Dear 2022, you’ve been something
It is the conclusion of yet another year. It has certainly been a rollercoaster ride in it literal sense😂
I’ll tell you more about that in a bit. But first off, I’d like to acknowledge you dear friend for deciding to click to read this article, no doubt I’m sure like me you have interesting experiences to share as well and I hope you find mine interesting. Alright, let’s delve in!
Highlights:
- Left Invideo and got a new role as a designer with Kore.ai — a US-based company building conversational AI tools for large enterprises
- Learned how to design Chatbot platforms
- Made $$$$ from teaching
- Mentored over 100 designers across 10 countries this year and got several awards from ADPlist
- Became an ambassador for ADPlist, Proapp & GrowthSchool
- Upgraded my workstation; Macbook, iPhone, Monitor, other gadgets, and more
- Spoke at 10+ tech events(Conference, In-person, workshop sessions, Twitter spaces) including being a keynote speaker at the biggest designers conference in Africa
- Made significant progress with content creation & marketing
- Invested in a business outside of tech
- Got a new ride
- Bonded more with my close friends and family
Challenges
The truth is that we all face challenges. Heck life is full of it and I got my fair share of it this year. But how you choose to respond to these challenges is what matters in the end.
It could redefine you in a positive way, or if you let it, it could take you down completely.
Here are the top 3 challenges I experienced this year:
- I almost hit rock bottom financially because of bad investments, crypto crises, and other responsibilities.
- Wasn’t as consistent with my content sharing as I’d hoped to be
- Got a ton of job opportunities but couldn’t proceed with them because it was location-based
Challenges are just part of life. Realizing this already sets you up on the right path to success.
Here are some lessons I learned:
Lesson Learnt
I have what it takes to turn things around when things go south
No matter how bad things get, I can always turn things around pretty quickly. All I need is a strategic plan, clarity on the goal, and a realistic timeline.
I remember this one time when I did a financial analysis and a projection of how much run-way I had left and it hit me that I was broke and I needed to do something real fast because a lot depended on me.
I prayed, planned, focused and got what I needed to stabilize. The knowledge I have about how things work and the numerous free information out there was what I needed to regain my balance once again.
This applies to anyone, including you my friend. There’s an abundance of information out there all you need to do is tap into it and have a laser-like focus which sadly 90% of people don't, thanks to social platforms like Tiktok, Instagram, and the likes which are deliberately designed to steal attention(story of my life😂)
People skill is the most important skill I need to excel
I observed from the conversations I’ve had with colleagues and friends, content I wrote, the people I’ve mentored, and interviews I’ve had, that people value soft skills over technical skills.
For example, I noticed in conversation that when I ask people specific questions like: “Hey Tony, what has been the most interesting part of your week so far”, people tend to open up more, keep the conversation going and they tend to like and trust me better than if I had just asked a generic question like: “How’s work”.
Notice the first question makes the person to think and gets them to share something interesting and places you as a valuable and caring person rather than the other, which just requires a one-word reply.
Other simple acts like randomly checking up on people and sharing something of value with them like an article, a video, or connecting them to other awesome opportunities or people within my network have also worked wonders and have made my name mentioned in rooms I never thought possible.
The person with the most skill usually doesn’t get the job, but the person who sells himself the most does
This is an open secret I got to learn which sadly, just a few people know. You might have the highest knowledge of a skill but if you don’t know how to sell your skill, someone who has a mediocre skill and knows the right way to present their service will get the most jobs and the highest pay.
It’s the reason why most brands and companies are prioritizing content marketing and distribution across all social platforms.
Trust me, there are several other lessons I learned but these tops it all and I hope you can apply some of these lessons as well.
What’s next for the coming year?
Top Priorities for 2023
Delve fully into content creations across every sphere — Video, Podcast, Contents
For the longest time, I’ve always wanted to delve into producing content. I’ve seen how the little efforts I’ve made in the past have had an impact and with the few people I’ve been able to interact with and through content creation and distribution, I want to do even more! So watch out for this.
Launch at least 3 courses
One recurring theme I’ve heard from the community is for me to create a course. To be frank, it’s not easy to put one together and that’s why I’m putting steps in place to ensure I launch my first course and subsequent once in the coming year(by the way, it’s already in the work as we speak so stay tuned!🔥)
Hit a new financial milestone — Earn $$$,$$$
Okay, so this part of my goal actually scares me, it’s ridiculous but like Ellen Johnson says:
If your goals doesn’t scare you, then it isn’t big enough.
Not to bore you with the good’ol motivational quote but one thing I’ve learned from experience is when you set ridiculous goals, say 10x the initial Goal you have in mind, it does something to your mind.
You start looking for people achieving that, you start working like those people, your attitude changes and so does your result.
What then happens is that even if you’re not able to meet that exact goal, the effect from pursuing it alone will have so much effect that you’re actually successful in the real sense of it.
For instance, say you set a goal to grow from $50k/yr to $70k/yr. What I would do would be to set a goal for this year to make $250k/yr.
Yes sounds crazy right? 5x the initial? Yes, But to you.
The next thing you have to do is a mindset thing. You have to convince yourself that you can earn that and even more, look for others in the same field who are earning that and backtrack their success.
Look at where they were before, what they did differently, how they’ve improved and replicate the same patterns.
Remember, success leaves clues. Work like them, act like them, talk like them, learn like them, and post like them.
Do this consistently for the next 3–6 months and you’d have already started experiencing insane changes. I can guarantee you that if you’re doing this strategically, by your 8 months, you’d have doubled your initial goal of earning 70k per year.
You’d develop the skill of someone worthy of earning $250k/yr.
Let’s be honest, life happens you might not hit that $250/yr mark, maybe not $200/yr but one thing is certain, you’d have blown past your initial goal and maybe in the next 2 years, you’d have perfected these habits so much that you’d crush past the $250k/yr mark.
Regardless, isn’t that a win? Exactly.
…and to be honest, this section is also a gentle reminder for my future self as well anything I get to read this once more😄
Learn and teach fun new tools
To be honest, I’m getting really comfortable with my design tool stack, especially Figma. Next year, I’d be exploring new technologies and sharing my experience learning and using them with the community.
I actually yearn for this! I will improve my Webflow skills, use Protopie more, explore Bubble, use After effect, improve on Final cut, photo manipulations with photoshop, explore Blender and yeah, finally learn how to play chess!
Summary
While this year didn’t turn out bad, I feel like I need to put in more work in redefining myself and growing more. I like to consider myself a catalyst — one who constantly seeks to improve and facilitate the environment he finds himself.
I love to have an impact on people, I love to see them grow, and I love to help businesses attain new reach or uncover strategic opportunities they didn’t see which sometimes is outside my job requirement. I’m actually doing this with my current company.
This next year, I’m going to participate more in the community and make more impact in my own little way.
I know you have your own goals as well and I’d love for us to ride on this journey together and keep ourselves accountable. Trust me, you can accomplish yours and I’d love to cheer you on your many wins and crushed battles, so let’s connect and send messages to each other.
Here’s to an even more incredible year ahead!
