Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

It is not very simple to write a Christmas message on LinkedIn because I try to be part of the group of professionals who work to save our favorite social network from becoming a new Facebook. However, Christmas is worth risking!

It is incredible how fast this year has flown by and Holidays is the time to make a balance of the year that is about to end and to evaluate the most significant experiences and lessons learned.

For this last article of the year, I decided to compile some principles that have contributed to my most important lessons learned in my life so far. This set of principles are becoming my essential playbook for success, and I am opening up and sharing these insights, and maybe some of them can be useful for you too.

Here’s the list of something that I have learned, and I will keep with me for the next year

I've learned to take more calculated risks helps me getting outside of my comfort zone:

Big ambition demands a willingness to take risk. Incremental changes can happen in a pretty safe way, but if you want something to be transformational, to change your life, your career, your business, then you need to think big, face down the risk, and figure out how to deal with it.

What does it mean to “get outside of your comfort zone”? Take calculated risks that play to my strengths with potential upside.

Not doing the same things I have always had done before, in one way or capacity helped me to look at my background and connect the dots.

I've learned how to put exercise and health as my priority

Keeping self-care in body and mind is so important when looking at my goals, victories, and challenges.

I consider taking care of my health it is the best thing I can do for myself, other than investing in your education.

Every single successful person I know has cited exercise and health as key to his or her success. I develop a personal program of activities along 3-4 days a week at the gym, most of the days including a very relaxing time in Sauna.

I've learned how to ask for advice and how to apply those precious bits of advice in my life.

The world is plenty of people ready to give you their opinions about anything — but the risk is that I can get biased opinions from someone’s specific circumstances and situation, which may or may not be helpful. However, at a certain point, I learned to research and gather as many data points as possible, then decide for myself with my situation and best interests in mind.

I've learned how every experience has been a lesson because nothing is a failure but a learning exercise.

I have failed at so many things in my life, but I never look at it as failures. Every single failure taught me something that helped me move forward and make it better next time.

No matter what happens, It is important to think of each experience as a lesson, not a failure. It can be applied not only to your career and relationships.

Learn how to work better with great people.

In IBM, this year, I had the opportunity to work with fantastic people who taught me so many precious lessons. People are the most important thing when working at a company. People and culture are everything.

 Of course, it's impossible to hit 100% with amazing people all the time, but it is important to try hard. One of the things I love most in IBM is that it is a place of smart people where most of the time I am not the smartest person in the room, which mean endless opportunities to learn.

I've learned how to get good mentoring!

I usually over abuse of the concept of "think for myself" and "decide for myself" and I don’t blindly do it “just because everyone’s doing it.” but having a mentor (or more than one) indeed provided me with many advantages, helping me to shorten my learning curve, opening my mind to new ideas and possibilities, identifying opportunities and advising me on how to promote myself.

Also, most importantly, they provided invaluable insider information on how to navigate the very complicated IBM politics and achieve my goals, so I am delighted with how I learn this year s with my mentors.

Thanks to my (official and non-official) mentors this year: Daisaku Koizumi, Gerhard Pfau, Edesio Santana e Bret Greenstein and others for all their priceless advise and insights!

I've learned how to read something interesting and useful every day.

For me, there is no better way to learn than reading every day, not only books!

This year I have spent a significant amount of time and effort distilling thoughts about Cognitive Computing, but not only, I have spent some time reading other genres as well (like time management, economy, and sociology as well).

I also followed some critical influencers in Social Networks to keep up with the latest news and trends. I committed myself to try to read at least 25 useful pages a day. At the end, it can mean got through several books and web pages in a single month.

I've learned that I need to Work hard and Work Smart

I am really focused on my career, building the skills I believe I will need to make further steps to the next future because I think that there are no shortcuts in life. Since I was 15 years old, I’ve been working hard (and lately working smart) gaining opportunities I never had dreamed of and opened doors. I consider this a valuable investment in myself, learning how to work on the right things, and work smart and strategically, not necessarily just focusing on the number of hours worked.

I've learned how to be more productive while working from home.

Working from home is a dream for many and this year I have this idea realized, obtaining a better work-life balance, maintaining all the tangible benefits of being part of a company, while enjoying all the advantages of being based at home (Most of the time).

I am planning to write an article about it during the next weeks, but I feel more productive, with more flexibility, less stressed and less distracted since I started to work from home most of my weekly time.

I've learned that I need to keep learning.

I believe that educate myself means to invest in myself. During this year I had more than 120 hours of formal training in IBM Learning Program.

This year, I dedicated myself to Cognitive Computing but bearing in mind that even if I have been focusing on Cognitive, learning sales skills and people skills would take me far in my professional life in management roles in the future. Other than that, learning to code is bringing more value to my skill set.

I've learned how to develop Self-awareness.

Know myself and being comfortable and secure in myself was one of the most critical changes in my life this year and this is something that only comes with age and experience. The best part of self-awareness is that as you grow confident with yourself, become better at what you do; you will not be concerned about what other people think anymore.

I've learned that how to spend my resources on new experiences and new memories, not in material things.

Every time I could, this year, I traveled, went to amazing rock concerts (like Guns n' Roses), try new restaurants, exploring my city and tried to get outside of my comfort zone.

Every time I could, I spend my resources not buying material things, but investing in new experiences and memories, building good stories and talking points with others and enjoyable learning experiences.

I've learned how to invest in good relationships.

In the modern and connected world we live in, relationships are everything — I believe that I would not be where I am today without the help of many others.

Moreover, it is important to reach out and build relationships adding value to people, understanding what is in it for them, giving and not only taking!

I've learned why it is so important to celebrate the things I have done during my year.

I believe celebrating life on a daily basis is a way to develop an “attitude of gratitude” that can transform my outlook on life and my ability to enjoy what I already have more deeply.

Also celebrating my accomplishments can boost my confidence, help to stave off burnout and fuel my continuous pursuit of success.

When I have reached a significant milestone, instead of immediately moving on to the long list of things that I have to do next, I learned how to spend some time reflecting on what I have accomplished and love to celebrate it.

 What is in store for 2018?

Exciting times are coming! One of the main highlights for me this year was starting to write actively on LinkedIn. The feedback and support I have had have been incredible. I can count on 75 articles viewed and commented by my ever-growing network touching this year 15.000 followers. Which is a little mind-blowing when I take a step back and think about that some of my articles were had more than 17.000 views like Despacito's article. 

Also, I have four points I would like to share as being some of my top goals in the new year:

• Being a Project Manager: I am part of a team of Project Management on a critical Migration Project in IBM - During the whole 2018 I will be very engaged on the massive Server migration to the Cloud of one of our most crucial Client. I am learning a lot about this project, and I know that will give me much satisfaction during next year.
• Being a writer on LinkedIn: I will keep documenting my journey in IBM a lot more in 2018 as I have some big news that I will be revealed early next year! So I will continue writing many articles.
• Publishing video content: I believe that 2018 will be the year to begin publishing my content not only in text but video too. Let's see!
• Follow my Cognitive Computing journey: I will keep developing my Cognitive Computing skills with intensive training, leading Cognitive Projects and accomplishing some important tasks as Cognitive Education Lead at my Client Innovation Center.

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone that’s made 2017 one of the best year of my life. Every single person that’s worked with me supported me, met for a coffee or trusted me with opportunities.

I have too many reasons to say how much I love my life and my job. A significant part of it is because I am surrounded by amazing people that make my life and work every day so much better.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!