Thanks to Tim Ferriss for reminding me to start doing this instead of making a list of New Year’s resolutions.
It’s hard to keep promises to yourself. So I’m doing an audit of the year that has gone by so fast.
The year when I got the flu and health scares
The mild strain of the coronavirus finally got me in 2022. It started with an itchy throat. It felt like a frog was stuck inside my throat. I thought it was just a temporary inconvenience. But the other symptoms followed: cough, fever, and cold. I was in denial but a rapid antigen test showed two gray lines. I was out for two weeks (with a week on recovery). I got vaccinated more than a year ago and a booster shot a few months later. But this virus remains contagious.
Lesson: The pandemic is still around and is not over. So it’s best to be safe and healthy. Mask up, my doctor said. He also told me to avoid eating in enclosed places during the holidays. Wearing a mask and staying out of crowded places are still the best and cheapest forms of prevention.
I also caught another virus that is endemic to tropical and sub-tropical countries. It’s the infectious disease transmitted by the aedes aegypti, the scientific name of a deadly mosquito that carries the virus that causes dengue fever. One day, I woke up feeling lethargic. My body ached as if I got body punched. My temperature went up quickly. I was burning and chilling. I mistook it at first as coronavirus but a blood check said otherwise. My body’s defenses went on hyperdrive. I was out for two weeks. But recovery was slower this time.
Lesson: Wear pants and shoes, and use some anti-mosquito ointment if you’re going to places where these deadly mosquitoes are thriving. It lays eggs in puddles of water found in open containers, plants, or trees. It bites you indoors, and it craves human blood. (I also am a magnet for other mosquitoes). So, ouch.
This year, I was reminded to reevaluate my health and lifestyle. I developed blood pressure problems. Since I’m already managing my blood sugar for some time now, this other condition emerged – and it freaked me out. I had to quit things: coffee, desserts, and other potential triggers for blood pressure to rise. I cut down on glutinous food (goodbye to white rice). I chose to eat healthier options. This meant more greens, veggies, fruits, oatmeal, fish, and yes, water – lots of it. At my age, this was my body telling me to slow down and do everything in moderation.
Lesson: Exercise and a healthy lifestyle are the cheapest way to prevent these conditions. I have to remind myself to go back to being active again (i.e., running or swimming).
Change is good – always be open to learning something new
Life changed when the pandemic happened more than two years ago. We developed some new habits. We also got used to new experiences. For example, I spent my weekends teaching communications to College students. Having done online learning for two years, doing it onsite was a welcome change. It was refreshing to finally connect with the students. No more Zoom calls, except when I was out sick.
This year, I also had to learn about entrepreneurship and managing money better.
Entrepreneurship sounds like a crazy idea when you’re doing it at the worst time: when the global economy is down. While it is a good way to help augment your sources of income, entrepreneurship requires time, hard work, and patience. As Guy Raz wrote in his book “How I Built This,” entrepreneurs are rare creatures because they take unexpected paths to success — but many fall by the wayside.
With that in mind, we started a project. The progress was slow, but we wanted to be sure that we ticked all important details to avoid pitfalls and problems.
Starting a company is like throwing yourself off a cliff and assembling an airplane on the way down. – Reid Hoffman
2022 was the most brutal because of the flailing economies around the world. Inflation, which described the increasing prices of goods and services, decreased the value of our money. Today, it would cost you more to buy things (around 8 percent last time I checked). Red onions (also known as sibuyas in Filipino), for example, are gold. What costs PHP 250 (USD 5) per kilo or less before is now worth PHP 600 (USD 11). So this vegetable was making us cry both literally and figuratively.
Lesson: You should find ways to counter inflation these days. One strategy is to increase your income or find other sources of income to balance out the impact of inflation. This could be a side hustle, which requires your time and expertise, or a business, which demands dedication and patience.
It was bad enough that 2022 was also the year of layoffs. Big and small businesses struggled or worse, closed down.
The pandemic has indeed taught us to prepare for unplanned events, especially of this scale. You should develop the habit of saving money (at least 20 percent of your income, experts suggested). That savings could go into your emergency fund, which is about six to 12 months of your operating expenses. You should also spend less on things that are not important, and track your expenses as an accountant would. You should live within your means. And do not succumb to FOMO.
Speaking of FOMO, 2022 was the year of reconnecting with friends. Some called it the year of “revenge reunions” (loosely inspired by revenge traveling).
Making new friends and keeping them is getting harder when you’re getting older. 2022 was the year when people felt comfortable enough to go out, have dinner together, meet up, and just talk over coffee (or tea, in my case).
I guess we all got tired of connecting via social media, which has become toxic. In 2022, Twitter was canceled by many, Facebook was continuously abandoned by younger users, and Tiktok has officially become a time-waster.
I noticed though that social/virtual lives moved to group chats, some of which were made up of less than 10 people. It felt too crowded to have more than that number. Group chats made us more talkative. We do use it to share memes and other content, and react to the latest news or “gossip.” It replaced the proverbial water cooler effect, and random chitchat.
Lesson: Reconnect with friends. Makes life interesting.
New role, work goals, etc.
2022 was the year I started working on a book. It was a big work initiative that sounded easy at the beginning but felt harder than I imagined. It involved long-form writing (content planning), project management, and back-and-forth communications. Connecting the dots and thinking long-term where expected.
Writing a book is different from copywriting for a social media post or a mass mailer intended for a target audience. It is also different from web writing where you try to appeal to the widest possible audience while sneaking in keywords designed for search engines.
I have a newfound respect for writers (and editors) who can sustain a narrative for more than 300 pages or more. That takes deliberative thinking, strategic thinking, and patience. I try to conjure my inner Stephen King (I’m not that prolific) but I often go back to my first lesson in journalism: Put the most important information first, and other details to follow.
A book follows a structure and a framework, which you can build. It is like traveling: you need to know where you’re going and plan for it.
Lesson: Learn something new every day. Time is not on your side, and you need to decide when to start doing it. Good ideas are hard to come by. But ideas that are done are better. You just need to start. Don’t wait for inspiration. Block off that part of your brain that says, “Give up! This is too hard to do!”