2018 Rearview—2019 Forecast

Note: post originally published on Januray 4th, 2019

2018 was a year of observations and lots of trials, but more importantly a year of freedom

The year two thousand and eighteen was one of those years where I risked it all. I’ve never written a year review as I’ve never seen the need for it. This year, I was compelled by the love and gratitude of how much has happened is miserable. I experienced freedom is in many areas of my existence.
The key areas I will talk about will be Professional Development, Personal Growth, and Community.Alright, the key areas I will talk about will be Professional Development, Personal Growth, and Community.

Professional development
I became more engaged in the industry than before. Faith, dedication and determination led me to a brighter yet amazing career vision. I finally find myself doing what I love and it has been amazing ever since. I moved to New York City to join our amazing security team 🛫.
I gave a talk and mentored at Meetup
I gave a talk on Data Breaches at Tech Symposium Cal Poly. If you’re in the Los Angeles area, I highly recommend to support this mission. Attended conferences, played and won a fun contest.

Personal Growth
“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”  — Albert Schweitzer
I met a friend at a social Meetup event who introduced me to Landmark. During our conversation, I was moved, inspired and touched by the energy and confidence she had about her life, goals, relationships. She recommended me to check out the introductory session. I accepted the invitation. Fast forward, after that introductory session, I enrolled in their “Landmark Forum” which was scheduled to be held in Culver City in February 2018. Since then, I never look at the world the same again. There has been a transformation in my relationships with family, friends and most importantly with God. And I am grateful 🙏

Futher, I finally got the courage to read more non-technical books, weird ones. Here is a list of some inspirational books that shaped my perspectives:

Non-Tech:

Secrets of Millionaire Mind -T. Hav Eker
Who Moved My Pulpit? Leading Change in the Church -Thom S. Rainer
Your Next 24 Hours - Hal Donaldson and Kirk Noonan

Tech books:

RTM - Red Team Field Manual
BTFM - Blue Team Field Manual
Ahead in the Cloud. Best Practices for Navigating the Future of the Enterprise IT - Stephen Orban
Cryptography Engineering — Niels Ferguson, Bruce Schneier, Tadayoshi Kohno

Community
The main engagement I had this year is serving at my local churches as a sound engineer in Los Angeles and now in New York.

The Forecast - 2019 and ahead Consistency and Love will be the goals I set for 2019

Consistency /n/: a degree of density, firmness -harmony.

Devotion to what matters the most for my well being: daily meditation, physical exercises.
Become an SME by acquiring skills needed to advance my career, never waste time on what’s not important 😇
Contribute to OSS (Open Source Software) projects.

And with that, nothing is ever easy, nothing is impossible either. There will be breakdowns along the way, and that’s OK! 2019 is a year of positiveness.

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