Lessons from the Past: Preparing for 2025
The Spring Festival has passed, but I’m still struggling to write a summary of 2024. There are always things left undone, but summarizing the past year is a commitment to oneself and must be completed.
2024 was my fastest-growing year, just like every year I feel I’ve grown more and gained more. This year, I became even more introverted and increasingly believe that solitude is a normal state for humans. Although humans are social animals, most of the time we spend with ourselves. Overall, this year I made significant progress in managing my time when alone, but I didn’t do enough to learn from more mentors and friends.
2024 Timeline
Flipping through Google Photos, the main events were:
- Rebuilt my own website and wrote on Medium, sharing my thoughts through code or words
- Traveled to Hong Kong, Hangzhou/Shaoxing (visited parents with my girlfriend), Yunnan, and Wuhan (reunited with loved ones from afar)
- Moved into a new apartment, which is quieter and more comfortable than before
- Learned more about investing: gradually distancing myself from A-shares and taking the first steps in US stocks
Survival
This year, I’ve made significant progress in getting things done, mainly due to my ability to judge and prioritize tasks. Additionally, I’ve set up a reliable information channel using RSS and some good groups.
2024 has been a year of rapid development for AI, making it easier to enter new fields or solve problems. This year, I’ve been closely following AI’s developments and have started to familiarize myself with various AI tools. I’m very bullish on the future of semiconductors and AI.
Work Situation
https://wakatime.com/@tfrain
Most of my work involves interacting with people, and I’ve spent less time writing code. This year, I’ve touched on some other languages, which has broadened my perspective.
The working environment in China has become even more challenging, filled with harsh language and criticism on various platforms. Specifically, my workload has increased, and the smiles around me have decreased. My thoughts are probably aligned with those of others, that is, to do one’s best in one’s own work and life, and let fate decide one’s career path.
The gains from my work are that I’ve become more aware of my strengths and weaknesses after being battered by the iron fist of work. I’m grateful for the opportunity to make mistakes and correct them, and I no longer blindly follow various opinions and ideologies.
This gain is certainly good, but growth is always bittersweet. Indeed, everything has its price tag in fate, and some things are hard-won.
Spare Time
English learning: I’ve been consistently learning English this year, focusing on listening, speaking, reading, and writing:
- Anki: listening and reading
- Browser extensions: listening and reading
- YouTube: listening
- …
However, I haven’t done well in speaking and writing, and the frequency of listening and reading has also decreased slightly. But I’ve learned to prioritize my time and continue learning.
Code learning: In my spare time, I’ve brushed up on LeetCode Hot 100 using Golang, and written a Chrome extension for Medium inspired by others. I’ve shared them on GitHub. Although it’s hard to start something new, the main gain is that I’ve developed the habit of continuous learning in my spare time and taken my first step into the open-source world.
Investment:
- Overall: My investment strategy has been relatively conservative, with a small portion of money invested for learning purposes. Currently, I’m still paying tuition fees. I’ve learned about bonds, funds, stocks, options, and insurance, with a focus on stocks. From a knowledge perspective, this year has seen significant progress in understanding the world and making judgments about news.
- A-shares: I’ve been following E’s actions and also enjoy reading WeChat articles by 牛猫. This year, I’ve come to realize that investing in A-shares is an extremely high-risk strategy, equivalent to gambling. Therefore, I’ll definitely be more cautious in the future.
- Hong Kong and US stocks: Mainly focused on US stocks, which are well-known for being high-risk but at least have value investment. Of course, domestic factors such as exchange rates and policies will affect my decisions. This year, I’ve set up some cards (民生香港、汇丰香港、兴业寰宇人生等) to familiarize myself with various things and streamline the process of depositing and withdrawing funds for US stocks, which has given me another investment option.
Writing:
Writing on Medium/personal website has been a multi-faceted gain:
4. Because of the positive feedback from output, I’ve learned more and input knowledge through writing.
5. Medium has a good ecosystem, with some readers leaving thoughtful comments.
6. Translating articles into English has also helped me integrate English into my daily life.
Writing this year started from scratch, and excluding membership fees, it’s not worth mentioning. I’ve written 142 articles in total, most of which are free articles generated by AI for practicing problems, while paid articles are mostly records of my learning Golang knowledge.
