a year of doing

reflecting on 2021

Some time in 2020, nagged by a sense of stagnancy, I created a Notion document titled the Two Year Bucket List. The premise was straightforward: write everything I wanted to do with my life down.

ride a motorbike around Italy
make legit gluten-free noodles
learn Flask
create a product I am proud of
re-learn the meaning of love

Then, I gave myself two years. Two years is just a random number. I figured I needed a little accountability and push. Dreams, like creativity, feel very elusive to me. In order to take a stab at it, I need some semblance structure, which in my case is the two year mark. If I didn’t accomplish it within two years, I would keep trying. The point wasn’t to accomplish everything within two years, but rather to start working on them immediately.

A little over a year later, I am pleasantly surprised by the progress I made. Gen-Zs on TikTok would say this is what you call manifestation, but I think this is just what happens when you start doing what you say you want to and the magic that happens when you do.

1. Read 40 books this year

   In 2020 I spent way too much time watching TikToks and Korean dramas. I only read 26 books that year and was determined to be a little more ambitious. I set 40 goals on Goodreads, a dedicated time block on my calendar and read whenever and wherever I could.

   

   I hit 40 a lot earlier than expected. But I didn’t stop there because the goal wasn’t to hit 40, it was to create a habit of reading. Now books are part of my everyday, I never leave my apartment without reading material. The process of discovering new ideas that comes with reading brings me so much joy.

2. Create a product I am proud of

   At the beginning of the pandemic, my friend Grace and I started weekly hour long calls where we would imagine a version of life where we worked on something entrepreneurial. We flirted with many different ideas: a micro-influencer consultancy? a brand new personality test? But we didn’t ship anything for fifteen months. We desired to do something big but the desire actually deterred us from taking action.

   In July, my cousin and her husband talked to me about their online business. I was in awe by how much it had grown over the years. I realized then that they started with a really simple idea and worked consistently to grow and improve it. Instead of waiting for the grand idea, I told Grace I wanted to sell cards on Etsy. Maybe no one will buy our cards but that wasn’t the point. The point was to just take that leap and take it from there.

   

   Our Etsy shop hit 4 months last December. It has exceeded my expectations in sales and joy, and I am really proud of the products. The process of seeing your idea come to life no matter how small is the most rewarding experience. Don’t wait for a perfect idea. Start and iterate.

3. Upload a video on Youtube

   On my day off in August I went to the Met Cloisters and vlogged the experience. Though the video was very poorly made I had a lot of fun (in retrospect this is all that matters). Yet it kickstarted a series of events and things for me I didn’t anticipate. Throwing the video out there made me more comfortable with putting myself out there in general and kickstarted a desire to dedicate more time to creative pursuits.

   

   But the most surprising outcome of that video is how it led to my now boyfriend finding me. My boyfriend is the most perfect guy for me — tell me this a year ago and I would’ve had an aneurysm. Largely because I thought I would only meet someone through apps and had given up on finding someone.

   Sometimes the internet works as a vehicle for serendipity. Sometimes life works in ways you can’t anticipate (and for the better). The more you do, the more life will surprise you.

4. Work in news engineering

   I have always wanted to work in news engineering. The longest teenage dream confirmed by my college experiences. I always thought this was something I would get to do in the distant future, but I actually get to do this for my next role.

   I think of all the free time I spent learning how to write code or work on Leetcode questions for the sake of it. How at that time it felt comical to know precisely what I wanted and was working towards something invisible and not promised. I think when you are working towards something that can’t be quantified the results are not immediate. But if you know what you want, all you need is to be patient and proactive.

There are still some things in my bucket list I am yet to fulfill. My success rate in fulfilling my goals is far from 100%. But what I learned by actually listing my dreams and taking a stab at them them, I end up fulfilling most at a much faster rate than simply just talking about them or thinking what if. While realizing dreams is a great thing in itself, the magic that transpires in the process is what inspires me to keep dreaming and doing.