In retrospect

It is January and.. like most people, I look back at the past year, see where I was, see what I wanted to do and see if I was able to do them. Of all the things I have done, there are two that stands out for me..

Early last year, I was invited by Microsoft to attend a speakership training with PeopleIgnite and I must say I really learned a lot from that. And in that training, one of the activities was to draw something that would represent us, and what we are doing after a year. It’s a kind of “this is me one year from now” thing. I drew myself, in a “Dark Sith” cape conducting a speakership training session. I told them “one year from now, I see myself as the one delivering these trainings.”  You see, the training was to teach us how to present technical topics better. And I envisioned two things; 1. that I would develop enough skills to be qualified to actually deliver such a training and 2. that by next year, I would be handing off the evangelism efforts to a new breed of evangelists.

Right now, I believe (I hope folks at peopleignite will agree) that I have developed the skills and experience to be able to teach how to present technical topics.

The second thing that I have set for myself as a personal goal last year, was that I would become a Microsoft MVP.

These two things, I have achieved.. by  weird combination of effort, good luck, bad luck, and a host of other things. Hard work of course, dedication, effort etc. i could blog a thousand words to attempt to describe the journey that was last year but for me, it all boils down to.. motivation.

And what motivated me? No, it is not fame.. nor is it fortune. It is not money either. It is my deep desire to give my wife and three kids.. a better life.