I didn’t want to do anything for new year’s. I didn’t want to spend money unnecessarily, because lately I’ve been very bothered about money. I have over a thousand dollars in the bank, that’s all. I was hoping it would’ve been two thousand by now. [1]

I’m worried about money; I want to be financially independent so that I can pursue my dreams. I come home everyday and see my parents stressed out because they’re being bled dry by loans and bills. It’s not a pretty sight. Credit cards should come with warnings even more prominent than the ones on cigarette packs.

I ended up spending new year’s with my girlfriend and a few friends, and we talked through the night about everything and nothing- until the sun came up, and we had breakfast at McDonald’s. It was a fun experience, and a good memory.

I find myself thinking about life in general, how it’s ultimately about experiencing things, reflecting on those experiences, generating thoughts and ideas from all that, and then creating things as a consequence of those thoughts.

And I wonder- does everyone else feel this way? Do you feel a need to create something? I do. I constantly feel like I should be creating something. Well no, not constantly- most of the time I’m distracted by mundane, superficial things. I end up playing solitaire and whiling away time on Facebook and other online distractions. But the truth is that I’m supposed to be reading, to be writing, to be experiencing, to be reflecting, to be creating. It would take me a while to explain why that is, but I know it to be true, through a wonderful mix of faith and reason.

I created (n_n)/ last year, and it’s brought me so much joy- it’s a group of a diverse bunch of individuals, and there is so much love, and fun, and learning. But I can’t ride on that forever- it’s grown now, and now I have to move on.

I’ve always been waiting for the perfect medium, the perfect opportunity. I know deep down that it doesn’t exist. I need to stop denying that truth and just wing it, just make do with what I have. I really just need to follow my own advice, that’s all I ultimately need. Everything I need is within me. Well, maybe not everything- but that which is outside of me, and that which I am not aware of- I will ultimately discover through exploring myself. Which is what I need to spend a lot more time doing.

I’ve been working out- I started on the hundred pushups challenge at hundredpushups.com, and now I’m doing the two hundred squats challenge, too. Why? I just want to. I want to be fit, I want to be all I can be. I want to look back on my life eventually and sigh a contented sigh, feeling that I did all I could, that I made the most of what I have. I never quite do that enough. I mean, no matter how much we accomplish, we’ll always feel the same way, and we’d be pretty miserable if we tied our sense of self-worth to our accomplishments. Even if we’re highly accomplished.

But there are things that I envision. Things that I believe in, strongly, that I feel deserve to come into existence. They’re not my ideas, ideas don’t belong to anybody in particular. They’re part of a greater process that I have had the honour and opportunity of being a part of. And I owe it to the universe to do justice to them. So I must. It’s really hard to explain in a convincing way. I suppose I should try. But not right now. (There’s always this need for faith- to have faith that your readers understand you, and for your readers to have faith in you, too. It’s inescapable.)

I felt like I had to write something. It’s been a while since I’ve written for myself. I suppose now’s a good time as any. (It’s the second best time- the best time is always yesterday.) I need to stop using perfectionism as an excuse, and just wing it. Just do it. It’s not that complicated. It’s not that difficult. I just have to do it, whatever it is.

I’m happy. I have wonderful friends, I’ve been meeting new people. I’m somewhat fit, somewhat healthy. I have a wonderful relationship with a girlfriend who loves me, which I don’t really deserve. I have had so many opportunities, and I will have so many opportunities in the future. I just have to take advantage of them, that’s all. It’s really not that complicated.

This year will be the year of hustling for me. The year of getting things done, of creating things. I have to stop making excuses and start doing stuff. I have to become comfortable with discomfort, embrace imperfection, and enjoy the journey rather than obsess about the destination. (Again, there’s an element of faith there.) I have to remember that it’s not all about me, that I have other people to worry about. I’m still learning. Always learning.

I’m not sure what to say, really. Doubt has always been with me, even if I sometimes pretend it doesn’t. I often ask myself why bother at all. But I have to do it, whatever it is, because that’s what living is. It doesn’t matter if I fail, failure is good. I just need to keep moving forward.

