Hey hey, my go-to greeting phrase.

It's the end of yet another year and all I can say is "Thank you, God" because a lot of things happened in the past year. As an adventurer, I embraced a journey into the unknown with so much zeal. Why not?!

Hollup! Wait a minute. I'm sure you are wondering what I meant by "damaged my twitter timeline". The answer is NFTs. I got introduced to NFTs in 2021 and made a decision to sell my art as NFTs because it seemed exciting.

Late 2021, I doubled down on it and took some momentum into the new year. Safe to say that this took up 3, yes 3 quarters of 2022. I mention it now because it was a big factor in how my year went. It was a crazy period of creating, minting, constantly trying to sell my work, talking on Twitter spaces, supporting, and connecting with artists and collectors. I had to create a twitter burner account to keep up with the tech space, startups, angel investing, and other interests.

Worthy of note, 2021 ended with a sad turn. My Metamask wallet was hacked and I lost all the earnings from my first NFT collection, Inner Bliss. I remember the 31st, just bursting into a praise session in my room to get my mind off it and count my blessings. Thankfully, on the 1st of January, I woke up to another sale and an NFT airdrop - God's way of reassuring me of provision for the new year.

There are days that I still can't believe the way 2022 went. The milestones, the tech ecosystem, the skills, NFTs, relationships and so on. Considering my last year in review post was in 2018, an update was long overdue.

I write down major highlights per quarter in my journal, but decided to compress them here.

So first, here are things that went well.

• On NFTs, I sold out out my first NFT collection, Inner Bliss. Then released my second NFT collection, Mono Girls, and sold 5 pieces. I released my 3rd NFT collection, Coats of many colors, and sold 10 editions. Sold a few more during the year. I also explored minting on Foundation, Rarible and Holaplex, and gifted previous collectors. You can check my current NFT portfolio.
• I gave back to the art community by buying artists works. Shout-out to Imit0r, Rueby, Sylvia, Uche, Phil, Oyi, Tolu, Karima, Timi, Erica, Ferb, and Amara for creating amazing pieces that caught my attention. Never bet against creators. Framed Imit0r's piece for my room too (with his consent of course 😅).
• I also bought into a lot of different NFT projects. Did I think this was a great idea? Not sure. However, I got to meet some amazing people and learn more about the NFT space. Later in the year, things got a bit rough in the space though because of the downturn.
• I exhibited "Safe Place", one of my pieces, at the COLDS Collective event in Lagos, Nigeria. I remember randomly walking in on 2 ladies admiring my drawing and it felt great to introduce myself and talk about it.
• I went out of my comfort zone in my art journey and collaborated with other artists - Tega, Balafama and Imit0r. It was my first time doing this and it was worth it.
• I threw a birthday party for the first time in a while and invited a few friends to come have a good time. Shout-out to my girlfriend for helping to put this together.
• Participated in a work marathon for a month early in the year. It was a first but we needed to complete some tasks. Got to bond with some colleagues and eat good food 🤭. Safe to say that we did well because the products are live now and being used 🎉
• Had to say goodbye to the amazing folks at Kora 🥲. I got an opportunity to join Talentdrop in April and couldn't turn it down. The decision wasn't an easy one to make and I had to ask a lot of people for advice. Took 2 months to round off work and got to onboard new team members. I also created a drawing of Kora's marketing avatar, Didi, as a gift (minted as an NFT and airdropped to people that requested). Shoutout to the awesome team at Kora that let me keep my health insurance for a while longer ❤️.
• Officially resumed at Talentdrop in June and it's been an amazing journey. Sure I miss a few things at Kora, but I've had the opportunity to work with amazing tools on a day to day, brainstorm on interesting problems, and make some impact in the team. Excited to share what we've been building in a few weeks.
• Joined a gym and started my fitfam journey in late March. I cannot lie that it was easy to wake up by 6:30am to go to the gym, but going 3 days per week kept me consistent. I kept at this throughout the year and it has become a part of my weekly routine.
• Hit my financial goals for the year. This made it easier to give more to a lot of charitable causes. I also created a persona, Santa Deola 🎅🏾, and gave gifts to friends on their birthdays. Felt nice to give thoughtfully to people.
• Invested in financial literacy and made a lot of investments. Got into real estate also.
• Attended my grandfather's funeral in my village and got to spend time with family.
• Got my highest ever art commission request (0.15ETH), based off an NFT Project, Everyday Goddesses.
• Invested more in my relationship and hit the 1 year milestone. Ensured that I was present, learned to be a better boyfriend and supported in all ways that I could. Spoiled my woman with outings, gifts, love and care.
• Went out more - restaurants, movies, festivals, art exhibitions, live plays. Just name it and I was buying tickets for 2 😂.
• Moved to a new place with my brothers and furnished it. If you have ever moved to a new place in Lagos, Nigeria, you will understand how difficult this process can be. So many stories from getting rejected because I wasn't married to the car breaking down once from overheating 🫠. Glad it's over for now.
• Checked up on my mentees periodically and joined ADPList as a mentor in the tech space. Figured that it was time to give back to a wider community. I wrote about my thoughts on mentoring too.
• Started writing again. Here we are.
• Learned a lot of new technologies because of my new role as Founding Engineer. This pushed me to think of the whole spectrum and about speed.

