It was the best of times, it was the BLURST of times?

A thousand monkeys at a thousand typewriters, am I right?

Since 2018 is nearly closed out, I thought it was time for my annual reflection post. Looking back, this will be the 8th year in a row I’ve managed one of these personal reflections. There were a few years that I posted reflections on what I thought had gone on in the world of IT, but frankly I got kind of tired of it. Who knows, maybe next year I’ll change things up and do something different!

As always, let’s start with a review of my goals for last year:

Start prepping for my Shodan: I’m going to call this one a miss. I didn’t get to as many practices as I would’ve liked, and while my general fitness is improving, I still have some way to go.

Read 50 books: Missed it again this year, but got a little closer, with 38 completed.

Compete in another homebrew competition: Nope. In fact, I haven’t brewed a single batch since the 2017 Newfermenters Homebrewers Advent Calendar.

I was pretty sparse on the goals, in large part because I knew that I’d be busy welcoming a new addition to our family, and all the complexities that tends to introduce to life. That being said, 2018 had a pretty cool achievement – I spoke at a security conference! It’s not the first time I’ve managed that, but it was one that I have been hoping to attend/speak at for a few years now. The experience, as well as the conversations, gave me a lot of food for thought this year, as well as next year.

This year promises to be a busy one, so I’m going light on the goals again for 2019.

Prepare for my Shodan: I don’t plan on testing this year, but I do want to be close to ready by the end of 2019.

Read 50 books: I’m not giving this one up – I will make it at some point!

Complete three speaking engagements: While public speaking isn’t the most fun for me, I do find it helpful in learning more about a given topic. I’ve already got one on the books for January, and I’m hoping for another year at AtlSecCon, and BSides St. John’s.

I hope you’ve all had an excellent 2018, and are queued up for an even better 2019.