2020, Year in Review
One of the worst years in many decades, here’s my personal journey
What a complete shit show
2020 — Flashbacks of despair (waking up in a cold sweat) — IT’S OVER!
If last year hasn’t kicked you in the c*nt enough, reading this article might.
I posted The Best Bits of 2019 last year (below). What an eventful year!
This year, I want to do something a bit different. Taken from The Ultimate Annual Review, I’ll be sharing a timeline of moments, memories, and milestones through every quarter, and what I’ve learnt from them.
Think of it as my personal yearly report — A reflection that will guide where I want to head in 2021.
It’s about to get personal.
Too lazy to read? Watch the YouTube video
Moments, memories, & milestones
⛄ January — March
- I had just started what I thought was my dream job of running a design organisation and team. 15 designers in 4 different countries. A product with millions of users across the SE Asia region. A company that’s one of the richest private conglomerates in the world.
- Bryant, an ex-colleague, flew in from Mexico and joined the team. We addressed the company, on behalf of design, for the first time; implemented design onboarding; held a strategic design leadership offsite; worked on everything in design ops from hiring to processes.
- I bought my very first camera and microphone, which began my addiction to camera and audio gear. I then started a podcast called Ranting Bananas, made my first YouTube video out of frustration, called “Design is NOT art”.
- I redesigned my online portfolio to simplify the navigation and landing page.
- I got invited to join the Invision’s Design Leadership Forum, a community on Slack for design leaders.
- My Dad got married in Vietnam and I got to see some old faces! Remember when we could just fly.
- Quarantine. Officially. Began.
🌷 April — June
- I’ve done so many design workshops, but in Q2, I conducted my first EVER personally paid and remote workshop for Bully!, an award-winning creative studio.
- I truly started to make videos, not just about design, but about life. Friends from all over the world helped me make the creative happiness formula video. I made a mess making my dad and sister a birthday video, the most effort I’ve ever put into a gift.
- I started looking at email differently. I needed a more non-intrusive communication tool, something that didn’t feel like spam. I switched to Basecamp’s Hey. Try it, it might change your life.
- I caught up with my cousins with our first Zoom call. A tradition is born!
- I spent the most money I had ever spent on 1 piece of tech: a brand new MacBook Pro. Fuck the new faster M1 chip, AH!
- I finally admitted it wasn’t working. My job was not making me happy. I submitted my resignation, addressed the design team, and left.
😎 July — September
- Lockdown eased. I was lucky enough to travel within Thailand, and went to Pattaya for my (18th) birthday, and did an epic road trip known as Mae Hong Son Loop. The birth of the travel vlogger!
- Friend wise — Adam got married and had his first art showcase — I started a weekly call with Sofia, a creative I really respect and admire.
- I couldn’t resist and started to work on a freelance UX project.
- I put a pause on the podcast.
- I went skateboarding the first time in years — I’m still not very good.
🍂 October — December
- I made the most videos this quarter, from short to long-form, I spent A LOT of time in Final Cut Pro.
- Resumed the Ranting Bananas podcast with a new approach and rebranded. Sped up my audio editing workflow with Descript. Listen to my AI voice generated from 15 minutes of training data below. How. Fucking. Sick.
- I simplified my online portfolio even more with a redesign. To make it stupid proof, made a 54-second explainer video — recruiters, watch the video and stop bothering me with crappy jobs.
- My beloved Hannah and Matt got married. They set up a Zoom link, and family and friends attended the morning ceremony, IT WAS AMAZING. I dug up old videos of our trips and put together one of my favourite videos ever, their love story.
- 7 years abroadiversary — a big deal. Still, my most popular video that had me connecting with lots of Vietnamese abroad, from everywhere in the world.
- First time I bought books (The School of Life) in YEARS. What’s wrong with me?
- Adam had a baby girl!
- Learnt about investment and bought my first shares. Come on Airbnb!
- Spontaneous trips in the south of Thailand, Trang and Phuket.
- First time I spoke at a remote conference (UXVN Festival 2020). It was such a rush. Managed to film a behind-the-scenes video, and wrote an article about the topic. Funnily enough, this got me back into writing.
Experience reflection
1. Success & Growth
What am I most proud of personally and professionally? Professionally: Someone trusting me to lead a design department of that scale (even though ultimately not working). Building my personal brand by speaking at a conference, making design videos, writing articles, producing podcasts. Began investing and looking at businesses from a different light.
