My Year in Summary – 2022

As a tradition that I started 2 years, I would like to share with you an end-of-the-year summary of what I read or learnt. Here are the 2020 and 2021 editions.

Books

First, let me share about the books I read and found useful. Generally, I didn’t read a lot of books this year for a number of reasons that will be evident as you continue to read this piece. My favourite books this year include:

1. Measure What Matters by John Doerr. This is the best goal-setting goal I have ever read. It is about the art of goal-setting using the OKRs technique. OKR is an acronym for Objectives and Key Results. I applied the lessons learned from the book in leading KASA for the first six months of the year and the results were amazing. The author, as an original investor and board member of Google, introduced OKRs goal-setting to the tech behemoth in the early 2000s, and ever since the organization continues to use the technique to set and measure its goals. I highly recommend you pick up a copy. Bill Gates said this about the book: “I’d recommend John’s book for anyone interested in becoming a better manager.”
2. The Butterfly Effect by Marcus J. Moore. This is a book about Kendrick Lamar’s life and music. As a huge Kendrick fanatic, I immediately picked up a copy of the book when I saw it at the bookstore. The book does a good job of dissecting his personality, music, environment, and upbringing.
3. Finding My Virginity by Richard Branson. This is the autobiography of the British billionaire. I really enjoy reading biographies and autobiographies. I fell in love with Elon Musk and Benjamin Franklin by reading their biographies. Finding My Virginity did the same – I learned a lot from Richard from this book and it inspired me in many ways. His high-risk appetite, quest to seek new frontiers, and ability & willingness to break rules stood out.

Other books I read parts of include 48 Laws of Power, The Fortunes of Africa, and Africa Unchained.

Podcasts and videos

In addition to the books above, I’d like to share other resources that I found useful. They include:

1. Ben Franklin’s World. This is a podcast about early American history. There are a bunch of great episodes about Benjamin Franklin. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of America. In addition to being a political philosopher, he was an inventor, scientist, writer, diplomat, and statesman. I read his biography in 2020 and it has had a great impact on my life. Some of my favourite episodes of Ben Franklin’s World podcast include:

• Young Benjamin Franklin
• Benjamin Franklin: A Film by Ken Burns
• Benjamin Franklin in London and Benjamin Franklin’s London House
• Benjamin Franklin and the Papers of Benjamin Franklin Editorial Project

2. George Ayittey’s lectures on Africa’s economic development. George was a Ghanaian economist who wrote “Africa Unchained”. I enjoyed his video and audio interviews. There are a bunch on YouTube and I highly recommend you check them out if you are passionate about Africa’s economic development. 
3. Commencement speeches. I learnt a lot from watching graduation commencement speeches. I have found myself rewatching some commencement speeches; as a result, I have downloaded my favourite speeches from YouTube. Some of my favourite ones include:
   • Steve Jobs Commencement Speech at Stanford
   • “This is water” by David Foster Wallace
   • “Make Good Art” by Neil Gaiman

Music

I listened to a lot of music. My favorite music includes:

• Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers (album)
• Robert Glasper’s “Black Radio III” (album)
• DJ Khaled’s “God Did” Ft. Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, JAY-Z, Fridayy, and John Legend (single)
• Ayub Ogada’s “Nyandolo”, “Obiero”, and “Kothbiro” (singles)

Kendrick Lamar’s third verse on Savior:

The cat is out the bag, I am not your savior

I find it just as difficult to love thy neighbors

Especially when people got ambiguous favors

But they hearts not in it, see, everything’s for the paper

The struggle for the right side of history

Independent thought is like an eternal enemy

Capitalists posing as compassionates be offending me… 

Yeah, heroes looking for the villains to help

I never been sophisticated, saving face

Being manipulative, such an acquired taste

I rubbed elbows with people that was for the people

They all greedy, I don’t care for no public speaking… 

Kendrick Lamar

Reflection on life

In the past 4 years, I read and learned about mortality and the meaning of life from secondary sources. This year has been different – at the experiential level, I felt the need to ask myself the same questions and look for answers within myself. I have felt the difference in facing life challenges. It’s totally different from what I experienced as a kid and teenager. I believe this is caused by my transition to the second phase of life, as per Ray Dalio’s concept. More people are increasingly starting to depend on me and my needs keep increasing. Some family issues start to become complicated, and I’m required to assist in making decisions. And of course, at the same time, trying to keep my career endeavors and aspirations in the equation.

Success highlights

In the wake of the tough times, I still managed to hit some notable milestones. I’m proud of my contribution to KASA’s achievements this year. I’m grateful for the entire KASA team. They both supported and challenged me to do more. This year saw KASA hosting a kids’ bootcamp training, partnering with other organizations to host events and develop a course on astronomy, participating in a state-organized space expo event and conference, and most recently, taking part in an Airbus Foundation-funded project to teach local primary school kids about space science through robotic missions.

What does the future hold? I really don’t know. I’m trying to be as attuned and self-aware of myself as possible and adapt to life accordingly.