New Year Resolutions - 2019
Can't believe 2018 is already over and we're going into 2019. There is no wonder that just like all the previous years, this went so fast. As we approach the 2019, here is the list of my resolutions I would like to achieve in 2019.
- Speaking at 5 international or local conferences
Last year was when I made a resolution about taking initiative and prepare myself for public speaking on international platform? Why last year only? Something happened in the beginning of 2018 which inspired me to polish my lesser known public speaking side which I was always afraid to explore.
Now in new year, my aim is to get selected and be able to speak at 5 conferences be it local or international. Getting a speaking opportunity is a great feat, especially given how much strict criteria conference organizers have in choosing the talks which will fit the conference format as well as will be suitable and informative for attendees who spend significant sum of money and time to attend talks and mingle with the community of great people.
Moving forward I am also working on improving my CFP submissions, presentation content, and public speaking skills. It's a lot of time investment and hard-work starting from submitting CFPs to presenting in front of audience. But believe me, it's worth all the work and gives the immense feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment.
2. Being able to converse and watch Spanish language programs
I started learning Spanish around 15 months ago with my subscription with Rosetta Stone. Initially I wanted to learn only because I was visiting South America in the holidays of Christmas 2018. I didn't actually plan to continue learning it after I returned back. However, I forgot to cancel the subscription and Rosetta Stone charged me for 6 more months with no refund. With no choice, I continued taking rest of the lessons.
Lot of things happened ever since I finished my course 5 months ago. I have been reading short stories, juvenile literature, essays, and even New York times Spanish edition. I even rented few books from Boston Public Library ranging from low to high levels of difficulties. I have also been watching some Spanglish programs on YouTube and maintain a consistency of reading at least one Spanish article per day.
However, I still struggle with fluent Spanish conversations with native speakers and being able to completely comprehend Spanish movies without accompanying subtitles. Moving forward I would like to change it and attain mastery in those two areas. After all, be it a language or learning an art it takes a lot of practice. And this new year is going to be a lot of practice for myself.
3. Learning French
One may ask, why learning French when you haven't even mastered the Spanish. Well, I am still learning and French being relatively close to Spanish, does not hurt to completely learn new and practice the other one. I was always fascinated by the aura of French. The way it sounds, pronunciation quirks, beauty and, European charm associated with it.
Actually my first preference was going to be German. But after realizing that German is not my cup of tea (yet!) I decided to go for French. Not that it's easy, but first I want to get a grip on Spanish and French before I could step into daunting German territory.
Just like before I would be beginning my lessons with Rosetta Stone starting somewhere in January. Hopefully I will be able to maintain my passion as much as I did with Spanish. Rosetta stone is not a silver bullet. It allows you do learn basic sentences and baseline vocabulary, but it will never make you good.
Rosetta Stone offers a lot of practice and as you go through similar exercises multiple times during course (They have 20 lessons where each lesson is divided into 4 parts) it helps with the muscle memory which is most important part. There might be some language rules which may not make sense, but as your muscle memory grasps them, you know when you're right or made a mistake without paying too much attention to each and every rule.
4. Write 100 more blog articles
Writing blog is hard. But do you know what is harder than it? Coming up with worthwhile topic to write about. In last 3 years I have written so many blog articles. Some short, some long. But every time I ask myself one question
Is it worth writing about?
Basically my goal about writing is to distribute knowledge to other people. But also making sure I know enough about the topic. Sometimes even if I don't know enough about something, I spend days making research and pouring all my understanding and grasp into the blog.
I usually touch general topics such as web and mobile development, food, and travel. In the new year I am planning to get out of my comfort zone, get new experience and write about it. Hopefully I will have 100 topics to write about something as year progresses.
5. Prepare 15 new food items that I never tried before in kitchen
I started cooking pretty late, at the age of 24. But it didn't stop me from converting my necessity into passion. When I look back at 6 years younger me, I have learned so many things from so many kitchen disasters.
However, complicity is the evil that kills the innovation and passion. In this new year I want to present myself to prepare 15 dishes (Irrespective of region) which I have never tried. It's not as hard as it looks. The only problem is choosing which items I want to make and their feasibility to prepare at home.
As long as Indian food goes, not all the dishes can be prepared at home. Some require extreme precision, preparation, and years of experience. However, as I embark on this journey I am not expecting the comfort and convenience, but hard-work, time commitment and untidy kitchen with sink full of spoiled kitchenwares.
P.S. - This post is WIP. I will keep adding more items as they spring into my mind
