Zaneta Baran

7 MIN READ

It is Wednesday morning right now. Just yesterday I came up with the idea about preparing a special post for my birthday, which is coming up on Friday. I thought that this blog post will also be a great memory note for myself, it will be nice to check it out next year and see what has changed. I will not lie, 27 makes me scared a little bit. Some time ago I saw 27 year old friends and I thought about how old they were. Now, it is only 3 years until I am 30! You know, family and kids time, which I am definitely not ready for haha. Last night I was talking to myself while laying in bed and thinking what I would like to share with you. I hope I remember at least some of my yesterday thoughts 🙂 Let me share with you some past facts and future notes. Are you ready to know more about me?

What has happened in the last 27 years?

Let me share with you a few facts about my life. I am curious if any of you knew any of them. Let me know in the comments!

Career

Since my career started around 10 years ago, I have been working with Magento, first for a Polish agency, then as a freelancer for American and Australian clients, then for my own company and currently for a Swedish agency. I moved from Magento developer, through to Scrum Master and Technical Manager. Do you remember my previous post about my career?

I have been teaching English to kids since I was around 18 years old. Currently, I am giving private coding classes for kids between 8-14 years old.

I was working in a restaurant and became manager while I was 18 years old.

I have also been an Oriflame manager, but I left the business when I moved to Spain.

Travelling

I have visited 23 countries in the last 8 years. I have prepared a little map to show you where I have been! 
And it is…

I have lived in 5 countries (outside of Poland), by living I mean more than 2-3 months.

• Spain 1 year
• USA 3 months
• UK 1.5 years
• Vietnam 5 months
• Philippines 1.5 years

Adrenaline & Sport

I have a CBR 600 which is in Poland and I am having hard time saying goodbye to it!

I have a skydiving certification which I completed in Sevilla. Some time ago, I prepared a detailed blog post about this experience, feel free to check it out!

I have done bungee jumping in Spain and I loved it! As you can see, I love adrenaline.

I have trained in karate for around 5 years when I was a kid, then I switched to kick boxing.

I have been in the fitness industry for around 11 years. I have been a fitness instructor, then learnt about being a personal trainer. Then I gained weight, then I lost weight, then I gained some more weight and then lost weight again 🙂

Lifestyle

I have been in 6 relationships and since I left Poland 8 years ago, I have never dated a Polish guy since.

I know what the following situations feel like:

• The divorce of your parents.
• The depression of yours and your loved ones.
• When you are followed by a detective because a member of your family wants to use everything possible against you in a court.
• Not having contact with your own brother for 2-3 years.
• Not having a cent to buy a sandwich.
• Having to work 4 jobs at the same time.
• Having to grow up pretty fast.
• An abusive relationship.

What has happened in the last year?

Last year was definitely one of the most important years of my life. There are a couple of reasons for it.

Career

I got a chance to teach and manage a team of Magento developers in Vietnam and in the Philippines. Do you remember the post about my Vietnam office experiences?

I improved a lot with professional relationships and I learnt that I need to take care of my body to be effective in my professional life. I finally learnt life-work balance.

I created my own coding course for kids and I successfully used it for my private classes with kids in Manila.

I also started my Magento 2 tutorials and they became one of the most visited series on my blog.

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If you are interested in my work related content, check out my Tech section, follow me on IG @women.in.nerdy.world or join my community on LinkedIn.

Travelling

I moved to Asia, a place where I never wanted to live. Funny, isn’t?

I also took at least 20 flights during the last year and have visited around 9 countries.

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If you are interested in my travelling experiences, check out my Travelling section, where you will find information about my experiences from different countries. Also follow me on IG @around.the.world.with.ze.

Physical & Mental Health

I lost 10kg and fell in love with bodybuilding once again. Moreover, I finally have my gym partner 🙂 Check out my article about a “fit couple” if you are into this topic.

I learnt what a huge impact diet has on our daily life. I managed to improve my focus, concentration and productivity.

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If you are interested in fit related content, check out the Sport & Diet section and join me on IG @fit.by.ze.

I left a mentally abusive relationship and I can honestly say, it was my own fault that I allowed it to happen in my life. Currently, I am really thankful for this lesson for both of us.

I discovered how to improve my mental health and it is the most important part of it. I feel like I am the most healthiest version of myself since I can remember.

I focused on improving my own human performance. I pay attention to my feelings, thoughts and daily habits. I wake up early, I meditate, I drink water with lemon and a pinch of Himalayan salt before coffee, I read a lot and I workout.

I started to learn how to be in the present. I understood how important it is.

I improved my reactions in difficult situations, I learnt how to stay calm.

I have learnt how to go with the flow and trust the process.

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Check out my blog post series about a happy life if you are into this kind of topic.

Lifestyle

I met a person who is the smartest person I have ever met. His view of life and perception of relationships have changed me to a better version of myself.

I never thought I would like Asian guys, and I still think I am NOT attracted to Asian guys, but my current boyfriend is special 😉 Do you remember my post about interracial relationships?

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If you are interested in human performance topics, mental health and general news from my life, follow me on IG @zanetabarancom.

What will happen next year?

This part of the post is the most important. I kind of forced myself, by deciding to write this part, to reflect. For a couple of months now, I have felt a bit stuck and I don’t feel like I want to think about the future, because I don’t know how to plan it. But, I thought about it last night and created my 3 main points of focus for the next year. Before I will share it with you, I wanted to point out that they are really different than the points that I would have mentioned last year.

1. I will focus on my body’s condition to be able to join a bodybuilding competition next year.
2. I will continue to focus and learn about human performance, the influence daily habits have on productivity, listen to myself and improve my mental health.
3. I will focus on being in the present, appreciate the moment, focus on positivity, let go of things which I cannot control and learn how to build relationships with people.

That’s my main focuses for the next year of my life. To my own surprise, there is nothing about business or career. And I really like that, I changed my priorities and have learnt what is more important for myself at the moment. While you are reading this, I am already on my way to my weekend birthday break 🙂

So Happy Birthday to me 😉

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If you are interested in my daily life, content or other personal and professional stuff, follow me on my social media:

IG @zanetabarancom @women.in.nerdy.world @fit.by.ze @explorewithze
Twitter @zanetabarancom
Facebook @zanetabarancom
Pinterest @zanetabarancom
LinkedIn @zanetabaran

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Editor – Natasha Jay O’Neil, please contact Natasha directly for queries related to her services.