Department of Progress
2024 reflections
Another year come, and almost gone.
The end of every calendar year presents an opportunity to reflect on the year that was and plan for the year that will be.1 You can take this literally or seriously or neither.
The past wasn’t as good as you remember. The present isn’t as bad as you think. The future will be better than you anticipate.
Morgan Housel
I use these 5 themes for reflection. What about you?
i) Hits & Misses:
Optimists see only hits. Pessimists see only misses. Nuance is what serves us well.
2024 hits included 1) Feverish attempts to do better than that monkey — steady drumbeat of publishing twice weekly on Substack; expanded to writing on LinkedIn; 2) a useful advisory practice and a fulfilling mentoring schedule to provide variety to the solitary writing pursuit; 3) adding regular strength training to exercise regimen; 4) plenty of travel, theater, books, blogs, art exhibitions, music, movies.
Misses included 1) not doing a single cross island walk; 2) little progress on downsizing and decluttering the empty nest
In this digital age, writing online has made finding readers a little easier. This is part of why I write — the most interesting writers I have found are not ones I have met in person, but found their breadcrumbs online: blogs, cartoons, videos, stories, photographs, some of them produced years before I discovered them. People recognize the work of famous writers or artists, but there is no reason this concept can’t apply to everyone in some small way. I think it does.
Much of what we create are merely breadcrumbs. I like this idea of leaving breadcrumbs. I take it seriously.
As you may have noticed I enjoy writing about a wide range of topics meaning that I’m obsessed but not about any one thing or subject. Here are the top 5 posts this year that you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing them.
Luckily, you can … about the 4 kinds of luck and how you can get luckier
Power(Point) Hour: a tongue-in-cheek 1 slide recap of an exercise in building consensus around shared values
Four Footnotes & A Century: reflections on trying to become a writer
An Invitation: to read a wonderful Mary Oliver poem
Money, Money, Money … (2): Can money buy (love) and/or happiness?
3 other posts you may have missed, but I loved writing them meaning, these were not reader favourites or widely shared, but the ones that I had the most fun writing.
Headhunters, shrinks & .... a medium: But why are they called shrinks?
More Than a Box of Chocolates: DNA to destiny to dead ends & the exciting times ahead for ‘new’ Biology
Facts, Fictions, Futures: the significance of 1984
ii) Energy creators or drainers?
This is an idea from Tim Ferriss — using an activity calendar to understand patterns (people, places, things) that create or drain energy in an easy, visual way.
Writing, dabbling in the genAI wizardry now available on tap; 1:1 meetings with founders, mentees, fellow Act II explorers; running; meditation; nature walks; going to the theater, museums, travel and reading create energy.
Energy drainers include customer service calls to banks, telcos, fund managers. I am not sure about dentist visits and and the annual medical check up :)
iii) Stuck? Hesitated?
Don’t do what you can do — try what you can’t do.
William Faulkner
Engaging other newsletter writers — to learn, share tips and tricks, and build a new community. I am not sure how they will respond so I have held back.
Seneca was right: we suffer more in imagination than in reality.
iv) What did I change my mind about this year?
Paraphrasing Mark Twain, what I know for sure that just ain't so. What ‘software updates’ did I get this year?
Writing is hard until I figured out a worklow and established habits around reading - reflecting - writing - editing - publishing
Weekdays without a rigid structure (like the one I had for 3 decades ‘at work’) will be boring or terrifying — a scaffolding of daily habits and a little discipline has worked quite well. One of the nice things about a semi-retired life is a transition from doing to being
In nature, I can see beauty even in the imperfections: a misshaped pine cone, an oddly shaped tree trunk, the play of light and shadows at dawn or dusk. I expect less than perfection in nature and still find beauty in it. But, when the plumber fails to turn up or the waiter is chatting away at the restaurant when we’re ready to order, I get upset. What if I could accept human nature as I do with nature? I am reminded that life is one endless practice and that I’m far from perfect. And, practice may never make perfect. I’m starting to feel okay about that.
v) Learnings?
Everything is awesome or terrible in the trenches — zoom out to gain perspective.
Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people.
Carl Sagan
The universe is a big, beautiful place. We’re just small dots here for a very short time. It’s a gift. Don’t worry about things you can’t control, work on the things you can.
Writing online offers near infinite leverage. More importantly, the process of writing is a good teacher. It forces me to find stillness, face my inner world, and accept my role as but one voice in the world’s choir.
I don’t like describing anything as a superpower, but the ability to stay curious and meaningfully engaged in a world conspiring to distract you comes close. While this is not a new learning, this was reinforced many times over as I started on my own pathless path 18 months ago.
This year I explored the intersection of AI, consciousness studies and Philosophy. Fascinating connections between non-dual Vedanta, the work of contemporary philosophers like David Chalmers, Bernardo Kastrup, Rupert Spira, Donald Hoffman, Chritof Koch and others. There’s a separate and related strand on Biology, intelligence and AI in the work of Dr Michael Levin. And then, there are UFO’s/UAP’s. And History …. I could go on. I thought I would have plenty of time — turns out I don’t. But I now know that I will be gainfully occupied for several decades even if I remain interested only in the things I’m interested in currently.
The good life is neither exciting nor profitable. Therefore it has few advocates in the marketplace of attention. Happiness requires an investment not primarily of money but of that which is truly precious: time, attention, vulnerability, effort, energy.
Our mood and well being are heavily influenced by simple things — a good night’s sleep; a healthy diet; exercise; sunlight; being in nature and good company. It’s cheap to incorporate variations of these to suit our particular circumstances.
Tom Whitwell channels his curiosity by collecting and sharing 52 Things I learned every year. Here are 5 from his 2024 list which I found interesting:
Ozempic is a synthetic version of a protein discovered in the venomous saliva of the Gila monster, a large, sluggish lizard native to the US. [Scott Alexander]
To highlight tax evasion, South Korea introduced ugly neon green number plates for company cars worth more than $58,000. Luxury car sales fell 27%. [Song Jung-a]
Avatar Robot Cafe Dawn in Tokyo is staffed by robot waiters that are remotely controlled by workers with disabilities working from home. [Yuji Semba]
Each branch of the British restaurant chain Dishoom has its own background story: The fictional proprietor of our new restaurant may have views on the politics of the time, or perhaps specific tastes in art and literature. [Shamil and Kavi Thakrar]
In 1800, 1 in 3 people on earth were Chinese. Today, it’s less than 1 in 5. [Our World in Data, via Boyan Slat]
Seasons Greetings and Best Wishes for 2025.
Loved this Rajesh - it was so varied, informative, and unexpected - a fresh take on year end piece . Now to catch up on the many pieces I missed!