Before 2022: Trials, Visions and Actions
Looking through what I did in the year 2021 AD to see the big and small wins, the losses, lessons and utilising all of these to see what I can better in 2022 AD.
Hi there, this is Dara, and I want to tell you about my life in 2021, I will try my best to summarize it. Before I proceed, thank you for being a part of my 2021; by just reading this article, I can tell you you are a huge chunk of what made up my year. Let’s get to it, fellow human.
Just like most people’s year starts, same did mine. I started with a new year resolution - writing things I will do, the ones I won’t and the ones I will do better. Has the new year resolution list ever worked for you? For me, I think it works, but I don’t usually stick with most of the resolutions I make. In January, I usually try to follow up with them, but life just happens suddenly and staying alive becomes more important than following some rules I have set for myself. In 2021, I think things were a little bit better, as I decided in 2020 I was going to do better with my resolutions and goals the following year. This singular determination motivated me to listen to audiotapes from Jim Rohn and Joshua Selman on setting goals - they were quite helpful, I knew what to focus on and what to not. Thanks to these two men, I was able to identify what I have been doing wrong as regards goal setting and what I could do better for the year 2021. When you know, you should do. I set my goals for 2021 on the foundation of the knowledge I acquired, and from here, I will talk about the goals I set for this year, and what I learnt from acting on them.
My goals
I started the year broke, yes, broke. I had made a decision the preceding year, to invest the little I had in December in cryptocurrency so that my finance will not be dirtied by “detty December”. When I made this decision it was very difficult, because, although little, I invested all I had at the time. So, I started the new year with no cash at hand, I needed no prophet to tell me I needed a stable means of income. I usually set my goals for the new year in the last week in December, so I did the same, and my goals were very audacious for someone who was broke at the time. My goals were really scary to me, but I had to write them notwithstanding, as the popular saying “if your dream does not scare you, it’s not big enough.” My goals for 2021 focused mainly on things, spirituals, finance, relationships and personal development. I planned to acquire some things that would contribute greatly to my long-term goals, learn and brush up on some skills, pay attention to my spirituality and make wonderful relationships while maintaining and improving existing ones.
How it started
According to my tradition, I usually spend the new year celebration with my parents, this year (2021), I did the same. It was at the moment of celebration I decided I would start applying for jobs when I get back to my base. It seems true, the universe does align in one’s favour, because I got a WhatsApp message from an acquaintance I had in my final year in the university (less than a year before) regarding an open role at a start-up in Lagos. I needed a job, I have a ready CV, and also an open position notification. I hesitated at nothing as I applied for the job almost immediately. So, I had an interview with the company in the first week of February and I was asked to resume a week after with a good salary at the time and a promise of increase and promotion based on performance. I should mention at this point that I had always said to myself I wouldn’t work for anyone, but after undergrad, I saw reasons why I should. Also, I spent most of my January learning Python programming language, and it was really interesting.
The struggle of being employed
My first month of work was not something I had ever anticipated, it was filled with dread, long days, emotional exhaustion and negligible fun. It was a new remote job, and functioning in the role was something that was new to me. Like every start-up, there is always the need to deliver as the founder(s) is/are either burning bootstrapped or investor’s money. I need little guidance as to how I should approach what’s expected from me, I burnt most of my data subscription on watching Youtube videos and listening to podcasts with the goal of finding help so as to deliver expected results. This caused a burden on me that led to insomnia and loss of appetite at some point. I had to drop learning Python to focus my energy on the new job in search of stability. My role in my new company was centred around growth, partnerships and sales. Patrick Dang - a Youtuber that centres his Youtube channel around business development was really helpful to me through my first month.
A national call to service
Interestingly, two months into my new job, I started making commendable progress regarding my work-life balance, and I was also hitting some set KPIs, so things were getting rosy. We launched a new product some days after my first three months in the company, and I got a salary raise. Funnily, it was at this point that I got the call into the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) after waiting for over a year after undergrad, no thanks to COVID-19. This call, although a good one, meant another mountain of decisions to climb, there were a lot of questions to answer, and making a decision always becomes daunting when you have multiple options. I couldn’t go with the first batch due to COVID-19 (again), though I had planned to go with the batch. I later went with the immediate batch in the month of June.
