2019 review

Posting a review of 2019 to ensure that the diary has come full circle because 2019 is kind of the most eventful year and the year which started it all.

2020 is coming to an end and I think its appropriate to document down my 2019 journey for future reference and analysis, especially since I can still remember most of the things that have transpired.

2019 was a big year, not in terms of absolute events, but in psychological change and me taking the first step to not follow societal norms and pursue something greater than myself.

With the transition from NS to Uni, I wasnt WOKE at that point and was still dabbling around and believing in the fallacy that being mediocre was fine. Going to Italy with Zhi Yuan was probably the best thing that happened so far because it really brought a different perspective of the world to my eyes and made me start to question what the meaning of life was.

Another large event was of course the transition into SMU, even though I didnt really feel like I had entered a new phase of life. It felt like just another place to go for education, nothing unique or inspiring about it. The friends and people there were good though. I liked some of the people I met.

Things I felt I did well

I did well in starting a proper study schedule after I started to work a little harder in university. I have built upon this work ethic since 2019 and will be continuing to be disciplined in my work for the years to come. The years of mediocrity are over and I will no longer settle for myself giving anything but the best. I know I was always lazy and stil managed to score decently in the exams even though I didnt study as much as my peers. However from 2021 onwards, this will not be acceptable.

I did well in learning how to do great powerpoint slides and trying to lead different project groups. I did some form of people-driving and I always tried my best to be democractic and resolve conflicts with sound analysis and reason.

I maintained the gym routine constantly throughout university as well and this really helped me in keeping up with a constant routine. I managed to PR with a 200kg / 125kg / 232.5kg (557.5kg) total for the respective lifts beltless. Was a pretty good run.

Things I didnt do well

I was not aggressive enough in fully disciplining myself during the exam periods and presentation periods. I was unable to take dominace in groups as well due to me not wanting to be too extroverted anymore. However this cost me my grades for 1 module and I didnt achieve a perfect GPA of 4.0, even though it should have been easily obtainable. However, this could have been due to my final paper as well, since I didnt score A+ for that paper. I will have to be more disciplined on my end in future.

I also didnt do the best in my forte, which is the area of presentation. I didnt rehearse enough and to simply put it, I didnt perform well at all in this aspect in 2019. I equate this to a lack of constant practice. I will need to slowly work on this in 2021.

How I am feeling about 2019

I felt that it was a great year because it gave me the wake-up call which I very much needed. The feeling of dread has been spurring me on ever since as well. 3rd December 2019, the birth of Travellisthub. I am also happy to have met some nice people in university, even though I feel that the majority of them should be working harder. However, who am i do dictate the lives of others? I used to try to help others but not anymore. This is no longer a world where Im the one always sacrificing my time, but it has evolved into one where I am sovereign and my personal needs of self-improvement come before everything else.