2020 — Omo

Two things first;

1. This is my first year in review article
2. I didn't want to write this.

Here is why I shied away from writing this, to understand the flow of how this is supposed to work. I went to read a whole shit ton of year in review articles I saw scattered through my Twitter timeline and I just found it scary how vulnerable people were with their articles and how they were sharing what I consider a lot.

My initial reaction was "Ohh shit...People aren’t supposed to know this much about you man" but I later realized that it’s not about writing for people, that the whole process of documenting how your year went is a form of catharsis that helps you properly understand and fully connect the pieces that were in play during your year.

It’s primarily for you.

So without much ado, here is how 2020 went down for me;

The 2020 Game Plan (January - February)

Like many of my peers, I had big plans for 2020. In fact, 2020 was the first year I had a list of resolutions and plan for. As far as I was concerned "2020 was going to be my year" and it really seemed that way for a while.

The Seemingly Cool Job (February - April)

My biggest priority for 2020 was to increase my income by a really substantial amount. By February, I got a really cool job offer from a company I really admired and I was so excited because it felt like proof that 2020 was going to be my year. To me, it was validation that I was on the right track and I so loved to see it.

Future & Drake's "Life is good" was my favorite tune through this period because life really felt good.

The Depressive Episodes (April - June)

I am an arrogant person. I am self-aware enough to know this about myself and it is what I have always considered my hubris.

I think my arrogance is what restrained me from seeking help and just talking to people, to friends when I first noticed that things weren't going smoothly for me.

I was drained and burnt out from my job. Officially, I had to work from 8:00 am - 6:00 pm six days a week and unofficially I still had to work on Sundays.

In retrospect, I think that coupled with the constant exposure to gloomy & bleak news about the pandemic was what sparked my depression.

By April, I was full-on depressed and was on meds. On April 16, a day to my birthday I quit my job in the middle of a pandemic with no plan for what was to come next.

I spent the next month just eating, sleeping, listening to music, and actively shutting everyone else out.

The Mend (June - December)

In June, I got a new gig and this was what slowly coaxed me back to myself, getting to do work I love at a healthy pace. I resumed my stint back at an amazing place where I used to work — F&K Savings, met many awesome people, and had so many delightful conversations.

Projects I took on.

Despite the crazy year I had, I got up to a couple of exciting stuff I am keen to talk about;

• Deviants HQ: Myself & a couple of friends - Olamide Adebayo & Ochanya Okoh tried to build a learning community for tech enthusiasts. Things didn’t go as planned but reiterate until perfect right? We go again.
• The Product Square: This was supposed to be a brand where I’d be sharing nuggets & stuff I’d learned around product marketing & product management but I somehow dropped the ball with this. Looking to bring this back in 2021
• Notes To Younger Self: Worked with a friend Tobi Adeoye to curate a book where 11 renowned people in their field shared life lessons they have arrived at so far from their personal and professional experiences. To be fair she did almost all the work.
• Let’s Talk Culture: I wrote a whole article about LTC and what we are about here. It’s the most exciting thing I have gotten up to in a while and I am fully committed to doubling down on it in the coming year.

I would always think of 2020 as the year that humbled me and taught me life lessons that I will forever hold to heart.

By measure of the goals I set for myself at the start of this year. 2020 ought to be counted as a failure for me but it's been anything but that.

I got to meet amazing people that would forever mean the world to me - Ceri, Moyo (my partner at LTC and frankly a friend I don't deserve), Fisola, Debo, Iyinoluwa Adedokun, and all the awesome community members of Let's Talk Culture.

Shout-out to old friends like John, Ayomide Gbadebo, Olamide Adebayo, Tobi Adeoye, Temidire that came through for me this year.

I don't really have any concrete plan for 2021 other than the knowledge that I want to create more value, love harder, laugh more, and stay fully committed to my baby — “Let’s Talk Culture.”

Penning this last paragraph, I can't help but think of my mom who supports my decisions wholeheartedly even though they don't make sense to her.

Sigh, can't wait to make that woman proud.

Cheers to the coming year, folks.
See you on the other side!