Closing my open questions of 2022

In Jan I wrote out open questions and uncertainties I had going into 2022. These were questions I had no answers to back then, but were sufficiently important that I knew they were weighing on my mind.

All my fears, concerns, aspirations and wishes in the form of open questions for the year, and my best answers to them now, one year on:

• Will I live up to the year with alacrity?
I did. At least it showed that I can start.

• How long will I take to hit $200 MRR?
A year wasn’t enough. But this is no longer an important question, because it’s more about getting revenue from anything anywhere, to keep this indie lifestyle.

• Will I ever hit $5k revenue in my life?
I’ve achieved it before during pre-pandemic times, I’ll achieve it again… eventually. World reopening. Biz is picking back up again. Some back of envelope calculation shows I’m around 70% of that target this year. So I’m hopeful.

• Will I ever make enough money off my products to support my lifestyle and family?
Still an open question, even though there’s a glimmer of optimism. One project had doubled in revenue, but it’s still long ways off my family breakeven point. I can’t bank on that. I need more income streams.

• What other products can I make?
I made Sheet2bio and many Carrd plugins (about 20!) this year. Sheet2Bio was a big and public failure, but I own my losses. I learned a lot from it. I love my maker trajectory for plugins. It’s done for the right reasons, at the right pace.

• What other products do I want to make?
Great question that’s still open. I’m 100% certain I still want to make other and more products. But I don’t know what. Building an AI-based product had been super tempting throughout the year, but I’m thankful I didn’t jump on the bandwagon. They were fads ultimately.

• What’s my next big thing?
No longer an important question. The epiphany this year is: No more one big thing. No more main projects. All projects will be side projects and small bets, even if they get big.

• What’s my next product for tech for good?
Still open. This had been on my mind all year. Since safedistancing.sg (which I started in 2021) winded down in April this year, I’ve been searching for my next tech for good project to do. I like to have at least 1 project a year. But nothing much to show for this year. I’m even considering cancelling all the monthly/annual subscriptions from my patrons on Buy Me A Coffee! Too ashamed to keep getting donations if i’m not doing much in that space.

• Do I still have what it takes to create something profitable and popular?
Yes. I had many big moments of doubt this year. Even more low moments than I can recall. But at least my plugins project was the signal amidst the noise, that I might still have what it takes.

• When will I embody a wealth mindset?
Maybe not so important anymore. It’s still a weak area of mine. But I decided I will get there when and if I do get there. Till then, I’m not going to sweat over it. I’m going to just focus on leveraging on my strengths and assets, then tunnel-vision over my deficits.

• Do I have what it takes to get rich?
I do want to get to a financially comfortable position for me and my family. But that doesn’t have to be rich rich. And besides, I think time is the true wealth, and being focused on using time to be present to my growing toddler son, is already richness.

• Will I be able to grow my savings back to what it was?
I burned through all my savings this year. It was terrifying and stressful. Thankfully some gigs saved me. I’m unsure if growing my savings back the the pre-pandemic days is even possible in 2023, even though there’s some possible big projects on the horizon. If anything, my stance is survive before thrive. Survival first. Savings can come later.

• When will I finally get over myself about investing?
I invested a bit this year, but nothing more than a few fancy dinners. It’s a new area of learning, but I’m 100% focused on family and indie products, so I don’t have much bandwidth to spare to learn about investing. It’s not my top priority. Perhaps it can be prioritised when I get past survival stage.

• Will I ever nail my sleep to 90% consistently?
Got my first ever 100% score in Sept this year! But sleep had been anything but consistent. It’s such an infinite game, and there were good sleep seasons where I hit high 80s and 90s, and there were wild seasons where I would sleep well one night and badly the next. I’m grateful though for my 5am club, being able to journey with some of the more committed folks.

• Can I ever get back to a fitness level of my 20s or 30s?
Utter defeat this year. Health and fitness only spiralled downwards even more this year. But if I can’t get back to 20s/30s, I should at least stop the regression and stay my age.

• How do I bring familyhood to the next level?
Only maintenance level so far. I did try hard to juggle between work and family. Being present and giving attention. Attempted at creating more fond memories than raw regrets. I think the effort is noteworthy. But I should ask my wife.

• When will things go back to normal?
It did! April this year, 99% of restrictions got lifted. Things are now 90% back to pre-pandemic days. If there’s anything worthy to highlight and celebrate at all for 2022, this would be it.

• When can we travel again?
We can now. Putting plans in place for our first time overseas as family! Though I suspect, travel will never be the same again. Solo travel and month long time away may no longer be possible for the next 10 years at least.

• What’s my spiritual path like ahead?
I don’t know. I still meditate. I try to practice some mindfulness. I try hard to be present to family. I’m too busy to go for retreats or talks. I no longer read any sutras or inspiring books. Thankfully, I still write daily. My words are probably my one and only saving grace.

• Will I ever go on retreats again?
Nope. Not in the next 10 years maybe.

• When will I finally feel like I’m thriving, not surviving?
Maybe this is a question to be answered over many years. This year was about survival. Just barely keeping head about water. Maybe next year is maintenance and some incremental improvement. I suspect any chance at thriving would likely come in 2024 or later. More likely later than sooner.

It’s really clarifying to review these questions at the end of the year! Made me think that perhaps things ain’t so bad after all. Some wins, some losses, all learning.

Looking forward to asking open questions for 2023 ahead.

Onwards!