Jorge Maroto

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2013 Retrospective. My 5 Pros & Cons

By Jorge Maroto · · 2 min read

Just one hour left in 2013, and I would like to do a small retrospective about what 2013 was for me. I really hate this kind of post, because they're egocentric, but I'm really doing it for myself (that's what self-centered means, isn’t it?). Here are my 5 pros & cons of the year.

Well done!

  • After too long without writing on my old-blog, I decided to start this blog and try to write in English (sorry for my English mistakes, I need to practice :)).
  • This was the year I read the most in my life. I could start talking about which books I read this year, but my Readmill account explains that better :)
  • I also took an active part in the community: first at ‘local’ meetings, but this year I gave a talk at Codemotion, a very important conference for me. I also helped as a volunteer at NSSpain, the best event I've attended.
  • I started to learn new programming languages (Ruby mainly, but I had my first contact with Node.js too), leaving my comfort zone so far (PHP & Obj-C).
  • I discovered new sports: snowboard & surf. Thanks to my friends for pushing me to do it!

Bad!

  • This year I traveled very little. In other years I visited several countries, but this year I was very busy with work, so this is one of my 2014 resolutions.
  • Pocket is a really good tool if you know how to use it. That's not my case: I currently have almost 2000 articles waiting to be read. I’m thinking about removing all of them and starting from scratch. Really, if I haven't read them by now, what would change?
  • I started going to the gym and I quit. I started running regularly and I quit once more. I need to be more consistent with exercise (I say it again).
  • I need to improve my English. I read more and watch more English TV series & films, but my level is still low.
  • I have to spend more time with the people who really matter. Until now, work was my excuse, but one month ago I joined ticketea, so I hope to have more time for people (sorry guys).

Maybe at the end of 2014 I’ll be able to look back at these resolutions and smile :)