20/ Recapping and resetting

2023 out, 2024 incoming!

2023 has been a pain-in-the-joy ride. Professionally, I continued my role as a cybersecurity engineer but quit around June, went on a sabbatical, and spent a lot of time in my head (and my room) for a couple of months.

In August I got a job through instagram and I’ve been working as a video editor/ graphic designer/ jill of all trades ever since.

I learnt to cook, swim, drive and maintain fulfilling and valuable relationships.

I went on a few trips, one solo trip, and tried a bunch of new things - board game nights, fiction writing, trekking, running, gym, bachata dancing and other obscure things I cannot recollect.

It’s November now and we have a month to go for 2024. Unexpectedly, two incidents happened this month that changed my day-to-day drastically.

#1: The case of the uncontrollable eye-twitching

In early November, my right eye (not eyelid, but the part underneath the lashline) started twitching. It was very visible, with a pulse-like frequency. Like a beating heart under my eye.

It was horrible, irritating, and lasted for 2.5 horribly irritating weeks.

After a lot of google searches, I cut coffee, I cut social media, I even cut out binge watching. The doc said it could be alcohol and anxiety, but since I had none of the former and tons of the latter, I was forced to look for better solutions.

The lack of coffee helped and I calmed down. I took up meditation. Started drinking warm water with honey. I moved everyday in some form or another. Hell, I even started reading again to cut down my screentime. Daughter of the deep by Rick Riordan is an 8/10 (I prefer Percy Jackson).

#2: The case of the isolated existence

Around mid November, I found myself faced with a living-by-myself situation. It was just me in the house, and you could literally hear the pin drop. I couldn’t because of the gazillion thoughts screaming outside my head.

Once I sorted through the chaos, it turned into a symphony that left me with more clarity than ever. As someone running on savings (I took a sabbatical!), I became increasingly aware of how to spend money intentionally. I observed which hobbies and events genuinely brought me joy. Group events are draining and ordering out makes my stomach weird. I chop-chopped them out of my life. I paid attention to things that genuinely made me feel better and doubled down on that.

Now my day looks like this - wake up/ warm water with honey/ meditate/ learn spanish in Duolingo/ eat breakfast / work or nap depending on how much sleep I got last night / lunch/ work some more/ exercise in some way/ shower and dinner

A twitching eye and an isolated existence led to an upheaval (god what a difficult spelling) of my life. For the better. (Some would argue that a life without coffee is not worth living but oh well).

The thing is, I wish I had gotten around to this schedule much earlier. It has worked wonders for me physically and freed up space mentally. How could I have triggered this shift earlier?

What can I do to trigger more such shifts now, and on professional levels too, and set myself up for a better 2024?

I can’t go through another round of eye-twitching again, that’s for sure.

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A 2024 Reset

Every year I buy a dated/ undated planner and every year it goes unused. The novelty wears off in two months.

This year, I’m going back to basics so I can trigger a shift for the better. A paper - Notion doc. Good old fashioned pens and a keyboard.

I’m thinking of putting these into a PDF or Notion template (it’s like Google Docs but more powerful) that I can make public (for a fair price).

Wait, but what makes me qualified to create this in the first place?

#15 and #16 should give you an idea of what my life experiences have been like. Folks who know me will tell you that I put a lot of thought and intention behind whatever I do.

The doc will include -

1. All the questions I use to evaluate and look back on my year

2. The questions I use to set myself up for the next year

3. My value system

4. Additional stuff that has made my life easier

5. A bunch of things you can do or make lists of (that has made my own life interesting and better— we live for stories don’t we)

6. As a bonus - a PDF of my own personal answers (except ones that are too personal of course)

I have a fairly good idea of how I want to structure it but if you have any suggestions or questions, I’d love to know. Reply to this email!

I’ll be releasing it this week— just as soon as I find a good name for it :D

Keep an eye out!

Would it be something you are interested in (and paying a fair price for)?

Aware, meandering steadily, walking confidently forward in a direction,

Miks.

P.S s/o to A and J for their valuable feedback!