Feeling reflective this week.
What do you anticipate defining your year next year?
Personally, 2024 is going to be all about refinement for me. The past couple of years I've been focused on building a foundation to work for myself. Now that I'm reaching a point where I've established a base, in 2024 I want to hone in on the additional skills that I've been putting off, and set a higher standard for my services and for myself in general.
Through the process of skill building and creating a living for myself, I've found that prioritization is paramount.
Before you even begin learning something new, you need to understand the why behind what you're doing.
If you aimlessly try to "learn" without a destination in mind, then you'll be all the more likely to take every little detour and hidden path along the trail that there is. It may feel productive since you're "learning" and acquiring new information, but in reality, it seems to be either a case of procrastination, excitement, fear, confusion, doubt -- any one of those, or all of them together -- that's pushing your end goal further down the trail. And if you keep wandering, you may never find it.
In the past couple of years, I feel that I've spent too much time wandering. But now that I have a better understanding of my end goal, I have a much more clearly defined path in front of me. No more detours or rabbit holes. I understand what chapter comes next. I have the core essentials down, now it's time to refine the supplementary skills that will broaden my scope to accommodate all new kinds of clients.
Perhaps this involves bitcoin ~ o.0 ~
What are you focused on for your 2024? How will you characterize it? Is that subject to change?
Love your thoughts on the "why" behind learning - reminded me of this:
It seems to me that while reading non-fiction, most folks are in searching mode. Most would be more intellectually productive, however, in chasing mode. It helps to have in mind a question, puzzle, or problem, and then read in order to answer your question, explain your puzzle, or solve your problem.
In searching mode, readers tend to be less critical. If a source came recommended, they tend to keep reading along even if they aren’t quite sure what the point is. Since authors tend to be more prestigious than readers, readers tend to feel reluctant to question or judge what they’ve read...
In chasing mode, readers are naturally more critical. When you are looking for something particular, it feels less presumptuous to stop reading when your source comes to seem irrelevant...
Also, search-readers often don’t have a good mental place to put each thing they learn. In which case they don’t end up learning much. Chasers, in contrast, always have specific mental places they are trying to fill with what they read, so they better integrate new things they learn with old things they know.
To your theme of refinement - now I'm wondering how to refine the "why" itself? Better questions, better answers and all that.
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For me 2024 is going to be about integration. I've felt too much distance between who I am and what I'm working on, time spent on production feels separate from time just "being". It seems unsustainable.
Bridging that gap seems worthy of (at least) a year of attention.
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For me 2024 is going to be about integration. I've felt too much distance between who I am and what I'm working on, time spent on production feels separate from time just "being". It seems unsustainable.
Same.
Just listened to this podcast the other day on Socrates, which turned out to dig into something really thought-provoking wrt your point about the distance between your aspirations and reality. Normally I wouldn't have found this, as I know a lot about Socrates and Greek philosophical thought already, but this was from a new angle. Here's a taste:
So the natural philosophers are "truth without relevance". The Sophists, and their propensity for the promotion of bullshit, represent "relevance disconnected from truth". So notice here they have the power to transform people, but they have disconnected it from the pursuit of the truth. These people can give us knowledge of the facts but do not facilitate self transformation. What Socrates wanted is he wanted both. He wanted individuals who knew how to pay attention in such a way that what they found salient helped them determine the truth and that the truth that they found help them to train their attention to find salience. Socrates wanted something like that.
Based on how many things you've said in the last few days have intersected stuff I care a lot about, there's a decent chance you may dig this podcast, too.
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Thank you, I will for sure be listening to this. Great minds think alike 🤠
I very much enjoy these kind of dichotomies, the philosophers, and the sophists. Still so relevant today, and perhaps we’re biased but bitcoiners feel like a great model of the blend that Socrates wanted.
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This looks fascinating thank you, I will give it a listen. I saw many people referencing this guy before but didn't know he had a podcast.
I'm reading "The web of meaning" right now by Jeremy Lent which is pretty much entirely focused on this integration topic. I don't know if I could recommend it yet as I'm only a quarter of the way through, maybe I'll write a review on SN later.
