Hello, I'm back! I feel like I say this every time, but it's been a while. To be honest, I've thought of a LOT of blog ideas, but I try to multitask too much and end up not finishing any of them. I hope to finish some of them before my winter break ends, but only time will tell :)

Anyways, onto the main point.

In March of 2025, I revived a habit that I killed way back in 2022: writing in a diary. Originally, I restarted this habit because one of my friends ALSO started doing it. In hindsight, I don't know why I ever stopped - I can have a complete archive of big moments of the year and my reactions. With this in mind, I'd like to keep myself to the standard of writing in general. Thus, I made...the wrapped series.

While my diary will contain all of my unfiltered writing, this blog series will contain a compressed and filtered version of year-long diary batches. This is - in full honesty - written for myself. That being said, anyone is free to read.

Table of Contents:

New Year's Resolution

In January of 2025, a friend and I decided to share our New Year's Resolutions and hold each other accountable. My resolution was to wake up at 7 AM every day (later changed to 7:30 AM). I would owe my friend $1 for every day that I failed to do so.

From the start, this was an uphill battle. My lifestyle at the time was - and still is - quite nocturnal. From hanging out with friends to late-night coding sessions, I was used to going to bed anywhere from 12AM to 5AM. This made waking up early quite difficult, and I felt a lot of anguish in the first few months for not reliably reaching this goal.

Ironically, I found that breaks were the easiest periods of the year to wake up early. Looking back at my diary...

During 2025's Spring Break, I went to Vermont with my friends and roomates (this will be mentioned again later). This - in a way - forced me to wake up earlier, as I wanted to make the most of the day. Although I wouldn't say that I hit the goal every day, I definitely woke up earlier than I usually would.

During 2025's Summer Break, I was working on research throughout June, forcing me to wake up earlier than the target time. This research continued into July and August, and though the schedule was more flexible, I had trouble generally sleeping through these months. This - weirdly - allowed me to hit my goal consistently.

During 2025's Fall Break (Thanksgiving), I was home with my family. Weirdly, I seemed to be more motivated to do things that I enjoyed (like reading, meditating and morning walks). This incentivized me to wake up earlier.

Through the semester, however, I struggled a lot. I would say that I only hit my goal about 30 to 40 percent of the time. For the previously mentioned reasons, I found it difficult to balance my schoolwork and social life. My saving grace came mostly in the form of 9AM badminton sessions with friends, which forced me to wake up earlier than I usually would. For this, I am grateful.

In the end, I never counted the exact amount of days, but I would estimate that I hit my goal about...50 percent of the time? Friend, if you're reading this, I owe you about $180...LOL

Looking back, I still think that this resolution was a success. I never thought I'd be able to wake up early at all, let alone half the time. My core reason for this resolution was simply because I wanted to see the sun rise more often, and looking at my photos, I think I did a decent job of that. Thank you to everyone that helped me along the way!

The Habit of Not Being Busy

This year, I wanted to look at an mental habit that I've had for a long time. I'm sure that many of you can - to some extent - relate to this.

Ever since I was young, I've wanted to achieve. Whether that be academically, in extracurriculars, or socially, I've always felt the need to be "great" at stuff and have people know who I am. This mentality has undoubtedly helped me achieve a LOT of things in the past, but it is inherently unhealthy. Striving for constant achievement inevitably leads to burnout and a lack of appreciation.

This habit continued through my undergraduate tenure - I wanted to do everything and know everyone. I joined a lot of clubs, took on leadership positions that I couldn't make time for, and tried to connect with as many people as possible. Again, this helped me grow - I learned a lot of new things and met a lot of great people. However, this led to a lack of appreciation for what I had. This became apparent to me at the end of my sophomore year - I felt "lonely" despite being surrounded by people, and it was my own doing. I was jumping from one group to another without taking the time to appreciate or bond with anyone. This led to some self-resentment, as I was flaking on everyone by spreading myself too thin.

On top of this feeling of loneliness, I wondered:

"Can I enjoy a life without trying to fill every second with activites?"

Can I just sit down, relax and appreciate how good life is and how far I've come? It's not that I'm lazy, but I needed to be content with just...being.

This year, I closed my social circles significantly and distanced myself from a lot of extracurriculars in terms of obligations. That's not to say that I burned bridges - I still attended club meetings for fun and talked to people positively. However, I made a conscious effort to not overcommit. This led to a lot of potential friendships being "missed", and I occasionally regretted it in my diary entries. However, I think that this was still a win in the long run. I needed to be at peace when I was alone and learn to appreciate the present moment.

On the other hand, this also led to deeper connections with others. By spending more time with fewer people, I was able to bond more deeply with them. For that, I am grateful.

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