Most important things in 2018

End of the year. It should always be a time to look around and see, what has happened in the past year. When I first thought about 2018, while sitting in a sauna, I thought: “Okay, there were few big things, like walking almost 1000km to Santiago or finding a new job”. However, that felt like not enough. I was neutral about the last year. Perhaps more, than I should have been as it turned out later that evening, when I sat down and went through my photos from the past year. I was honestly shocked, how many things happened. I found more than 50 things, that were important or made me happy in 2018! Here is the list of the Most important things in 2018 divided in 3 sections:

1) Travelling

Israel

The year started with going to Israel. Even though it was only for two weeks, it felt great. I was shocked, how I felt about the culture there. It felt so different, so many new things and flavours of life, but most of all, the history and the incredible power of will of people living there. Even though we could see a lot of soldiers and heavy guns, I felt very safe and we didn’t experience any troubles regarding this.

We travelled from the very south of Israel, from Eilat to Jerusalem. These are only few of the great memories, yet they will always stay in my mind. We saw the sunrise at the Ramon crater, lived directly in the Jewish quarter (AirBnb) in Jerusalem, floated in the Dead Sea and witnessed another sunrise at the Masada fortress.

Santiago de Compostela

I accomplished one of the great things I always knew, I would do. Yet, if someone told me only few months before, that I would do the Way of St James, I would not trust him. I realized quite a few things, while walking 900km in the Northern Spain. That family is the foundation of everything, and that most of the things are just a matter of time. Some things are just not going to happen today, or tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow. But eventually, everything will fit together.

I wrote few articles about my journey to Santiago, so if you would like to go through them, you will find them all here. This was the biggest thing of 2018 and I will, hopefully, benefit from it for the rest of my life. I made several presentations about the journey to Santiago de Compostela and how I saw it. I was very pleased, how many people showed up. While I am not entirely sure yet, I probably will make more presentations during Spring 2019.

Quarry Velká Amerika (“Lom Velká Amerika”)

I can’t forget about the number of small trips close by. Sometimes I think, that I have to go some place far away, to discover something new. Sometimes we forget, that there are countless beautiful places and thinks around us, so close, that we can literally visit them in a matter of hours. This quarry, actually there are more of them, is wonderful. Almost abandoned, you can walk around the whole place, directly on the edge of it. There is the Karlštejn castle directly next to it, so if you were looking for a weekend trip, this might be a good idea to explore Czech Republic bit more.

2) Career

The start of 2018 went very well and I managed to pass a Prince 2 certification. It’s a project management method, which aims to be used in corporations and huge companies, but it can also be used in day-to-day activities, like organising a garden party or a ping-pong tournament. Overall, it’s handy.

The next thing that would belong to my career in 2018 is definitely self-education about economics and money management. With the regular income from work, it was necessary to start learning how to treat the money in a proactive way. I attended several economic lectures and seminars. The biggest was the Cashflow Summit held by Investree. Year 2018 was also the year, in which I bought my first shares yielding dividends. I would like to enhance my investing strategies and round-up the diversified portfolio for future growth.

The three company stories

Simplity

Looking back, I have quite a temptation to say, year 2018 was the most “packed with action” in my career life. The thing that triggered it all, was me getting fired from Simplity. Needless to say, that felt like kind of relief, as I would leave the company before the end of 2018 anyway. It was the first time ever, that I lost a job. Even though I was financially prepared and I don’t have my own family or kids yet, I felt strange kind of pressure. I think I am more than happy, that I went through this experience in such young age, with no real responsibilities. When it happened, I felt useless and more as a commodity than a person. Luckily this phase didn’t last for a long. More exactly, it lasted till I figured out, how to make a good use of the free time. Which didn’t take long honestly:)

Exponea

After two months of vacation, during which I did the Santiago de Compostela journey, I joined great Slovak start-up Exponea. It’s great company, with huge potential and I was really eager to work there. Those two prior months of only walking really made me want to go to work, to work on myself and my profession. The truth was, I didn’t feel good at Exponea at all. I was even more disappointed, as I was still thinking about the other opportunities I had. I kept struggling with it for two months and I probably felt work related stress for the first time. Maybe, maybe I still have no clue, what stress really is.

SDE Software Solutions

After those two months I simple felt, I had to do something about it. So I wrote the resignation list and I left Exponea the next day. Luckily, the situation with IT companies in Brno is very good at the moment, so I joined SDE Software Solutions the very next week. I (or maybe them) survived the first two months and I think we might add some more in our co-operation. Even though I am not doing what I though I would there, I still think, it could work.

 

3) Culture

This is one of the aspects of my life, which I always overlooked somehow. It’s not quite up on the top of my priority list, however once I found some time for it, I started to like it. I’ve ever been on only couple of concerts before in my life. I felt like listening to my favorite bands and songs was more enjoyable on Youtube, rather than on air. I might have been wrong I feel now. For example the concert of Jelen at Špilberk castle here in Brno was amazing. George Ezra in Prague was fantastic and once I saw the movie Coldplay: A Head Full of Dreams I was speechless. I started to regret I didn’t attend their concert right at the first shot of the stadium in São Paulo. 2018 was also the year, when Freddie Mercury came back alive in the Bohemian Rhapsody, which I also enjoyed   I went to the cinema alone, on Saturday at 1pm (not exactly the prime time). Boy was I shocked, when I ended up sitting at the stairs, as the cinema was completely sold out. (Note: I just watched the trailer and I immediately wanted to see it again).

2018 was also the year, when I finally joined my mom and sister and went to watch Velká Pardubická, the famous cross-country steeplechase run. It’s history goes back to 1874 and I could see why. The whole set up was incredible. Even though I honestly didn’t enjoy the whole horse racing thing, it was great to observe the people. It felt nice, to see people are dressed for the occasion. Ladies in long dress with hats, gentlemen in their blazers.

WWW – What went well in 2018

Once I went through all those tiny-to-huge things on my 2018 list, I am very grateful for how this year went. I visited new places, met some very nice people, learned new things about myself and the world around me and I didn’t get sick the whole year. What a lovely year.

I think it would be a nice habit, to sit down every once a year and think about the things, that happened and mattered. I already can’t wait till I will re-read this at the end of 2019 and will think of things, that I shaped me in this upcoming year.

Finally, I would also like to wish all of you nice and shiny year 2019, with things you like and people you love.

Roman