Taking stock two.

Its me again, 4 weeks later, annoying you with mundane details of my life. Thanks for reading by the way. I promise this will be a short juicy read (I hope).

1) Work
Work is exciting, and by that I mean I'm somehow a resource to my team. I'm comfortable enough to contribute and speak up for myself, so #progress. I  will note that I've recently stumbled upon this bool Soft Skills: A Software Developer's manual and it's really helping me manage my career and life. I highly recommend it for anyone in the tech industry, it's so on point it even has tips on finance management, physical exercise and all that goo stuff. Only bummer is I'm working remotely for my team in Redmond and how I'm trying to manage that is another blog post in itself. As of now I'm a few hours from crossing the border again.

2) Finance
As I mentioned last time, I bought a thing and I'm not yet ready to talk about it but since I bought the thing, I've been exploring more aggressive investment options too. Keen to learn from you dear reader.


3) Reading.
My head space is pulsating between:

• The everything store by Brad Stone
  Enterprenership is my long term career goal so this book really sets the scene on challenges of building a mega corporation. I love the urgency with Jeff Bezos demonstrates with every project he invests in as well as his non-bullshit attitude. I will also point out that as an African woman, reading a book full of white male names makes it very unrelatable. I look forward to the day when such books are filled with Wakanda-like names. 
• 
  
• Soft Skills: A Software Developer's manual by John Sonmez
  Tech friends please read this for all that is good in the world.
• Investing for the utterly confused by Paul Petillo
  Lol , ok, don't judge. Learning starts with utter confusion.

If you read these, let me know what you think and add me on goodreads while at it.

4) Running
I'm definitely getting faster, more resilient and endurant. #VanMarathon bring it on! Thanks to hiking and stairs.

5) Photography

 You are welcome! ;)

6) [New category alert] Experiments!
Random experiments have become a fulfilling part of my life now.
I've been working on a tech side project on using Genome data for workplace productivity. It will probably end up in a blog post here , eventually go big or just remain in my closet. The whole point is is to try, fail and learn and however pointless it sounds, it makes me really happy. While at it, did I also mention that I'm learning the guitar? Who knows, maybe I might just start posting embarrassing snippets here 😝. 


Mantra:  I actually have a couple this time. (Maybe its a sign I'm an actual adult now 😀)

• No is a sentence, it doesn't need an explanation. 
• Be authentic, be upfront, it may seem rude in the moment but it makes life so much easier for yourself and others. Trust me I know. 
•  As long as you're not a serial killer, no one really hates you. People get past minor differences really quickly.
• You don't have to manufacture a perfect version of yourself to be happy or accepted, people relate better with imperfections 
• Mental health is a very fragile asset. Guard it with yourself, give yourself recovery time, you deserve it. Caring for others becomes so much easier after self care is done right.  

...(feel free to comment more)

Thanks for reading, feel free to share  and have a great week ahead!