Personal Accomplishments since January

A few things I did that made me proud

New Year's resolutions are useless, and what matters is what you actually do, what brings you joy, or fulfillment. So, I decided that writing a quick retro blog post in March might be more valuable.

I Started Hitting the Gym

I have always disliked sports, but I wanted to fight the sedentary lifestyle. A club opened close to where I live, and the early bird subscriptions were a bargain, so I took it as a sign of life and rallied my husband and a friend. We are carpooling there twice a week, and to my surprise, it is a ton of fun. On the days I’m not going, I find myself missing it and I sometimes notice my mind trying to elaborate plans to add a session to my already busy week.

A very average gym selfie

Our gym club has 3 areas: one is for cardio workouts, one with gym machines, and one with bodybuilding stuff with actual plates. We started in the cardio area because the rest was quite intimidating. I started venturing into the weightlifting machines area after 3 weeks. Initially, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing, but it was fun so I kept doing it.

I started watching TikTok tutorials to learn how to continue more safely and to design my own little sessions. It turns out I love it… How come I am discovering this at 40?

The part I love the most is seeing that I can lift more than the previous month. I have always had skinny limbs, and watching them get fuller is very satisfying. Another perk is that I usually go there on my lunch break, and I realize that when I come back to my desk after my session, I feel calmer, more focused, and more organized.

I Started Crocheting

A crochet dinosaur and a messy bedroom

I impulsively purchased a Woobles kit during a work trip. It was to crochet a cute bee. Because it was way too pricey for what it was, I resentfully decided to finish it. I now tell people that by the time I finished it, I had crocheted eight bees because of all the times I started over. I then purchased two more second-hand Woobles kits. I have finished both of them.

Initially, learning crochet was just a checkbox I wanted to tick on my life checklist. But I quickly realized the virtue it had on me. The output wasn’t so much what mattered to me there. It’s hard for me to focus my mind if I’m not doing something, and I’m very often multi-tasking. Doing this allowed me to keep my hands busy while thinking through things I wanted to process. It was meditative.

It felt great to move away from screens and instant gratification on social networks to build something tangible. Surprisingly, having to re-do the work several times to get things right and really understand what I was doing and why didn’t bother me. It made the whole thing last longer which was fine because of the benefit I was experiencing.

It also made my kids excited to see my progress and perseverance despite failing many times. They were quite happy and proud when they got their finished plush toys.

The next step for me now is to start knitting. I have two projects for 2025, I am hoping to knit this beanie and this sweater.

I Practiced my Public Speaking

One of my goals in the past two years was to improve my public speaking. In 2025, I had opportunities to practice with five small events.

Our talk about Influence as a designer. I’m on the left and Léa is speaking.

• I designed a talk about influence as a designer with my friend Léa Mendes Da Silva (it’s available here on Youtube and in French). I had a blast designing our minimal slides. It was very rewarding, and we received many positive messages afterward from people in the French design community. We followed up with an online Q&A session with a community of female designers we belong to, and I presented a shorter version of our talk at our company retreat.
• I gave a talk at a Webinar about Medium’s remote culture (in French).
• I participated in a roundtable discussion about being a parent in tech. It wasn’t recorded because the organizers wanted it to be a safe space. It was a family-friendly event, and it was awesome to normalize the work-life situation by openly talking about it with our kids running everywhere and crawling onto our laps. I also loved meeting people from our Parisian design community with their partners and kids. I feel lucky to have gotten a more authentic picture of who they are as people. This discussion theme forces people to be more vulnerable and to have deeper conversations than the usual networking chit-chat where everyone tries to shine.

I Mentored Two Designers

I mentored two amazing people in a longer mentorship format. One of them eventually found a job in a more senior role. I am unsure how much of it happened because they are amazing or because I gave them an extra push, but this makes me so proud of them. I hope my second mentee ends up finding success, too.

I Stopped Dying my Hair

It’s hard because I’m in that phase where it just looks like I am neglecting myself. So far I’m fighting the urge to change my mind about all this really hard, but I also want to allow myself to change my mind if that’s what makes me happy. I am trying to stick to this, though, for the following reasons:

• there’s a sexist double standard with silver hair
• taking care of my roots takes up my time, my mental space, and my money
• past a certain moment in life, dying your roots isn’t fun anymore, it just feels like pushing a rock at the top of a mountain and watching it fall down on the other side
• I am not in love with the hairdressing salon ceremony. I just end up bringing my laptop and working on stuff for time to move faster and to avoid the usual conversation that happens there.
• a family member developed cancer after being exposed to chemicals while working in their hairdressing salon
• my hair looks like hay after years of dye, and I want my silky hair back
• silver hair is beautiful and I can’t wait to see mine

I Started a Vinyl Record Collection

I celebrated my 40th birthday in January, and my dad gifted me his old Technics SL-1500 turntables, some speakers he had, his Pioneer SA-8500 amp, and part of his vinyl disc collection. My friends and husband contributed to a money pot to purchase my ideal vinyl collection and to pay a cabinet-maker so they would craft a case for the amp. I designed the case, and it was a cool side project! I loved seeing my vectors come to life.

A picture of my sister and I next to the original setup in the nineties. Note how the armchair is in absolute agony.

The setup in my living-room, with the wooden case

The WIP case at the cabinet-maker’s

The designs I did. The picture is terrible, it was just a quick snapshot.

Listening to music on this setup is such a delight! I love moving away from algorithms and taking the time to listen to albums the way they are designed to be listened to. I rediscovered albums from my teenage years, and it felt like listening to them for the first time (for instance, Massive Attack’s Mezzanine).

I Got Rid of Two Minor Health Issues

Nothing severe at all, just annoying medical nits that have been ongoing for way too long. I took the doctor's appointments. I started taking the 4-month treatment for nit number one. I took on a small procedure for nit number two.

I Supported my Friends Going Through Tough Shit

I wish I had the advice or answers to help them, but I don’t, so I just show up, listen respectfully, and acknowledge.

Well, that’s all for now, 2025! Celebrating small wins feels good in the current atmosphere.

I hope you enjoyed this list. I’m curious to hear what you have been up to since January.