It’s just 7 days left before the year 2016 runs out. That being the case, I’d love to be the first to wish you a happy new year 2017. This means we’ve just completed a cycle of 365 days. This also means we pulled through. Yeah, we made it. Looking back now, I see lots of rights and wrongs. Lots of decisions and indecisions. Lots of actions and inactions. Generally, a lot has happened within the past 365 days.
Whenever I look back at the memories, I’d love to laugh out loud at the crazy, cool, and sometimes dumb things I’ve done instead of drowning in regrets. Laying back on the couch and watching the clock tick slowly, it dawned on me just how much has happened. The adventures and misadventures, the happy and sad moments, the failures and the success — It’s been a ride and a tough one at that. However, it still amazes me how 365 days just passed by in the blink of an eye.
To some of us, we can’t seem to let go of the year 2016 for diverse reasons. However, to some others, our anxiousness and anticipation to enter the year 2017 is almost unbearable.
All in all, however, 2016 was a great and productive year for me. You asked why? Let’s explore all that happened together.. Shall we?
Graduation
I graduated from high school in the year 2016. Yeah, I did. As easy and plain as that sounds, believe me, it was a big fit. Just a few months back in 2016, myself, together with the best group of people I’ve ever met (my friends and school mates), were all overwhelmed with anxiousness, fear and a little bit of excitement as a result of the lots and lots of aptitude tests we were faced with. Final years are usually filled with lots and lots of hurdles. But again, nothing good comes easy right?
These tests include the likes of JAMB, MOCK, WAEC and NECO examinations. Damn! Looking back now, it’s almost impossible to believe we took all those tests in one stretch. Well, we did.
Gradually, one step at a time, my pals and I walked the path together and scaled through. Presently, we all are proud graduates of high school at least. Also, the results came out lit.. yeah we rocked them. It’s a great experience worth reflecting back at.
Relocation
Credit: Fly With Nate
After my graduation, I had to wave goodbyes to my friends from north-western Nigeria, Kaduna state, after which I relocated to south-western Nigeria, Oyo state. Though we all hung out once or twice for a little fun after the grads, it’s only natural to miss them — we’re all still in contact via social platforms, though — so it’s basically the adventures I miss.
Also, about the journey, it amounts roughly to some 15 hours road trip (from Kaduna to Anambra state, and then to Oyo state, Nigeria). At some point in the journey, I felt like some earth explorer haha — I rarely traveled, but all of a sudden, I found myself exploring through three states at a stretch. It was an awesome experience and I hope to take lots more travel adventures in the near future.
Also, about the new location, it’s totally awesome — new language, people, culture, foods, etc — it has been a really fascinating experience so far. Also, I’ve met lots of new and amazing people who have impacted positively in my life on so many levels.
Blog
Yeah right, I’m proud to say that this pretty blog right here was created in the year 2016 — 20th October 2016 to be precise. Also, the first blog post, How To Live Like A Millionaire, was published on 1st November 2016 (my birthday 😉 )
Under the solid direction of my awesome guardian and teacher, I was able to easily understand the basics of blogging and ever since then, the blog has been impressively progressing — both in statistics, subscription, followups, etc. However, I must say, it wasn’t an easy peasy — instantly becoming a lengthy writer, engaging in non-stop research work, keeping up with the blog’s growing audience, etc, it is tough but worth it.
As seen in the above screenshot, the blog’s audience is not one with the wow effect yet. But again, it’s not entirely bad for a blog that has only existed for just 3months — a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step they say.
Likewise, as a result of the impressive posts published on the site (not my judgment but the audience’s), I’ve successfully closed a number of deals for client works. I count myself lucky because I’ve learned of bloggers who blog for decades and still find it impossible to monetize their blogs. Though this blog is not built on the grounds of money making, clients seeking for assistance in growing their brands can not be turned down — either way, publishing quality contents that’ll help you become a better person and that’ll assist you to live a better life remains a priority.
I strive to keep the blog as active as possible by publishing a minimum of thrice a week. Also, I’ve published few and still publishing more guest posts on top blogs like Addicted 2 Success, Let’s Reach Success, Calling Dreams, etc, to gain exposure to enable me further publicize the blog.
It has all been a huge learning experience because the more blog posts I publish, the more knowledge I gain on diverse fields. Also, the feeling of inspiring and guiding hundreds of people to achieve their dreams by simply hitting the keyboard and hitting the publish button is really fascinating.
Lots of background work is going on on a daily basis — ranging from site optimization to continuous page review in order to bring about a beautiful user interface and experience that will make accessing the blog totally effortless for you.
Other than the three major reflections above, lots of tiny events also occurred. However, I’ll stop right here so I don’t bore you with the details.
In conclusion
As you can see, the year was a productive one filled with fascinating experiences for me.
Now, that’s all from my part. The ball is in your court.
What experience is worth reflecting back at from your part? The comments section is all yours. I’m really anxious to know 🙂
Joseph Chukwube
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What a great year review,although i havent reviewed my year yet this just motivated me to, keep it up bro.
Thanks Mufeedah. Personally, I feel reviewing the past year before making new year’s resolutions is pretty cool.