2018 Goals

Goals A Happy New Year to you all!

2017 was a crazy busy year and one quite quiet on the blogging front. The biggest achievement for myself was completing my BSc in Computing and IT & Business with the Open University, it’s been an incredible 7-year journey where I have learnt so much from my studies and also about my self.

I was also promoted to Technical Executive at IPsoft, looking after the technical aspect of the clients I manage and then put in charge of leading a small team.

Review of goals set for 2017:

Let’s begin by looking at the goals I set in 2017:

1. Focus on my health more by going to the gym and eating a balanced diet. Aim to lose 5-10KG

For the most part of the year, this was on track. I was going to the gym 3-5 days a week and ended up cooking and preparing my own lunches which were not only healthier but also tasted delicious and saved £££. I also managed to lose 8KGs by following the Wheat Belly lifestyle (essentially cutting out wheat).

Towards the end of the year, this fell apart… I spent many nights studying and completing assignments/dissertation for the Open University which involved lots of coffee, chocolate, takeaways and energy drinks.

2. Drink plenty of water, limit coffee to one per day, before 12

Drinking plenty of water was achieved and continues be part of my daily routine. I buy those multiple packs of bottled water (still) from Aldi which come in handy for when travelling. The coffee plan didn’t go well too, I ended up drinking more than usual due to the boost needed to stay up and get my degree completed. I also realised I like coffee way too much!

3. This year is the final push to complete my Computing and IT & Business (BSc) degree with the Open University

Complete! I now have a BSc in Computing and IT & Business (2.2) from the Open University. I’m just waiting for the official certificate (due in February) and graduation is in March!

4. Renew VMware VCP status by March 2017

Complete! VMware Certified Professional 6 – Data Center Virtualisation unlocked.

5. Set aside 30 minutes per day to read a non-technical book, I plan on doing this before bed

I don’t think I can hide away from the fact anymore… I really detest reading! Watching and hands-on is my preferring way of learning than reading!

6. Complete the Cisco CCNA Data Center track

Unfortunately, I did not complete this, 2017 was a crazy year and my final year with the Open Unversity. The plan is to complete this in 2018.

Goals for 2018:

Below is the list of goals for this year:

  1. More travelling! Now that my degree is out of the way, its time to start exploring and start some new adventures! Amsterdam is already booked for Easter!
  2. Listen better! I have a tendency to listen and then drift away when an idea pops into my head, usually from the conversation at hand!
  3. Write ideas down and generally be more organised
    • Diary for 2018 already purchased! The goal is to keep using it throughout 2018!
  4. I feel a little lost now my degree is complete… to continue learning and developing I plan on taking and completing the following IT certifications this year:
    • AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate
    • Cisco Certified Network Associate – Data Center
  5. More meetups! I want to get out there and discover what other techies are doing and seeing if I can give anything back with the knowledge I have.
  6. Discover more different whiskies!

Interested to know everyone else’s goals for 2018! Leave a comment below! Here’s to 2018!