2024 Recap

2024 was a busy year – it was a lot of trying new things, testing, experimenting, failing and refining the process.

From that effort came a lot of positives. The social pages (Twitter and Telegram) grew exponentially, to a position beyond any expectation both in terms of following and engagement. Because of that, I have been able to connect with some of the brightest minds in the community and take advantage of the opportunity to monetise my articles. Sharing betting content is currently the only way of exsolving my thoughts to the wider world, but I spent last year working towards other goals too. I improved my diet and training regimes, started boxing and Muay Thai, read over 20 books and started meditating, just to name a few.

All in all, last year was about shifting myself out of a comfort zone, trying new things to build more character. From skimming through my journal, most days were not smooth sailing, but they helped me realise paradoxical nature of things. Tough times are essential – although we try to avoid them, they forge a stronger and smarter future self. From these times you learn the most about yourself and the world. So ultimately, you look back on these tough times with a sense of gratitude.

The mind will always look for things to worry about. I found that having too much work was stressful – it had an impact on my sleep, exercise and overall work quality, but I often found myself being ‘too busy’. At the same time, having a reduced workload was also difficult in it’s own way, it feels like I’m not getting enough done, that I’m not being productive which can be demoralising. It’s normalised to be in a perpetual state of business – to always be doing something. Towards the end of the year, I began to realise that it was ok to do simply do nothing, silly as that may sound.

We’ve been programmed to always be in a state of stress, and therefore the mind has become addicted to negative emotions. The way to get around this I found, is to bear witness to negative thoughts, recognise the triggers, and then consciously change your thought pattern. That’s much easier said than done, but even small improvements daily compound to significant change over time. Once I understood this, I realised that it becomes a choice of what problems are most manageable. Either be busy with the problems mentioned, or be free with the problems mentioned.

2025 will be about finding a Middle Way – a balance between everything that is important, learning to accept and manage the problems that come with being free, but without neglecting the things I care about and am passionate about. So, what does that actually mean?

I’ve set my goals – physical goals, career goals, social growth goals and much more.

For example, personal fitness has been a passion of mine for a while, and something I am looking to pursue more this year. I’m planning to undertake a 15k Tough Mudder, and a 3-week fight camp in Thailand. To be in the best condition for those, I need to prioritise my physical conditioning.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the journey of growing my social pages, but I want to get back to doing what I looked forward to. Growing the pages opened up some fantastic opportunities that I am extremely grateful for, but they also shifted my attention to writing for growth, as opposed to writing for enjoyment. Writing for growth had me attached to things beyond my control. Doing that too much made me lose focus on the important things, and eventually burn out as I was forcing myself to do work I didn’t necessarily enjoy. Going forward, I’ve dropped a few things from my schedule, and hope to re-kindle that passion for writing about sports betting at the expense of some paid work.

2025 will be again about pushing myself outside of my comfort zone, trying new things and seeing what resonates best in all aspects. It will be about discarding the idea of being too busy, and not neglecting the things I value most. I intend to try, fail, change and hopefully end up better than I am now, come the end of the year.