2022: Eight Life Aspects Reviewed.

Hey Everyone,

Thanks for taking the time to sit down with me. In this post I’m going to assess myself against eight aspects of my life that I’m looking back on in 2022 for. They are My Career Progression, my Family Relationships, My Spiritual Connection, My Financial Health, My Social Life, My Physical Well-being, My Intellectual Pursuit and finally, Creative Work.

My Career Progression

So I’ve been an executive assistant to CEO for about 8 years and 5 months now. Unlike the first few years where I feel like there’s always something running towards me (sometimes I still do, but anyhow) I now feel like I’m starting to get bored with the demands of work. There’s always something new to learn, but after so long of holding on to this job I kind of feel like I’ve become very efficient at doing stuff that I feel the need to impart to others some things I know.

That’s exactly why I started Youtube and this blog to document my progress, pen (type?) down my thoughts, dreams and aspirations for the future and create content so I could leave the world better than I found it.

I’m also not ruling out the fact that I could be employed elsewhere to gain more exposure to other industries or relocate. I feel that being an Executive Assistant to CEO, and the lessons that came working as one, enhanced my life in a way that I’m freer to do things I want to do.

In 2022, I basically just surfed through the demands of my job that I got bored so I filled it learning ways to showcase my work.

Family Relationships

In late 2021 I reconnected with my friends and family living in the US when I flew there. I must say it was eye-opening because never in my life have I ever seen so many Filipinos thrive in another country. I mean, I’ve been to so many places and it’s humbling to see household after household I’ve visited have plenty of children running around celebrating Friendsgiving and Thanksgiving. The trip to the US really fattened my heart and filled it with hope and a future.

This year, I set out to maintain and strengthen bonds and relationship with family because I believe our time on earth is borrowed. We ought to cherish each others’ company in every way we can. Our time was, is and will be limited. Had we strained any relationships, we would have wasted an effort in making them in the first place.

I must say I was quite successful developing this. There’s one though, but I’ve just made an effort to mend it last week. We’ve sort of, agreed to disagree on some matters.

Spiritual Connection

I’ve always believed in Jesus. Since age 12 when I prayed the sinner’s prayer I knew there’s no way I would be snatched away from My Father’s Hand. He is the help I had in times of need.

However, in good times such as the year that had just passed, it’s kind of like, “Life’s going well, maybe focus on something else right now.” So many questions pop in my head that I just leave them unanswered.

“Seek Him,” they say, is an active verb. This year, I find myself become passive with my relationship with the Lord and kind of drift away. I hope I don’t go so far that I forget how it feels like to be filled with his word. We’ll see (see?).

Financial Health

Early in 2020, just before the pandemic, I set out to fix my finances once and for all. I was forced to admit that my budgeting system then wasn’t working for me anymore. I didn’t need it to be good but I needed it to be great by having just one (1) system where I could calculate and track everything spent, what is earned and how much could be saved.

So since I consider my Excel skills Excellent, I designed a new one. Two years on and I’m still using the same spreadsheet taking only 2 hours a month to balance-out my life.

I guess I’m still rockin’ with my finances because the way I see it I can finance my needs for the future without getting hungry now even with the inflation.

I guess, owning your own home, riding a bicycle to work, eating out/socialising less does help keep one’s pocket full along with sensible budgeting and making wise purchase decisions. Not to mention, I’ve hit a financial milestone in the middle of this year.

Dave Ramsey’s method when it comes to managing personal finance is extremely powerful and I hope you listen to what he says.

Social Life

While the world economy has largely opened up and people have become freer, I’ve personally found comfort in enjoying my own company. I look back on the year 2022 realising that I should learn to walk away when my battery for people-ing is low and it’s perfectly fine not needing to please anyone.

Please don’t get me wrong, I’m neither a recluse nor a loner. In fact I’ve organised a meet up with former NS buddies and it’s refreshing to know that we’re still the same with our tendencies and personalities, just better. I’ve also traveled four times this year and met so many wonderful people along the way.

On this front, I’d say that I got better in prioritising my needs rather than feel the pressure to be sociable.

Physical Well-Being

I’ve just turned 33 this year. I guess I’ve, “Let myself go,” a little bit further this year.

I gained weight, complained much about it but still ate it all. I’ve eaten so much my life’s motto should have been, “To swallow, everything I put in my mouth.”

Jokes aside, it’s quite liberating to let oneself loose (especially the buttons after lunch, oh the satisfaction!). However, I have high standards for myself and it shouldn’t take long for me to lose some weight once my my heart is set. I’ve done it a number of times, it should be a piece of cake.

Intellectual Pursuit

My personal constitution reads, “I must learn, so others will learn from me.”

This year, I’ve learned to augment my teaching skills by learning how to film, present and post my knowledge and ideas on Youtube. It’s crazy how many things you can do or create in there. It’s scary because I’m one who has plenty of ideas and I enjoy spinning logic on its head (or at least I think I do). It’s unimaginable how if I taught someone s skill now I could have helped a generation who have access to the internet do better. It’s also unthinkable that I could show my work simply by posting them on here.

I’ve also created this blog to complement Youtube (Or is it going to be the other way round from now?).

This may sound a little morbid but it brings me some comfort that if I were to drop dead tomorrow, I would have already left a mark on this world. At least on my niblings who haven’t experienced what I’ve experienced. I hope they grow up and lead full lives.

In this aspect, 2022 is the year I learned to teach others to help themselves.

Creative Work

Much of 2022 was about brainstorming ideas and how to create them. I don’t know how you’d define it but personally that’s just me talking to myself about ideas. I’ve got a list now, and I plan to follow through it in 2023 and beyond.

I mean creative work takes time and I consider myself young so I have the time on my side. I seek neither fame nor money (though they’d be nice). All I want is my work to be recognised and inspire a generation of my people to succeed in life.

I already started with some good videos. I’ll make more blog posts and YouTube videos as soon as I could keep fitting them into my schedule.

Conclusion

Time waits for no man. It’s what we choose to spend our time, money and effort on now that determines what we’ll be getting in the future. If we planted a seed last year, we could have had a tree now.

We can’t be blind about what’s to happen. We must anticipate things early and grab the opportunity once it’s seen.

Regardless of high inflation, economic uncertainties and geopolitical situations this year, twenty-twenty two is a year of course correction for me. I’m pretty confident about my future, I hope you are with yours too.

Keep thriving,
Gio