Year In Review: 2014

I have never done this before, but this year it seems fitting to do some sort of reflection on all that has happened. For me, this has been a huge year of change, especially for my career. So here are the highlights of what 2014 brought me.

Career Change

This has been the largest change, with twist and turns that I didn’t expect. I started the year, as a contract employee being moved to full time. I was working as a business and data analyst in an oil and gas company. I was hoping to continue growing my analyst career, with the intention of moving more into business analytics and reports.
Then shit got real at my job, and I had to make a change.

Around the same time, I heard about the Iron Yard and starting asking myself, and my husband, if I could really do this. I had been trying to teach myself how to code for some time on my own, and with the current situation, I thought it would make for a good transition.

Once I quit my job, I had a little bit of time to access what I wanted to do. I knew that The Iron Yard was at the top of that list, so I went for it. I also looked into Yoga Teacher Training at my gym. It was something I was always interested in, but never had enough time to pursue. I believed that all the signs were there that it was time to try it, because yoga was always something that brought me peace. Now at the end of the year, I see a brand new career ahead of me, although I still don’t know where it will lead. I am far from where I started, and confident that I am walking into 2015 in the right direction.

The Power To Say NO

Another major change for me this year was saying no to a lot of things. This is mostly reflected in the choices that I have had to make as the year went on. I said no to a bad boss and a bad work situation. I quit a job without another one and without a concrete plan, something that I never ever ever do!
I also said no to Yoga Teacher Training. It was something that I was excited about, and happy to participate in. But I felt a shift in the group dynamics after missing a couple sessions, and realized that I could fight to get back on the inside, or I could say yes to what was best for me. At that point, it was best for me to set that down and turn my attention to code school and the opportunities that I was missing on the weekend while I was at yoga.

I also said no to people—a lot of them. I stopped going places I didn’t want to go and doing things that I didn’t want to do with people who didn’t really care. It was liberating. Saying no helped me to start putting myself first.

I Stopped Dreaming and Started Doing

I am usually a very rational planner that likes to plan and keep planning until the plan is right. This year, that went out the window. There just wasn’t time for that. So I started doing instead. And I did whatever felt right. I didn’t do much analysis, and I started believing more in the things will workout mantra.

This was initially very hard for me. I don’t like unknown unknowns any more than the next person. But I realized that knowing everything doesn’t help you move. And this year was about moving. I had too–I have had a life waiting on me for some time. Now I am doing something everyday, and aware when I am wishing or wanting, and not doing anything about it. There are many things that I want to improve on, be better at, etc, but I want to be true to myself fist.

Becoming a doer has helped me seize that. There is still a whole lot of growing I need to do here. Somehow I know that this path is just starting, and as long as I keep moving and doing, things will fall into place.

What Do I Want Now?

I always want to get better, so I could make a whole list here. But what I want the most is to keep focused on the things that I listed above. I know that I have picked up a momentum, and its my job to keep it moving full steam ahead. I know now that I can get things done that I never thought of before, so its my wish to keep that up.

So my New Years Resolution is to ultimately be good and true to myself, so I can have something to contribute back to the world.