The Flags I'm Planting for 2024

It's Chinese New Year's Eve tonight.

Outside the window, firecrackers go off without end; inside, the songs of the Spring Festival Gala.

Everything is so peaceful and quiet that it feels lonely.

The mood is right for saying what's in my heart.

I'm a little ashamed to say it, but sometimes I feel my life right now couldn't be any better — so good that I'm almost afraid to break anything.

I have family and friends who look after me, like-minded partners, a stable team, a carefree life; I get to see immortal cities, immortal paintings and the most beautiful scenery on earth; I'm free, not tied down by any institution or career, my work is my joy, and, more importantly, it feels meaningful. If I felt no gratitude at all and took all this as the most ordinary life, that would truly be a sin.

And yet, always moving forward, always staying curious, always being a creator, always living up to the spirit of striving — that is the promise I've made to myself.

I'm still eager to "set off".

I don't know what's waiting ahead, but either life won't always be this cloudless, or I'm bound to take all this good fortune and give back to society and to heaven. Either way, something is driving me, and I can't stop. Even though I can't yet see clearly what it is.

I long to be like I was when I first started my company — jumping onto a fast train and growing wildly at full speed. But looking around at the dangers on every side, I've lost the reckless courage of the newborn calf that doesn't fear the tiger.

Sometimes a wave of panic rises out of nowhere — have I wasted my time? Do I no longer dream big?

The only cure for the panic is to carefully hone myself and prepare myself.

My 2024 Flags🚩 come down to three words: habits, getting things done, focus.

1. Habits

"Habits" are a person's foundation.

Reading, journaling, planning and exercise are the daily habits I've wanted to build for years. But they're like an "impossible quadrilateral" — I can never keep all four going at once. Reading has gone best: thanks to the likes and positive feedback I get every day, my "WeChat Moments check-ins" have given me growth I wouldn't have dared imagine, three years in a row. A positive feedback loop really is a powerful tool for building good habits!

Speaking of which, I have to thank my friends once again. In 2024 I'll keep leaning on your strength!

• Read on more than 300 days

• Journal on more than 300 days

• Plan on more than 300 days, defined as: being clear on the three things I must get done that day

• Hit my exercise target on more than 200 days, defined as: walking 10,000 steps or getting my heart rate to 130

For building habits, routine is extremely important. I plan to read and plan from 7:30-8:30AM every morning when I wake up, read and journal from 10:30-11:30PM before bed, and keep half of every Sunday for myself. I hope these become habits nothing can shake — friends around me, please keep these times free for me, and hold me to them.

2. Get Things Done

If you're doing the right thing, there's always a way.

• Choose what I "should do" rather than what I "can do", and watch out for sliding into "easy mode".

• Do what I say and finish what I start, especially promises to myself; a planner and follow-ups matter a lot.

• Finish on time, finish early

• Hold an asset meeting every Monday, without fail

3. Focus

Do fewer things, do them better, and truly own myself.

• Declutter further: cut clothes, bags, shoes and ornaments by a third.

• Take on fewer things. Build a new habit: don't say yes to people straight away; first ask myself three questions: How much time will this take? Looking back a year from now, will it have been worth doing? Looking back ten years from now, will it have been worth doing?

• Regularly clear out my weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly to-do lists

That's all — please hold me to it.

Life has many truths, and none of them are wrong;

in life there is no right or wrong to begin with.

It is our "choices" that make us who we are.