Wrapping up 2024 👋

Summing up 2024 - the learnings, the wins and the failures.

The year 2024 has been full of "umm, what? why?". I can't sum it up in one word, but it was a year filled with failures, growth, and some fun.

I started the year with a job that I didn't enjoy. Since I was spending 8-9 hours a day at the job, I was not only unhappy but also questioning myself a lot. However, at the same time, I also "moved" to Bangalore (meaning I stayed there for 3 months, came back home for 2 months, and then went back again), so I met a lot of nice and talented people and also did fun activities like pottery, learning how to ride a horse, travelling and aerial yoga.

The job market was bad, and I was interviewing actively. I got rejected by some really amazing companies (after reaching the final final step) and even turned down a few offers (mostly startups, and I identified which ones to turn down using the tips I mentioned here). Fast forward to December 2024, I have now joined DigitalOcean as an L3.

But, all through the while I was consistent at:

• Building projects and learning new concepts.

• Writing. Either for my blog, or book, or for my newsletters (this and my weekly tech newsletter).

• Showcasing myself as a thought leader, and meeting a lot of talented folks, especially through the meetups that Sunny hosts.

Even while doing this, I was facing a lot of burnout professionally, imposter syndrome of not being good enough for the tech industry, followed by poor physical health and a really bad acne breakout (this wrecked my confidence). To top that, our mom fell sick and needed to be operated on urgently. It was scary and the longest month of our lives, but thanks to the doctors, everything went smoothly, and she is fine now. All of this happened in October, the Indian festive month, something that I wait for all year.

As you could probably guess, the year was a rollercoaster (figuratively and literally), but I am proud that I held on and continued believing in myself while trusting the process.

Ending this issue with hope that 2025 is better for all of us. While I don’t make any resolutions, I hope to continue building, upskilling, and networking the same way I did this year, while focusing more on health and building good habits.

See you in 2025 👋

~ With love,
Haimantika