Life As I Know It: 2014 vs 2024

I found a blog post I wrote in 2014.
Wow.
It’s nice to know that some things never changed,
but also iffy to find how naive I was about certain things.

Here’s my 2024 self responding to the 2014 me (old blogpost in screenshots).

It makes even more sense to me now. Glad to know I knew how important time was back in 2014. But I think I did not act on that idea with urgency. Now, everything I do is guided by the fact that we have limited time. And that time is the one resource we can never take back.

Even MORE DISTRACTIONS now. Too many things fighting for our attention. At this day and age, the ability to truly focus is a real advantage. It could spell the difference between winning and losing at life.

Oh no. Sorry jen2014. I will have to completely disagree with you on this. Or at least, as I keep telling Neithan, priorities change. When I was younger, I think I was falsely eager to self-actualize I was so willing to expend my youthful, zestful energy for others in hopes of fulfilling some life meaning I thought I have found for myself. But, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs… I completely lost sight of the foundations — food, water, shelter, clothing, sleep, breathing. Maybe because I had *enough* then, I thought obtaining resources was not a primary goal. I was living with my family and so my salary seemed *enough*. I was oblivious to the need for preparing a future where a version of me would aspire to design a specific life, one that requires certain resources.

I have been working in the academe for ~16 years now. WOW. One of the biggest realizations I had in 2023 is how slow and difficult progress in the academe is. The rate of income growth cannot keep up with inflation. Promotion to the next rank is a pain in the a**. And there’s a mountain of unpaid tasks that are often time and energy demanding.

So, jen2014, I’m glad you had something to keep you going at the time. But some things have to change. I will be as selfish as I can be this year. Everything I will do must correspond to a fair compensation. I will learn and re-learn both new and old skills and ensure that I can get paid for them. Everything for the life Neithan and I have planned out.

 

Completely agree with this one. Good job, jen2014! Learning never ends. The more I learn, the more there is to learn. I

I’ve always held the view that I’m not the center of the universe. The world does not care about my feelings. So, I cannot just go on sitting and feeling things. I have to DO things. I have complete control of doing the hard work, but zero control over the outcome. The universe will handle that. But I can increase my chances at desirable outcomes, if I do the necessary work. 

“Work hard for acknowledgement.”
Just work hard, jen. Just work hard. Everything else is a distraction.