When I finished last year's review, I said I was not expecting much from 2022, knowing that I would have to focus on mental health. All I wanted was to continue the positive aspects. But I would have never thought that life would throw so many things at me (such as moving flats) that I wouldn't even finish the smallest things.
Reading & Writing
I almost managed to read my yearly goal of 12 books. I finished 11 and am in the middle of the last one. Until the last couple of months, I was even ahead of schedule. Still, I had to sacrifice reading time to be able to focus the little time I had left every day on more essential tasks.
About writing, I don't even want to talk. That was a target I should have never set in the first place, and as expected, I didn't write at all. A small piece about MSG and then rewriting the article for learning Tamil: that's been it.
Photography
I also didn't use my camera that often. Mostly when we were out on holiday. However, I ended up with a few fantastic pictures that I am proud of. So much that I can sell or gift some of them as framed prints. What do you think?
Japanese
My goal for this year was to be able to have a basic conversation in Japanese in 2022. Fully missed. I have a vocabulary of ~500 words and can read Hiragana, which brings me back to the level I had in 2014/2015. I can say a few phrases, and I recognize these in animes.
Fitness
I've got this on my list every year since I'm 15 or so. This year was probably the one with the worst outcome. Even though my goal was not to run 1000km, I was in the middle of a half marathon training during the summer.
But then, when it was actually time to sign up, I got Covid, and everything has gone downhill since.
Even now, I can barely run a 3k without being massively exhausted. Just a typical workday takes a lot of energy.
The worst bit is that I fell into a deep motivational hole. Not having run the half marathon after so much training was a brutal hit, and I didn't really manage to pick myself up. I did go out to stay active but nothing structured or planned.
Looking forward to 2023
Getting back in shape is my main target for the upcoming year. I want to focus on running again and get that half marathon planned for this year. I plan to participate in smaller runs first and ramp up slowly.
Part of this fitness schedule is also eating healthier and leaner again, eating cleaner and saving Deliveroo costs. Overall, I want to have the healthy and active lifestyle I used to have before 2020 and Covid happened.
Work on side projects
I might be working on a personal version of Maxout as part of my fitness journey. There won't be anything that actually requires marketing or sales, though. I won't be putting any pressure on myself to work on more significant side projects meant to bring in extra revenue. I'm not saying that I will stop trying out things and building things, but I'll try to make that more of a hobby and fun again.
While there won't be new side projects, there are a couple of things that I want to continue and intensify.
Late in 2019, I joined a group of volunteers to be the "tech guy" in that team and help them update their tech stack. A couple of years later, with several blockers and my own situation, I yet have to deliver something helpful. For 2023, I want to actively work towards making improvements and delivering more minor but valuable outcomes. Once I've done something useful, I will also be more comfortable discussing the project more widely.
Tamil Grammar Book
Similar to the above, progress on the Tamil Grammar book has also been stalling. In fact, the contents of the book have been finished since early this year. I just haven't managed to make an actual book out of it.
I started working on a web version of the book, which I'll finish in 2023. Additionally, I'm going to reactivate the mailing list for the book. I'll send out a message probably first thing in the new year.
Everything else can stay easy; no pressure about reading or writing, learning Japanese, or photography gonna stay hobbies I pick up whenever I feel like it.
Instead, I'll focus more on my private life and do things like travelling more often and getting back in touch with some of my friends. Seeing a friend from Jaffna or my (not that) regular video calls with my close friends from Gent have been memorable throughout the year.
Photo by Amin Salehi on Unsplash