A New Dawn - Goodbye 2024, Hello 2025

Another year went by. As we bid farewell to 2024 & open the doors to 2025, I wish you and your families a very Happy & Blessed 2025!!! Let there be new dawn in your lives

Reflections 2024

I have a set of principles which are an intrinsic part of me & refined as the days pass. So I will carry forward from my reflection post from 2023 & add what I learnt in 2024:

1. Have a Purpose or Vision
2. Create Value
3. We learn by doing
4. Write!! Write!! Write!! - Be consistent
5. Personal Knowledge Management
6. Seed of Simplicity
7. Family Time

Have a Purpose or Vision

Everything starts with a vision. Without a clear vision, we will not understand the WHY of what we do or intend to do. The WHY is key. Ask yourself always - Why am I doing stuff?

Where does this purpose come from? This should flow from what drives us or motivates us inside. It is based on our principles & beliefs.

For me, as it started in 2023 & continued into 2024, my purpose & vision is to continue exploring & learning something new. Going into the next step or place without knowing what is there gives me the chill & source of excitement. This is something I noticed when I play Minecraft with my son. My character is always exploring the terrain (forest, mines etc). There could be danger in those landscapes or treasure to be found.

I've noticed this lately but my vision doesn't have an end point or a goal. It's a journey. My vision is to keep moving, learning, improving - rinse & repeat.

So, learn to enjoy the journey with a clear vision to improve. This works for me. Having an end goal also works. Do what works for you & move forward accordingly.

Once we have a vision, what do we do next? Action it!! How? By using your vision to move your life forward, create value for your life & someone else's. How?

Create Value

We come back to the WHY. Why am I exploring & learning? To create value. What does it mean? It means to become better than what I was yesterday. There is a saying (anonymous)

So, when we learn something new, we become better. But is that enough? No. It is not enough that we try to become better - We try to enrich or add value to least one other person.

We add value to another person's life. How?? By sharing what we learn. That means finding ways to share your value add with others. I do that through my blog. In 2024, I expanded my journey to include Finance as a topic where my objective is to make finance easy to anyone who wishes to learn about it. I also doubled down on strategy by expanding it with real life case studies.

We learn by Doing

We can watch hours of videos of topics we want to learn about & still end up where we started. Watching videos of courses can give us an illusion of learning while actually not learning a single thing. It's like watching videos of creating excel models. It's only when we actually create models that we learn how to do it.

By doing, we fall several times & make mistakes. Then we work to correct those mistakes. It is in those moments of getting up after falling & correcting mistakes that we learn & improve.

For me, it's about continuing to write & share knowledge about topics I am interested in & holds my fascination. My blog is my enterprise. This is where I apply what I learn & fall, make mistakes & learn again.

So, find an avenue where you can apply your learning & learn by doing.

Write!! Write!! Write!! - Be Consistent

Showing up everyday is hard work. But do it!! Being consistent shows how dedicated we are to our achieving our objectives.

But it is also important to be realistic about what we can do everyday. It's like exercise. Start small & keep adding time or exercises as we move forward.

For me, I continue to write every week because that is the best possible schedule or sweet spot (everyday is an overkill as I don't have the time to write everyday & every month will be too far spread & lazy).

I expanded the repertoire of topics which started with Blockchain (& I continue to write about it) & expanded to strategy and now finance. I also include personal stuff I reflect on through self-reflection blog.

I just keep doing the same things over & over (refer next section) to ensure I write consistently every week.

Personal Knowledge Management

Have a system to make it easy to do what you intend to do. For e.g., to write weekly,

1. I have to be a voracious reader (I am!!)
2. Have a system to take notes
3. Have a system to use those notes to go deeper into rabbit holes
4. Write, Write, Write

There are tools & software which you can use for points 2 to 3. Having the relevant tools & system makes it easy to achieve your objectives by allowing you to be consistent day in & day out. With AI, it has become more easier now to be more productive.

Seed of Simplicity

It is hard work to convey complex ideas into simple language that everyone can understand & appreciate. But the challenge is worth it. It helps us think & understand concepts better.

Remember Apple devices simple design?? Be simple & lean.

Family Time

This is supposed to come first but I wanted this to be the last thought in your mind when you finish reading through.

The below quote from Reddit hit me hard :

There could be circumstances where work takes precedence (meeting deadlines, financial close etc). But try to find a balance & manage your life accordingly.

"Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them—work, family, health, friends, and spirit—and you're keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls—family, health, friends, and spirit—are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged, or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.” — Brian J. Dyson, former CEO of Coca-Cola gave the “Five Balls” speech at a commencement ceremony at Georgia Tech on Sept. 6, 1991

Thinking like our kids gives us new perspectives which elude us in our fixed mindsets & way of thinking. An example I can think of is watching Transformers, Sonic or playing Minecraft with my son. If I want to convey any points across, I do it by coloring it with sentences like "How would Optimus Prime think about it?" or "Would the Autobots or Decepticons do it?" if he said something wrong or "Imagine the work to create a village in Minecraft!" if he tries to avoid his daily chores (all kids do!!) etc.

Spend time with your better half, go for dinners, watch movies together etc. In the end, it's all about the relationships that hold meaning in your life.

Wishing you and your family a Very Happy 2025 & May your dreams come true!!!