2024 was a great year! I’ll do a summary soon, but I’m a huge proponent of clear goals + planning. Reflection is the flipside to sprinting through things, and I think clear reflection before heading into the new year is pretty valuable.

Reflecting on 2024, it really went well overall. I noticed a fascinating pattern—whenever I maintained a solid schedule, everything clicked into place. Research made sense, classes felt right, and work flowed smoothly. Without that structure, though, I faced an unusual resistance to tasks. It was like social inertia took over, making it unnecessarily difficult to start anything.

I also realized I excelled at things I genuinely cared about. Legal theory, for instance, worked because I was truly excited about combining statistics with law. I loved research and I started working on things I actually care about. Extending this to school I should probably embrace this more intentionally—choosing classes where I can pursue research that genuinely excites me, rather than just going through the motions. When I'm invested in my studies, everything else naturally aligns.

The writing situation is interesting—I constantly think about doing it more consistently. I recognize it improves my thinking, yet I sometimes let it slide. Incorporating it into my daily routine could be transformative. As for friendships, I've taken a more deliberate approach this year, communicating more openly and embracing challenging conversations. I think my communication skills are lacking a bit though and I want to try to be be more thoughtful with how I talk to people + imagining how I would want me to talk to people (I find this added layer of abstraction helps get a lot of gunk out).

Resolutions

• Have a consistent routine/bedtime—people who do this are disproportionately both happier + can get more work done.
  • Every saturday for the last quarter I've tried going for a hike! It was super fun, and I hope to continue doing it.
  • Planning on having more consistent sleeping/waking times, along with periods of work!
  • A big thing here is I still want to leave time for exploration! A big part of building projects is the art of playing with code, and I want to leave time open for that.
• Write every day for a month! Even if its for 15minutes, dedicate it to writing a small something for my blog. https://www.neelnanda.io/blog/27-retrospective
• Communication is actually very hard. I want to try to be a better communicator to people! https://daystareld.com/good-communication/
  • In this regard I want to read more + deeply understand what makes good writing… good. I think I already read quite a bit (reading a Little Life right now!) but I should keep a narrator in my head describing WHY this writing is good.
• Care a lot more about health, my body is deeply connected to everything that I do, and I think taking care of it long term is extremely helpful. This includes, but isn't limited to: passively taking health advice, going on walks/bike rides, drinking water + being wary of foods, and taking supplements!

Any suggestions/book recs/resolution recs deeply appreciated!

Admonymous: Anonymous Admonition and Admiration.

And also, heres a list of albums I think I really enjoyed this year!