Going deeper into tech
My interest has always been deeply rooted in tech since I found out about the possibilities tech could bring into existence when I was in high school. Before 2021, I had acquired some tech skills, but they were not really core tech skills, the ones that were, I didn’t finish learning. So, in April, I made up my mind I was going to pick up core tech skills, learn and finish learning this time around. After weeks of indecisiveness, I made up my mind I was going to learn product design as I have a little bit of design knowledge already. To actualize this particular dream, I needed a laptop that can bear the burden of my newly chosen field, and also programming (as I still intend to brush up and finish my programming course). Miraculously, I was able to acquire a new laptop the same month with less struggle, really, it was a miracle. My plan was to get a used PC, but I ended up buying a new Macbook air 2021 (M1 chip), this is what I still use to date, and it has been nothing short of awesome. It was months after acquiring this laptop when I was going through my goals for the year, and realised that buying a Macbook was on top of my list. With a powerful laptop available, I started learning product design, but I was three weeks in when I had to finally start preparing for NYSC camp in which we were camped for three weeks. I lost touch with what I had learnt after these three weeks, I had to start afresh.
Moving into a new city
As mandated by the federal government of Nigeria, I stayed three weeks in one of the NYSC camps in the southwestern part of Nigeria. These three weeks were filled with fun, adventures, making new friends, exploring new things, and sleeplessness. At a point, I thought I was going to lose pounds of weight after the camp due to the lifestyle of discipline we were subjected to. As required after the three weeks camp, I needed to move to the city to which I was deployed. It wasn’t easy adapting to a new environment, building new relationships, and the expenses, hugh. About five weeks in, I was settled (thanks to my friend - Ayobami Adebayo for making it very easy), and I needed to pick up from where I had left off with product design. Going back wasn’t easy, a lot of things felt strange and I needed to make conscious daily efforts to make myself familiarized with a lot of topics again.
Connecting agri needs
I know I did not tell you about the company I work with earlier, and it was intended, let’s talk about it now. I joined Block Process Limited in February to work with other members of the team towards launching a new product - Agrific. Agrific is an online marketplace with the goal of facilitating agri-export and agro-trade within Nigeria. I joined as a growth hacker, working in the sales and partnerships team as the lead. It was my first job and it was in a leading capacity, I had to ideate and conceptualize ideas, I took a lot of virtual meetings to the point of exhaustion. The product was finally launched about four months after I joined the company in a memorable manner. I got a bunch of exposure and opportunities through the company, and I also learnt a lot about growth and start-up. The highlight, or maybe what would have been the highlight of my year at Agrific was when I got a message from my boss that I would be representing the company at an event in Cairo, Egypt. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend, because at the time I had no international passport, nor have I been vaccinated. Fews weeks after, I got another message that I would be representing the company in Kenya, I also wasn’t able to attend because… you guessed right, I hadn’t gotten my passport at this point also. It was exciting and painful for me because taking a sponsored air trip was part of my goals for this year (2021), I guess I achieved it partly, so I am going to put a little asterisk to it in my journal. I am now fully vaccinated, and I have my green passport, so I am ready to include this goal again for next year in a grand fashion. Since I started with Agrific, we have been able to onboard over 10,000 farmers and over 200 commercial farms. That’s a win, really, it’s.
Money and investment, now and tomorrow
What is life without money to spend? There’s always the need for something or the other, and money seems to always be the answer, so money must be made and made abundantly. I mentioned how I invested in cryptocurrency towards the end of 2020, I also ventured into the stock market at the start of 2021 after receiving my first salary. I invested in stocks of companies I believe strongly in - using the Bamboo app, and it was a fulfilling experience although I divested all my portfolio into cryptocurrency in April. I took some side gigs on designs that I spent most of my weekends working on, as I am usually fixed up between work, church activities and personal development during the week, I had very little time for catching up and having fun. This is one thing I intend to consciously improve on in 2022, I want to take a few times off from work to catch up with friends and family and have some fun. Taking side gigs really helped my finance, I had money to spend, save, invest and contribute to charities. Finally, it seemed I had some sort of balance in my life. My cryptocurrency portfolio did 6x and it was very soothing to behold, I am very hopeful about cryptocurrency. I will be investing more in cryptocurrency, metaverse tokens, and web3 projects in 2022, which I am very sure of. In 2021, I increased my income, spent, took care of family and friends in my little way, saved, invested and gave to charity. I want to do more in 2022, and one way I am ensuring that is to read at least one book/month on financial education.
