2024 was doing it my way

In 2023, I decided to push myself to do things that made me uncomfortable. I decided that any opportunity that made me want to run away would be something I'd agree to.

That meant public things like webinars, in-person conference talks, and panel discussions as well as a whole bunch of less public tasks that triggered the same flight response.

To make myself accountable for this decision to embrace the adventure of Danny Wallace's Yes Man, I told my boss.

When you push yourself to feel the fear but do it anyway, you get to experience rapid growth, which comes with some anxiety. Flooding yourself with new challenges is growth fuelled by a bit of pain.

To make all these new things sustainable in 2024, I had to find my own way of doing them.

I did it my way

When I did a talk in 2023, I followed lots of great advice from friends and experts. You'll find advice about how much you should practice (lots), what you should put on your slides (no text), how you should stand, and what to do with your hands. Every detail is documented and shared so you can give a TED Talk every time.

In 2024, I threw out the rulebook and did it my way.

I feel more comfortable giving a talk without hours of practice, so I'm more open to responding to the room and how they react to what I'm sharing. I'm also more relaxed giving a panel discussion if I don't know the questions in advance.

Finding my way of doing things makes them less stressful for me and better for the people giving up their time to attend. You bring energy to the room, so the things that make it healthier for you also make it better for everyone else.

My way might not be your way. You might feel most relaxed knowing you've perfected things in practice. Do whatever works for you so you can get in front of the lights as comfortably as possible.

And that goes for everything!

Whatever you take on, you have to think through how to achieve it harmoniously. If something feels off, listen to that little voice of intuition and work out what must be different to feel good about it.

Looking forward

I'm currently involved in research into Platform Engineering and GitOps, and I'm excited to see what surprises will come out of that work in 2025. I'm also taking on a new role and that comes with a certain amount of adventure. I'm also excited for my 3rd anniversary at Octopus in February.