Goodbye 2019

When I was in New Zealand, its time zone (UTC+12) means that it is always the first country to greet the new year in the world. I remember staying up until 2am to catch a livestream of the fireworks in Sydney, then coming back at 2pm to see the fireworks in New York. The city I lived in had no fireworks show, sadly 🙁

Anyway, so it’s the end of 2019. It’s been a good year for me. Let’s look back on some of the highlights:

1. This blog. This blog pretty much defines 2019 for me. I started it around this time last year. I made a promise to write one article a week. I’ve had 56 articles so far (including this one), so by and large I’ve managed to keep my promise!

This little blog has really grown with me; it has been a great outlet for me to sit back and reflect on my life. Sometimes I have zero inspiration and can’t think of anything to write, but the quota is still there. So I have to come up with some completely mundane and asinine stuff to write about (like that post on sandals!).

Apparently I also have an audience? I don’t advertise this blog anywhere except for the little link on my facebook profile. I’m not sure who read this blog, but every post gets about 50 views! It’s nice to know there’s a small readership.

2. Business-wise, things are heading in the right direction. Our revenue has increased substantially over the past year (though the heavy expenses means profits remain thin). I’m curious how next year will turn out.

Our staff number has also increased twofold. We have finally found long-term leases and invested in some decent renovation for our premises, which means next year there won’t be any more real estate costs other than rent (hopefully). All the moving and relocating in 2019 was more than chaotic and stressful.

The fitness side of our projects are finally picking up as well. 2018 we were still lost as to what to do. Now, after we’ve got the summer camp and the two little gyms, it seems like we’ve finally found a model that (hopefully) works. We have also had actual staff instead of just me and Phong like it’s always been. I’m really excited to see what will become of our fitness project next year.

3. I’ve been working on writing a book. I honestly never thought I’d be publishing a book, but here I am! My dream of being a writer is slowly coming true. I’ve already got a contract with a publisher. I think it will hit the shelves around spring next year.

I don’t think it will be a massive hit or anything. I’m not enough of a celebrity yet. It might flop, or might sell just enough to be forgettable. You never know, but it’s worth it to do your best.

4. Health-wise, everything has been excellent. Other than that bout of bronchitis and that time when I had that stupid surgery on my toe, everything has been perfect. I still run and do calisthenics regularly. Last time I had a health check-up, the doctor (ignorantly) said that I had serious problems with my heart because my pulse was so slow (it’s only 45!). I also managed to finish that strenuous 35K trail run with Phong last week which I’m quite proud of myself for.

The only problem is that I’ve been skipping on heavy leg work. This time last year I was still doing heavy barbell deadlifts and squats. Now, all I really do is pistol squats and variations of burpees. I don’t care too much to be honest. You can’t make gains in everything — I’ve picked running, arm wrestling, and calisthenics, and two of those have to be in maintenance mode.

As a side note, my 2019 has also been characterised by arm wrestling. It’s really consumed my life the latter half of the year. I hope even more progress and gains will be seen in 2020, and hopefully I will win a small medal!

5. As for personal development, I don’t feel like a lot has changed. I’m still as much a minimalist, probably more so now. I’ve been taking on a bit more responsibilities. So does that mean I’m more mature now? Probably. But as I’ve already mused on in an earlier post, growing up is very much a gradual process. Day by day nothing really changes, but when you look back everything is different.

Oh I’ve also started to grow a goatee so at least appearance-wise I look older now ?

So here’s to 2020 and my 27 ?