2020 was the debut. And like every other year, it is of utmost importance that I take some time in December to write my annual review and hit the publish button.

As I stated in the 2020 Annual Review,  the essence of this yearly report is to reflect on the previous twelve months and write an honest review of what went well, what could have gone better and what I am working towards.

My Annual Review is a time when I get to celebrate the hard work and important decisions I have made over the past year. However, I  struggled with the thought of taking stock of the important decisions I made and the effort I put into doing this adulting of a thing. The thoughts of where I failed and how I can improve haunts me. I need to stress the fact that this is not about comparing self to others or contesting to win your Man of the Year Award.

Taking a cue from my 2020 Annual Review, I realized if all I can point to is just ONE win, it’s not little. It’s about my life, times, choices, actions, inactions and ultimately, what I desire for myself. At about 3am on December 30, 2021, I decided to keep my eyes on my own matter and graph book.

If you ever subscribe to doing an Annual Review, it is about seeing yourself for who you really are and thinking about the type of person you want to become.

What went well this year?

Relationships: I am indeed grateful for my family and friends. When I did hit rock bottom, their graciousness, kindness, and thoughtfulness was what I held on to. Many people chose to overlook my shortcomings and embraced me with their warmth.

Indeed, I do not take their love for granted.

When I needed certain things, my family and friends held me by my hands and gave me access to what they could.

This is my biggest win and nothing beats it.

Mindset: Until November 2021, I loved every other person deeply except me and I wasn’t hating myself. I just prioritized every other thing above self. While selflessness is an Omoluabi ethos, doing it to your detriment is as good as undoing yourself. It is self – inflicting.

All year long, I took unnecessary bullets because I wanted to satisfy others. Realizing the pain I’d been feeling was self – inflicted was a miracle. A very big one at that.

Travel: I had a long list of places I wanted to visit within Nigeria this year. Calabar, Jos and Port Harcourt.

However, I had reasons to visit Abuja, Lagos and Ile-Ife. As a matter of fact, I lived in Abuja for two months which turned out to be therapeutic and refreshing.

Incredible Ideas: I have a couple of ideas I have been working on for a while. It is interesting to see how these ideas connect and how I can build something sustainable out of them. Even though I am so keen on completing this faster than it’s moving, I take solace in the fact that good ideas take longer than you think.

How best do you describe having to work and work and work, and yet, it still wouldn’t be done? It has to be you showing up for yourself every other day. 

Healthy Living: It’s interesting to realize that I can stay off coffee for two solid years. (I used to be an addict. No coffee, no work) I also cut my fizzle drink intake by almost 50%.

Despite the fact that I unexpectedly stopped publishing my writings in the second half of the year, I am amazed at the incredible stats I had:

• 158 total email subscribers as of December 30, 2021
• 19,896 unique visitors this year
• 34,512 unique visitors since launching in March 2020.

What didn’t go so well this year?

Writing: I spent so much time struggling with my mental space that I had very little time left over to write new articles or newsletters. I wrote 23 new articles this year, which is my lowest total since launching ajiboladiipo.com in 2019.

It is important that I note that what I missed most was the feedback from readers.

The kind of interaction I get when I share my ideas with my MayWeather/Productivity Mindset Community forged new friendships. Some I still hold most dearly. I rarely got that while working on getting my mental space back, and I am looking forward to sharing many new articles and newsletters with readers in 2022.

When choosing who to work with, take the extra time and find the best people. Oftentimes, we think the employer is the only one with a reserved right to choose who to work with. It is important that you, as a consultant/contractor/employee take the extra time to look closely at the silver lining and find the best people to work with.

Best is a relative term. However, some things are basic: healthy work environment, opportunity to learn and grow, reliability and pay you as and when due.

With the wrong people, what should be easy becomes a problem. I learnt this vital lesson the hard way.

Finance: I finally figured out what it means to struggle. Trust me, it’s not a good place to be. It makes you suspend good thinking and focus on survival.

Safe to say good thinking, smart work and money work hand – in – hand.

What am I working towards?

This is one honest question I’ve been asking myself in recent times. It keeps me awake. The thought of it even in my subconsciousness jolts me back to life. Faster than any alarm clock.

I identify as one who has learnt, talked about and written quite a lot about the benefits of building in public. This year taught me that it’s easier to do when things are going smoothly. 

Did I also hear me say “test fast, fail fast and adjust fast” ? I learnt how much hard work these things are. However, I’ll keep grinding since the future still favours action takers.

What am I hoping to build, to create, and to share with my incredible world?

After much thought, here is my submission:

No is a Complete Sentence: My friend, Oyinlola Adebayo taught me that No is a complete sentence. If a role doesn’t match my goals and aspiration in the coming year, it is Okay to put my interest above that. This has been a long term weakness and with the help of friends, I look forward to waging a good fight.

Systems: If achievement-focused has a personal address, then it would be my house address. Last year, I made big strides toward becoming more process-oriented and focusing on the system rather than the goal. I continued in this pathway and would be consolidating this in the coming year.

The system is more important than the goal. I believe in processes. I believe that it’s more important to become the type of person that you want to become than it is to achieve a particular result.

Having sown the seeds, I look forward to enjoying the process more than ever and seeing the results of sowing in tears.

True leadership demands consistency.

Patience: Patience is both a strategy and virtue. You should consider the context and situation carefully and apply it.

In Conclusion

An opportunity is a natural occurrence of life.  Preparedness is it’s natural selection. I look forward to reading your success stories.

I am committed to living the dream life, deep work, publishing blog posts and a weekly newsletter, the MayWeather Series.

Cheers to 2022!