2024: Year in Review

30-Dec-2024

2025 is just two days away. Time just keeps on moving and every year in December when you start to look back at the year about to be past, it looks it moved very fast. Twelve months gone in a blink. The post is more of a reflection. 

The biggest event of 2024 was the financial fiasco done by my brother. It was a difficult situation and with everyone support it is looking much better towards the end of year. My brother has finally got a job which doesn't pay what he was expected but enough to pay for EMIs. His daily needs or monthly expenses are still supported mostly by my father and me. It's a classic case of why debt on credit cards and personal loans is not good and how you should stay in your limits. Less is good always. 

We definitely had more visitors in 2024 when compared to 2023. Pallavi's mom and dad was here at start of year from Jan to early Mar. This was followed by Pallavi's mama and mammi in May. Lastly, it was my nephews Shivam and Sarthak in Dec. Anvay is not visitor, but he comes here only once a year in Dec to first week of Jan 25. 

Anvay is busy and he has many things to cover like studies, illuminate work and personal relationships which are getting bit more serious as the day progresses. I am happy that he is progressive and getting the much-needed exposure at this age. I think he needs to set his priorities clear, be more detailed oriented and focus on what will be his goal in next 3-5 years. There should be no compromise to studies and all decisions should align towards that. Getting a clarity now will help him focus his energies in the right direction. He definitely needs to avoid distractions and get more assertive.

Myra is in Y7B now and she has well-adjusted in the school. We are not very happy with the school though; however, we seem to have limited choices in this area here at Bangkok. We as parents are bit worried what she will do as she doesn't seem to be very fond of core subjects. Well, guess we have to wait as she has to deal with puberty moods, studies and school at the same time. 

Pallavi resigned in Sep 24 from the existing work she was doing and now after few months, she is back with thoughts on where she can focus. I can understand her pain and constant struggle. My movements have always created troubles for her. This can be very frustrating as you have to start again and find your path. There is no messiah to help. She will probably be better off doing something small that can sustain with her health and also doesn't require may hours of engagement. It's a trade-off in terms of rewards but getting a full-time work in Thailand is very challenging due to language and work permit constraints. 

I had a mixed bag and relative to 2023 it was a normal year. There were lots of expectations post promotion last year, however, seems I am still doing similar things as in the past. The only thing that increased is the areas of work. I need to map out a clear strategy to move further and up, otherwise, it will be very challenging to continue like this. I don't think I am adding great value, and similar stuff leading to more procrastination. It was getting better but seems it came back in December with a vengeance. The targets on signing, revenue and utilization come with the new role and add a lot of stress. First year 2024 with those numbers and I didn't meet signings. Not sure how 2025 will be any different. I need to really look at my work strategy if I wish to grow further in next 3-4 years. 

A good change for 2024 was Vietnam which came as a good surprise, but the background story is that I tried to catch it with full hands and dedicated my time to it. Growing it will be a huge challenge, and I don't have a clear direction or strategy to do it. Additional two cities added to the visited list Hanoi and Ho Chin Minh city. 

Worth mentioning Indian theme annual party was fun with our dance performance, probably first of a kind. 

My investments or trading are no better and same problems as in the past still persist. I am not sure why it is so hard to follow some rules which I only listed for myself. Trading, guitar and swimming still list as open items for years. Lack of determination seems to be the reason at least for the last two. I usually go with zero resolutions as can't follow them through. Better to keep low expectations and surprise yourself. It's not a recommended path.

Well, a happy new year to all of us and hope 2025 will be better. 

~vA