Happy New Year to all my readers!

I was digging into my blog archive to see if I've written anything on the 1st of Jan 2017 and nope, nothing.

This post is inspired by the numerous what-have-I-achieved-last-year posts and videos I've seen put up by others. I write this not to compare, but to keep track of the things that I've done. That's the reason why I create all my travelogue posts. It's so that I can look back and remember what happened because, well, memories can fade, and there's no better way than to remember them than to record them in some way. There were many occasions when I wanted to refer to something that I've done or a place I've visited but can't because there was no record.

2017 is the year where I really value time. It's one thing to hear people talk about time as a resource, but it's a totally different thing to embrace that concept. There was so much to do in 2017 that I wish that I could just squeeze out more time to do them.

In 2017, I bought two electronic skateboards just so that I can save time from not walking. Whenever I people see my skateboard, the first thing they usually say is something to the effect of me being lazy. Those two electric skateboards are the best investment of the year. I save about 2/3 of the time that I usually spend walking. So a 15 minute walk to the train station now takes 5 minutes. A 10 minute walk to the hawker centre takes 3 minutes. I use one skateboard all the time, and the other's a backup that I put in the office. On a rainy day, I don't bring the skateboard out because it's dangerous. But if the area around my office is dry, I have another skateboard to use, to save time.

I also bought a Macbook Pro so that I could edit more videos. The desktop limits me to editing videos only at home. With the laptop, I can edit videos on the train, which I do if I'm really short of time. Since I don't do anything productive on the train, why not use it to edit videos? Usually, I spend the time on the train answering comments on my Youtube channel.

I actually did not plan to write this post. I had planned to wake up at 8am on the first day of the year to go out and make a New Year update video, and to finish recording the last tutorial for my online course. But since it rained since last night, and it's still raining right now as I write, I'm stuck at home.

I've become a bit obsessed with making videos on Youtube. I made 316 videos in 2017. That's like 25 videos each month. That's in addition to all the book reviews I've put out in the year – I've lost count on that. There's no way I will be able to top that in 2018. In short, it has been an incredibly productive year.

I can write a lot about Youtube, which I have done, so I don't want to repeat it here. I've told all my friends and colleagues about the potential of Youtube. Nobody cares because, well, different people have different priorities. That's alright. That's human.

Do I consider myself a Youtuber? The official answer is no. I'm not a Youtuber. I just happen to make a lot of videos. I'm not a blogger also. I'm just happen to write on a blog that I have online. And I'm absolutely not an influencer – that's such a stupid word. If you don't get it. Well, I hate labels.

I write this not to compare but to record. Who knows one year later, I may think differently. At least I will be able to remember how I have changed.

I hope the rain stops. I really want to go out and make some videos before I go to the office, on the first day of the year.