How Seeking Clarity Defined My 2024

2024 was a year of realigning my priorities, finding my inner zen, and discovering that sometimes the most productive thing you can do is say “no.” Rather than constantly hustling to take on every opportunity that came my way, I made a conscious effort to define my goals and commit to only what truly mattered.

This shift – choosing quality over quantity – transformed the way I approached each day. Instead of spreading myself thin, I found the clarity and focus necessary to make real progress, all while maintaining a sense of calm and purpose.

#Learning to Say “No”

One of the most significant changes I made in 2024 was learning to say “no”. I realized I was taking on too much for two main reasons. First, I was too enthusiastic, spreading myself thin and undermining my impact. I'm passionate about (too) many things, but I simply can't do everything at once. Second, I was a kind of people-pleaser. I didn't want to disappoint anyone but instead I wanted to show my leadership and proactivity. That is why I used to say “yes” very often. In doing so, however, I was neglecting my own priorities.

Interestingly, I always sensed this might be one of my weaknesses. A few years ago, I took the Gallup Strengths test and got the “Relator” strength, which suggests that I thrive on close relationships and gain deep satisfaction from working hard with friends to achieve a goal. Even though I'm skeptical about personality tests like this one, I have to admit there's some truth to this particular finding, because this is exactly why I was saying “yes” to so many things.

Once I realized this, I started to be more selective about the projects I took on. I ask myself now quite often “does this align with my personal goals, with company's goals? Will it bring me joy and fulfillment?” If the answer is no, I politely decline. This simple shift allows me to focus on what matters.

#Meta time aka sharping the tools

With a newfound sense of clarity, I took the time to redefine my personal and professional goals to be sure that if I say “yes” to something, it's because it aligns with my priorities, and if I say “no”, it's because it doesn't. I started by reflecting on what I wanted to achieve in the long term.

The process was iterative. I was reflecting a couple of times during the year, as I was learning more about myself and my priorities. Every time I do it, I feel that this is a very important exercise and extremaly productive time. For a few last years I didn't spend enough time on it but once I started doing it, I realized how significant it can be. I often call it "meta time" as I imagine that as time spent on thinking about how I spend my time. It's like sharping the tools before using them. If you don't do it, sooner or later you'll become less effective.

#Bottom up and top down approach

For the past two years, I've consistently planned my week in advance and my day each morning. While I'd tried this before, it was never as regular. Now, I plan my day first thing, reflect on my progress at the end of the workday, and schedule my week on Sunday evening or Monday morning. This routine keeps me aware of my goals, letting me identify and focus on the tasks that truly matter.

Having that said, it is just the bottom up approach. The strategic goals even if unconsciously targeted, they were not clearly defined. If they are not clear, it's hard to measure the progress and navigate towards them.

In 2024 I decided to change it. I started with defining my personal goals, aligning them with the company's ones and reflecting on them on a regular basis.

Dots quickly started to connect. The newly introduced top down approach immediately consilidated with the bottom up one. I was able to see the bigger picture and understand how my weekly and daily tasks are aligned with my personal and company's goals.

Thanks to that, weekly plannings became more effective and in fact this is the most important time where I filter out not important tasks and focus on what matters the most. Daily planning became more like daily addapting to changing circumstances and environment. On daily level I very often need to adjust my plans and tasks to the current situation.

For example as a CTO I'm very often an enabler and a catalyst for our teams. When team members are blocked, it's very often both important and urgent to help them. On the other hand, saying "no" to some tasks also means that I must assess if it has to be delegated to someone else or if it's not important at all.

Knowing the characterictics of my daily work and roles I'm in, I have to keep the balance between the strategic and tactical tasks, especially leaving enough time for the unexpected ones.

#Family time

In 2024, I made a conscious effort to spend more quality time with my family. Applying the strategies I mentioned above allowed me to proactively schedule outings and trips with my wife and kids, ensuring we made the most of our time together.

Although being together every day gives me lots of joy, as a sports lover myself I'm the most proud of the fact that my doughter did enourmous progress in a few disciplines. She learned to ride on two wheels (I'm lucky I was in a good shape so able to run after her). She managed to ski down the slope without any help and she learned to catch the wind on the windsurfing. It's just an oustanding progress for a 5 yo girl. I'm so happy I could be there for her and share the passion for sports.

The younger one was doing also great. He tries many things with us too. For example he spent 2 hours on the slope trying to ski down which I think is a lot for 3 yo. He proved to be brave and really determined to learn new things.

My focus for the next year is to teach them swimming.

Special thanks to my wife who is always there for all of us and who takes care of the family in the best possible way. This year she just continued to be awesome.

#Sunscrapers

At Sunscrapers, we also made some significant progress in 2024. We managed to grow by ~15% in both revenue and headcount. I think it's quite a good result, especially when the investments on the market are not as common as they used to be. What's more there were so many layoffs in the IT industry in late 2023. I think that is also why some of our competitors were downsizing in 2023 and 2024. We managed to keep the growth and I'm very proud of it.

However, what's more important we managed to set up a solid foundation for the future growth under many angles. First, we have better relationships with our clients than ever before. Having NPS score at 80 is one thing, but getting new leads through recommendations from our clients is even more satisfying.

Second, we identified two areas of our specialization - building data solutions for VC firms and healthcare. It's kind of the break through for us as we were always kind of general purpose software development company. The best part of it is that we turned more into building data solutions which seems to be in pair with the enourmous AI growth on the market. However to be fair, it's not just last year because the process started way earlier.

Thirdly, we are in the process of building solid team of leaders. I was much into it in 2024 and I think it's the most important thing for the future growth. I'm very motivated by the fact that we are able to have better and better people in our company, and overall more mature team members than ever before.

Taking all of this into account, it looks like we're in a good shape for the growth in 2025. I'm super excited about it.

#Healthy lifestyle

In 2024 I continued my habit of running and swimming every week, not even saying about strengh workouts. As I was doing it for the whole year, not just a half like in 2023, I can say that I'm in a better shape than ever before. The numbers speak for themselves. I managed to run 280km, swim 47km and do 50 workouts. I'm just happy with my consistency and the discipline I managed to keep.

I also managed to keep my weight slightly below the level I had in 2023. It required some effort to think twice before eating too much or getting sweets.

The goal for 2025 is not only to continue my healthy habits, but also improve my sleeping routin. It's the weakest point of my lifestyle.

#Summary

2024 was a year of realigning my priorities, finding my inner zen, and discovering that sometimes the most productive thing you can do is say “no.” Rather than constantly hustling to take on every opportunity that came my way, it's better to narrow down the focus and commit to only what truly matters. I must admint that this shift was my theme for the year. I'm happy with the results and I'm looking forward to 2025.