Personally: Admitting failure and knowing when to quit. Being ok with taking a sabbatical during a pandemic. The ability to immerse, learn, do, and repeat.
What new skills and/or habits did I develop? I developed skills of telling stories through video and audio — from editing, filming, to production, and content creation, with no prior experience. Creating content for social media meant I’ve developed an unhealthy habit of digital media addiction, worse than before.
What were the biggest obstacles I overcame? Even though my job was well-paid and you could get away with doing essentially nothing, I knew how toxic that environment is to me, so I got out. I got past that weird feeling of hearing my own voice and being shy on camera — I no longer cringe, well sometimes. Realising I needed to take a more calculated risk with not just with my career but also with my finances, I put 20% of everything into my investment portfolio.
How am I different? I’m much quicker to recognise the signals of negativity and toxicity. The warning signs are much clearer than before. Finally admitted to myself that people are key to my good experiences — invest and build a solid social circle and support network, without compromising time with myself. I’m more confident than ever about my ability to learning (pretty much anything) rapidly.
2. Falling Short
What goals didn’t I accomplish? What got in the way? I failed most of my goals this year. Career advancement goals were put on hold because the job just wasn’t the right fit. Any financial goals I had are gone out of the window, like everyone else. Every year I promise myself to get fit, it didn’t happen.
What do I wish I accomplished? With all the free time I had, exercise more.
What habits or interests held me back? I tend to be quite spontaneous and shortsighted with my decision-making. Celebrating nothing, casual dating, socialising for the sake of being around people, gallivanting — the majority focus is short term pleasures. Even though it may seem like I’m a productive motherfucker, I spend a ridiculous amount of time procrastinating and putting things off for tomorrow.
3. People & Relationships
Which relationships have been the most fulfilling? Relationships based on a positive outlook, humour, learning from one another, support through advice and mentorship, exchanging ideas, encouraging confidence, pushing to be biased towards action, and inspiring each other.
Special thanks to Adam, Bryant, Jessica, New York, Ola, Sofia, Steve, and Qui.
Which relationships have been the most draining? Relationships based on a negative spiral, overly critical and judgemental, lack of direction and shortsightedness, combative and unwillingness to receive feedback, only cares about personal agendas, non-empathic, complaining with no intention of action, non-motivated and uninspiring. Basically, what I call, DICKS!
4. Health & Wellness
When was I at peace, satisfied, or content? When something is achieved. Whether it’s releasing a new video or podcast, hitting a financial milestone, reaching climax, receiving praise for good work done, or handing over designs to development. Peace is had, albeit a brief moment, when something is finished/completed.
When did I feel the most alert and energetic? When an idea has potential, entirely novel, aligns with my interests, sharing learnings, feeling the flow state, forward-looking, and I can see the finish line.
When did I feel the most tired, or in discomfort or pain? When I struggle to find motivation, feel stuck and not sure where to start, workload clouds the finish line, decisions that feel rushed, uncertain financial risks, balancing self and other people’s priorities.
Lessons, themes, & key learnings
How do you describe this year in 3–5 keywords?
- Ups-and-downs
- Introspection
- Realignment
- Exploration
What were my top lessons learned?
- People — Be intentional about building my social circle and support network. Peer pressure can be toxic, say no more often. Do they add value, if not, why?
- Money — Putting away money and saving is key to weather any storm, er 2020 people! Sustainable future-proofing is all about capital allocation. Take more risks.
- The Self — Flexibility, creativity, freedom are important pillars for my happy life. Personal motivation and productivity grow out of either frustration or something novel. Acquiring knowledge is only useful if there’s a tangible output. Be a better time allocator.
What am I most thankful for?
- My parents are still healthy and enjoying their lives in Vietnam
- I have my health and the pandemic hasn’t really affected me comparatively
- I am financially secure and did not have to worry about working (for now)
- The ability to be OK with whatever I do
- Small successes with my hobbies and validated by good feedback
Why should we care?
I’m not only sharing my thoughts to have a record of what happened, in a historical year of everything going to sh💩t, but also keeping myself accountable.
I hope you’ve learnt something from my experience, or better yet, conduct your own version of The Ultimate Annual Review.
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Chris is a self-taught product design leader, facilitator, and creator with a business degree. He’s passionate about org culture, design education, and everything UX. Formerly @ TINYpulse, Wizeline, and Ascend, where he held design leadership positions.
Want to work with Chris? Get in touch via his portfolio.
