Thoughts from 2024

In last year’s Year Compass going into 2024, I answered “This year I will say yes when…”

something is challenging/scary, but I’m curious and excited

Some of those things I said yes to:

• Paragliding in Austria
• Competing in my first kickboxing tournament + weightlifting competition
• Buildspace 6-week programme and attending the IRL event in San Francisco
• Becoming an assistant kickboxing coach
• Doing my first ever tech talks (Svelte Society London + Future of Coding)

Microdosing (healthy) fear has been a pattern that has shaped me the most that year, each opening up new paths and possibilities to explore.

The ripple effect can profoundly shape your journey in unanticipated ways. By being open to serendipitous opportunities, you can gain fresh perspectives, forge meaningful relationships, and grow beyond your initial expectations. - Tiny Experiments

I love this quote so much ~ a welcomed side-effect of saying yes to things was indeed forging meaningful relationships and community. This was the year I realised that good human connections make my life richer.

If you participate with genuine curiosity, a community can impact your path in unexpected ways. You join with a specific benefit in mind, but the relationships that flourish unlock opportunities that might have once seems outside of the realm of possible. A writer might meet a developer, and together they start a profitable startup. A student might connect with an industry veteran who becomes their mentor. You may discover new interests or business ideas. The people you meet can become collaborators, clients, employers or advisors. - Tiny Experiments

In my immediate social circle, I now feel blessed with amazing friends which have shown me how wonderful safe, supportive and authentic friendships can be. After years of experiencing a feeling of loneliness growing up and through early-adulthood, having these relationships, sports and communities has completely smushed that feeling into the ground.

Going to SF for Buildspace IRL I think was a life-changing trip. I was exposed to the atmosphere of literally a thousand people(!!) working on and sharing things they care about and are bringing into the world. Going to events and community meetups last year inspired me to build orbits.so this year. Programs and opportunities like these have also helped me feel comfortable in sharing my own work online and in person.

Sharing what you’re building can feel scary and vulnerable, but the more you do it, the easier it becomes. It it has helped me to improve quicker, connect with more people and even helped in my career. You also don’t know what ripple effects you can create yourself from doing so. Your work can inspire someone else, their work can inspire someone else’s, and so on and so on.

By the end of 2024, I felt physically humbled 😅 - I got through a back injury and what felt like countless illnesses with a sprinkle of burnout. Very frustrating, but it also forced me to slow down and not take my health or a functional back for granted :‘)

One of the last things in the Year Compass booklet is picking “a word to symbolise and define the year ahead”.

Mine was joy. Although there was a fine balance with moments that felt quite the opposite, I’m grateful that 2024 was full of it. 💜

To see in the new year, we were watching Sophie Ellis Bextor perform before the big ol’ countdown, who left us with:

Do what you like and do more of it.

For 2025, I’m going to do just that. :)