It’s been another 6 months but here I am again. The start of the year feels like the right time to rekindle my writing. During the hiatus, I felt the urge a few times to come back and write as I felt it was a good place to reflect and share the learnings I garnered in my experience. However, sometimes, it also felt like a bit of pressure, the need to write it well and get people to like it. The most difficult bit for me was just probably putting time aside and sitting down with my thoughts and writing them down.
It might be a bit cliche to write about New Year resolutions/projects but hey, who isn’t? So here are the 12 projects I’ve laid out for 2024 (please notice the cute little math-joke-intended title)
1. K-Deutscher
After living in Germany for more than 4 years and long contemplation, I’ve set the goal to apply for German citizenship. Visa has always been a haunting topic in my head since I’ve been living in Europe. Life here is amazing but every time in job application, the visa always comes in the way of making things more complicated. Let alone the application process afterward (and endless waiting time to get an appointment at the immigration office)
Even though the new law hasn’t been officially passed yet (and fingers crossed, it will eventually get passed), the German government is looking to allow dual citizenship and reduce the required years of residency from 8 to 5 years, which I will finally reach this year.
With my German class already rolling since the end of last year, the goal is to apply when I reach 5 years (in October) living in Germany. Let’s get that freaking passport and finally be able to answer “yes” to every visa question at the end of the job application form! (PLUS: using the e-gate and skip the long queue at all the border controls)
2. K-NBG
Continuing with the “domestic” topic, this project is about life in Nuremberg. Never would I ever have thought that I would live more than 4 years here! Actually, it has been the place that I lived the longest besides my hometown in Kaohsiung! I’ve complained a few times on my medium about how unsatisfying life here is, mainly related to the lack of events, parties, and gay life.
But hey, even though there are things I don’t like, there are things I like about it. The ease of access to the city and all the essentials. Traveling from the heart of Europe in about an hour from my front door to the boarding gate is almost unbeatable in any place I ever lived in.
Moreover, I’ve also started to build friendships and communities that I won’t be able to find elsewhere (mainly connected by joint complaints of Nuremberg originally) and find things I like to do here, e.g. long walks in the woods, swim in lakes and pools in the summer and new-found interest in sauna! With finally having a goal of staying here for 5 years, I started to be able to cherish every day here more and try to live the type of life, wherever I would move next. The goal is to keep this mindset, enjoy my life and keep connecting with my friends and communities in Nuremberg.
3. K-Travels
Since I just talked about the amazing ease of traveling in Nuremberg, let’s move on to travel plans. Even though living the best out of Nuremberg is one of my goals, there’s definitely still a need and desire to travel and experience new things by traveling.
I won’t go into details here but here is the list of places that I have in my plan and wishlist: London, India (Dehli), Barcelona, Taiwan, Summer vacation somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea, Paris (Disney), DC, New York, Istanbul.
Let’s hope all of them will come true and maybe I’ll write about some of them here too :)
4. K-Hobbies
After some travels, let’s move back again and talk about things I want to do more in Nuremberg. Another new project of mine is to nurture and explore more hobbies. I’ve read so many quotes and articles about how tapping into the power of things that just intrinsically please you and make you happy.
One of the things that I’ve been doing more at home is Singing. I’ve always loved music and as a kid, I learned piano, joined a flute band, and guitar club, and even performed singing a few times in college. I noticed how happy I could be just singing out loud at home or even recalled the joy of going to Karaoke with friends. So I want to continue exploring this hobby and some more, e.g. dancing, gaming, TV & Films, and maybe even find new hobbies this year!
5. K-Career
People sometimes say “If you can make your hobby into your job, you’d not feel like you’re working.” Well, I’m not 100% there yet but I do find more passion if I’m working on topics related to my interests. So next, let’s talk about a bit of career goals.
Last year was a lot of learning for the first time leading a project and testing out a lot of different things. This year for me is about continuing the good work, making it better, and building my portfolio of marketing experiences. Some wishful thinking of salary increase and promotion would be nice but I’m not setting the goals on them since there are just too many other factors that go into those things. Let’s make the best out of my job and the environment I’m in and keep learning and growing to prepare for a better future. Still my favorite campaign tagline for the first project I ever worked on (Adidas Ready For Sport in 2020)- “Opportunities will come, and you must be READY!”
