2022 review and what's next in 2023

Hi everyone, how are you all celebrating the new year? As we say hello to the new year of 2023, I wrote my year-end review for 2022.

2022 Goals

Similar to 2021, I did not put any specific thing on my list, rather I went for a theme and for better focus on three areas.

Theme

The year 2022 was my year of saying No to self-deprecating thoughts, diminishing my caliber and my achievements, and doubting if I could do new things.

I did try to live by this, and I had to push myself at times to think positively and own my work.

There was a time when I felt too uncomfortable when I was appreciated, but now I have started to acknowledge my wins, and that's a big mental shift for me.

I still feel I hold myself back often, and I will continue working on this in 2023 as well.

Areas of focus

I focused mainly on three areas in my life:

1. Better Health
2. Live Life
3. Growth

Health

In 2022, working on improving my health was my number one priority. But I had a few low moments due to my health this year. It was a struggle for most of Jan and Feb and later during Oct and Nov. But two worst instances were when I got covid for the first time, it hit me hard, physically as well as mentally. I am so glad that I recovered from it. Another low was resurfacing of a health condition I thought I got rid of, and currently I am under treatment.

So the biggest focus in 2023 remains on my health, to be consistent in eating healthy and maintaining healthy habits.

Life and Growth

2022 was the year I felt what living life to the fullest could feel like. I pushed myself to explore new places, travel to different countries, learn new things, try new activities, and I feel amazed as I look back on my 2022 journey. I have grown personally, mentally as well as professionally. I have so much to share, I will go month-wise:

January

• Got awarded as Microsoft MVP for developer technologies and it was a perfect new year gift
• Gave a talk at UK & Ireland DevFest - I love speaking and sharing my experiences, and in 2022 I wanted to continue speaking at multiple conferences, so a great start to the year
• Emceed at the GraphQL galaxy conference, this was also one of the goals to emcee at a few conferences, and I am on the right path

February

• Explored Amsterdam for the first time, with my friend Gift (I came to the Netherlands at the end of September 2021, but due to covid and lockdown, I never went out to explore till now)
• Also explored Haarlem, and went to Teyler's museum and it was a great experience. Walking alongside the canals was so beautiful, I can never get tired of the canals, they are magical
• Spoke at 2 events - CityJS Conference, India, and GDSC (World Of Wonders)
• Emceed 2 conferences - JSWorld conference and Node Congress. I realized that I really enjoy emceeing and it's super fun to chat with speakers while learning about a wide range of topics at the conference
• Mentored as part of Women Developer Academy Europe mentorship program

March

• Was mentor in RoadToGDE Class 3
• Emceed at the DevOps JS conference
• Visited 2 museums - Naturalis and Hortus Botanical in Leiden, it was lots of fun
• Tried go-karting for the first time, but since I do not know a bit about driving, I injured myself, so I quit after one lap. I would never try this again until I have learned real car driving. I love to try new things, but with caution, and I do not feel ashamed to quit if needed.

April

So many firsts happened this month, and it has been one of the most happening months of 2022:

• I witnessed snowfall for the first time ever, it was a beautiful amazing experience
• and I felt as if it snowed to wish me luck for my first in-person international conference as a speaker, in front of more than 700 people later that day - at React Live conference
• I traveled to London to give another talk - at the iJS London conference - and this was my first travel for speaking, such a feeling of accomplishment I must say
• Also met my brother in London after around 2 years, and my uncle, aunt, and cousins, it was a nice visit
• Explored London along with my brother, and we saw so many tourist places and ate some nice biryani.
• Explored 5 cities in the Netherlands
• Went up to a windmill museum in Leiden
• Visited Zaanse Schans, it's such a beautiful place to visit, must go on my recommendation list
• Explored Cobra museum and the beautiful Cherry Blossom park, it was an exhausting yet cool trip
• Got sick at the end of April, it was pretty bad and ruined almost all of May
• Still managed to deliver an online talk for the Jamstack Port Harcourt event

May

• Most of the month went into recovery, it was a very difficult time for me, but I recovered.
• Got accepted into the Women Techmakers Ambassador program
• Got invited to and spoke at the Women of JAMStack podcast
• Had a nice time with friends, explored another city and good Asian food places in Utrecht
• Tried mini golf and arcade games for the first time, and enjoyed both

June

• Spoke at the World Congress conference in Berlin, what an amazing experience, it remains the largest conference I spoke at in 2022, and I made so many friends and valuable connections
• I explored a lot of Berlin, it is one of my favorite cities, quite a historical and emotional experience and I would always want to visit again. What moved me most - The memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe and the East gallery in Berlin
• While attending the VueJs Amsterdam conference, I also interviewed some of the speakers for the JSWorld podcast, enjoyed it a lot
• Attended React Summit conference, and met so many online friends for real
• Overall, June was a wonderful month, it was all about people
• Also played board games for the first time, it was fun

July

• Spoke at Google I/O extended event by GDG Glasgow
• Emceed at VueJS Forge conference first edition
• Traveled to Bruges, Belgium - such a beautiful city
• Traveled to Groningen, a city quite far and different from Amsterdam, I went to 3 museums there and learned a lot about slavery and the general history of the city and more
• I was part of program committee for react India conference, an insightful experience

August

• Explored 3 new cities of the Netherlands
• Visited the Zuiderzee museum in Enkhuizen and it was such a fun trip - with a ferry ride to the museum, learning about that village's history and culture while playing the games
• Gave a session at the LogRocket meetup event
• Traveled to Scotland, had so much fun with my brother, and ate quite yummy Indian food
• Was humbled to be invited again to emcee at the VueJS Forge conference's second edition
• Had a memorable birthday celebration with Gift

