2024 Year-End Reflection and 2025 New Year Outlook
Honestly, I’ve been procrastinating on this because it feels like I’ve already summed up 2024 across various posts (guilty).
But as an annual ritual, let me write it down in a new way.
Summary
2024 was a disaster year for self-improvement.
I nearly lost all self-discipline: I stopped setting plans, abandoned my Hacking Life routines, and completely messed up my daily schedule. As a result, I didn’t achieve any meaningful milestones.
By now, my mornings have ceased to exist. Without weekly classes to anchor my day, I stopped setting alarms, sleeping until I naturally wake, then scrolling on my phone or drifting back to sleep because there was nothing urgent to do. Failing to start in the morning poisoned the entire day. For example, I planned to go to the lab but skipped it because only spending an afternoon there didn’t seem worthwhile after accounting for commute time. In my dorm, my brain refused to enter work mode, so I wasted the whole year doing absolutely nothing.
2024 also marked a crossroads for my future. Although I always claim I “hate being bound by traditional expectations,” I found myself unable to break free from them. Even though I desperately want financial independence, I couldn’t give up the postgraduate recommendation I’d earned, nor the chance to attend a prestigious graduate program—despite feeling this path doesn’t suit me and doubting my own innovative abilities. At this point, it’s too late: job-hunting and recommendations deadlines have passed, and I still don’t know how this choice will shape my life. But deep reflections like that aren’t really part of a 2024 year-end summary.
On the bright side, making that decision freed me to use my precious college years for exploration: I traveled, soaked in new scenery, and experienced different cultures. Buying a camera and a vlog cam let me capture time’s moments in images. In that sense, 2024 was a truly meaningful year.
So I have mixed feelings about 2024—love and hate. I’ll give it a 7 out of 10. Love you, 2024.
My Perpetual Annual Check-In
In 2023, I set some vague goals. Now let’s audit them (gulp):
- Quit gaming in 2024: My Steam year-end report shows I succeeded in the first half of the year, but after my recommendation was secured, I slid back into freshman-level gaming… rough.
- Stick with fitness: Somehow I did maintain this habit, despite interruptions for competitions and going home. The results were underwhelming without a structured plan, but I’m still better off than a year ago.
- Do more social activities: Do online dinners count? I went skiing and hiking with friends, but only with people I already knew. I’m still hesitant to talk to strangers—2024 new friends: 0.
Outlook for 2025
Wasting words on a messy past year isn’t helpful. Let’s set some concrete goals for 2025.
1. Pass JLPT N2 by December 2025
A major regret of my Japan trip was not engaging more deeply with local culture—it was mostly a tourist’s perspective. Thanks to watching anime, I could understand a lot of spoken Japanese but couldn’t hold a full conversation, only single words. Yet that broken chat with the dog-walking couple in Maiko Park remains one of my clearest memories. Next time, I want to revisit Japan to live life more like a local—small islands, rural areas, slow living far from tourist paths. To truly immerse myself, I need to speak the language, which also helps with goals like working in Japan under the J-FIND program.
2. Start Investing
Save ¥1,000–¥2,000 per month for discretionary investments, aiming for a 5% annual return (~¥1,000). In 2024, I opened Hong Kong stock accounts, obtained HK bank cards, learned some finance basics, and tried funds (and lost). It’s time to get serious about wealth management and at least preserve capital.
3. Continue Fitness: Bulk to 60kg & Improve Style
Given my fixed height, I can still improve my physique and wardrobe. In Japan, people aren’t as height-conscious, so I won’t feel discriminated. Sub-goals:
- Master intermediate ski slopes.
- Complete three mid-level mountain hikes (approx. 1,500m elevation gain).
4. Develop a Regular Schedule: 01:00–09:00 Sleep
My least likely goal, but I’ll try.
During my Japan trip, I visited a shrine, prayed, and drew a 大吉 (Great Blessing) fortune. Coincidentally, the shrine was dedicated to matchmaking, and my wish was to “find a Japanese girlfriend.” May I return next year to give thanks if it comes true.
This Content is generated by LLM and might be wrong / incomplete, refer to Chinese version if you find something wrong.