Here are things that didn't go well

While pursuing NFTs, I lost myself and purpose. I got so clouded by the goal of selling my work that it affected how I perceived myself. There were times where I was so exhausted scrolling through my Twitter timeline but I felt it was 'grinding'. I attached my self-worth to getting sales and being seen on Twitter. This broke me time and time again when sales didn't come (even when I lowered my prices) and engagement dipped.

There were times I compromised on people I follow and conversations just to be viewed a certain way and I hated it. This happened for months, so it felt like I wasted my time, but I choose to see it as a learning point. I saw how easy it was to get burned out and have a dwindling mental health.

So I decided in late September to choose myself. I detached mentally and focused on things outside the NFT space. Took some time off creating to discover what I want to draw. Tried to discover myself anew by admitting that I had lost my way, set new goals in general, and became receptive to instructions from God again. And I'm glad that I did because I entered into the new year refreshed and ready to take it on.

Check out other comics templates on Balloon Comics

Over to the new year

This new year, I plan to switch things up. Focusing more on things and people I love, and putting more effort into my career and interests. My year of extraordinaire, with no room for mediocrity.

Here are my focus areas for 2023,

• Continuing to be a loving partner and investing in my relationship.
• Improving my relationship with God.
• Travel is also top of my list. Now that I can afford to, I plan to visit other countries and experience other cultures.
• Take care of my mind and body by continuing to engage in fitness activities, writing and art.
• Set bigger goals for my art. Mint again, apply to digital art exhibitions, connect with and support more artists.
• I plan to continue exploring investments in different sectors and diversifying my portfolio.
• Leveling up my finances. Choosing not to get comfortable in this area.
• Speaking. I didn't get to speak at any event in 2022. I hope this can change in 2023.
• Giving back to the tech community. Whether it's through donations, contribution to open source, mentoring, collaborating on projects etc.
• Investing in platonic friendships more. As someone that loves meeting new people and connecting, there's a tendency to neglect my older friends. So I want to be more conscious of this.

December 2022 Reading list

Since there is no December 2022 roundup note, I decided to add this here.

• You need more intimate friends outside of your relationship
• Sales aren't about money but about the seller's mental health
• What a 50 year old sugar daddy wants you to know
• Don't fall into the trap most part time creators make
• Research shows why married people give horrible dating advice
• Your coworkers are less ambituous
• How to care less about your financial goals
• Where are Nigeria's executives?

Final thoughts

Special thanks to everyone that made 2022 worthwhile 😇. My partner, friends, and family. 2022 won't have been amazing without the support, love and care I received.

Cheers to a better 2023 and more. Looking forward to sharing an update at the end of the year. Till next time...

Header photo by Kenta Kikuchi on Unsplash