Looking forward to 2015
2015 started with this tweet:
There is definitely an irony writing this while half-rolling my eyes about the arbitrary time markers we like celebrating. But I am happy to exist as a paradox, and I like yearly rituals.
We should get excited about each new day, nonetheless.
consistently writing
Last year, I wanted consistency as a theme for 2014. You can tell from yesterday’s year in review post that I had everything but consistency. The only thing that remained constant throughout was my writing, and I am proud of it. We have to celebrate the small wins.
I plan to keep on writing, and will be writing more.
voraciously reading
I reached my goodreads goal of 68 books, but comparatively to 2013's goal of 50, there was only a difference of 2,000 in absolute number of pages.
I do believe we should read purely for the sake of reading. I also recognize that if I didn’t have a goal to hit, I wouldn’t have read so much, so widely and ended up surprising myself with the gems I discovered through the desire to reach my goal.
So for 2015, I’ll still be setting a reading goal, but with the number of pages instead of books, so I’ll be able to dive deep. According to goodreads I did 17,558 for 2014, so 20,000 is a realistic number for 2015. I do want to try to read more regularly instead of having a December sprint every year.
I used to be a spontaneous reader, and would entertain any book that seemed remotely interesting. I am going to be more tactical after having calculated the number of books I can possibly read for the rest of my life (2,000). Yes, I have a bad case of FOMO for books.
learning
On that same note, I want to be intentionally learning more about socio-economic theories. Apart from picking books that will revolve around those themes, I am going to sign up for MOOCs too. I’ve already started one on Microeconomic Principles. To change the world, know the world. This is probably the first time as an adult that I’m trying to learn something that is completely out of my own domain — code or design, so I am both apprehensive and excited.
I still want to get better at coding, I still want to learn hand-lettering and how to play the piano.
just being
With all that I am trying to do, I really do want to be better with time. Time just to be. To contemplate, to learn, to absorb, to space out. I think one of the greatest misconceptions of modern times is that we need to be producing all the time in order to justify our work. We forget that any output needs input.
The quality of my work has been discernible since I carved out time for myself to be a sponge without guilt.
consciously living
There’s no point carving out time if we feel like shit. Diet and exercise are both areas of my life that I have had a ton of difficulty with, though I still think I did better in 2014 vs 2013. I am eating less meat and carbs than ever, but I would like to really cut them down to the minimum apart from the occassional guilty pleasure. Like dim sum.
I’m still trying to find an exercise routine that works. Research has shown that successful habits are more about making it convenient, rather than brute willpower. I was doing well going to the gym at least twice a week for the first half of the year, than I switched jobs. Saying goodbye to the gym membership was akin to saying goodbye to exercise. It wasn’t only just about the membership, it was the proximity of the gym to my previous office.
This still needs a ton of experimentation.
traveling
Forcing myself to travel has brought me considerable rewards. I think I will be traveling for work more, but I do want to step foot in Europe some time this year. Yes, I am nearing my mid-30s, and I have not experienced Europe. I need to correct this.
connecting
I just want to be a better human being to the people who love me. I am terrible at that, because I am too good at being with myself.
I am also looking forward to finding new connections. I used to let them find me, being all about serendipity, but this year, I want to seek people out and see what happens.
storytelling
I’ve been telling stories to people one on one and publishing them to the world. I want to start telling them in-person to groups of people. It is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, but was too afraid to. I think I’ve lost that fear towards the end of 2014. We shall see.
Looking forward
I’m excited about 2015, not because it is the New Year. New Years never really felt new, because life was mostly a tedious affair for me.
But last year taught me that every moment is an opportunity to create or re-create, and all I see now is a blank canvas waiting for me to fill in the colors. I used to wait for people to tell me what colors to fill, or I’ll fill them hesitantly on top of the colors other people already left behind for me. This is the first time I’m feeling as if not only do I own the canvas, have the agency to pick and choose those colors, I can have the liberty and space to create colors not known to this world before.
This year will not be about the work I am hoping to accomplish or external change I am trying to make. I want to spend the year slowly growing into myself, the person I want to become. I have spent so time trying to do so much, not realizing that nothing will sustain if I don’t first learn how to sustain myself.
Life I learned, is not about metrics, despite my apparent obsession with self-quantifying. It is not about scale, or the absolute impact we can make. It is about making that choice again and again, to be fully alive, whatever that may mean.
For some people that may mean starting their own companies, for others it may mean dedicating themselves to a life of volunteerism, just being great parents, or being a hermit in the mountains.
Now, for me, I just want to fill up my own canvas, even if it is terrible to the onlooker. Maybe one day, I will discover ways to demonstrate to the world, that letting every single human being have the agency to have their own canvas and fill it up with their own colors, is not just about being morally right, but it is also about reaching the true potential of humanity — being co-creators of a world, capable of tremendous beauty and diversity.
This exists as a pair of annual posts I try to write every year:
