My 2024 Anti-Resolutions
5 things I’ll stop doing next year (and what I’ll do instead)
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Read Time: 9 minutes
It’s the final week of the year, and you know what that means. It’s time to create our new year’s resolutions!
Sure, we might give up on them by mid-February, but I’m pretty sure we’ll still create them anyway.
In all honesty though, I think it’s actually a good idea to give up on resolutions. As we change throughout the year, why shouldn’t our goals do the same?
Now that I’m done with university, there’s a lot more that I want to do in my life. And I hope to do a bunch of them in 2024. But with so much going on already, I couldn’t possibly do more without removing some stuff in my life first.
That’s why next year, I’ll focus instead on resolutions I want to let go of. This could be because they no longer align with my current goals, or maybe I just don’t feel passionate about pursuing them anymore.
Here are my 5 anti-resolutions for 2024 (and what I plan to do instead):
1. I’ll stop reading one book a month. 📚
I set a reading challenge on Goodreads to finish 12 books this year, and I totally crushed it (yeah!). But I barely remember anything from what I read (aww).
I noticed that when I was reading, I was doing it for the sake of finishing the book rather than learning from it. Often, I'd make progress by listening to the audiobook while commuting. However, it was hard for me to focus when I was constantly worrying if I had already paid the fare or reached my destination.
So, for next year, I think I'll give up on my personal speed-reading competition.
I'll pay more attention when I read. This means I'll have to read more slowly and focus on one book at a time. I'll also be taking notes and pausing regularly to reflect on the action steps I can take.
This will ensure that I'm absorbing the ideas from the book, and I believe this is better than sprinting through 100 books in a year.
As the author Shawn Achor puts it, "Without action, knowledge is often meaningless."
2. I’ll stop working out 2 to 3 times per week. 🏋🏽
I used to engage in circuit training every week, concentrating on crunches, sit-ups, and planks.
Why these exercises in particular? Well, just like any other guy on the planet, I dreamt of having six-pack abs. 😅
Lately, though, I've realized that I don’t actually care about having abs. I was only doing it initially because I felt insecure about my looks.
But now that I have Eyang, my girlfriend, those insecurities have started to fade away. I've found that I care more about how my body feels than how it looks.
So, for next year, I'll be focusing on physical activities that improve my health while making me feel good. And I've discovered that yoga does that really well for me.
While high-intensity workouts leave me with sore muscles the next morning, yoga leaves me feeling energized throughout the day.
It helps me stretch, improves my posture, and the breathwork exercises help me deal with stress. I honestly couldn't ask for more.
3. I’ll stop investing ₱2000 (about $36) per month to my PAG-IBIG MP2 Fund. 💸
The MP2 Fund is a voluntary savings program in the Philippines, which I found to be a good way to start investing.
The returns average 6% per year, so investing ₱2000 per month will yield ₱139,700 ($2,512) in 5 years, with ₱19,700 ($354) serving as profit from interest.
Having read I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi, I learned about the magic of compound interest, and Ramit convinced me it's wise to start investing as early as possible.
After all, following his advice could net me an extra ₱270,000 ($4900) from interest alone in 20 years. That's why I started contributing to my PAG-IBIG MP2 Fund last year.
But five months ago, I realized that if I use the ₱2000 per month for self-education (courses, books, or mentoring), I could achieve much higher returns than what I’ll get from my MP2 Fund. That's because I could learn skills that could generate higher income, and I'll even feel better about myself in the process.
For instance, right now, I'm learning how to manage my energy by listening to Energize by Simon Alexander Ong, which I bought at Audible for around ₱700 (about $12).
I envision that this would help me go back to tutoring, which I stopped because of the demands of my full-time job. That, in itself, would yield me more than ₱30,000 in just two to three months (based on past records).
So, for next year, I'll stop investing financially in any form. If there's an investment I should be paying attention to right now, it should be the investment I'm making in myself.
4. I’ll stop sticking to a morning routine. 🌞
I LOVE morning routines. Nothing excites me more than the thought of setting myself up for success right at the start of the day.
Last October, I found a morning routine that worked great for me. It included sunlight, journaling, taking a shower, having breakfast, walking, and doing a short yoga session (can’t forget about coffee as well).
Lately though, I noticed that this morning routine is taking up 2 hours of my day. And when I’m unable to follow this routine for some reason, I feel like I can’t start my day at all.
That’s why for 2024, I decided it’s best to let it go. This was one of the tougher decisions I had to make, but I feel that it’s necessary.
I’m sure this will lead me to having days where I start off feeling groggy. I might feel frustrated because I couldn’t focus like I used to. And since I’m figuring things out again, I may have to sacrifice some productivity to relearn how to energize for work.
But on the other side of it, I see a version of me that can get the work done without relying on any kind of routine. I can get up, take a shower, have breakfast, and start my day right away.
Months of experimentation showed me that I’m most productive from 8am to 12pm, so my goal is to get to work faster to maximize that time period. Doing so will allow me to get more things done in less time.
Like with any kind of change, this will surely take effort, but I think it’s one that will be worthwhile.
5. I’ll stop getting 8 hours of sleep every night. 💤
When it comes to my health, nothing is more important than my sleep.
Last year, I promised myself to get 8 hours of sleep every night. I was able to achieve that, and it paid off pretty well as it helped me thrive at university.
However, in the past few months, I started noticing the drawbacks.
There are nights when I manage to sleep at my ideal bedtime of 11pm. But there are other nights when I end up sleeping at 1am, so I need to adjust my alarm to 9am.
Realizing I could do this to maintain the 8 hours of sleep, I end up going to bed later than my intended bedtime simply because my brain knows I can adjust my alarm anyway.
The problem here is that an inconsistent sleep schedule disrupts my health, even if I manage to get “enough” hours of sleep.
So, I've decided it's better to stick to a consistent wake-up time of 7am instead, at least for the first few weeks of 2024.
This means that there might be days when I have less sleep than I need, but the reason I see this as worthwhile is that I'm helping my body establish a consistent sleep schedule.
If I commit to this for long enough, I’ll condition my body to feel sleepy at the right time each night and wake up at the right time each day.
The goal here is to eventually give up my alarm and let my body wake up naturally. I'll let my body decide how much sleep I truly need and what time I should wake up in the day.
I like to believe that good sleep leads to a good life. And this should be a big step towards the right direction.
🚣🏽 The Man and His Raft
While creating my anti-resolutions, I remembered this story of a man and his raft.
There was once a man who needed to cross a wide and treacherous river. After much effort, he found some wood and built a raft. He was proud of his creation, for it was this raft that helped him cross the dangerous waters.
Upon reaching the other shore, he thought about how the raft had been important in his journey. Out of gratitude and attachment, he decided to carry the raft on his back as he continued his journey on land.
As he walked, the raft became a burden. It was heavy and cumbersome, making his travel difficult and slow. Passersby saw him struggling under the weight of the raft and asked, “Why do you carry that raft? You are on land now. You don’t need it anymore.”
But the man replied, “This raft has been my savior. It helped me cross the river. I cannot leave it behind.”
My theme for 2024 revolves around doing more of what I am capable of. I seek to learn more, earn more, and do more.
But if this is my ambition, then the first and most important step is to let go. I need to let go of the things no longer serving me so that only the essential things remain.
I need to leave behind the raft that once made my life better, but is no longer helping me today. It is only then that I can make space for the things that are more important in my life.
And that’s how I envision it to be: 2024 will be the year I say no, so I can say yes to the things that matter most to me.
This essay is part of a group commitment to cut out habits and commitments that aren’t serving us anymore. Friends who joined in are Becky Isjwara, Lavinia Iosub, and Harrison Moore. Be sure to check them out to read more anti-resolution essays!
Thanks so much to Becky Isjwara, Harrison Moore, Rik, Priya Nain, Lavinia Iosub, and Mohammad Khan for helping me shape this essay into something meaningful.
How it’s going:
📝 — I’m trying this new thing where at the end of each essay, I share a bunch of fun updates about my life. I (legally) stole the idea from Becky Isjwara, who happily agreed to let me do so. Thanks, Becky.
⌛ — I bought a digital countdown timer from Lazada so I could pomodoro with style. Although my parents say otherwise, it’s definitely worth the purchase.
🔥 — I started watching Single's Inferno (skipping ahead to Season 3), and I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I do right now. Who knew I still enjoy reality TV shows?? I make sure to watch every episode with Eyang so I have someone to rant to every 15 minutes, like when my bias (Choi Min-woo) wasn’t chosen for the first date.
⚡— I’m currently reading Energize by Simon Ong, and it’s motivating me to reapply the 3-2-1 Rule to fix my sleep schedule. I also like Simon’s suggestion of treating myself as a hotel guest in my own bedroom.
☕ — My parents gave me a new coffee maker for Christmas. I LOVE using it, but the first cup I made was a bit bland... I'll have to relearn what coffee ratio works best for me.
You could have led with the story of the man and the raft. But then it would not have had the impact it did.
Awesome article, Linart, and a lesson in doing less to do more.
I LOVED the idea of leaving behind the rafts that once made our lives better, but are no longer helping today. Thanks for sharing!