6. K-Money
Since we talk about work, we have to talk about money. There’s no big ambition here but this year I’d like to continue to stay on top of my budgeting and monthly reviews. There have been some incidences last year where I didn’t realize how much money I wasted on things that didn’t bring me joy. So being more mindful of my spending and learning to feel joy in spending and saving are the main goals. “Make money work for you, not the other way around”
7. K-Learn
Knowledge is your wealth. To make more money, continuous learning is crucial. So next is about my learning goals this year. Here are a few key topics I’d like to learn more about:
- German language: for the obvious reason of getting citizenship but also being able to integrate and live happier in Nuremberg.
- Mental health: it came to my realization how important this is to me and we might need another article talking about my journey about this but this is definitely a key topic I want to learn more.
- Relationships: I felt I learned so much about myself and all my relationships (friends, family, dates) since I read “The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman” so I want to keep exploring it more.
- Finance: Though I don’t know if I will be able to get more money this year, learning how to best use what I have and invest better has always been a keen interest of mine. Book recommendations are welcomed!
- Health & Fitness: Lastly, always I’ll keep reading and learning about fitness but not be too anxious about my own body and health.
Withing learning, I’ve set some goals by time cadence:
- Daily: Duolingo and Daily Law
- Weekly: Lingoda classes and weekly check-in on learnings
- Monthly: 2x book/magazine/audiobook and writing on Medium to reflect on myself and the learnings I’ve made.
8–12. K-Health, K-Fit, K-Connect, K-Energy, K-EN
Perfect final transition into the last 5 projects of 2024 as they stem from the key learnings I want to focus on this year, which is health and fitness, and relationships with friends & family, love and myself
8. K-Health: Since the accident of my shoulder dislocation, I’ve finally “adult-up” and started taking control and paying more attention to my health. I can’t be like a kid anymore that just waits until bad things happen and wish my parents would take care of me. I want to be less scared of going to the doctor and take better care of my body and mind. “Your body is your temple. Nourish it and worship it.”
9. K-Fit: Also since my shoulder issue, I had finally decided to face my body dysmorphia issue and started going to therapy, which has been a fundamental change to my life and how I think about my fitness routine and my lifestyle. In 2024, I want to be fitter not just for the looks but also for living a happier, longer life. I want to get back to my strength training routine but with extra attention on my feelings and mobility. I want to tap into more cardio, which could be swimming, cycling, running, or even dancing. Lastly, I want to hopefully return to a fitness community, be it Crossfit or other sport, and find the joy and connection that I found when I was at a Crossfit box in London. I wanna look good naked but also feel good!
10. K-Connect: Talking about community, I’ve realized how crucial my friends are to my well-being and I appreciate them all the more so. I want to spend more time with them IRL or online. I’ll continue to call my friends abroad and back home and genuinely get to know and care about my loved ones more. And even though my family isn’t the most proactive in connecting with me, I’d like to make more effort in texting and calling them this year.
11. K-Energy: Besides friends and family, another piece of relationship is the romantic type. Even though I’ve been single for almost 30 years and counting, through all the dates, hookups, crushes, and flings, I’m learning more about what type of person I’d like to date and hold a romantic relationship with as well. 3 key learnings I want to keep leaning on are:
- It’s more important to get to know the person and be curious about them. — I can be attracted by looks, intelligence, or any other qualities but having a genuine interest in the person I would date and care for, is more long-lasting than anything.
- Let go of people who are just not ready — At times, I had a hard time letting go of crushes and romanticizing a potential relationship way too early. I have to learn to be realistic and look at whether this person is actually ready for a relationship and reflect on whether it’s worth the effort to continue or if I should just move on.
- “If you can’t love yourself, how the hell you’re gonna love somebody else” — It’s all about the energy you bring to the table. I’ve gone into the dating scene, either on apps or parties, coming from a place of fear. I felt like the need to date or meet someone was to feel less lonely or unloved. However, I should love myself first and more. The energy will automatically attract people to me and we can explore whether this connection is going to develop into something serious. Thus this project is titled “Kenergy” ;)
12. K-EN: As the perfect RuPaul quote says, I have to love myself first and more. The last resolution of 2024 is to embrace myself and love myself better. The first thing I want to focus on is related to my ongoing therapy session on overcoming my body dysmorphia. I need to have more mental practice in demonstrating self-love. Focus on the 5 qualities I love about myself (Humor, Smile, Friendliness, Caring, Optimism) and Minimize any self-criticism. The second thing is to explore my sexuality even further. I’ve always known myself for the kinks I’m into. I want to dive more into them and enjoy my sexuality, and my kinks and thus love myself without the need of others.
Thank you to whoever read it to the end and hope this also inspires you to make up your own projects and resolutions for 2024! I can’t wait to review this by the end of the year and see how far I’ve come. :)