It’s all about creating stuff. Making stuff happen. Getting things done. That’s all. I’ve done most of the trial and error I’ve needed to do. I’ve figured out a lot of things that don’t work. I need need more fire, and I need it more often. I need to keep myself motivated. I need systemic solutions, to be more conscious of every moment. I know what I need. Everything is clear if I want it to be. I won’t be able to explain it all. But I have faith that it will tidy itself up- that I will tidy it up. I just need to keep moving. It’s not that hard.

I need to get rid of all my backlog! I keep using backlog as some sort of safety net- these are the things that I’m going to do, that I haven’t done yet- so it constantly feels like there’s something I ought to be doing. It’s almost like secondary school all over again, where I didn’t do my homework at all. Sometimes I wonder if I avoided doing work because it made me feel alive, to have something to worry about. Distracting myself from what REALLY mattered, from REALLY making a difference. That’s what needs to change. That’s all. It’s simple.

C’mon.

Summary:

1. I want to be financially independent
2. I feel like I should be creating, writing
3. Everything I need is within me, I just need to get started and keep moving
4. Need to get rid of my backlog

Notes:

[1] I lent US$25 to an entrepreneur in Tajikistan through kiva.org, because I reasoned that she needed the money more than I did, and I felt that it was a good idea that I needed to support by putting my money where my mouth is.

I also have a habit of tipping taxi drivers- I don’t like taking taxis, because they’re expensive to me- but again, the taxi driver always needs the money more than I do. They’re almost always thankful for it, it brightens their day that one of their passengers would be thoughtful enough to give them more than what’s on the meter. I find that to be a worthy expense.

✱

found the following in a google docs

/

And so another year is gone, and a new arbitrary chapter begins. Are you excited? "This year will be different," we tell ourselves- and in some ways, it most certainly will be. People will die, relationships will be forged and broken.

It's easy to be cynical. After all, every year seems to be something we regret. We tend to look upon the future with rose-tinted glasses, as we do the distant past- but it's always our mistakes and failures that tend to stick with us. 

What has my year been like? I've spent all of 2011 serving the military, and it's become a bit of a drab routine. My girlfriend went overseas a couple of times. I've made loads of new friends through the group I created. I started blogging seriously. I've started writing for Fever Avenue- this is only my 2nd article, but I have a feeling that it's going to be great. 

Financially, I've never been better off: I paid off all my debts and accumulated some savings, which have brought me incredible peace of mind. I've been working on the foundations of a few projects that I plan to initiate next year.

Physically, I'm not particularly different from what I was at the end of 2010- but that conceals several insights I've developed about myself, and I imagine that I'll be much fitter at the end of 2012, even without trying. we'll see.

What was life like before? A lot simpler, surely. New years were quaint things for me when I was a child- I'd watch the New Year Countdown on television. (I can still remember Jamie Yeo massacring Evanescence's Bring Me To Life in the year 2000.) I'd still get the year wrong when writing the date on my worksheets at school, at least for the first few weeks. (Doesn't everyone?) But life as a child is fairly simple. You don't exactly have much control, and your future is fairly predictable- primary school, secondary school, JC or Polytechnic, National Service if you're a guy, and then it starts to get interesting from there. School is pretty much a constant, unless you're one of the fortunate few who have the unique opportunity to repeat a year. (I did, in JC.)

I think life starts to get interesting when you're about 15. At least, that's what it was like for me. At that young age, though, your brain actually hasn't completely developed yet.

Let's talk resolutions, most of which are predictably straightforward. I will read more this year. I will eat healthier, exercise more, get fitter. I will study harder this year. I will be less careless with my money. Some people get tired of it all, and resolve not to bother with resolutions.

I'm excited for the future. But that has little to do with the number on the calendar, and everything to do with the preparation I've been doing.

Somewhere along the line, I decided to transcend the conventional metrics that most people use to measure their lives. The degree of consciousness ascribed to it is simply not enough, in my opinion, to lead a happy, fulfilled life.

So here's what I suggest- use this moment to reflect. Think about everything you've done this year, and everything you didn't do. Ask yourself what were your happiest moments, and your saddest. What were your biggest successes, and your worst failures? 

Dilbert- systems.

We live in exciting times. Conventional business models are being undermined