2020: The Year in review

This is my second year in review post, so many things happened in the year 2020 and I want to retrospect to understand what I did better and what I could do better in 2021 and my area of improvements.

At the beginning of the year 2020, I thought I will write reviews monthly which will help me improve things on monthly basis rather than year by year. It went well for a few months but then the COVID pandemic hit the world and you know the rest of the story.

P.S: You might hear me ranting about this COVID pandemic throughout this post and how it affected my progress. So don’t mind me 😅

Goals I had for 2020

1. Reading

I have to say, I have outdone myself in this category by overachieving it. For this year, my goal was to read 8 books and I am currently reading 11th and 12th book which I will be finishing it before year-end. I am so happy I was able to find time to read more books.

Find what I read in good reads.

2. Coding

Well, I will let my Github streaks speak for my coding habit. The year 2020, was not easy for many of us and I was struggling to concentrate as this pandemic was wreaking havoc on our planet. And if you read my last year's review, like I said this streak doesn’t matter, and don’t let it stress you by seeing other's streak and for the very reason I have added it here.

2020 github streaks

3. Blogs & Newsletters

Personal Blog

Page Views - 10,958 (total views) and 3,832 (unique views).

And, I can see so many people were interested in knowing me by checking the about me page 🤗.

How it works - A javascript series

Email Sent - 11 (emails) Email Open - 772 (times) Post Read - 4,826 (total views) and 3,832 (unique views)

This Week In Web

This week in web newsletter was done with the collaboration of my friend Shidhin.

4. Writing a book - Beginner’s Guide To Web Security

I never thought I will write a book in my lifetime, the main reason is I am lazy. But during the pandemic, I got inspired by so many people who were using their time during the lockdown by writing books, blogs, etc. So I thought why not? So I took a topic which I was least interested in and less known to me. I am glad I was able to finish it within a month.

To celebrate my achievement in writing a book, I am giving away 5 free book copies. Use this coupon yeahiwroteabook. And if you were not able to grab a free copy, don’t worry my book will be sold for a 50% offer for a week. Click the above book link on top to purchase it now.

And I want to thank the people who bought my book.

Stats:

So far I have made around ~200$ and it's not just about the money but it is an incentive for me to keep going.

5. Physical activities

I am a football player or used to be and it is my fav sport (⚽️ Barcelona) somehow I was able to play around 10+ games this year before the pandemic. My most enjoyable physical activity was running. And for me running was sort of an acquired habit.

Some stats on my activities:

6. Speaking:

I couldn't speak this year at all, last year I spoke 5+ times and this year it is just 1 talk. That's it.

7. Learn a new language:

I am a big anime fan, I tried learning Japanese just so I can watch the anime without English subtitles but I couldn’t progress much but on the brighter side, I can understand 25% of Japanese now, and before it was 0%.

8. Breaks

I took 4 long breaks and I am exhausted from my leaves for this year as well. It’s 0 now yaas it is zero.

Goals for 2021

Thanks for reading this post and subscribe to my newsletter for more updates about my upcoming new book and pet projects. If you have any suggestions or a question comment below.

Join 305+ Readers

Sent out once every month. No spam 🤞