Omooooooooooooooooo x 1000

That's the word for the last 365 days of my life, I had never written a reflection article, who knew I'd be writing one this day 😅.

It's still hard to believe I'm turning a new age, I started my previous age with so much hope, goal, and ambition.

Despite all that happened within this timeline, it was also the best year of my life 😎, the most interesting and busiest.

I would love to highlight those little achievements that have made the last 365 days memorable.

Disclaimer

This article highlights the moments of my past age hoping that it inspires you to find what you love doing and keep at it.

Baby steps;

The first blessings of my previous age came when I got a new Windows laptop 😍. I've always proven how important this gadget was pivotal to my growth.

This period was just so pale, just me and my typical activities. In fact, I think I lived a quiet boring life in the early part of this timeline, and I don't know it was going to get a lot more boring, no thanks to the pandemic.

April - May

The world went crazy when the covid pandemic broke out, I had no option but to go over to my cousin's place at Onitsha for the first phase of the pandemic.

In no time, markets had to shut down and I was forced to stay at home 😪.

I decide to become more deliberate with my tech career and I crafted a product design roadmap for myself and I was disciplined enough to commit to it and I'm glad I made this decision.

June - August

Yeah, I was making progress in product design but I wasn't strong in it. I enrolled for the HNG internship program and since I was locked up in my room, I had extra time I needed to go all in. I thrived in the program(but dropped at stage 9"cry") met and worked with many outstanding minds 😜.

August - November

After the HNG program, I wanted to get my foot in the market as fast as I could. One of the FE dev I worked with during the program reached out to me and we decided to solve a problem.

We did a lot of research and field trips and from our findings, smallholder farmers don't have the machinery they need to fully cultivate their land.

Tractors and farm equipment are expensive and financing is virtually nonexistent

To address tractor availability, we came up with a platform that connects farmers looking for tractors and tractor owners looking for work.

My challenge was to create an intuitive platform with seamless navigation that makes it easier and less risky for tractor owners to run their business while connecting farmers to machinery that lets them produce enough food to feed their families and sustain their livelihood.

An additional challenge was to craft a seamless flow for youths to sign up as booking agents who will be trained to assist farmers to overcome technology gaps and ensure idle tractors are matched to farmers.

We managed to ship an MVP and we applied for local and international grants, we also participated in the Africahacks Q4 2020 program and were close to raising $20,000 in the Agritech sector, but we drop in the semi-finals.

After months of trying, I lost steam 😭😭😭.

I'd love to write a post-mortem soon.

November - February

I'm still grateful the ASUU strike 😏 was still on and it enabled me to achieve my goals faster. I spent day and night learning, practicing, and applying to jobs. I was saving up for a better laptop and a better phone. I met friends who contributed. Then something happened..........never mind sad story.

I crafted my resume, a perfect cover letter, built my portfolio and started applying for UX roles.

So far I got 32+ rejection emails and 12 interviews from companies around the world(sounds small, I know a designer that had 137 rejection emails before he japa'ed).

Got close to getting a job with an Estonian company (with relocation) after series of interview, but covid pour sand sand for my Garri, Otunba for don Japa 😭😭😭.

Asides from the losses, this was my best moment, I had a lot of people who took bets on me, a few tech leaders started investing $$$$ in me to get access to premium resources.

March

I launched my newsletter that talks about the impact of venture capital in emerging markets(i have been inconsistent with my schedule).

April

I was shocked when I heard about the death of my uncle, I'm still shocked, just trying to keep on pushing.

Dealing with anxiety

I hate that I am a very anxious person, it's just so disgusting, there were some days I'd struggle to breathe for no just reason whatsoever. I'm happy I've achieved stability in recent times.

Lessons

• Get that imposter syndrome out of your head. You're the best version of yourself.

• Life is too small to not follow your dreams

• Done is better than perfect

• Never compare yourself with anyone, everyone has his journey, keep putting all the hard work in and it will only get better from here.

• Know where you come from. Omo this year, my friends and the HNG cohort were buying premium gadgets, but I always remind myself where I came from. A tall boy from Ajegunle trying to make an impact.

• Network, network, network............and be selfless.

• Help others-- it pays

Final words

I'm grateful to my family, my homies(Uka, Uzo, Dan..........), Makasia(for still believing in me and being a source of joy & peace), Whizzy(freshly minted boss), Osasere(for being there for me), Donald(for taking a bet on me)

I'm very thankful for everyone that tagged along with me on this journey, and I wish you all the fulfillment of your dreams.

I know life is hard and I believe that everything is possible with the right combination of effort and attitude.