Hello, Beautiful People! It’s so great to see that the weather is starting to get warmer and the sun is staying out longer and longer each day. In New York, the weather has been somewhat unpredictable, but the feeling that summer is on the horizon has me ready and excited for all the shenanigans to come. If you read my March Recap, you’re probably aware of just how busy things have gotten for me. Curious to see what April was like? Keep reading and find out my April 2024 recap.
Personal Update: Creating Goals, and Getting Specific
At the end of April, I finally started to feel more inspired. I feel like I have more of a clear vision of what I want to focus on and the steps I need to take to get there. I feel like these past few months I was focused on creating structure and keeping up with my habits and routines. While I am proud to say that I did that, I still felt that I wasn’t doing enough. I was speaking to a coach about my feelings about this and she made me realize that I didn’t have any short-term goals. I had been so focused on my long-term vision, that I’ve been forgetting to even acknowledge the wins along the way. Having that conversation encouraged me to sit down and come up with some milestones for areas that I want to improve. I’ve chosen to do the 12-Week Year strategy so I will be locked into these five priorities for the next 12 weeks:
- Improving my French
- Do More Cardio
- Be Consistent with Longform Content
- Grow on Social Media
- Build Domain Knowledge
Within each of these goals, I have little milestones that I hope to check off along the way. I’m also sharing these priorities to keep myself accountable and to make sure I’m evaluating what is important to me and what it is that I want to focus on going forward. I’m looking forward to seeing how these priorities transform and shape in May, June, and July.
Outside of the structure and productivity that is my life, I also had some fun. I traveled to Nigeria for a friend’s amazing wedding! To go to Nigeria again this year for a happy occasion as opposed to when I went last year was such a bittersweet feeling. It was another reminder of how crazy 2023 was for me, but also a blessing to see how I have come out on the other side. I met some amazing people, got to see family, and left with such a full heart. Nigeria will always be home and I look forward to traveling back there again soon.
Business Update: LinkedIn Learning Courses & Prioritizing My Business
These past couple of years of growing my business have been quite a journey. I’ve grown and learned so much about what it takes to run a business, however, I’ve also realized that I have to define what running a business looks like for me. These past few years have been challenging for plenty of reasons, but now, I’m in a place where I finally feel like I can thrive and that allows me more room and opportunity to play around and see where I want things to go.
One of the things I struggled with when it came to showing up online was that it was hard for me to figure out how I wanted to show up. My aim with my content is never to make things appear not what it was and for a while, I felt that showing up would be disingenuous. Now, I’m letting those fears and thoughts step aside because now I am ready to show up in the best and fullest way possible. I’ve created a plan using the 12-Week Year strategy and I am excited to build better habits but also see what I can accomplish along the way. My priorities as it pertains to my business are to:
- Grow on Social Media
- Be More Consistent with Long-Form Content
You may have noticed that I’m not attaching a follower or subscriber number to it. That’s because I truly believe that if I’m meant to have a super large following it will happen and I want to be ready when it does. To me, being ready means that I have to be consistent, which admittedly is something I haven’t been doing. My focus for May is to get consistent despite the business and see what happens from there.
Outside of my creativity, I am also working on 3 LinkedIn Learning Courses. At the end of this month, I’ll be heading to California to record two of them and I’ll be recording one at home. Working with LinkedIn Learning has been such an amazing experience and I feel so grateful that I get to do that with them and also talk about technical topics that I am interested in. I will admit though that working on three LinkedIn Learning courses is a lot, so I’m looking forward to when I can say that they are all done.
Work Update: Building Domain Expertise
April was a great month for me at work! I got a raise and a pretty sizable bonus considering I had only been there for six months. I worked on a major, challenging project and I received amazing feedback from my team members and my manager which has been affirming and encouraging. For the first time in my career, I feel very at peace with work. I work with smart and kind people, the work is interesting, and I’m given the tools to learn and grow. As I get closer and closer to working as a Software Engineer for a decade, I am proud of myself. Proud of my resilience. Proud of my determination. Proud that I have managed to make it this far. The journey to get here was tough, but I am so happy to be here.
Now as I try to settle into work, I am looking for ways and opportunities to level up and develop niche skill sets. One of the things that makes being a senior engineer more challenging is that it is not just about doing the thing. It’s about having the context to make suggestions and Identify any risks that may come up. As I look to grow my career here, I’ve been taking note of where my gaps are in domain knowledge and have started to look for resources and tools that will help me fill those gaps. Within my 12-week year, I plan on focusing on building domain expertise. I’m excited to see what I learn along the way.
Closing
As I’m re-reading what I wrote, I can’t help but laugh at the fact that despite April being a busy month, I still managed to find the opportunity and time to do the things that I enjoy. I’m feeling more hopeful for May and I am excited for what’s to come. If you’re looking to get clear and plan out your Goals and Habits, I invite you to get my free Goals and Habits Tracker Notion Template.
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