2025 Resolutions
A bit late, but better late than never right?
I’m kicking off 2025 with almost a month of sickness
It started with Influenza B then ended up with a lung infection. For nearly a week, I spent at least 16 hours a day lying in bed. As someone with high expectations of myself (thanks to the typical Asian upbringing), I’ve been feeling unproductive and downright depressed, to the point where I’ve started to spiral into self-loathing. Haihh.
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| My lungs’ spirometry test sucks. |
Being someone who tends to see everything as patterns, I can’t help but overthink this rough start to the year. I’m the kind of person who believes that how something begins often reflects how it will end. My brain keeps whispering, “If the foundation isn’t solid, the end result will be just… meh.” Thanks to the sickness, I’ve started 2025 feeling unmotivated, overwhelmed with self-doubt, and lacking the drive to thrive. I haven’t even set my New Year’s resolutions yet because, well, my brain felt like an empty void while I was sick. And now, it’s already half a month since January and I haven't come out with the list yet.
I checked my lists for 2024 last year. Bought the stuff I wanted, unlocked a new skill, and traveled to 4 countries overseas. But I don’t even feel a sense of accomplishment. It’s more like I got it done and dusted, and then what?
Is it the hedonistic stairs with no ending that I’m climbing?
It’s Jan 27, and I’m 90% recovered!
Haha, two weeks have passed since I wrote the draft above, and finally, I’m no longer coughing all the time. I reread it and thought, Damn, that doesn’t sound like me — I’m not that pessimistic in real life. Turns out, I’m not myself when I’m sick. I was just having burnout mixed with some existential questioning because of the sickness. Now that I’m getting better, I got my mental clarity back! I did a retrospective session with myself and I learned a few lessons from it.
Life is about choices
And I chose to make it easy to achieve goals and focus on small wins. The previous year, I was more on the ‘Who am I?’ parts because I just reached the big 30. So, this year, I chose to chill a bit and fix my base— physically, mentally, and emotionally. Instead of chasing ambitious milestones, I’m prioritizing balance, well-being, and also better financial state than last year. Small wins add up, and I want to enjoy the journey rather than just ticking off achievements.
With that in mind, here’s my list of 2025 resolutions:
I want to make sure I can keep track of my goals. So, I also have a mini version of the weekly/bi-weekly goals/to-do’s on a sticky note on my office monitor.
Make Aan Great Always~
To be a greater Aan than last year, I plan to design at least two new products for TornadoByte this year — focusing on the cause I care about most: financial literacy for the youth. Plus, working on these kinds of free community projects is a great way to sharpen my design taste.
Last year TornadoByte published these two:
So, this year I gotta keep the momentum up. Hmmm, I don’t have any idea on what else to write. So I gotta stop now. Hahaha. Bye.