My 2022 year in review

Wow, I can’t believe how time flew so fast. I’m just grateful for the new experiences and the impact I bring to others in some ways.

In 2021, I decided to write a yearly recap so that I can keep a diary of myself to reflect on as I get older. Plus, this will gonna be fun to read when I’m super old 😂.

Check out my 2021 year in review in case you missed it.

Personal highlights

Earlier this year, I stayed at home most of the time, studying and reflecting on how to make things better in the future because everything doesn’t seem to work out for me.

Finally, in August, I was able to travel again. It was actually a business trip, and not a vacation. However, We did manage to make our trip, a business with vacation. Together with Shin (best friend and business partner), we went to Metro Manila for a 10-day business trip.

Fortunately, during that trip, I was able to see some friends and have been to some places I had never been to.

When I wasn’t on side of the business, I got a chance to see my old friends. It’s really been a while since I have been with them. They were my friends back when I was working in Ortigas, Pasig in 2016.

We went to SM Megamall, where we ate at a Japanese restaurant. Never been a fan of Japanese and Korean restaurants because I struggle using chopsticks every time 😂.

It was fun catching up with them. It felt like we just saw each other yesterday. Everyone is still the same. Gonna miss them for sure.

I also had a chance to see Pau and Dodoy, my friends from Roxas City. We went to Power Plant Mall in Makati where I bought two new books, went Starbucks, and ate at my least favorite restaurant. And guess what? it was Japanese. That’s what happens when I let my friends decide where to eat 😂.

The food was actually great. I seem to be slowly loving Japanese food now. And thanks to them, I finally learned how to use chopsticks. But still, I’m gonna need a lot of practice for sure.

During our business trip in Metro Manila, Shin and I got invited by a friend and business partner to visit Baguio City. I never imagined going to Baguio City for the first time on a business matter. I will explain more of this in the business highlights.

We did manage to go to some places (Burnham Park & Night Market). But we weren’t able to visit more places because we spend most of our time on the business side.

I’m definitely gonna be back in Baguio City soon with my loved ones.

Few days after our business trip to Metro Manila, I attended the wedding of Daniel and Desiree, my friends in Iloilo City. I’ve been friends with Daniel since we were in first-year high school. I was just happy for them.

I also attended another friend’s wedding in December. It was Lei’s wedding, one of my friends back in Ortigas. I flew to Manila and went to Floridablanca, Pampanga where the venue was held.

I was grateful to be part of Lei’s special day. And I also had a chance to see some old friends again.

I also had a chance to visit Boracay island this year, together with the team (team from our newly launched biz). It was never our intention at first to go there because we had a business matter in Kalibo, Aklan that day. But because some of our guys had never been to Boracay, we decided to go there and stayed just for a few hours before we went to Kalibo.

I would say that It was the most tiresome road trip I’ve ever had. I drove Roxas to Catalan port roundtrip that day and slept for only 2 hours before that trip.

This year, we welcomed two furbabies in our home, Snow, and Zian.

Unfortunately, we lost Snow too soon due to Parvo virus.

I blame myself for this. We have not let Snow get the parvo vaccine right away. We were too confident that he won’t get the virus because he was staying home all day. But still, He got infected.

We tried our best to treat him however we could, but the virus was just too much for him. Zion, Kobe, and Kevin (Our older dogs) kept our family strong during those tough times.

There’s no better way to end the year than spending it with your friends. So I ended the year catching up with friends in Iloilo City.

Business highlights

Shin and I were planning to relaunch our ecommerce business this year because, in 2021, it wasn’t working too well. We tried changing our business model, hoping that would save our failing business.

We did run a few tests hoping that our new model would work. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be feasible. We could have done more tests, but it would cost us a lot of time and cash to prove if it would work.

We decided not to proceed with that project at the moment. I really do want to have an ecommerce business on my portfolio. Maybe the timing wasn’t just right yet.

Our 10-day business trip to Metro Manila in August was about the potential vegetable business (main product is onion). Together with partners, we discussed if it was the right time for us to start the business. It was back in 2017 when we started this idea of starting this business in Capiz.

I can’t believe it was more than five years in the making already. In 2017, Shin and I went to Manila to discuss this opportunity but never pulled this off just until 2022. I guess we weren’t that ready at the time.

