2025 new year resolution

Plan to start, not to achieve

I don’t think I’ve told you, but I closed 2024 with an experiment with my friends—inviting them to do any random idea I had in mind.

Why do so many of our ideas stay as thoughts? They pile up in the backlog, gathering dust, but sometimes the best ideas appear after you’ve committed to something.

I realized that the key is to start and try so we can cultivate a sense related to the idea. Of course, it will be nice if you can finish it, but being perfect and achieving isn’t the goal. And I’m applying the same mindset to my New Year resolutions.

Be a responsible adult

1. Pass written test for driving in California. Stretch goal: Pass the driving test. You desire to be independent. When you saw your friend feeling tired driving on the highway, you wanted to help. You realize going on a camping trip matters a lot to you, but you cannot do it without relying on others driving for you. You believe driving is an essential part of adulting.

2. Keep track of my spending. Stretch goal: Save 10% of my income starting in June.

3. Learn how to fight: You realize fighting is an essential part of US society to get things done, such as getting health insurance or housing. You hate fighting, but it’s important to find your own style to stand up for yourself. 

Work sustainably

1. Actively practice setting boundaries with work: You love your work, but it’s not all of you. It’s easy to immerse in your work and make it a default state of being. Yet, practicing setting boundaries when working with your team and with yourself will benefit you in the long run. It’s a lifelong skill and will allow you to work sustainably in the long run.

2. Consistently working on my education vision every week. Stretch goal: Apply for more incubators.

3. Go on a camping trip. Stretch goal: Go on a camping trip myself: You always get inspired by very different philosophies when camping. Lack of technology helps you detach a lot.

4. Stretch goal: Contribute to one open-source library

Be studious about relationships

1. Define my version of being in love: You find the way you love stupid and immature when you observe your most responsible friend change a personality all of a sudden. You wrote an introspection post and decided to redefine your idea of being in love.

2. Nurturing relationships in the city

3. Put in more intentional effort on partnership. Intentional effort I mean writing notes like a student, not daydreaming and mind wandering: 2024 includes lots of experience related to romantic relationships. But experience + knowledge = wisdom. It’s time to fill in the knowledge gap. Want to learn more about queer relationships and homophobia too.

4. Be a curious observer about my desire for relationships: You perceive and learn relationships differently from others and lots of your ideas don’t fit into social norms. Rather than pushing yourself to fit in, why not learn and observe what makes sense to you?

Find joy in health

1. Go to Columbia for a bachata dance week and navigate through my Spanish

2. Rest my eyes from the screen

3. Cook healthy meals for friends and myself

4. Go on a health inspection to understand Esther’s body

Live with mindful experiments

1. Keep Writing. Stretch goal: Write more in Mandarin: It started to get boring and seemed to be a waste of time until you did a year-long reflection. Observing what matters to you and how have you changed is empowering to evaluate yourself accurately. Why do you want to write in Mandarin? Because no one has done writing about tech careers in a storytelling style in Mandarin style yet. Most people write about “5 ways to ace your Google interview.”

2. Ask for more help: Learning how to ask for help is the most powerful experiment you’ve done in 2024. It’s a great way to make connections with people, and also be amazed by the serendipity in life.

Side note for myself: 雖然談了很多想要嘗試與達成的事情，但腦海裡最常重播的一句話仍是「隨遇而安」，有耐心的等待、成長、與前進，依舊很喜歡這樣子的你呢，女孩。