This is the first mobile note I transform into a blog post and I’m really happy for this finally happenning after four long years without any posting.

2019-notes-5

The idea of writing about what I’ve learned and gone through in 2019 was running in circles in my mind long before I took the courage to jot it down in my mobile device. This post isn’t the concretization of such plan, though. It’s more of a “do the easier first, than the harder later” kind of practice. Who knows when the “2019 Lessons” is coming?

I just noticed a bunch of interesting memories in the smartphone’s notes which I could use to reflect upon 2019 experiences. The very owning of the device itself, which was a gift from my father, is one of these memories.

2019-notes-1

The first note is from 2019 January 18th. It was probably created at the time I set the smartphone up for the first time – since my birthday is January 16th.

The next one, from March 3rd, is my uncle’s credentials for some service I’d like to share with him. He has such an important role in my life and I’m so pleased when someone says I’m just like him – which often happens.

The next, Match 20th, is a much less pleasant one. It is the memory of a quite unpleasant road trip from Caruaru to Recife – which is a quick one (~2h) but can be tiresome and demand a lot of patience. Well, maybe I should have been more patient this day.

The one from April 13th isn’t much pleasant neither. It is of great importance, though, and probably the one from which I should learn the most, in a professional perspective. This is the notes from a colleague’s feedback. Much of it I’m still to digest and put into practice. I’ll need more time and maybe another post to go through it.

The one from April 20th, which in English would read

Bluetooth adapter

is probably a reminder that I should get one adapter for my laptop. I got a bluetooth headphone some time earlier and it was frustrating to find that I wouldn’t be able to use it with my personal laptop since it does not count with hardware for supporting bluetooth communication.

I remember I got the feedback in April 13th in a call while using the headphones connected to the smartphone via bluetooth, though.

The one from April 21st is probably a reminder that I should get my “worker documentation” (I’m not sure what the proper English expression should be) ready for switching jobs, which I intended to do soon. This job switch is something that will have great prevalence in the post about the lessons learned in 2019 and I even shall create an entire “Job Switching” post.

It is also related to the April 13th’s feedback since I asked for the feedback ‘cause I was in the imminence of switching jobs.

Next follows a series of notes taken while planning a travel to Salvador and also while already there. They comprise the time span from April 22nd to April 24th.

2019-notes-2

These are mostly notes regarding my father’s health. I’m constantly trying to imagine new ways by which I could help him to take better care of himself and also feeling sorry for not being closer, as he lives in Petrolina and I’ve been in Recife for almost 10 years now.

From these notes I must also acknowledge the importance my aunt has in my life. She told many of the words which somehow ened up written onto these notes. She also provided us with infrastructural needs for the trip and all the motivation needed so we could go for more quality of life, or at least the hope of it.

The next note, from April 26th, regards a reminder that I should send some feedback to some folks in a company I really admire. No worries, I did it. Phew! I remember talking to them while I was in Salvador still.

2019-notes-3

This “give feedback” reminder reminds me of how important feedback is and how many times I wanted to give or receive feedback but did not. It also reminds me of the importance the companies in whose recruitment processes I’ve participated have in my life. These times as a recruitee are quite intense and enriching. I shall always keep a recruitee and also write more about this kind of process, in which I’ve took part as both a recruiter and a recruitee as well.

The notes from May 2nd are probably due to some bureaucratic paperwork related to my ingress in the lovely Guava team. Dunno if there’s anything interesting to get out of these. Maybe that these nomenclatures we humans use to define what we do (e.g., software engineer, architect engineer, IT analyst) are so crazy and many times completely nonsensical.

I really just don’t know what I am and I’m not sure this is a bad thing. I didn’t know what I was becoming into when I touch a PC keyboard for the first time at the age of 8. I hoped to discover what I was supposed to be after graduating college. Now, after almost 10 years of profession, I’m even more confused about these labels. Shame on me, probably.

The notes from May 11th are the traits I’d like my ideal workplace to have, if I recall correctly. Many of them were borrowed from Guava’s workplace itself. These are (not only the Guava’s):

  • A coffee machine
  • Growth mindset
  • Automated tests
  • Quality

They may take our lives but they won’t take our quality

which is borrowed (or stolen? I should even ask if I’m supposed to disclose this) from Guava’s manifesto.

There are other ones in the next page:

2019-notes-4

  • Love S2
  • Friendship
  • Fun
  • Pragmatism
  • Punctuality
  • Assiduity
  • Fun domain

I should get the time to go through each one of these later.

The notes set from the next day, May 12th, be it a coincidence or not, are some core values I’d like to nurture for life:

  • Humility
  • Simplicity
  • Honor
  • Excellence
  • Sensibility

I thought of many others but decided to stick to only 5 so I could focus on them. Now, almost one year later, I still think these are the top 5 I’d like to nurture the most.

I remember jotting down these core values while attending a mass. I’m definitely in doubt about “mass” being what I really want to say here but this is the best option I could get from Google Translator, sorry. By mass I mean a kind of religious ceremony which takes place inside a catholic church. That mass was particularly messy and fruitful. :)

Hopefully next year I won’t have only a bunch of notes but many of them will also be turned into blog posts (or even some talks, who knows?) – the one which existed prior to this blog post included.