How it started
I’ve been wanting to write an end-of-year review for a while, but I kept putting it off. Then, I came across this simple template and I finally decided to give it a shot. Starting with a template always makes things easier.
3 grateful things
Local Communities (Bitcoin, Ferment, Chinese language exchange)
I am an introvert, but I do enjoy spending time with others who share similar interests. This year, I have primarily connected with people through my involvement in the Bitcoin community, a fermentation group, and a Chinese language exchange group. While I am not the most outgoing member in these groups, I have had the opportunity to meet individuals from diverse backgrounds and learn new things together. I am incredibly grateful for these experiences.
I really started to see the importance of having local communities, of course as always, I regret I didn’t see it earlier. Humans all social animals after all, as much as I appreciate the digital abundance(We literally could learn everything we want online), but without real person conversing ideas with me,
I need to converse with people and exchange ideas/questions or share progress time to time.
I still have the job and even get promoted.
It has been a tech recession for almost 2 years, I’m grateful that I still have the job and my compensation/benefits isn’t get impacted at all, and I can work from home most of time to avoid the obnoxious commute in Dallas.
I even got promoted(finally), I had a quite some self-doubt about it, lol, I’m not sure I deserve it, but I worked hard for it.
Dad was diagnosed with liver cancer and recovering
It was a shocking news for our family that my dad was suddenly diagnosed with liver cancer. However, thanks to timely treatment, he is now on the road to recovery and doing well. I couldn’t help but imagine things could go sour anytime, it keeps me up at night.
4 Proud achievements
Well positioned for a good life
I have dedicated a lot of time and effort to improving my personal health, including my diet, exercise routine, and mental well-being. Additionally, I have also focused on my financial health and have made significant progress in this area. I am happy with where I am at right now, and I am confident that I have a bright future ahead of me. I am proud to say it in public.
Despite the uncertainties in my career and potential life partner, I have gotten quite good understanding of myself and what I want. I am confident that I will be able to navigate these challenges and achieve my goals.
Long term investor confirmed
There is no doubt I am passionate about investing, whether it is in the stock market or physical/tangible assets. The past two years have been super challenging for most of the investors, but we survived. Not gonna lie, I did cave 2 times in the middle(sold some positions both in stocks and Bitcoin), I was so ashamed by myself and bought them back later at higher price.
It was a tough time, and at one point, my portfolio went down by over 50% (on paper of course). However, this experience has solidified my belief that the stock market is a right place for me – It’s not easy, but I don’t enjoy doing things easy. I have the stomach for the pain. I have gone through a full cycle and come out stronger.
Become comfortable at Social and English
I consider myself an introvert, but I have noticed that I have been more active both online and offline lately. Surprisingly, English has become my preferred language for communication, even though I still struggle with choosing the right words and stuttering at times. However, I have become more confident in expressing myself and I don’t second guess my words as much as I used to. I believe attending regular Toastmasters meetings has greatly improved my English speaking skills and helped me become more comfortable with public interactions.
What I Learned
Bookkeeping, double-entry accounting
After so much hesitations, I finally decided to give the Bookkeeping app Beancount a try. I have tried numerous apps in the past, but none of them seemed to work for me. However, this pure plain text based app caught my attention. I appreciate the concept of owning my own data and being able to use my preferred tools such as Git and Vim to manage it.
I think it’s a good start. I have always been interested in quantifying and visualizing my life, and I know it will bring me joy(and peace). I wish I had started this journey earlier, but it’s never too late to start.
Be open-minded
I’ve always thought I’m an open-minded person, until the day I was asked “do you regret taking Covid vaccine?” I was a bit shocked why he even asked the question, I had no idea why would I regret, we were scrambling to get the chance of taking vaccine actually. I knew I had a strong bias towards people refused to take vaccine.
The same applies to Social Justice warrior, conservatism, religion etc. I’m not as open-minded as I thought I was, I think it’s the best thing for me living in a “Red state” Texas, I immerse myself with different ideas/believes, I got to know I was biased.
fanatics
Bitcoin, religion, carnivore diet
Mental Muscle
I learned this from a Youtube video about how to read more, the Youtuber brought up a very simple analogue resonated with me so well. The idea of “mental muscle”, when we hit gym, everybody knows that you can’t get ripped overnight, it takes time, and when you feel the soreness in your body the next day, you know you’re making progress.
