Introduction
If you read my last post about the end of 2018, you will know I had a comprehensive list of side projects I wanted to get done over my Christmas break. This post will be a reflection of what I accomplished as well as including the goals I have set myself for 2019.
Accomplishments and Learnings
While I was on my break I found myself surrounded with people whose primary interest wasn’t programming. This was not only refreshing as for the past few months I had spent the majority of time both inside and outside of work talking to people working on various programming projects, but it also gave me insight into the opportunities that these people, all varying in different subjects of knowledge, could have if applied in the web technology area.
After reading more into this, I found that people who learn multiple fields and combine them can be referred to as ‘expert generalists’. There are some very interesting http://www.chrest.info/Fribourg_Cours_Expertise/Articles-www/IV%20Expertise%20et%20societe/Creative%20development%20as%20acquired%20expertise%20-%20Simonton.pdf which show data on how very successful people in fields turn out to be expert generalists. Although I am not entirely convinced this is always the case, it has motivated me to broaden my scope and look into other topics that have interested me such as philosophy and psychology.
This changed my goals over the Christmas break as I began reading more and overall taking more of a break from my computer than I intended. Less work was done but that rest was just what I needed.
This is what I ended up accomplishing over the break. It’s not what I set out to achieve but I have no regrets. My break was just what I needed and wouldn’t have spent it any other way than sitting on the beach with a beer in my hand, looking up at the fireworks, surrounding a campfire with friends and family.
Goals
I want to be an intermediate full-stack developer before the end of 2019.
This is a big goal, but considering the amount of time I put into web development, I am confident this is possible and I will work for it every step of the way. My other goals include investing more of my cash flow and contributing to three or more Laravel based projects on Github.
All of these are measurable and while it may take some time, I will report the progress as it happens.
Conclusion
My Christmas break was insightful and gave my brain the time to relax and focus on other things. I still managed to do some work on projects, but not as much as I had set out to do. I have set clear goals which I believe to be achievable and will keep me on track to where I want to be in life and more importantly, the mindset I want to have.
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