The frequency of writing has gradually decreased over the past year because Medium’s revenue has been decreasing, and I think the main reason is that Medium has entered a harvest period, no longer needing to “flatter” many authors. Only those with distinct personal styles and persistence will stand out in the future.
At the same time, blogging on a website in the AI era makes SEO more challenging, and without high-quality content, writing becomes even harder to sustain. Therefore, I may write more code in the future.
However, overall, the gain from writing is significant, at least forming habits of thinking, expressing, and writing, as well as constructing an Obsidian writing workflow. As long as I persist, I believe I will eventually develop my own writing style.
Life
People Around Me
I’ve been referencing others’ code and using GitHub Actions to create a daily email push, which currently includes some random reminders and RSS news. The main purpose is to prepare small surprises in life, and I’ll add more random events and important date reminders later on.
Although my girlfriend and I are still apart, she’s also entering the social circle this year, making our experiences more similar and fewer disagreements. We’ve both matured a lot. In June, we’ll end our long-distance relationship, but we’ll face new challenges in life, busy as ever.
Self
I’m taking care of myself. Currently, my work schedule is very favorable compared to my peers, with no overtime added last year. However, I did have some minor health issues, which were mostly resolved. Every week, I go play basketball for 1-2 times to exercise and get to know more people from companies, but the exchange is limited. Later on, I hope to be more proactive in socializing and making friends.
Avoiding Information Bubble. I’ve been talking about RSS earlier. In this AI era, it’s especially important to filter out high-quality information. I’ve uninstalled or closed various short video software apps, disabling personal recommendations and sounds to avoid brain pollution. This year, when not working, I prefer to learn about historical things. In the grand historical tide, people will become more grounded, and with history as a mirror, there’s nothing new under the sun.
Domestic Perspective: Drawing lessons from history, we are currently in an era of maintaining stability and safeguarding the achievements of the past. In such times, stability and loyalty are prioritized above all else, with other factors taking a backseat. In fact, exceptional competence can sometimes be seen as a liability rather than an asset. This may explain the recent downturn of private enterprises in the past year. But fortunately, with AI competition, I believe that private enterprises will come out of the trough, the reason is very simple, by that batch of loyal people, can keep up with the fast train of AI? Can it compete with the United States? They don’t have that ability.
International Perspective: globally, the rise of right-wing forces continues to be a prominent trend. The United States, as the global leader, has seen figures like Donald Trump champion unilateral protectionism, using tariffs as bargaining chips in negotiations. Such measures only serve to heighten global uncertainty and anxiety. Extreme sentiments are becoming increasingly prevalent, and destabilizing factors are multiplying. Many are concerned that oligarchic politics may take center stage in the coming years. The sustained rise in gold prices may well be a telling indicator of these underlying tensions.
Prospects for 2025
The new year is expected to be busy, and I might need to work overtime. If this were a few years ago, I would probably feel quite resistant, but with my growing awareness, I’m no longer that person who follows the wind and gets rained on. In this crazy era, being busy is a good thing - it’s better to continuously learn new things than to be unemployed, as long as one maintains physical health.
Additionally, as someone who is like a boat without an anchor, facing new challenges in life will only become more severe, so it’s okay to work overtime and earn double the salary. After all, it’s not just about making money.
In the new year, I hope to bid farewell to old habits and become more self-disciplined, showcasing myself more often and getting to know more friends. In my free time, I’ll try to learn more about the history of China and the West, read some biographies, and practice conversing in English. I’ll also invest more time exploring and contributing to open-source projects.
More specific goals:
- Produce 10+ articles, trying to write non-technical articles
- Develop a side project that doesn’t need to make a profit, but at least has 100+ users, such as creating a simple Chrome extension
Of course, the most important thing right now is to handle work efficiently and have some spare energy and time to achieve my free-time goals. In the new year, I’ll continue learning, and let’s all strive together!
More
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中文文章: https://programmerscareer.com/zh-cn/my-2024/
Author: Medium,LinkedIn,Twitter
Note: Originally written at https://programmerscareer.com/my-2024/ at 2025-02-09 16:16.
Copyright: BY-NC-ND 3.0
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