My word for 2024: Doggedness

My word for 2023 was “real”. For the new year in 2024, it would be “doggedness”.

Initially “survive” came up strongly, but it felt like it could do with a better framing. “Survive” felt kinda pessimistic, even if I feel that to survive and be able to keep indie hacking in the new year will still be considered a huge win. “Survive” didn’t add anything aspirational to things. There’s no betterment or growth. I could scrape by another year in survival without any personal growth or learning. Most importantly, it didn’t point in the direction of any moral value or personality quality that can be worked on.

So “doggedness” it is. It means great determination to do something, even if it is very difficult. That’s 100% how I feel right now. That’s how I felt about 2023. In fact, that’s how it’s been the past 4 years, since the pandemic, since fatherhood.

I survived each of the past 4 years increasingly worse off in terms of financial situation. I’m still not in the clear. I’m feeling more raw moments of helplessness popping up these days. There’s a lot about the external market I can’t do much about.

“Avoiding stupidity is easier than seeking brilliance.” — Charlie Munger

But I’m determined to keep going. Somehow. Some way. Any which way. I refuse to be beaten. To stubbornly survive, that’s the aim. Just focus on the little things I can influence. Ignore everything else I can’t, or distracts me.

Small, sheer doggedness.

And an important part I always miss out: Rest and heal in between reps.

My strengths had always been discipline, hard work, consistency, and grinding through difficulty. But because I forget to rest as ‘hard’ as I work hard, my efforts diminish with each rep, session, season.

Sheer doggedness during the fight, but sleep like a dog after 🐕

Doggedness.