I had all the intention of posting this in January of 2024, but since now that we are well into 2024 and about to conclude the first quarter, I figure I’ll also post an update (when applicable) on how I’m keeping on with these “resolutions”. I decided to start with Values, then Goals, followed by Ins & Outs.

Spoiler: I’m doing okay, not great. I’d rate myself 6-7 out of 10 right now.

💚Evergreen Values:

These are my North Star. When making decisions, I ask if they embody these values. Ideally, these values do not change on an annual basis, but can be revised every couple years, or decade.

🕊️Peace/contentment: this is not simply about happiness. To me, happiness could be short lived, like the chemical dopamine. Contentment is more long lasting, like the chemical seretonin. Peace of mind. Peace on earth. Peace despite noise or hardships. It’s a chosen state, not a destination.

“Rating” as of March 2024: 4/5. For the most part, Q1 of 2024 has been quite peaceful for me.

🍀Growth: challenge and discomfort are exactly my growth zone. I’m learning to embrace the unknown, unclear, unstable. It also makes sweet moments all that sweeter. 

Rating” as of March 2024: 3/5. I haven’t put myself out of my comfort zone much so far this year.

📣 Impact: quality over quantity. While input correlates with output, the relationship is not linear. Also, I am here on earth for a reason. I should make it count.  

Rating” as of March 2024: 3/5. Kinda related to “growth”, since I haven’t grown much, I also haven’t made significant impact.

🫶 Authenticity: my inner child never masks. Nurture her, always. At the end of the day, living my true self is the easiest hard thing to do. 

Rating” as of March 2024: 5/5. I definitely have dialed up on authenticity this year! Moreover, I share with transparency without hurting people (i’d like to think).

😌 Presence: it used to be simple, but being present is the ultimate super power. Modern life is full of distractions and noise. It takes so much effort to just simple be.

Rating” as of March 2024: 4/5. I measure this by how I spend time with my family. I’d like to think for the most part I’ve been quite “in the moment” around them.

💪 2024 Goals

These are neither too stretched nor too easy. In that sweet zone between achievable but effortful.

2️⃣x company revenue: couldn’t do it last year so will try again this year 

Update March 2024: We are on an upward trajectory, but so far this year we still have not 2x company revenue. Womp womp.

💩Ira potty trained and goes to Montessori: would really alleviate a lot of our childcare expense  

Update March 2024: we are 2 months away from his birthday and 6 months from start of school! The plan is to start as soon as he turns 2 by having him be diaper-free for a few days at home until he learns. Also, bummer news is the main teacher from our Montessori school we love is retiring this year 😢

🚮Defeat stupid 🤬🤬🤬: no comments. But when in doubt, I channel mother Taylor Swift’s wisdom: “trash will always take itself out”

Update March 2024: we are on the right but slow trajectory for this one. My reaction to it also becomes less emotional and more logical, which is nice. I treat it more like a stain on my shoes. Low-key annoying but not make-or-break-my-day-annoying.

🏋🏻‍♀️Actually lift weights once a week: specifically I want to strengthen my upper body enough to have no problem carrying my children

Update March 2024: total fail. I still haven’t started weightlifting yet!!! I downloaded an app but found it so hard to find a dedicated time. No excuse there, if I could find the time to walk for 2 hours every day and do yoga/pilates twice a week, I should be able to find the time to train my muscles 💪

🇻🇳Norah carrying a simple Vietnamese convo with family: it’s not her favorite thing to do in the world but i know she can do it. Besides it’s half of her genetic makeup! 

Update March 2024: good news is Norah can sing a full Vietnamese song and say basic colors and even answer my question in Vietnamese unprompted sometimes (mostly, just “i love you too” in response to “i love you”, lol). bad news is she hasn’t practiced much since we got back to America so I don’t know how long it will take her to restart.

✅ 2024 Ins

🤝Treating everyone with 💯 respect & equality- nobody is above or below your level: that’s also the secret to the ability to talk to anybody and make any conversation interesting and pleasant. 

Update March 2024: I’d like to think that I got quite good at this. It helps that I don’t talk to/meet many people.

☀️Waking up with the sun: elixir of life! Reason to be alive! Feeling a million bucks! In other words, best thing in the world that costs 0 dollars. 

Update March 2024: while I consistently wake up around 6:30-7:30 (never later), since it’s still winter time, I haven’t been able to walk out of the house right away. Daylight Saving Time just happened 4 days ago and it will get gradually brighter and brighter at around 6 o’clock which would be ideal for my morning walk! Plus, once Norah’s summer vacation starts, I can really start! (as there will be no limit on how long I can walk in the morning)

📱No phones 2 hours before bed: that blue light worsens sleep quality and also whatever I need my phone for can wait until tomorrow. 

Update March 2024: while I’ve been consistently using no phone in bed, it’s been more like 1 hour and not 2 hours before bed. I’ll keep working on it.

⏰intermittent fasting: the single most powerful contributor to my health last year. Learning that fasting means letting your body rest and recover as opposed to deprive it of nutritions is such an eye opener. This year I want to shorten my eating window to 6-7 hours only about  20% of the day (right now it’s 8-9 hours)

Update March 2024: my proudest goal that I stick to! I think I have broken fasting only 2 or 3 days this year! Most days, I succesfully keep my eating window short within 8 hours and some times 6-7 hours too.

📚nightly kindle reads: to be able to afford this time for myself (and for my sleep quality), I need to take care of everyone and the house. So it requires a lot of discipline and consistency. 

Update March 2024: i’ve read a few pages of a book every night most days, yes! So far this year I’ve really enjoyed Burn Book by Kara Swisher.

❌ 2024 Outs

🤹🏻‍♀️ multitasking: especially when it comes to work and kids. Better to do a few things well than many things poorly.

Update March 2024: I’m still pretty bad about this. I’d say half of the time still, I procastinate and hence, multitask. see procrastinate below.

😠 holding grudges: life is too short for bottled up feelings and unresolved tension. 

Update March 2024: I’d say I’m doing pretty good on this front! I can’t remember the last time I hold any grudge.

🙈procrastinating/avoiding hard convos or tasks: this might be the hardest thing on my list as the alternative doesn’t really seem that bad. But always in the long run, the only way out is through. 

Update March 2024: not great yet. I still put off important tasks a lot of the time. Sigh. I also learned recently that as a woman, I’m a lot more productive in the first half of my cycle than the second half of my cycle. So I try to give myself some grace during that later half of the month.

🥹added sugar in anything: nothing good comes from fructose or the million names sugar is called. Prioritize natural sugar in fruits and veggies.

Update March 2024: I’d say I was good about this 60% of the time. I still do love pastry and crossant (yes it’s its own category okay) and oatly oat milk too much. I’m pretty sure unlike normal humans who are made up of 70% water, i’m 70% oat milk 😂

⏰being late: that means, failing to arrive at least 5-10 mins early to any appointment/meeting.

Update March 2024: ….yeah, still pretty bad about this.

Hope this give you some inspiration (thanks to the high & mighty aspiration) and comfort (due to the low grades thus far). lol. I’ll update at the beginning of next year.