After stumbling over multiple ideas, I think writing an Annual Review for 2021 would be a great way to kickstart my 1st blog. I guess this would help readers to get a broader perspective of my interests and will also help me introspect on stuff that happened in 2021.
In my 31+ years of existence, I have never stopped to look back at the year gone by; every year around this time, I’m focused on deciding resolutions for the upcoming year (which fizzle out soon), watching movies, finishing books, traveling and just getting onto one rabbit hole or the other during my year-end holidays. For a change this time, I’m going to look back instead of looking ahead.
Also, I guess the reason why some people write an Annual Review is the reason why movies with happy endings are more successful at the box office than those with neutral/sad endings. By ending the year by writing down the good things that happened over the year, we are in a way embedding a positive 2021 in our memories, which in turn will hold an overarching influence on any future decisions which would look back to this year. (Thank You Daniel Kahneman1 for highlighting the tyranny of the remembering self in decision making to humanity {See Notes for more details})
I love how Bill Burnet and Dave Burns organize life around 4 major pillars in their book “Design Your Life”. They are mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive and help us look at which dimensions are dominant or dormant in our lives quite clearly. Hence this Annual Review will focus on all these aspects of my life:
- Health (both mental and physical)
- Surgery – Thanks to advances in medical technology, I had a colorectal surgery this year which resolved a chronic condition I have been battling since 2018. I found the right doctor after very painful days and a prolonged search for solutions and things were easy from there on.
- Anxiety, Breath and Meditation – An better understanding of these 3 things helped me be a better person in terms of my mental health;
- Psychologist Sonali Gupta’s book “Anxiety” taught me about high performance anxiety, peak anxiety hours, errand paralysis and many more; this book was a savior.
- Breath – This wonderful book Breath by James Nestor was eye-opening. His 1st key advice – Keep Your Mouth Shut and Breath Through Your Nose. I also bought the Relaxator by Anders Olsson and cant wait to use it the new year
- Meditation – My Calm Dashboard suggests that I mediated for at least 10 mins on 300 out of the 365 days in 2021. I can totally vouch for its benefits; I might not be here today, if not for it. Big thanks to Jeff Warren and Tamara Levitt!
- The Mind Body Connection – This would probably be the year I fully realized the meaning behind the popular phrase – “Mind Body Connection”. For me this means that if my body is in movement for at least 30 mins/day, my productivity at work increases at least by 0.25 -.5X, and up to 2-3X some days. I worked out only 58 days according to cult, burning close to 13,510 calories. I had actually run 570kms in 2019 and 440 kms in 2020, but didn’t run at all this year due to health and work commitments.
- Work
- Office – Professionally this has been a good year – Our team won the prize for coming up with the “Most Commercial” product idea, and I led 3 big projects in our team, which were all received well by our clients. I did work all year, and had close to 30 off days (holidays, time off) apart from the weekends.
- Farmhouse Construction – My wife and I jointly finished the construction of a farmhouse at our in law’s place after more than a year of planning and 7 months of execution. It was an ordeal that was worth the struggle. “There’s a creative element in physical structures. I enjoy seeing that unfold” said Pirojsha Godrej in one of his old interviews. I could totally relate to it only after finishing this!
- Play – 2021 was hectic in terms of both work and health related commitments. However, I still had my weekends to spend time on things I enjoyed for pure fun without any merit.
- People – Last year during COVID, I realized getting to know more about new folks (either via books, videos, or directly) is a wonderful pastime. This year, the 3 individuals who influenced me the most are Elizabeth Gilbert (via Calm Masterclass), Light Watkins (via Rich Roll’s podcast) and David Perell (Not sure how I found him). After finding up about them, I did binge on them throughout the year to learn more about themselves and their work, and I must say it was an absolutely rewarding experience
- Books – I read 15 books across various formats this year and they all made me a better person than who I was last year. The ones that influenced me the most are – The Big Magic, The Psychology of Money, and A Swim In The Pond In The Rain
- Movies – I did watch a few movies; the ones that really stood out include – The Great Indian Kitchen, Sherni, and Jai Bhim
- Magazines – I have always struggled keeping up with magazines like Ananda Vikatan (Tamil) and Reader’s Digest India, but this year was much better, I glanced most of these and they gave me some absolute gems – Manase (Mind) Relax Please Series on Ananda Vikatan, Health Habits of Popular Celebs on Nanayam Vikatan, RD India’s wonderful recommendations and classic stories like “Searching for Gobi”
- Sport – I only follow the Indian Hockey Team’s matches and it was the best year yet (we won the Bronze at the Tokyo Olympics)
- Love (aka Relationships):
- Family – This would probably the year I have been the most mindful/present to my family members. The improvements in other dimensions, definitely had an impact here. I just realized that being there and listening to what they say is a great first step in changing things for the better. Apart from the occasional big fights which resolved with time, our travel trips to near by resorts/homestays, and our trips to and from Bangalore were quite memorable. What started as a random conversation in late 2020 with a B school friend, eventually led to a successful job change for my wife in April 2021. Life’s big turns come from the small steps we take daily! We also had time to spend more time with our parents (~4 months) because of WFH policies, lockdowns and the farmhouse construction. And finally, brothers will always be brothers – unpredictable, surprising, sometimes annoying and sometime pure genius!
- Friends – Though not very frequent and rarely in person, interactions with friends did help us escape our own worlds and to focus on topics of mutual interest. Having friends living a more artistic life is a blessing in disguise. Our friends engaged in film making and photography approach life with a different lens and their perspectives are always interesting. You also get really cool book and movie recommendations. 2 clubhouse meetings on book & movie recommendations gave me some wonderful suggestions
- Pets – Dogwalking (1km in the morning and in the evening) became a part of my daily routine this year. I spent most of the time with Aruvi and I have just promoted her to be my “Master Shifu”. Her ability to remain calm (in spite of stressful external stimuli), her pee/poop routine (only during walks, never inside the house, regardless of the environment), and her fast swinging tail wag every time she sees someone she likes are absolutely inspiring. Sirppi on the other hand is a character of her own! She continues to amaze us with her restlessness and her eternal quest to remain a wanderer! After 3.5 years of living with dogs, this quote resonates well – “Humans live a long time because they take time to learn how to live a good life (like loving unconditionally and being kind). Dogs learn this much quickly and hence they don’t have to stay as long”
No review is complete without a plan of action and hence here below are my intentions and process goals for the upcoming year:
- Health
- Bulking Up has been a big goal for quite some time and I plan to act on it this year
- Breath and Meditate for at least 30 mins daily
- Journal daily
- Work
- Target is to move into roles with diverse roles and responsibilities
- Write frequently, see how the blog evolves and decide next steps (write at least 2 articles every month)
- Identify areas of specialization and enroll in courses for upskilling (at least 2 courses)
- Play:
- Read/listen to books daily for at least 20 mins – focus on foundational books; be regular with magazines and newspapers (spend lesser time though)
- Listen to more instrumentals/classical music, and explore new music (genres, artists etc.,) –
- Increase actual engagement vs scouting time ratio for content (books, movies, blog etc.,)
- Relationships:
- Be more present
- Anticipate needs and plan accordingly
- Don’t lose temper
Notes:
1 Daniel Kahneman’s TED talk “The riddle of experience vs memory” is a great perspective of how our experiencing and remembering selves perceive happiness/pain differently and how this influences our decision making
