293 - reviewing 3️⃣0️⃣
Hey there, !
Here were the predictions from last year, and where we are sitting as I go into the year of 31 :D
Newsletter predictions
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This newsletter still exists - 75% [✅]
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I have more than 100 subscribers - 45% [❌] - which is good, because then I don't have to pay for hosting yet :D
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I have started a new newsletter and / or blog - 33% [❌]
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I have started something on a new medium - 99% [❌] - this is the first prediction that I was SO confident on that never came through. Sad - maybe for next year we'll try this one again!
Living situation
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I still live in Australia - 99% [✅]
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I still live in Melbourne - 99% [✅]
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I still live in my current house - 90% [✅]
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I still sleep in the same bedroom that I do right now - 70% [✅] - For some reason I thought that I would move to the spare room? But I would always be living in the master so IDK what I was thinking here...
Work
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I am in the same job - 70% [✅]
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I have created a side hustle - 50% [-] - I mean, I've started doing a celebrancy course? This probably is 50-50 since I technically have started it but haven't finished it. I'm gonna count this as neutral :D
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I have created a side hustle that actually makes money - 20% [❌]
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I have created a side hustle that actually makes money and I love it - 5% [❌]
Romance
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I am in a relationship - 50% [❌] - :(
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I am married - 5% [❌]
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I have kids - 10% (like...I feel like it's easier to become accidentally pregnant than accidentally married?) [❌]
Exercise
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I'm back to the gym - 50% [❌] - I've counted this as a cross because I'm not going regularly; it's VERY sporadic and is always up to my whims. Ugh. More to work on in the coming year.
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I've found another exercise regime that is not gym or futsal - 30% [❌] - what can I say, I'm a man of habit!
House things
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I have bought a new couch - 30% (it's hard to find the right one!) [❌] - TRULY IT IS HARD and also I'm lazy :D
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I have not needed to make any major repairs to the house - 10% [✅] - PHEW
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I cook more than 3 times a week - 75% [-] I think I had the cooking thing down pretty well for like...75% of the year, and then this last quarter has been hella busy and all that was thrown out the window. I at least cook more than once a week (mainly meal prep) so that's good I think!
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I have hosted 3+ dinner parties - 50% (something I want to do!) [✅] - FINALLY something I wrote down that I did :D
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I own more than 10 plants at home - 50% [❌]
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I own more than 10 plants at home and none of them are dead or dying - 10% [❌] - since I don't have more than 10 plants. BUT ALSO none of the existing ones are dead or dying so BIG WINS.
Fun things
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I have a boardgame collection greater than 100 games - 99% (what's new) [✅]
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I have a boardgames table - 85% (I have the plans for a topper, I just have to build it!) [❌] - haven't got round to it yet D:
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I have started whittling and / or woodworking - 80% (I got a knife, I got wood, what could go wrong?) [❌] - what could go wrong is being STUPID with time and not putting aside the time for it T_T
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I get a tattoo - 85% [✅] - fuck yeah
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I have more than one tattoo - 60% [❌] - I was SO CLOSE to doing this in the UK, and then Taiwan, but I didn't find anything that meant more. I still have the ideas in the back of the brain and I'll definitely get around to it.
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I finish the book I started - 5% (more of an aspiration than anything...) [❌] - welp
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I am happy - NaN% [✅] - content, perhaps. Satisfied with where life is sitting. More to come, hopefully :)
30
30 has been a pretty nice year. I think the theme of the year was travel; I traveled a whole bunch, I saw my sister get married, I nearly got arrested in Vegas, I had a full spa treatment for the first time in Thailand, I went on a spontaneous trip to Taiwan, I went full weeb-mode in Japan, I moved into my house, I now have a cat, and I'm settling into routines. I had some pretty hard projects at work, but I was able to balance a lot more of my life, which meant that I could give more of myself, everywhere. Then again, I'm still trying to achieve balance, but aren't we all?
One of my friends is really good at capturing life data, summarising it, surfacing insights and creating excellent charts and graphs about their life. I'm not that kinda person, but I wish I was - I wonder how many times I actually hung out with people, had dinner parties, had boardgame events, went overseas, played DnD, saw friends, saw family, did something I hadn't done before, stayed in a routine, watched movies, listened to podcasts, went to the beach, made a new friend, read a book, bought new clothes, wrote something (newsletter or otherwise), said 'I'm gonna quit I swear', had a night spent in quiet contemplation, watched YouTube, how many times I watched re-runs, how much cat shit I've sifted out of the litter, how many roast porks I've made, the average happiness score I had over the year...all I know is all of these things bring joy.
Even the cat shit.
In other parts of life, I still haven't solved the relationship puzzle - I think it's something that I'll just have to leave to the universe to sort out. My life is pretty lovely right now, and attaining a stable peace in life is a very privileged thing to be able to achieve. In any case, I can't be waiting on things to happen - I gotta go out and do the things I want to do and sort that out for myself.
On that note, I took a lot more agency in my life this year - setting things up that I wanted to happen, and seeing them through. I think that's what I want to make sure I'm continuously striving towards - for a lot of my life I let things happen to me, thinking that those were the things I should be doing - but to observe others who are much more agentic about their lives, and realizing that the way they lived their lives was the manifestation of where I got to in facing my fear of death; to live life means to make choices (whether good or bad) and go after what you want. Otherwise, one day you'll die with regrets of what could have been.
Perhaps that'll be the theme for 31. Agency.
I'll get around to my next newsletter on 31 predictions for turning 31 (it's a bit busy for work so hopefully it'll come out next week) but for now - thank you for joining me on this journey. I'm definitely not going away - this is one of my favourite habits I consciously made, and I'm still going strong <3
Chat soon :)
Let me know if you have any feedback for the newsletter!
✔️Real Life Recommendations
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Le Bon Ton - American South-style meats and sides - it's a fantastic place that does really good beef, pork, chicken - mac and cheese, sides - all of it. I also tried a Hurricane for the first time (after just watching an episode from Archer where he had a batch of them made LOL) so that was an experience. But highly recommended! I remember, though, that I didn't love their southern fried chicken; which is surprising since I usually would, but I think last time I went it was not as good as I thought. Anyway - everything else slaps - go for it!
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Emma's Snack Bar - this Lebanese place in Sydney was bloody awesome - a bunch of spiced meats and dips and snacks and little plates that were delicious in every single bite. I also tried this anise-flavoured spirit called Arak that was, well, very anise-y. But it was a great feed - so highly recommended!
🚌 Adventures on the Information Super-Highway
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Tom Blomfield: Taking Risk - on the topic of being agentic and taking risk, here's a short article on how young people should be building the new world.
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I spent two years tracking down how an identity thief stole $5000 from me - clickbait title, fascinating article.
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The Risks of Staying Put - similar to 'Quit' by Annie Duke, I think...when you're assessing if you should go, or stay, most people think the risk is in the 'going', but it's also in the 'staying'...
“…just because a situation is familiar doesn’t mean it’s the best you can do.”