A little snippet:
While self-control has been shown to produce more successful life outcomes, if applied excessively, it doesn’t lead to sustained happiness. Rather, like an authoritarian regime forcing itself on a population, it might achieve apparent stability, but only at the cost of seething resentments that ultimately lead to acts of sabotage and potentially even revolution. Instead, establishing a more wholesome ‘democracy of consciousness’ can lead to both greater stability and a more peaceful inner experience.
The key to a successful democracy of consciousness is a full and ongoing integration of the different aspects of ‘I’ and the self. By welcoming and honoring the various needs and feelings of the self, ‘I’ am more able to incorporate them into the direction I set for my life. If I learn to listen carefully to the ‘wisdom of the body’, I can become a wiser person in the decisions I make and actions I take. At the same time, if the self recognizes that its needs are being acknowledged, it can also relax, and is less likely to sabotage the life that ‘I’ have constructed.
The relationship between ‘I’ and self is a bit like a partner dance set to the music of life. Each partner differs from the other, but can learn to attune to the other and respond harmoniously to the other’s moves, sometimes closing in, sometimes moving further away, sometimes setting a new tone and sometimes following the other’s lead, but always remaining in relationship – and rather than trying to dominate or surrender, coordinating with the other to co-create an experience that neither could ever attain by themselves.
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Thanks for sharing this. The article really encapsulated my thoughts about reading this Dec. I literally read stuff that comes my way; I get my books for free from book sharing corners etc. but come next year, I wanna read with greater intentionality. Read books in Chinese and Japanese to seek different perspectives other than those provided by Eurocentric authors. Read fiction rather than consume myself with productivity by reading self-help books. Have bookmarked your comment!
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Thank you for sharing this, searching vs. chasing is a perfect way to frame it.
That is a fantastic goal, something we could probably all focus on a bit more. Ikigai as I (and Japan) like to think of it :)
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Oh my goodness, are you Gen X? I have been thinking similar thoughts. I would say don’t be too hard on yourself. I think the endless wandering and searching and meandering is a necessary rite of passage - until we firm up our core and gather enough confidence to go headstrong towards our goals. I’m in my 40s - and it feels that everything is crystallising and shaping into something more bona fide for me recently.
As for me…
In one word, legacy
Before I go and explain why legacy, I gotta digress and explain a bit of myself. My MBTI profile is ENFP. We are the zany and exuberant people who have a million and one creative ideas floating around in our heads - but can’t seem to settle down to get any one of them actualised.
I’m lucky in the sense that I love writing and am eager to slog it out as a struggling freelance writer for my side hustle, never mind if other gigs can garner me more money. Writing allows me to express my originality and create unorthodox things - which appeals to the ENFP side of me.
So life would have been a hell lot easier if I were able to choose a specialisation and double down on it to make it my niche/forte. For better or worse, I actually sat down this December to write down all the topics I am interested to write about. There are four main themes: AI, Bitcoin, parenting and Japan. And my swirling mind just won’t settle for these four. I kinda write about Ethereum too.
In this age of constant distractions, I know that maintaining a razor sharp focus is key to achieving anything significant. So logically, I should just pick one theme and focus all my energy on it. Give it all I’ve got. But unfortunately, that’s not how my ENFP mind works.
I want to aim for something bigger. Strive to be a multihypenate who can write adeptly about many different things. I want to have fun and explore cross-disciplinary subjects. Like the intersection of AI with Bitcoin. Or the differences between parenting in Japan and in my country. It will take me a longer time to succeed as a content creator than if I were to concentrate on writing Japanese cultural articles. But honestly, I can’t quite control my muse. For instance, my preoccupation today is to finish reading the chapters under the Prosperous section of a book entitled Danshari (the Japanese concept of decluttering excess). Even if I were to force myself to read up on Bitcoin, there would be a constant stirring of my soul that will exhort me to think about Danshari.
I guess that mayn’t be a bad thing at all. I can only use my wits and follow my heart. Hopefully, 2024 will see people recognising me for my myriad interests and wacky way of synthesising them. Leaving a legacy as a passionate multihypenate.
Good luck to us all!
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I actually sat down this December to write down all the topics I am interested to write about. There are four main themes: AI, Bitcoin, parenting and Japan
This is a good idea. I am too disorganized to think of doing this haha.
I want to aim for something bigger. Strive to be a multihypenate who can write adeptly about many different things. I want to have fun and explore cross-disciplinary subjects. Like the intersection of AI with Bitcoin. Or the differences between parenting in Japan and in my country. It will take me a longer time to succeed as a content creator than if I were to concentrate on writing Japanese cultural articles. But honestly, I can’t quite control my muse.
