. While the 99 workouts above consist mostly of Yoga, not all of them. About 70-75% is Yoga so it is 3 times more than last year and I’m happy to be able to do other workouts including (Badminton, Resistance training, Tabata etc). :+1: :+1:

The biggest take away is exercise is a habit now. I don’t need reminders or motivation nowadays. I just get up and do it.

Craft:

I could not progress much on this area at all. Did not meet any of the goals. Did not blog much, most of what I wanted to write got stuck in drafts. I will improve on this in 2019. Big focus. While I did work on a lot of interesting stuff @work, some PoCs as well, but they can’t be treated as side projects. Hope to do better next year.

  • Goal 1: Write blogs posts regularly: Very irregular. Only few posts. :-1: :-1:

  • Goal 2: Side projects: – At least 2 in Mobile/Azure/Machine Learning/AI/IoT. This should keep the learning ongoing. - No progress! :smirk: :-1:

  • Goal 3: Complete at least 2 technical certifications to prove/validate learning: Mostly worked on Azure, however, could not schedule anything till the year-end, But MS came up with new role-based exams for Azure. :-1: Will do next year.

Reading:

  • Goal 1: Read (listen) at least 4-5 books this year: Goal achieved. More than what I expected, read/listened to 6 books this year. :+1: :+1:

    • “The Power of Habit” and trying to make some tweaks to habits that will help me achieve the goals. Read my review.
    • “The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*CK” - Nice read, good points presented in a hilarious manner.
    • “Achieve Any Goal” by Brian Tracey - motivation for completing goals.
    • You Need A Budget - Would recommend for anyone in this category.
    • The Mahabharata Secret and The Alchemist, both good reads.

Check them out on GoodReads

Personal:

  • Tick off at least 1 item in personal bucket list: This is was biggest… Ticked off two items from personal bucket list. There were two pending items in my list, I wasn’t able to do for more than 2 years that were ticked off… 2018 was worth it. Great year. :+1: :+1: :+1:

If I average out the percentage completed of each goal, I can say about 75% of what I aimed for was achieved.

I’d like to thank all my friends and well wishers.

Happy 2019!!!