The same applies to reading, writing or whatever “hard things” you want to persue, if you find it difficult to do so, you’re making progress by tearing up your mental muscle. Just record the time/progress you’ve achieved, and keep the data and see the progress.
It’s so simple that I always know everything takes time, but the idea of ‘mental muscle’ makes me feel it more closely.
What I Failed
Getting up early
I have always strived to be an early riser, knowing that it would greatly increase my productivity, organization, and overall happiness. However, despite my best intentions, my body often rejects my mind when I wake up. But I have learned to push through those initial 5-10 minutes of grogginess, knowing that once I do, I would be able to conquer the day with ease.
Especially with the current work from home situation, I have the luxury of not having to commute. This theoretically means I can sleep in a few minutes before I start work. While it may seem fun in those short videos, I personally dislike the chaos and lack of preparation that comes with it.
Reading/Writing
I spend way too much time watching Youtube videos, but I do learn a lot from them and am grateful for that. However, I also have a strong desire to read and write more. While I do read a lot on Twitter, I should also tweet more.
My bread and butter programming skills
I am a bit embarrassed to see myself after two years in the Backend field, I am still not as skilled as I would like to be. It is disheartening to face this reality, I spent way too much time in investing and personal growth. This has made me question if I’m truly passionate about tech and software programming.
Keyword for next year
Give: “The world gives to people who give”
I always happy to share what I like and what I have learned, but in my friends’ cycle and work colleagues, they aren’t very interested. I should write more out there on internet, mostly my own blog and Twitter.
I always felt I deserve certain stuff, but when I face with myself deep down, I know I didn’t do enough. Not because I’m lazy, I’m a pretty hardworking person, but I don’t have the habit of giving out to the communities I’m in. I’m tired of being a consumer, I’d like to make positive contributions - “be the man who make things change.”
I will try to write more, in all below platforms.
Text: For my ideas, comments, and resource sharing.
Life: This blog site, FB and Instagram.
Work/engineering: LinkedIn.
Mindset I want to change next year
Consume less and Produce more
As aforementioned, I’m tired and sicked of being a useless consumer, I’d like to do something.
Done is better than perfect (let alone optimize/right)
I always want to do the right thing, do things the right way, but I always end up not able to deliver, it kills me. I need to constant remind myself that done is better than perfect.
Get things Organized/Planned (Physically and digital)
I’m not a very organized person in life, I hate it when I can’t find the things I need and I lost my priorities. I wish to live a simple life, proactive clean up both my physical / digital / mental things could make my life easier and I would be happier.
3 things I want to achieve next year
These 3 things are exactly the 3 things I failed in 2023, it’s such a duh, lol! I should not let it happen this year 2024.
Be a morning person
Be a morning person as I always wished to be, full stop, I know I can do it.
Write more - 6+ blog Posts
Write more, get over the imposter syndrome, especially I have chatGPT to help me with English grammar and words of choice.
Spend more time in my profession
Cloud-native Kubernetes administration.
Finish Byte Byte Go system design course.
5 years from now what kind person I want to be (Year 2029)
An expert in certain field(s)
I am naturally drawn to nerdy pursuits and take pride in my knowledge. Currently, I am fascinated by cyber security, distributed systems, and Blockchain technology(and Bitcoin of course). Hopefully 5 years from now I’m an expert on one of these areas.
Open Source project Contributor
I am a strong advocate for open source and make a conscious effort to use open-source apps whenever possible. Not because they are free, but because of the grassroots power, open and transparency, decentralization etc. I’d be proud of myself if I contribute to some projects loved by many.
It’s not that hard, I just need to put myself out there and do something.
Settled / Married
I think I am ready to commit to a stable relationship. While I have enjoyed my time alone(probably too much), I am ready to find a partner to share my life with. I hope 5 years from now, I’m married and settled. :)