Personal development, health, and long life
Well, except there’s one invention that stops ageing, at this point, I want to live at least 85 more years on earth. This year, I found out that if I really intend to live that long, I need to start making deliberate efforts on my health. This year, I wasn’t able to stay true to my exercise routine, although I improved greatly on the kind of drink and food I take in. I drank less carbonated drinks, took a lot of water (an average of 4 bottles of water daily), ate fruits, and devised a new breakfast routine. I am very happy with the progress I made on my health this year, I also lost about 5kg of weight as I intended. I have started working with my neighbours to construct a gym in our compound, and we are making good progress on that. I fasted at least twice a week, I do this alongside prayers and meditation, and I would recommend that you should try it out, it improved my discipline and I cultivated an attitude of peace through it.
I am an advocate of lifelong learning, I love learning new things, relearning old ones, and discarding stale knowledge. My friend and I will even be starting a startup in 2022 to facilitate lifelong learning. In 2021, I learnt a couple of new skills and worked towards mastering existing ones - the skills I learnt include; UX research, python, digital marketing, cryptocurrency trading, investment, project management, writing, photography etc. I think of myself as a voracious reader, but I did not do much reading this year, I did more Youtube videos and podcasts - my best ones are Statechery, Fs.blog, Kurzgesagt, Waitbuywhy, Lex Fridman, Afrobility, Peace Itimi etc.
Solving problems through scalable products
I started learning product design over again in September alongside my day job, I would attend to my job during the day, and stay up for a few hours in the night to learn. My passion was deeply rooted in building products - I wanted to be able to think about an idea and build a prototype almost immediately. I structured my portfolio around designing digital products to solve users’ problems in the simplest scalable form. I was able to write my first case study and publish my portfolio in my third month of learning, to me at the time, it was an amazing feat. Just a day after publishing my case study, it got published on the largest UX blog in the world - Bootcamp. I intend to double down on product design and front-end development - learn the trends, write my second case study, and work on a project in Q1 of 2022.
Making the world a better place
I am always for impact, after all is done, it would only matter how many lives we were able to touch, and give purpose to. So, when I do all of my running around, I never forget to impact a life. I was able to help four ladies get into tech, it wasn’t easy at all as they were not familiar with tech before this time. One of them is now employed, two are learning UI/UX design, and one is learning front-end programming. I am personally very amazed at their commitment and the progress they have all made.
In November, I and a couple of friends I have made in the new church I attend in my new city approached the church administration to give us an opportunity to host a tech event in the church. They saw it as a good initiative and gave us permission to host the event, we tagged it Tech Sunday, formed a committee of wonderful minds and pulled it off. We were able to raise some money, and we sponsored 9 persons (5 males and 4 males) to learn their chosen tech skills. The event had over 150 persons in attendance, and it was just amazing, considering the low exposure to tech in my present city. I would have loved to host the yearly conference for Jambites I usually facilitate, but I couldn’t do that in 2021. I also wasn’t able to organize any training event this year, I intend to do this more frequently in 2022.
What could go well in 2022?
So we are here - in 2021, I lost some wonderful friendships, and made some amazing ones, and I am very hopeful for 2022. I wanted to finish up this article before I plan for my coming year because without this article my 2021 isn’t done yet. By the time you are reading this article, I must be planning for my new year already. In 2022, I want to live, work and create; life is short no matter how long, so I want to live for God, my family and friends, and my passion to build. I want to work on myself and the things I am most passionate about, and my interests, I want to create memories, experiences and moments that I will be remembered for, for myself and everyone that crosses my path. Maybe this year, I will declare progress on my present relationship status, I know you want to hear that. Most certainly, in 2022 I will live life, work for God and humanity, and create beautiful experiences. I formed some amazing relationships this year, and I appreciate everyone that crossed my path this year, no matter which role you think you played, you are a wonderful piece that makes my story.
On this note, I think we should say goodbye, regurgitate our efforts and experiences this year, see how we can all do better and become better people this coming year.
I wish you a prosperous and peaceful new year. See you in 2022, and expect me to write more often ✌🏽.