Happy New Year - 2023

Yes, it is the New Year . The thing I like about new year is the positivity it brings. Every new year is about hopes, possibilities, optimism & resolutions. This year is no different. 2022 in general was a good year for me on both personal and professional front.

On the personal side – quality time with family, good vacations – both India and international, visiting new countries, making new friends (some of them are gonna stay for rest of my life), couple of good possessions (that included a long-time dream of my better half) , attending family weddings, staycations, precious moments with parents, wife & kids, birthday celebrations, anniversaries, watching the WC final with my son, LOLs with my close buddies, amazing food,  to name few.  More importantly, we could travel without restrictions after those 2 dull years. There were “not so good” moments as well with loss of some dear ones. But overall, it was a good year personally for me.

On the professional side, 2022 was the first full year for me as a business leader. Thanks to Secureworks for the opportunity. It wasn’t easy by any yardsticks, but I have thoroughly enjoyed the challenge. I consider myself very blessed to work with some of the best in the industry. Working passionately with a team of talented bunch of young and ‘not so young’ teammates towards a common mission is nothing short of fun. During the journey, acquired some of the best clients anybody could have. Had extremely productive interactions with my existing mentors and even got some new mentors this year.  I truly enjoyed the media interactions, interviews and being on the cover of a magazine was the icing on the cake 😊. Thanks to all the associations – Clients, partners, prospects, media, mentors, well-wishers, colleagues , fellow industry pros, my leaders and my beloved team.

In an industry where learning never stops, evangelising a concept that is still very fresh (yes, am talking about XDR) is the best part I liked about 2022.

XDR is positioned as SIEM+EDR+NDR by most of the experts out there. I believe 2023 will be the year when most organizations would realize that is not what XDR is. The concept of XDR will get more clarity, technology would continue to evolve, and the service wrappers would get standardised. I expect to see more vendors coming to this space and truly evangelise the concept of XDR and make it popular. Every vendor, system integrator, consultants, resellers, distributors and service providers have a fair share of the pie – so I wish my competitors nothing but the best – Let us together serve our clients by protecting them from the threat actors.  

Enough of that techtalk.

I have been a 5am person for many years now and no plans to quit that. It would be a good idea to wake up early on the first day of the new year and absorb some peace of mind – for religious people, going to a place of worship would be good idea. Else, going out for a walk and listening to the sounds of nature, will be a good idea too. In case you are wondering where I would be at 5am on the new year morning , Al Qudra is the name of the place 😊

It would also be nice to do a recap of the past year, and count all the blessings in the past months. Take some time to go through those photographs (I use GooglePhotos), that gave you memories for a lifetime. Go back to those important dates and rewind those moments with your loved ones, and share a good laugh.

Life would have given you some bad days as well in the last year. Evaluate that and analyse what went wrong. Was that situation under your control? How would you react to the same situation if it repeated this year? Most importantly, take those as life’s teachings and move on. We are in the verge of closing the 2022 books, have a quick look at it once again and close it for ever.

Now let us look at 2023. It is important for you to set goals for the next year. This is different from making resolutions; this is more like filling the gaps. New Year is indeed a good time to set those measurable goals.

But what is really important is to have growth, the way you contribute to the stakeholders in your life, the value you add to them as a son, daughter, father, mother, spouse, brother, as a social being, as a friend, as a professional – Every aspect of life has to improved. You should strive to be a better person & a better professional than what you are today by 2023 December 31st.

To achieve this, it is important to have small wins every single day. Measure them at equal intervals. Stay positive, Keep learning and believe in great things. Miracles do happen – Keep expecting that. Always believe that - Some of the best days of your life is yet to happen.

Consider 2023 as a book and treat every single day as pages. As Brad Paisley rightly said, “Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365-page book. Write a good one”.

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year. May 2023 be the best year till date and let all your dreams come true.