Like a lot of other people, last week of December is normally a time of reflection for me. I like to think about what I can take from this year into the next and what can I leave behind. This exercise is very personal but I do like to document it so that I can come back to it whenever I want and also see where I have come from. This is my third consecutive year of doing self reviews after 2014 and 2013.

This year was really challenging and special. Our daughter Aryaa was born in March this year. I underestimated how challenging parenting was going to be. Frankly the first 3 months were the toughest, more so for Deepti as Aryaa would keep us awake on most nights. Everything else took a backseat during that time and as a result work on DomReactor also slowed down. However after a big push in August we were able to ship DomReactor and it went live on September 1 which was a big achievement for us.

The biggest learning this year was around how to manage my time. I had to say “No” to a lot of things. I wanted to focus my time spending time with the family, working full time, working on DomReactor and also making sure I was also paying attention to my health. As a result, socially, my life took a real hit which is something I would like to work on in 2016.

#Things that went well#

Meditation

I can consistently meditate almost every day for 15-20 minutes. And I can see the effects of it in my daily life. I feel a lot more patient and also at peace with things happening around me. It is normal to get agitated, but my response to it is very different now. I meditated 171 times this year for 15 mins each. That is about 2565 mins or 43 hours approx. Not too bad.

DomReactor

We shipped DomReactor finally on September 1. Getting something in front of people in the real world and getting feedback about what you have built is an amazing motivator.

Travel

We took three trips with Aryaa this year: India, New York and Hawaii(Maui and Kauai). There were some minor hiccups here and there but overall it was really good.

Squash and health

I probably played the best squash of my life this year. I was able to keep up with people who are much better than I am. As for my general health, I currently weigh at 167 lbs which is the lightest I have been since almost my freshman year college.

#Things that didn’t go too well#

Relationships and social life

This year my social life took a real hit. Deepti and I were not great with planning our date nights. Also I didn't spend time as much time with my friends as I would have liked. I have definitely underestimated parenting and the amount of planning it takes now. I don't like to miss out on Aryaa's bath time so a lot of my evenings were spent at home. 2016 is going to be focussed towards planning get togethers with friends and family to have more of a balance.

Reading

I only read 8 books this year and my goal was to read at least 2 books a month. I am going to try to read a lot more in 2016 and get to my goal of 24 books during the year.

Writing

Another one of those areas where I really wanted to get better at. However I didn't even come close to writing a post a week which is something I am not super excited about. This would definitely be a big area of focus for next year.

DomReactor

I know this is also a part of the other list as well, but their were things that didn't go too well here as well. Trying to run a business on the side is super hard. My energy level fluctuated a lot during the year and as a result there was not a lot of consistency around working on DomReactor. Some months were amazing and some months were very sluggish. I think I am finally getting to the point where I am able to consistently find and spend time working on DomReactor.

#So what’s it going to be in 2016#

​​I have been thinking a lot about what I want to accomplish in 2016. I don’t think my goals are different from 2015. However this year I am not going to be disclose the goals publicly. Rather I have identified 5 themes that I would like to follow this year.

Do something for the mind

This is going to be mostly around mindfullness and meditation.

Do something for the body

This is going to be getting around getting better physically, staying injury free and playing even better squash.

Learn something new

This could be by reading, writing or making new things.

Do something out of my comfort zone

Not figured this out yet.

Work on relationships

Find and spend more time with family and friends.