The Monday Read: 2024 Awaits

The end of the year, the start of the new one. They are just normal days like any other but we imbue them with meaning.

In Japan the whole country shuts down from December 29th to January 3rd. People go home, spend time with family, do big cleans, and think about the future.

I don’t make new year’s resolutions, but since 2013 I have made an annual plan at the end of the year and reviewed it in late December.

I’m still working on my plan for next year, but one thing I am focusing on is making it simpler. Most years my plan would be 4-5 pages long, but I would find that I only accomplished 30-50% of my goals.

This year I will have fewer goals, which will hopefully make me select the more important ones. It’s a bit like that Warren Buffett story where he tells his pilot to make a list of all the things he wants to do, then cross out everything but the top three.

I also have a five year plan and a ten year plan that I refer to when doing this exercise.

(the ten year plan used to be a 25-year one, but this year I realized that would take me into my seventies so I no longer plan that far out…)

Do you have a plan for the future? I find it is much easier to do things and get closer to where I want to be with a plan, and making them has really improved my life over the last decade.

Doesn’t have to take very long, either. I probably spend an hour or two on this in December each year.

Happy new year! I hope 2024 brings you health, wealth, and happiness.

RetireJapan is here to help with the wealth bit.

YouTube

Thank you for your support of the RetireJapan YouTube channel. We have made incredible progress this year, and it is largely down to your help and support.

No video this week, but we’ll be back on January 5th. If you are bored over the holidays, please go and watch some of our videos 😉

The Forum

The Forum is doing well (31,882 posts so far). The forum rules are here. In essense, they are:

1. Be nice
2. Ask any question you like
3. Only answer questions when you have relevant knowledge or experience

Here are the latest active threads:

This week’s books

I started Ali Abdaal’s book this week, Feel Good Productivity. Very interesting so far. Might be one of those ‘finish at the in-laws’ place over new years’ books…

This week’s links

1. I am not quite with Derek on this one: still enjoy trying new places 🙂 Takenoya
2. Slow welcome progress: Britain likely to generate more electricity from wind, solar and hydro than fossil fuels for the first year ever in 2023
3. Interesting and indeed optimistic: Japan Megatrends
4. The new Electronic Record Retention Law starts January 2024, some details here: Guide to Corporate Tax in Japan
5. Love this idea. Would anyone be interested in joining a RetireJapan walk and talk? If so, sign up here for more info and to be notified if we get anything going.
6. This case in on the news a lot so might be worth revisiting this detailed explanation. Completely disgusting and I hope it results in changes: Prosecutor implies false accusation is just part of the job
7. Love it: The Biggest Risk in 2024
8. I found this video really inspiring. She’s going to be so successful (YouTube): How This 13 Year Old Girl Became a CEO in Japan
9. I would love to see safety focused, proactive traffic policing here, but this is a good step in the right direction I guess (as someone who cycles almost every day and is exasperated by dangerous cyclists): Police panel proposes fines up to ¥12,000 for cycling violations
10. This is kind of morbid. Useful though I guess: How Power Companies Can Save an Aging Japan
11. Apple’s market cap is the same as Japan??? The Stock Market is Our Mona Lisa
12. What a depressing read: The Fourth Big Force: Climate Change
13. Completely off topic but fascinating: The Disturbing Impact of the Cyberattack at the British Library

What do you think? Anything interesting in there?

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