Self Improvement

2023 Annual Review: The Year of Intensity

2023 Annual Review: The Year of Intensity

The end of the calendar year presents us with a valuable opportunity to reflect on the year that was and plan for the year that will be. It's easy to glaze over the former and focus on the latter, but failure to reflect will eventually manifest as a failure to grow.

I started conducting a Personal Annual Review 9 years ago as a sophomore in college. It has been an immensely helpful exercise to which I would credit many of my greatest areas of progress. This annual exercise nurtures and develops sparks of inspiration, celebrates my uniqueness, helps me appreciate all the good in my life, tracks my personal growth, and allows me to strategically plan all the great and beautiful things I want my future to hold.

For the 2023 annual review, I will follow the template by Intelligent Change outlined in their “Best Year Journal” - a tool for setting relevant goals and having a fulfilling year ahead that I have been using.

2020 Annual Review: The Year of Resilience

2020 Annual Review: The Year of Resilience

The review is a deeply personal report, letting me see myself for who I am and think about the type of person I want to become. I’ll start with the highlights, reflect on 2020 goals, set 2021 goals, celebrate milestones, review areas of improvement, and conclude with a list of open questions.

70 Pieces of Wisdom for Smart and Driven College Graduates to Enter the "Real World"

70 Pieces of Wisdom for Smart and Driven College Graduates to Enter the "Real World"

I just spent the past month finishing “Tribe of Mentors”, the latest book by the legendary Tim Ferriss. It is packed with wisdom and tools that will change your life. The book contains more than 100+ interviews with people around the world. I made my notes, did some highlights and will be referring back to it on the need per basis. After all, I learned this trick from Tim himself.

The 5-Step Process to Get What You Want Out of Life

The 5-Step Process to Get What You Want Out of Life

Recently, I finished reading Ray Dalio’s “Principles” — one of the most recommended business books of 2017. One of the world’s most successful investors and entrepreneurs, Ray shares the unconventional principles that he’s developed, refined, and used over the past 40 years to create unique results in both life and business — and which any person or organization can adopt to help achieve their goals.

2017 Annual Review — The Year of Transition

2017 Annual Review — The Year of Transition

I would highly recommend you to do your own annual review. It’s a great exercise to self-reflect and plan out your life. We tend to overestimate what we can do in an average day but underestimate what can be done over the course of a year. Looking at a whole year in review, you may be surprised at everything you’ve accomplished.

The 6 Productivity Strategies to Integrate Deep Work into Your Professional Lives

The 6 Productivity Strategies to Integrate Deep Work into Your Professional Lives

“Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It’s a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time. Deep work will make you better at what you do and provide the sense of true fulfillment that comes from craftsmanship. In short, deep work is like a super power in our increasingly competitive 21st-century economy.”