Overview of 2022

Oh boy, it has been a while here. I was living in a parallel universe where I was keeping track of everything more often and writing here, but checking the archive page of the site, I was blown away.

Anyway, it’s that time of the year when you can sit and do the yearly recap and overview, set some goals, and plan for the next 365 days. I personally do not believe in the new year new me BS, but I’m using the time to do some review, reset and try to improve and change things where I can and have control. Plus, it was a nice tradition that I’d like to resume, so here I am.

On a Personal Level

I’d start by simply saying – I want this year to be over ASAP and forget about it. Honestly, I’m a person that does not complain (too much) but just wants to say it out loud. This year was awful from a personal aspect. And it was not for me personally, it was the family and friends around me. My grandparents got worsen this year, so we had to change a bunch of things and move them in with us, so we can take care of them. Let’s just say that we had to visit the ER 5 or 6 times, combined with calling an ambulance at home a few times.

We lost family members and friends, a dog, and two cats. We had some cases of illness like tuberculosis, and heart attack, just to name a few. So like I said, I really want to wrap up the year and hope for the best for the next one.

Enough with the bad stuff, there in the past and I’m a person that tries to move on and keep the positivity and search for the best out of the situations. I’m the way I’m and that’s part of me.

Sport and Health

In just the opposite way from the things above, I’m feeling in the best shape for many many years. Two years ago I started doing CrossFit, although last month was not so regular due to many external factors. I even started going to the gym this year, even though I’m not the biggest fan of it, but it’s a bit different and it helps.

I started doing physio and with the help of the regular exercises, and specific moves I have to do daily I’m managing to control the back pain and the disc herniation I’m dealing with. Happy to share all contacts and things I’m doing so I can help you out if needed.

I’d like to improve my diet and water consumption. I’m using MyFitnessPal for tracking what I eat. I started this as a joke and for the sake of the experiment. I’m not super strict, chasing a number of calories and the like, as this is just not me, but for sure I’m seeing how this helps me reduce the junk food I’m consuming. Of course, Jelly beans or sweat, in general, is not something I’m gonna stop eating (non-nom), but I can see an improvement in the list of things I’m having, so that’s a good thing, for sure.

I’m not active in sharing videos and photos from the training sessions and I’m still wondering if I should change this, but I’d like to show you how I’m dying here, trying to hit max calories for 2 minutes on the bike. Plot twist, I almost hit 50.

Good Vibes

On a positive note as it was not just bad things happening around me – this year we went to the sea three times and it was a lot of fun. We went to Greece with my dad and mam and did a nice family trip. Showed them some interesting places, did some snorkeling and the like.

Then we went to Turkey and it was the first flight for Bibby. We weren’t sure how she’s gonna react, so we started preparing her upfront and overall it was great. She enjoyed the trip and the vacation, in general.
Of course, usually when I’m off something critical happens, so I had to fix and sync some things on the go, but no complaining here :)))

We did a few more short trips in the mountains and to the Bulgarian sea and overall had great summer with a lot of memories. I went to a few different parties, birthdays, gatherings and what not.

Besides the family matters I’ve shared the year was overall okay and we had some nice moments, so I can’t complain that much. Sharing some of the favourite moments below.

and many, many more :)))

Real Madrid

Of course, how can I miss this one? This year was one more amazing year for my club and I was fortunate enough to share the precious moments with the local fan club. We watched how we are becoming champions in Spain for the 35th time! And oh my, oh my, lifting the 14th Champions League trophy was on a whole other level!

Contributing and Open Source

One of the things that I’d like to change here is how often I find time for these types of things. I’m not doing it as often as I used to and I really miss it, so this would be something I’ll try to work on. Yes, having some contributor days here and there, and answering questions in the WP support forum and FB groups helps, but I know I can do more, so we’ll see how this would go next year.

Reading and Learning

For the last two years, I’m in the top 10% of Pocket readers. And this should e something I’m happy with it, but I’ve used to be in the top 5%. One of the reasons is that I slightly changed the way I consume content and I’ve started “reading” more audiobooks, which is a good thing, but I still love reading a selective list of articles I’m saving in my Pocket. I managed to finish 9 audiobooks and a few physical ones, so not that bad for a person that is not the typical book reader.

Also, short videos in different forms are taking some of my time and attention, probably, more than needed, so something to consider for my goals for the next year.

DevriX in 2022

Wow, what a year it was! I’m just highlighting a few of the things here, but it was quite the ride.

Internship Program

As usual, each year we are having our summer internship with students from TUES. This year was no different and we had an amazing group of young and motivated people that did their two-weeks project. This is always an amazing experience for me and I really enjoy spending time with fresh and open minds that are eager to learn, grow and develop themselves as human beings. This time was no different and I’m very much looking forward to seeing what we’ll be doing next summer 🙂

12th Birthday

We celebrated our 12th birthday and throw a pool party with the team. It was an amazing event with a lot of fun, dances, drinks and all the good stuff 🙂

I’ll leave a few Instagram posts to tell the story

We improved and changed a lot of things

We are a dynamic company and we are evolving over the years, adjusting workflows, tools, mindset and the like. I feel like even being 12 years in the business, we still live and breathe as a startup that adjusts to the situation and market conditions. And I truly love the way it is, as this helps us move forward, growing and learning fast.

