2024 in a nutshell
A year end recap for this newsletter and a huge thank you to my readers
Friendly reminder, please go and hit that ❤️ button to help me reach more readers!
It wouldn’t be a proper final newsletter of the year if I didn’t get a bit introspective, but I’m also going to share some fun stats, because who doesn’t love M E T R I C S?!
So, 2024 in summary:
I sent 25 newsletters (including this one)
I grew the newsletter from 168 to 227 subscribers – please continue to share the word with friends who’d be interested! I’m excited to expand my reach beyond just people I know, so friends of friends and friends of friends of friends are the best for bringing in meaningful readership
As of this past weekend, I have 25 subscribers that Substack rated 5 ⭐ and 26 subscribers that Substack rated 4 ⭐. There’s a long tail of everyone else, and no hard feelings, but a huge thank you to those of you who’ve made the top ranks. It means a lot!
My top newsletter got 506 views:
My second ranked received 428 views:
And finally, my third ranked had 426 views:
Lessons learned from 6 internet-free days backpacking alone
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So that was 2024.
I revisited the goals I’d set for myself at the end of 2023 and did a self-assessment of how I did on those:
✅ Continuing to figure out what makes me happy and brings me fulfillment. [Ongoing… But at the moment, I feel pretty happy and fulfilled, particularly as I look back at 2024 in balance]
✅ Appreciating the small moments in life instead of always making it about the poster-worthy big stuff. [This rings particularly true for the past few months as we’ve settled into a new routine, and it’s going to continue to be the case as I go into 2025]
🟡 Having a more structured focus on hobbies. [Beyond art classes in January, I didn’t end up doing anything structured. And you’ll notice below that this is once again a top of mind thought going into 2025…]
✅ Finally, getting clarity on what I want to do next. [I did not surprise myself with where I ended up after reflecting, but it felt very good to have taken the time to reflect and be very deliberate]
Before reviewing my goals for 2024, I had also written down a few things that were top of mind for me leaving the year:
Actively keeping up with hobbies and creative outlets – whether this is finding new hobbies or finding better ways to keep up with existing ones, I want to make a more concerted effort to round out how I use my brain and engage with the world around me
Defining and refining who I am / my sense of self – something I struggled with while I was on my gap year but also find myself fighting now. While on my gap year, when I met new people, I often felt it was hard to introduce myself without a job to lean back on as a descriptor. Now that I have a job, I don’t want to just identify myself by my job/title when I meet new people; this has spurred a lot of thinking about who I am and what I want my leading descriptors as a human to be
Setting boundaries – not just with work, but also with myself. I hold certain expectations for myself and have trouble letting go; as my free time exists at an increasing premium, I need to learn to pick my battles on a personal front. I can’t always have everything I want and I need to really hone in on what matters the most
And finally, going into 2025, I’m excited to keep up my twice monthly content but will continue to play around with format. I’m hoping to alternate between more tactical advice and stream of consciousness / introspective content. I did ask ChatGPT for some suggestions on what I could write about, and here were the suggestions. If any of these particularly resonate, tell me in the comments!
ChatGPT’s suggestions:
Navigating Implicit Bias in Everyday Life: Discussing how subtle assumptions shape interactions and decisions.
Intersectionality of Race and Gender in Professional Spaces: Highlighting experiences of navigating workplace hierarchies and expectations.
Cultural Appropriation vs. Appreciation: Examining where the line is drawn and why it matters.
The Role of Humor in Social Commentary: Reflecting on the effectiveness and risks of humor in addressing serious issues.
Privilege Awareness and Allyship: Offering insights into what meaningful support looks like across different contexts.
Unpacking "Confidence as Currency": Analyzing how societal biases privilege certain expressions of self-assuredness.
Representation in Media: Discussing how portrayals of diverse identities influence societal norms.