I was watching an LinkedIn Learning infotainment video on my flight back. It was titled “Embracing Unexpected Change” or something like that. Something just clicked in my mind while watching it.
A decade ago, I would have hoped that I would have accumulated authentic teaching experiences in several countries. It was a dream that I took seriously because I went to take up Thai lessons, fantasising a romantic stint in the Land of A Million Smiles where everyone would fall in love with Ajarn Le.
Suffice it to say that this long-cherished dream of mine was shattered to smithereens when I became a father of one, then two. Parenting is an arduous endeavour in itself - and I’d rather not complicate matters by raising my children in a foreign land, a nation where I have yet to navigate its sociocultural norms successfully. No track record, so to speak.
Contemporary society places dreams on a pedestal because they represent potential and possibilities. They reflect how people take the bull by the horns and dare to aim for something lofty, thus exercising control of their destiny. On the other hand, goals kinda signify that we have limited the parameters of our dreamscape, that we bow down to reality and try to achieve whatever that is within our capabilities.
However, if we were to take a step back, there is nothing wrong with having goals at all - even if society deems dreams to have more of a wow factor. If I surrender my capacity to dream but work my ass off on fulfilling my goals, I am then living life to the truest of my ability.
So, with 2024, I have some financial goals, one of which is to earn enough sats as a content creator. I occasionally buy gift cards from Bitrefill and receive cashbacks in the form of sats. My goal is to amass enough cashback to redeem a Bitrefill gift card next year. This will make me feel validated as a writer. It will probably squeeze me dry and drive me nuts for the whole year, but I’m pumped by this challenge!
What are your financial goals for 2024?