We have changed a lot in terms of management and forming a strong leadership team with more structured quarterly and weekly meetings, setting the long-term planning and making sure we are on the right track.

A lot of things have changed since my last yearly recap here – we had our ups and downs, we have started working with amazing people we part ways with some amazing people, but that’s life and that’s how business work. With the unpredictable economics, layoffs and uncertain times I’m equally worried and excited about what 2023 will bring for us. One thing is sure, I’m very much looking forward to all the challenges we’ll be dealing with, and all the amazing products and things we’ll deliver for our clients and partners and can’t wait for the next week when we’ll be back at the office and keep crushing it.

We did a bunch of other things and achieved a lot, so you can take a look at our review post here:

Conferences and Events

This year was different. We had some events, finally on-site, as I believe we all get tired of all online events and wanted to meet people, do some proper networking and the like. It was not the busiest year, compared to some of the old recaps I’ve done, but it’s way better than what we had in the last couple of years, for sure.

WordPress meetups and Seminars

I spoke at a few events and seminars this year, but the most recent one was about “Do WordPress developers write code?“. I had two presentations to different audiences – the first was in one of our WordPress Sofia meetup groups and the second one was a seminar with Software University (SoftUni).

WordPress Contributor days

We had a few contributor days at the office and I can’t wait to continue having these as part of the culture next year.

#WPBGUG

We are back! Yes, We had our event this November and I’m super excited to share this, but after 2 years we are back and planning some cool items for 2023! Stay tuned and feel free to join us!

WordCamp Sofia 2023

I’m super excited to share the news – we are planning our local WordCamp in April next year and I’m honored to be the lead organizer of the event next year. After the Covid times, this was something I’m really missing and I can’t wait to see all people that live and breathe WordPress, gathering together. We’ll be sharing more news soon, so look around for more news! #wcsof

Goals and Plans for 2023

I know that in order to be a useful list, there should be more specific targets and goals, but I’ll just list a few items here, as I haven’t finished the list and still working on it. Also, I have a few private personal items that I prefer to keep for myself.

Personal Development and Growth

That’s one of the usual items in such types of lists and it’s kinda normal. I would like to continue developing myself, learning new things, and being better at what I do. Since this is too broad as a goal, I have to add a few items at least:

  • Expanding the technical stack would be the first thing for sure.
  • Improving my management skills – this is something I’m working on a daily basis and there is always something to be improved.
  • One of the items I have on my list and keep procrastinating on is updating my personal website and starting to write more often. This is something I’m promising myself for quite some time, so it’s about time, right?
  • The list is not complete for sure, but I’ll be happy to share more about it in the recap for the next year.
  • Continue being a calm and collected person when shit hit the fan.

Sport and Health

One of the things I love and will continue doing is regular training, being in the Gym, doing different sports and just being active. In order to not have back pain, I have to do daily exercises and this is something that I can’t simply skip.

One of the things on the list is increasing the PRs I’m having for deadlifts, front and back squats. I don’t have a specific target in mind, like not aiming for certain weights, but more like improving the technique and strength that would allow me to add more weight to the bar. Learning Bar Muscle-Up would e also be on the list here, so we’ll see how it goes.

I’d like to improve my diet and water consumption. I’m using MyFitnessPal for tracking what I eat, which helps for sure, but everything depends on my personal attitude and being serious about it.

Reading and Learning

As mentioned in my recap above, for the past 2 years I’m out of Pocket’s top 5% readers, so this is something I’ll be working towards fixing for the next year 🙂

I started building a nice library in Audible with books that I’ll be reading next year. I do not have a set target yet, but as many as possible.

I also have a few playlists and courses I’d like to start, so we’ll see how this will expand over the year.

Networking and Friends

I caught myself I lost some connections over the years with old friends and peers and I’d like to fix this where possible. I’d like to get in touch with some old fellas and catch up on the good old times, but this is also a bit optimistic goal. Life goes on, people now have kids, demanding jobs, and less and less free time, so we’ll see how it goes here.

Joining a few events after all the pandemic and lockdowns would be also something I’ll be looking forward to. It’s super funny that I actually love meeting new people and doing nice networking but at the same time my introvert part is kicking and makes me bad at doing proper networking or small talk.

See you in 2023

What a journey it was! I have mixed feelings about 2022. A lot of things could have been better, but also a lot of things were amazing, so I’m very much looking to close the year and start fresh with the new year.

As mentioned at the beginning, I don’t believe in the new year’s changes, but at the same time is a good opportunity to hit the reset button and start fresh and motivated. I’ll be the same person, always looking for positivity and trying to find the good things, even the small ones. Stay safe and healthy and see you in 2023! 👋

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