As we cross into 2025 (oops it’s already February…), I’m doing my internal review of how 2024 went. I’m doing this in blog format for the first time! Let’s dig in..

Health

What went well?

• Cardio: My VO2 max went from hovering around 45 in 2023 to around 48 in 2024, crossing 50 near the end of the year :O
• Weight: I managed to keep my weight pretty consistent this year, after losing 110 pounds from 2021 -> 2023!

What could’ve gone better?

• Strength training and flexibility: Manifesting 2025 to be the year of a strong upper body and increased malleability 🙏
• Family health: focus on a healthier diet and exercise plan for all!

2024 health score: 5/10

Social life

What went well?

• Friendships: my circle of friends in NYC grew significantly in 2024!
• I formed closer bonds with people I think are talented, interesting, well-meaning, and a joy to be around 🙂
• Moving from Jersey City to Manhattan went smoothly 😀
• Family (grandma+dad) visited NYC, and we did fun road trips 🚗

What could’ve gone better?

• More trips to visit friends: I want to visit friends in different cities, states and countries via frequent shorter trips in 2025
• Separately, more trips with friends: skiing, hiking, festivals, tourism!
• Conditional on better health: international trips with family ✈️
• Relatively quiet year for dating/relationships: I believe this is less important in my life right now, but possibly a bigger focus in 2025

2024 social life score: 6/10

Hobbies

What went well?

• Improv: I got through 2 levels of classes at Improvolution, and hopefully I’ll get through the final level as well soon!
• Badminton: I got one-on-one coaching for a couple months, which reduced my chances of injury significantly by better technique 🙂
• Karaoke: I really got into karaoke this year, became a K-town frequenter, bought a machine and lights to host at my apt too :O
• Hosting events (karaoke, trivia nights, christmas eve, baking, etc): I’M SO EXCITED FOR 2025 EVENTS YAY
• Travel: Having barely traveled internationally until college, 2024 was a year of challenging my perspectives on the world
  • I visited Austria, Slovakia, England, Hong Kong and Japan
  • Some core memories: featuring on a Japanese variety show, visiting an active volcano, eating a 4-foot dosa in HK, walking 30+km through London, dancing-off against a back-flipping man on stage, visiting the most beautiful village in the world

What could’ve gone better?

• Running: I ran much lesser than I wanted to, but I did my first unplanned half-marathon on Christmas (it hurt for days after..)
• Watching TV shows/anime: I spent non-negligible time this year watching TV. In the past, I’ve taken years off from all TV, and I think I should do that again; there’s only so much time in the world…

2024 hobbies score: 8/10

Giving back

What went well?

• I drafted a “thoughts on education” doc along a few axes, discussed it with close friends and did a small amount of research
• I continued to help talk through life decisions and mentor ex-students and other people who reached out to me, though to a much smaller extent than in past years

What could’ve gone better?

• I significantly underachieved my goal for this year to get that draft into a good shape by chatting with
  • various friends who’ve thought along similar lines/volunteer actively/work jobs in NGOs,
  • professors I’m in touch with who might help write policies,
  • NGOs, education startups, and other external orgs
  • (feel free to get in touch if you want to chat about this!)
• Made little progress toward the social venture fund I want to set up
• I also felt like I barely volunteered, or did anything non-monetary toward paying back the kindness I’ve been shown

I think it’s a fundamental obligation to give back to society, and I’m disappointed by how little that featured in 2024; I’m expecting more out of myself in 2025.

2024 giving back score: 2/10

Career

What went well?

• I learnt a wide variety of things – in terms of tooling, concepts, regulation, visiting foreign offices, interviewing, mentoring, etc
• My career in 2024 was the most single-minded I’ve ever been
  • I challenged myself to break out of the “work-life-balance” mindset that was restricting me, and allow myself to be flexible depending on my excitement, interest and energy
  • As a result, I was in the office at every hour of the day at various points, allowing my chaotic energy to run wild
  • I thought this was really fun/freeing
• I talked to and built relationships with a lot of (humble, wise, smart and collaborative) people, which I’m stoked about

What could’ve gone better?

• I spent a large fraction of time getting things out, and should focus more of my energy on longer-term investments into myself
  • Idea: spend x hrs to make every future hour more productive!
• I didn’t keep up with the developments in tech and AI nearly as much as I wanted to; I’d love to learn more and get inspiration from other people’s efforts in all sorts of adjacent industries

2024 career score: 8/10

Takeaways

2024 was all about growth, first steps, and investments – into friends, health, hobbies, and my career. I want the theme of 2025 to be “velocity” – increased stamina, reduced activation energy, and to revel in the things that I’m growing to love.

Life is short, our time with people is limited, and there’s so many things to learn, experience and share. Cheers to a zest for life in 2025!

2024 overall score: 6/10

Photo Gallery

Selected 2024 memories