September

• Explored Netherlands along with my brother, lovely time spent
• Spoke at 3 conferences and traveled to 2 new countries
• Spoke at the Web Summer Camp conference in Croatia - another amazing conference, loved the food as well as the after-conference boat trip to the island of Krapanj while having lunch on the boat, a first-time experience, enjoyed it. Also got a cool plaque for being a speaker, damn one of the best gifts I got as a speaker
• Spoke at JSConf Korea - the most accessible conference I ever attended, the organizing team is just amazing
• Explored the beautiful city of Seoul, it's just wow, I was in awe the entire time
• Gave my first conference workshop at React India

October

• Got covid again, and had to cancel speaking at an amazing conference, it was a tough time, but thankfully, I recovered
• Traveled to Milan to speak at the Codemotion conference, and also explored the beautiful city - my talk was rated the highest by the audience, and it is one of the biggest achievements of 2022 - it acknowledges my expertise and that what I talk about is important and the audience learns from it, and this acknowledgment makes me feel more confident in myself and challenges my imposter syndrome
• Traveled to Munich to speak at the iJS Munich conference, it was special to me also because I spoke earlier in their London edition, and now in Munich - I felt nice about returning to the conference as a speaker
• Mentored 3 women as part of the Women Developer Academy India mentorship program
• Despite everything, mentally it was a pretty tough month for me

November

The month when I started regaining my confidence after feeling low for almost 2 months now

• Traveled to Denmark to speak at the Boye conference Aarhus, it was a very different kind of conference and I got to meet many industry leaders in higher education
• The Denmark visit was quite lovely personally too, I met a friend from India, and it was such a wonderful time with her
• I also met Lars and his family, I felt like I was a kid again with his twin daughters, and tried some of the games which I definitely couldn't do even 10% as well as they were doing, we went to an aquarium and wildlife park and I saw so many aquatic animals for the first time
• Emceed for TestJS Summit conference
• As I traveled a lot this year, I wrote a blog post on Planning travels for conferences around the world
• Went to the Eindhoven Glow festival, and felt dreamy walking under the butterflies
• Played a VR zombie shooting game with colleagues and it was super fun
• Probably one of the defining moments of this year - indoor sky diving in Utrecht with my colleagues - I have dreaded sky diving like anything, so it took a lot of courage to even decide to try it, but the moment I fell into that tunnel - I felt a different energy in me, and after those 3 minutes of sky diving experience in that tunnel, I felt like I got this new confidence and like I was a new person, and now I feel much less scared to try new things.

December

December ended the year on a high note for me

• Got renewed as a Google Developers Expert for another year, so grateful and humbled
• Traveled to Malaga to speak at the Wey Wey Web conference, the last conference for 2022, and it was such a wonderful, well-organized, and thoughtful conference.
• Hiked to the top of the castle in Malaga, a mix of scaring and tiring experiences but totally worth it - loved the magnificent city view from the top of the castle
• Visited 3 cities in the Netherlands, I am in love with this beautiful country
• Experienced the Northern Lights show in Naturalis museum Leiden, watching them for real has been on my bucket list for the longest time, manifesting for it to happen soon
• It's a holiday month, visited multiple Christmas markets, and explored the cuisines of different countries
• Put up and decorated my first-ever Christmas tree, it was so much fun
• Had such a wonderful time at the Amsterdam Winter Paradise event - went on so many rides for the first time, tried ice skating for the first time, and saw a live musical event for the first time - all in all, it was a day full of life, laughter, and love - the absolute best way to conclude the year

Some stats to revisit:

• Spoke at 17 events including 9 in-person conferences
• Emceed 6 conferences
• Traveled to 9 countries
• Created 7 videos on my YouTube channel
• Wrote 2 blogs
• Read 25 books
• Mentored at 4 official programs - as part of Road To GDE, and Women Developer Academy Europe and India programs

As I reflect upon the year that 2022 has been, I feel proud of myself, my heart is filled with happiness, and I can say that yes, I tried to make the most of everything.

I am also very grateful that I got these opportunities and my workplace has always supported me.

And, I am grateful for meeting and making so many wonderful friends, you all are amazing, thank you for being there!

Hello, 2023 - what's next?

And now to welcome the new year, a blank book of 365 days that we have to fill with experiences.

• I am so glad I maintained the habit of writing a journal (using notion), and so I could revisit most of my days in 2022 as I lived them yesterday. I will continue journaling more consistently in 2023
• Focus the most on being healthy
• Speak and attend more in-person conferences this year too, sharing my experiences, meeting old and new friends, and learning from fellow speakers.
• Continue speaking at online events too.
• I enjoyed emceeing a lot, and I would continue emceeing a few conferences, and I would really like to emcee some in-person conferences too
• Continue traveling to new places, and exploring new things.
• Give more workshops this year
• I wrote only 2 blogs in 2022 and would focus on writing more this year
• Create more videos for my YouTube channel
• Continue reading more books

Three new things I would like to do this year

These terrify me currently, so I should try and get past my fear:

• Learn Driving,
• Parasailing,
• Learn Swimming

Theme of 2023

And with that, Going above and beyond would be my theme for the year 2023.

I would like to explore more of my potential, see what I am capable of, and how far I can go while living life to its fullest.

A very happy and wonderful new year to everyone, I hope this year is the best year yet.

Share in comments your 2022 review or what are you looking forward to in 2023. Cheers!