I love this. I've been big on nicheing down in my professional work, but that's why i love SN as an outlet for whatever random thoughts question and ideas i have. And bitcoiners are the best bunch of people to share it with. Aim for that bigger picture, and here is a great place to start.
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Indeed, begin with the end in mind!
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My plan for 2024 is to delegate responsibilities and tasks. I tend to want to do everything myself, and I always get anxious if I'm not overseeing every aspect of my business. I'm getting older and feel the need to lighten my workload. I know it will be better for the business in the long run, but it will be a difficult transition.
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Happy to hear you’ve reached that point in your business though :) take a load off siggy you have earned it
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I'm not sure I have, but thanks!
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TheWildHustle's theme will be FOSS
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I can only answer this question by looking at the rearview mirror. Create this topic again in December 2024, and I'll be able to tell you what the theme of this year was. Lol.
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duly noted 🫡
@k00b when remind bot??
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focus on what I really need - more learning and making, slowly I would need less and less from others:)
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you're on the path to 100% self sustainability and i love to see it
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Dedicated myself to one project and not be the jack of trade that knows everything but can't build or create one platform
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Resiliency, for me.
Similar to yours @birdeye21 but plenty more growth still needed here. Having made some difficult decisions last year, now it's time to gain a solid foundation, both physically and digitally. More doing, less thinking. Small wins over big endeavours. Getting more familiar with failure again, over perfection. And gaining resiliency by connecting & helping others.
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Yes. Small wins over big endeavors exactly.
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I want to learn more on LN, deep research. Any Youtube channel you can recommended
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YT is kinda shit for deep researching Lightning tbh but soak up all the podcasts on Lightning you can get if you want video/audio.
Kevin Rooke, Preston Pysh, many great options out there.
For deeper research, start using it! Haven’t done so myself yet but setting up a Lightning node will be uber more educational than reading information and listening to podcasts
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discipline 😢
so more projects get finished!
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So many projects to start, so little time to finish them 😭 I know the struggle
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My theme for 2024 will be to continue studying Bitcoin, staying extremely humble, and stacking moar sats.
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I feel any new skills I could learn, will be replaced by AI soon. And current skills are already being replaced. I want to do more sports in nature like, hiking, running or mountain bike. That would be great.
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I have very similar feelings…where to start with that new path though!??
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Build something in 24
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Stack more sats as much as possible
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I completely understand your point. It's easy to get sidetracked when learning new things, especially if we don't have a clear destination in mind. It's important to set specific, measurable goals for ourselves and stay focused on the path that will help us achieve them. For 2024, I am focused on refining my skills and expanding my knowledge in various areas. Stack sats
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Are you referring to the yearly theme system from cgp grey by any chance? Or just coincidence?
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Who?? Coincidence I guess haha
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If you aimlessly try to "learn" without a destination in mind, then you'll be all the more likely to take every little detour and hidden path along the trail that there is.
Ouch.
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Extra painful when you are self aware enough to recognize it 😭
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More freedom tech, transitioned during the last two years to Linux and Graphene OS, setup BTC/LN nodes, next will be more self-hosted servers/data and make FOSS and FOSH the default for everything. Then the hard part begins with educating and convincing people to take the same path and free themselves. Still optimistic because right now most people are asleep but many won't need much more push to wake up
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Try in as much as possible to get married, if that's so hard get a girlfriend.
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Stack sats and stay humble
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To grow in all ways
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AI. AI. AI.
It will consume all. It is legion. Expect it.
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2024: Hacking the Matrix, Decrypting Crypto Quirks. A year of geeky bytes, blockchain ballet, and decoding the language of algorithms. Unleashing my inner tech wizard, where every line of code tells a witty tale. Here's to a year of Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V, and Ctrl+LOL. 🤓💻 #Geeky2024 #CryptoSaga #iamageek
Based on your comment, it sounds like you're looking to refine your skills and set a higher standard for yourself in 2024. It's great that you've established a foundation for your work and are now looking to build on that.
What specific skills are you looking to hone in on and how do you plan to achieve that?
Do you have any specific goals or milestones you'd like to reach in the new year?
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