I’ve made some new year resolutions for this year and shared them on Bilibili (the so-called Chinese YouTube). Oh yes, last year I decided to become an “Up 主” (think YouTuber) on there. I’ve gained around 4k followers so far after sharing my 10 years’ experience outside China in a video since last December. If you speak Chinese, feel free to check out my page here.
Why did I decide to become an “Up”? For one, I think I have something to say. I’ve been through a lot and some of it might be helpful to others. In fact, a lot of people didn’t know studying aboard was an option before watching my video because everyone just assumed only the rich kids got to do it. I assumed that too before I looked into it when I was in university and realized it was possible to get a scholarship for a master’s program in Canada. One has to meet some requirements, for instance, good GPA and English language skills, but it’s possible. I’m glad my video turned out to be helpful for some.
The second reason is that it’s a great opportunity to gain some valuable skills. As a shy person, I’d like to become more at ease presenting my projects at work or speaking to a crowd. Speaking to a camera might be even harder than speaking to a crowd in my opinion. I also want to learn more about video editing and story telling.
I’ve also have been unhappy with the way I spent my time on social media. Instead of being a passive consumer who wastes his attention and life energy to make giant corps like Meta more money while at the same time makes himself less happy, I decided to take a more proactive role. I want to create content that’s valuable to others and myself. The videos I make will also serve as a personal record. I would love to have something to look back to, something more than just static (or live) photos that often just capture the superficial. In my videos I’m able to talk about what I’m thinking about in depth and that can serve as a more truthful snapshot of my life. Writing a journal is an alternative but I really want to marry the personal experience with a shared experience. In fact, the desire to start a video channel comes from reading something I wrote seven years ago. In that personal essay I was writing about how I was coming to terms with the inequity I’d encountered, of growing up in poverty. I was still ashamed of where I came from. For the longest time I avoided disclosing to anyone the fact that I’d grown up in a small village in China. At this stage of my life I find that silly, yet I was haunted by that shame for years. That experience and the overcome of shame is something I want to share. I value sharing because I gained immensely from what others have shared. I wouldn’t have learned about scholarship programs if I hadn’t read what others had shared online on a forum. As a software developer, I’m also a huge fan of open source. Sharing is something I value. That’s also why I have this blog. It’s personal and public.
Annnnd, now, here are my new year resolutions.
Reduce my time spent on “investing”
Last year I wasted a lot of time on the stock market. It’s highly unproductive — looking at the stock tickers every day doesn’t help one get a higher return. Last year I wrote a blog post on investing, feel free to give it a read. This year I plan to greatly reduce my time on “investing”. I’ve uninstalled the stock app I used almost daily last year and I already noticed an increase in my free time and mental wellbeing.
Read 12 books
I used to read 20 books a year but last year it was less than 10. This year I made a very realistic goal of reading 12 books.
Traveling
This year I want to explore more places in Europe in general but more specifically I want to visit more countries in Eastern Europe.
Language
Continue learning French and Spanish. Start Italian.
Work
Try to get promoted, or on a good path to be promoted early next year. Well… Hopefully I don’t get laid off this year — not that I can do anything about it.
Friends and Family
Keep in touch with friends in Canada and reach out more. Take my parents on a vacation overseas.
Social Media
Keep sharing videos on Bilibili. Thinking about opening a YouTube channel as well (stretch goal).
Workout
Be more purposeful and have a concrete workout plan. Last year I never made concrete workout plans. I’d like to be more efficient and goal oriented when working out.
More
Since I wrote these resolutions, I started to look into drawing and animation. I’ve always loved animated movies, especially Pixar movies. I have some ideas that I would like to tell in the format of simple animations. I’m starting the journey of making animations this year. This, and likely many things to come, weren’t listed in my new year resolutions but that’s actually exciting.
Are you ready for the new year?