Road map for 2022, Times are a changing

2020 and 2021 have been very eventful years I feel I have grown a lot in my career and overall, in reality there is little to be openly disappointed in. I of course didn't achieve everything I set-out to do but I did achieve a lot and plenty of other unexpected aspects as well, needless to say I feel it was a strong year for growth and 2022 is going to be where I hope to put some of that use into use.

After yet another great year for me in my career despite the global issues and the unending restrictions the reality is I can't really complain as I have been able to achieve more this year and feel like I have more direction moving forward. I feel I've grown a lot and only feel more confident in my abilities, the question is how do I want to keep this moving forward. So this is my strategy for growth in my 2022.

Keep Reading

Last year I set out to start reading more and I feel I achieved that, so in the new year I expect to keep my reading habit of reading before bed for at least an hour most nights and catching up on the train. I also aim to read more technical books I want to finish my design patterns book and expand into a few other areas to just improve my overall quality to compliment my reading and generally improve my own abilities.

Goal:

• Read 8 books this year (more management focus/ culture etc)
• Read more technical books taking notes and really getting an understanding for the content
• Read more articles again and catch up on some documentation (more in after work commutes)

Keep Expanding My Technical Knowledge

I feel I've came a long way with my technical know how but as with everything there is an even further route to take moving forward. I aim to spend more time in some more complex aspects trying to leverage some more core JavaScript whilst catching up on the latest from React and Vue. I still enjoy building things a lot and I want to enhance some of my existing projects whilst looking into something new as well

Goal:

• Keep working on my movie game stuff and build more complex parts of that in
• Will spend time on my site as will look for some overhaul of parts of it
• Create another more complex app

Building My Brand

Everyone has a brand, regardless of if they care about it or not and if they cultivate it or not but it is something that you can't really escape so it is important to start trying to take control of it. As a result I want to spend sometime over 2022 focusing my personal brand and building it into something that I feel better reflects where I am now and that means changing quite a bit about my online persona.

Goal:

• Rework my brand to better reflect myself now
• Update my site as part of this

The Managers Path

Management has been one of those areas I have been reluctant to explore as it always feels a bit of a limited route that only makes future roles and progress harder. The raw technical talent I still feel is very important and is the area most lacking largely, management is a bit of a different area that I feel draws in a lot of people and as a result I never see it as being an area that will allow me to grow in a flexible way as much.

Although I still think you get more people moving into management the reality is most of those are not great at it and it is often very hard to find a good manager. I feel I can be a bigger positive influence as a manager than just someone on the frontlines all the time especially as this past year has taught me. So yes there are a somewhat never ending line of people wanting to move into management it also seems that not that many are so great in the role and that is where I can be different.

Goal:

• Look into starting a MSc in Management for IT
• Develop my understanding of management more over the year

Personal Goals

As with last year there are a number of areas I want to improve personally as well as professionally. As I want to grow in a range of different ways my personal side is still important to improve a well. I feel 2022 will be another big year for me with some key areas to improve and change over the year with a more longer term view of the future.

As I have been saving fairly well these past couple of years I aim to start using some of that into grow opportunities and take a longer term view on where we want to be at least in the medium term. I expect 2022 will be the year of change once more with at least things moving in a new direction.

Goals:

• Increase my investing especially putting more into longer term stocks
• Start investing in real estate
• Looking at other options outside of Singapore