“Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking” – William Butler Yeats

January is usually the best time to look back over the past year. Our memories are still fresh, but seem far enough to have perspective, to find we are on a great spot to re-write our story, reflect on what went well, what needs a bit of improvement and celebrate milestones.

2014 was a wonderful year and I’m excited to kick off an exciting 2015!

Favorite personal milestones

• I moved back to Brisbane, near the heart of the city
• Traveled 29,656km and visited 11 cities in 3 countries
• Achieved my challenge of reading one book per month
• I ran 475km (tracked via Nike+) and completed 2 races: 5k Cabo, City2South Brisbane
• Endured 3 consecutive winters

Favorite professional milestones

• Remote work turned into reality. I worked 8 months from Australia and 4 from Mexico
• Joined Mandalay Technologies’ team as Interactive Designer
• I used mobile-first approach in all the prototypes I designed
• Lodged my first tax return in Australia
• Went to super inspiring conferences  about design, creativity and UX

Favorite Cities of 2014 (besides BNE and GDL of course)

• San Jose del Cabo, BCS: a wonderful road trip with my sister for a 5k race
• Byron Bay, NSW: a work trip to the easternmost point of mainland Australia
• Burleigh Heads, QLD: enjoyed the most beautiful beach on the Gold Coast
• Leon, GTO: a really cool mexican city for the coolest wedding of the year
• Tequila, JAL: an ordinary day turned into a fun adventure with plenty smiley faces around

Favorite Design & Creativity websites

• Virtual Crash Course in Design Thinking by Stanford d.school
• Virgin America Redesign by Responsive Web Design
• You can have an easy life or an awesome one. Choose Wisely by James Victore
• Exhaust your gifts: Lessons on living a meaningful life by James Clear
• Work in personal projects you love, and build design skills by James White

Favorite Songs

• Avant Gardener by Courtney Barnett
• Do I Wanna Know? by Chvrches
• Arrows by Fences
• This is on me by Ben Abraham feat. Sara Bareilles
•  No one is Lost by Stars

Favorite Books

• The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner
• Light Years by James Salter
• Web Marketing that Works by Adam Franklin and Toby Jenkins
• Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg
• The Book of Secrets by Osho

LOOKING FORWARD IN 2015

• My third year living in Australia
• My first summer in 18 months and hit the beach plenty times
• Share exciting projects we have scheduled for the first half of the year
• Get my australian driver’s license and explore Oz on wheels
• Update montsebalbuena.com with more portfolio and blog posts

What inspires you and what are you looking forward in 2015?