For quite a while, I was thinking about this: to write 1 million words (1000*1000)—that is, 1000 posts and 1000 words each (I got inspired from Viskanv). This new year is the perfect time for it; this is not going to be a New Year’s goal or resolution. This is the kind of project that takes more than a year—my guess is 10 years. To enhance my writing skills, I want to try this thing, and this is the first post about it.
This and the following posts will not be like a normal blog post on my page, where I do lots of grammar correction, proofreading, etc. These are going to be word vomits from my mind without any structure to them. You’re not going to get anything from here; I guess you have time to do other better things than read this post.
Let me talk about my last year’s New Year goals and whether I have accomplished them or not. Along with that, let me share this year’s goals too. I had a few goals last year in finance, fitness, books, and writing. I have completed only one of them.
#1 Finance: Last year I had 5 lakhs invested in my retirement (goal-based investing), and I wanted to make it to 10 lakhs by year-end, which I did. This year, I need to add 5 more lakhs and make it to 15 (simple).
#2 Fitness: Since 2018, I have been in fitness, and I have decent muscle mass, but I never had six packs after the initial days (lean guy six packs). I was not able to achieve it because I was diagnosed with an auto-immune condition called Hashimoto’s Disease of Hypothyroiditis.
My immune system attacks my thyroid hormone, thinking of it as an anti-body, and destroys whatever my body produces. So, I have to take replacement hormone via tablet every morning till I die (that is the price I have to pay for my life). Unfortunately, the tablet is not working for me and causes chest discomfort every night. I was thinking it was a heart problem, and when I checked, my pulse was less than 60 (it should be greater than 60), and that is called Bradycardia. People with hypothyroidism will have bradycardia (a pulse less than 60).
I did all my heart checks, and it was in good condition. The doctor said your pulse is already less than 60. You just found out you’ve got this condition, and this tablet is just a coincidence. The chest discomfort was because my body was trying to normalize due to medication, and so he asked me to stop all the physical activities until they reached normal levels. I have to wait until then to hit the gym. My fitness goal for this year would be the same six pack if my body becomes normal soon. So, include me in your prayers.
#3 Books: I had a goal of reading 12 books , 1 book a month, and I was able to complete it last year, but this year only 9 and a half books (not bad). The books I would recommend are The Art of Noticing—noticing the small things in our lives that we forget to do as we grow up—and The Happiest Man on Earth: A Holocaust survivor view of this world and how to be happy with it. Also, special mentions go to Courage to Be Disliked and Why We Sleep Books.
The 2024-year goal is also the same: read 12 books. Also, re-read the books that I enjoyed (Shoe Dog or Deep Work).
#4 Writing: This has been a disaster for me since last year, 2023. I was trying to write 50 posts last year, merely 1 post a week. But I was able to crunch only 10 things (including my newsletter, medium, and blogs). So, it’s the worst progress, and this is also one of the reasons to start my 1 million-word project in 2024 new year.
So, the goal for this year would be the same 50 posts, which include blogs, medium posts, substack newsletters, and 1 million word project.
A few minor goals: Apart from these, I had a few other minor goals this year, which is kind of fun goals.
Minor Goal 1: Last year, I watched nearly 125 movies and 10 web series (I guess that’s why I am not able to write more). In that, 16 movies made me feel like you’ve done something useful this year by watching a movie (most of them are re-watched and filtered from moviebuffs tweets). Like that, this year I want to watch more quality movies (>16) than quantity.
Minor Goal 2: I have done a lot of posts on social media and detoxifying it or how to live life without it. But for the last few months, I have started checking my mail, WhatsApp messages, and stock portfolio every day, and I want to reduce it to zero as that makes me tiring soon and seeing that is no use for me too. In 2024, I have decided not to watch it or be allowed to do it once a week if something comes up in it.
Minor Goal 3: Last year was fun, visiting many tourist sites. In 2024, I want to travel as much as I can, and I like to track down those as well in my journal to have a nostalgic moment in the future by seeing them.
So, that is all from my first post from the upcoming thousands. See you soon. Bye
Until next time,
peranesh xx