We had this opportunity to start this business because one of our friends and business partner from Nueva Ecija offered us to expand their business to other regions in the Philippines. They have been in this business for so long and have been really successful in doing it.

Before we launched the business in Roxas City, Capiz, we had a chance to experience first-hand how the onion business works in Nueva Ecija and Baguio City. So Shin and I went there for a few days.

In September, we finally launched the vegetable business in Roxas City, Capiz. We sold it wholesale and also retail. Our main market when we first started, was only Roxas City. But then later expanded to different municipalities in Capiz, Aklan, and Iloilo.

We have also added different vegetables for our retail, such as garlic, ginger, tomatoes, cabbage, carrots, and more. To try our fresh vegetables, visit us at Teodoro Arcenas Trade Center, DG-29, Roxas City, Capiz.

We had a great start. But because we are new to this, we later then got into a lot of problems with our operations. I believe that we can overcome all the challenges and increase our market share in the future.

I won’t go into much detail in this post, but I may write a separate blog for those who are interested in starting a vegetable business or just love to hear our story more 🙂

Lessons learned

I have learned through reading books, blogs, personal experiences, and talking to other people. And since life never stops teaching, never stop learning.

Below are some of the lessons I have learned.

Help yourself first, before helping others

We sincerely want to help others sometimes, but unfortunately, we cannot provide a solution because we don’t have it yet. It could be time, knowledge, financial support, or something else.

Improve yourself, so you can better help others.

It’s okay to change course, not the goal

“Achieving your goal requires movement. Do not stand still. There is no shame in changing course when aiming for success.” – Robert Verjavec

This year, I made some changes to some things, because some things just don’t seem to work out for me.

Which then leads to,

Find something you love, so you won’t think of it as work

In business or in life, find something you really love to do because it’s very hard for you to start or do something you’re not passionate about.

Prevention is the cure

This hit me hard when Snow died. I never acted until it was too late. So if there are some things that you can prevent from happening in the future, just do it now.

Books for 2022

I’m grateful that I have achieved my goal of reading at least 3 books in 2022. Though I haven’t finished reading those books yet, I’ve learned a lot already. Gonna finish this in 2023 for sure, so I can start reading more books.

Below are the books I’ve read.

Lean Startup by Eric Ries – This book is definitely a must-read for anyone who wants to start a business or already have one. This would help increase your success rate for sure.

Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller – This book would help you clarify your message so your customers will actually listen.

Platform Revolution by Georffrey G. Parker, Marshall W. Van Alstyne, Sangeet Paul Choudary – I’ve always wanted to build a platform. This book greatly explains how Uber and other platforms disrupted their markets, and how to make one. This is a must-read if you’re interested in building a platform or just curious about how they work.

My goals for 2023

Since I haven’t achieved most of my goals for 2022, I will do my best to achieve my goals for 2023.

Below are the goals I wanted to achieve.

Be healthy – In 2022, I thought I was healthy because my body weight seems to be normal, I play basketball sometimes, and I don’t feel sick at all. But not until recently when I found out that my blood pressure seems so high. So it’s time to really get serious about having a healthy lifestyle (more exercise, eating more healthy foods, avoiding bad habits).

Change social media profile pictures – It’s been a while since I updated my profile pics on my social media accounts. As of this writing, I am proud to say that I have achieved this goal already because I changed some profile pics in January of 2023 haha!

Take more pics – I realized that I haven’t been taking so many pictures this year. It’s maybe because I am not used to taking pictures anymore. Plus, I haven’t upgraded my phone yet, so the quality is not good.

But who cares. Capturing every moment with your loved ones is the one that really matters. I will be better at taking pictures in 2023 for sure.

Travel with my loved ones – Having the opportunity to travel to other places is great, but traveling with your loved ones through shared experiences is much better.

Read at least 4 books – As of this writing, I’ve already started reading a new book, Atomic Habits by James clear. I’m really that serious about building good habits and breaking bad ones. I will share other books in my next review.

Add another business to my portfolio – I’ve been thinking of a new business and hopefully could launch it in 2023.

If you have a business idea/proposal that you would like to share with me, drop me a message 🙂

Publish my yearly review much earlier – I was supposed to write my yearly review in the first week of January, but I had problems with my website. I had to fix it first so I could write my review.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading my yearly recaps. Have a great year ahead!

In the mean time, enjoy more pics from 2022 🙂