It has been an interesting year and felt like 2021 was over in a flash. Between lockdowns, home schooling, etc it surely felt like 2021 went by without us living it. Anyhow, I digress. I have never done a personal ‘year in review’ before, so this is my first attempt at it. I am not the one who sets goals at the start of the year because whenever I set goals I usually end up lot short. In order to not disappoint myself, I do not set any goals at all. :-).
2021 was a tricky year in my day job. Lots of ups and lots of downs. We delivered a lot of outcomes and products consequently we have been provided funding to hire more resources, effectively doubling our team size. Getting funding for new hires vs actually getting new hires are two different things. In the post-Covid era, hiring is very challenging, frustrating and very tricky to navigate. Hopefully, we will be able to fill those new roles in 2022 and deliver as per our plan. Mid 2021, a founder of a startup reached out to me asking for some advise. He later went on to offer me a role as a member of their Advisory Board. This is my first foray into a Advisory Boards of startups, I am also learning and hopefully will live upto their expectations.
As an entertainment professional, I have had a decent year. Auditioned a fair few, scored a few gigs and missed out on two major gigs. My goals for 2021 was to audition more for major gigs, which I was successful in doing. Crossing that chasm from audition to getting cast is the next hurdle. So, my goal for 2022 is to audition more for major gigs and get cast as well. Let’s hope for the best. And also a bunch of us moles (lovable group of actors), will embark on producing short film clips, it will be an interesting exercise coordinating everyone and producing something that is watchable.
As a trader, I sucked big time in 2021. However, compared to 2020, I think I did a lot better (to be read as lot less loss compared to 2020 however it is still a loss). I have started trading less, gone back to my systemic trading roots, re-developed some of the trading strategies from 2015. Started actively backtesting and trading cautiously. I am now more determined to trade less, take high conviction trades and follow a systemic process consistently. Also, I am learning lots about the way various asset classes in the financial markets work via Twitter. It is a treasure trove of information, if you are following the right people.
I re-designed this website and an another website. The websites got some much needed facelift and bugfixes after 5 years. I have used Generate Press themes. Although they are quite good, it takes a while to get used to. Biggest bugbear is the lack of easy social-media sharing functionality, I had to delve into the depth of PHPs to get them to work.
Business partner and I explored multiple businesses with view on acquiring them. Earlier in the year, we came close to acquiring a medical equipment manufacturing business but due to the flippant/erratic nature of the business owner we withdrew the offer after due-diligence process. Next, we came across a chemical manufacturing business we liked, flew down to visit their factory (by the way, this was my first flight in a long long time and felt like a child flying again, excited and thrilled!). We put in an offer but the vendor decided to accept another offer. Along the way, I learnt a about the world of SME’s (small to medium enterprise). That is, how they operate, how certain industries/markets work, how supply chain and logistics work and how hiring and resourcing works. I yearn for constant learning and this has been a source of quite valuable information/knowledge. Next, my business partner had his eye on a specific manufacturer for over two years now, it had been difficult to get a response from the owner of the business. But somehow late 2021, we got lucky and started talking. After a lot of to and fro with the business owner, we put in an offer. The vendor has decided to accept our offer over the other four offers they had. We are yet to sign contracts and proceed into the due-diligence process. If it all goes well, then by the end of 2022 I will also be a ‘business owner’. It is not going to be easy managing my day job, my entertainment career, my trading, a business and family commitments but I have to give it a shot. Without trying, I will never know what I am capable and not capable of. It is exciting and scary, future is uncertain but that is part of the fun and I suspect that’s what people call ‘living your life’.
We have started the process of researching the residential property market a bit more closely. One of our next goals is to buy a home to live in, if possible. I have stopped predicting where the residential property market might head next. I think, we are still 12-18 months away from transacting. Anything with me is always a long and an arduous process of ‘research’ before pulling the trigger hence the lead time.
What are my goals for 2022? I am not going to list the goals for myself because I do not want to jinx it. 🙂
Happy new year to you all and have a great year ahead.