Looking Back On 2023, Looking Forward To 2024
So much changes with each passing year, but one things remains the same: time is going by faster and faster!
As 2023 drew to a close, I felt this “pressure” to quantify my achievements — as if I had to report back to a boss on my performance. The truth is, as I’m getting older, trying to map out plans and goals in 365 days is getting more difficult and, I think, it’s because life is more complex. I’m not only working towards my own personal goals, but also supporting the needs and goals of my family. It’s only natural as a mom of two kids aged 6 and 3 that their needs have superseded mine for a season.
I started the year with many plans and goals. Some materialized, some started and stopped more times than I can count, and some just never happened. If there’s anything 2023 taught me, then it’s to freely accept that it’s fine for plans to get derailed and there’s nothing to I need to be apologetic about. Instead, I learned (honestly, still learning) to be happy with where I am in life at a given moment and not feel the need to explain myself to anyone.
I want to focus this year’s post on what I learned in 2023: the wins, the losses and the confusion in between 🙂
- Staying consistent with my daily routines and rituals. In last year’s post, I talked about how I was on the journey to building good long-term habits i.e. sleeping early, prioritizing daily moment, slowing down, saying “no” etc. I am very proud to say that I was very consistent with most of the habits (except sleep — that one is still a work-in-progress haha) and it has changed me for the better: I am so much calmer and happier. It turns out, like kids, adults like predictability too. I read a quote somewhere and it went something like this “Having set routines actually gives us more freedom because you know exactly when and where your time and energy is spent, so you know what you can and cannot do within a given time frame and make better decisions about where and when to spend your energy “. The idea just stuck with me and leads me to my next win.
- Making plans more than a week in advance, whenever possible. My Google Calendar and I are in a very serious relationship. If it’s not on the calendar, then it’s not happening. I went from being a person who thrived on last minute plans to having all social plans, activities, errands and meetings color-coded on a calendar and sorted about a week to two weeks in advance. I’m also very particular about not adding any more last minute plans, unless necessary. Anything new plans gets slated for a few weeks ahead. Standing my ground on ‘no last minute’ plans has been a game-changer in helping reduce my stress and giving me the ‘freedom’ I referred to earlier.
- Building strength vs focusing on weight loss. In 2023, I felt a shift in my body; the daily walks and light cardio were not cutting it anymore because I felt like I still lacked endurance and strength. So, I started Pilates and yoga towards the end of the year to see if switching things up can help. These are all the activities I thought I disliked because they were boring or “just not my kind of workout”. It turns out I was avoiding these exercises because of my fear at being “bad at them”. I only started a few months ago and it was rough because my body is just not used to moving in certain ways. But in a few short weeks I felt and (kind of) saw some gains. I actually feel stronger, my posture is better, and the parts of these exercises I thought I disliked (focusing on breath, posture etc) are the things I love the most now. The learning here is: I can do anything I set my mind to. I need more of this energy in other aspects of my life going forward. I also stopped fretting about my weight and the number on the scale and it is very liberating.
- Struggling with content creation. I reached a crossroads with my content last year: to either stop or to grow it and, if I’m being honest, start monetizing. I took a few breaks from creating content to explore other options and focus on other projects, but the simple truth is: my heart is in content creation and storytelling. It’s the one activity where I don’t feel time passing and only feel pure joy and satisfaction. That being said, content creation takes up SO much time and if there is little to no income, then it’s hard to justify the time investment. So, I am still figuring out a lot of things behind-the-scenes and hopefully I will find a way to make it work for me. I don’t want to give it up, but maybe there’s a new way to create content that makes more sense? We’ll see.
- Going back to work full-time is a reality. This is separate from the content creation. I love it, but I have (reluctantly) accepted that content creation is and will remain a side hustle. I finally feel mentally and physically read to go back to work fulltime. But I am very scared to start the process mainly because I have changed so much in the time I have taken off from a fulltime career that I genuinely don’t know what exactly I want to do! So, I can see the journey back to finding the right job is going to be long, tough, and probably filled with moments of self-doubt and hearing “no”. I also have to adjust from being a stay-at-home parent to working parent and I know that will be difficult for me. As you can tell, I am feeling ambivalent about this whole process, but I know in the end I will be happier working and that’s what I need to focus on.
Some more highlights from 2023:
- Taking our first ever family holiday overseas to Singapore
- Discovering my kids’ interests and passions and seeing them flourish i.e. I entered my ‘cheerleader mom’ era
- Introducing Diwali to my kids’ school for the very first time
- Enriching old friendships and creating new ones
- Ending the year in Bali
This past year, I felt an equal amount of self-confidence as I did self-doubt in different areas. Like I said at the start of the post, it’s getting harder to evaluate life in chunks of 365 days and identify what’s good and bad because things change so quickly. With that said, I’ll say this much that 2023 gave me the time and space to be more present with myself and my thoughts. I did a lot of soul searching, quiet thinking, and digging to get to know myself and my goals better. I’m grateful for it.
I’ll end this post with the one thought: It’s scary when you don’t know what you want or don’t have all the answers, but I just want to remind you that it’s okay. Don’t let self doubt or negative feelings rob you of the joy of being in the moment.
I hope 2024 brings you some of the answers you might be looking for along with peace and joy.
Related:
Looking Back on 2018, Looking Forward to 2019
Looking Back on 2019, Looking Forward to 2020 (And A New Decade!)
Looking Back On 2020, Looking Forward To 2021