Geopolitics Review - 30th December 2024
Key Lessons From 2024, And The 2024 Reading List
Contents
Introduction
Key Lessons From 2024
2024 Geopolitics Explained Reading List
Concluding Remarks
Introduction
Outside of geopolitics, or any field in which you are interested, I think it’s prudent to explore ways in which we’ve grown in this last year, or lessons that we’ve learnt along the way from moments of improvement. And so, today, I’m going to embark on writing such a post. If you’re here solely for the geopolitics, it will return fully next Monday, but news events from the previous week are included at the bottom of this week’s edition of the Geopolitics Review. For now, let’s dive into a year in review.
Key Lessons From 2024
Every weekday, I write a daily review that I call my Evening Shutdown. In scrolling through over 200 of these, I’ve collected below the key lessons I’m slowly attempting to teach myself. This is a reminder to myself as we move into a new year to take these lessons forward with me, but I hope they can help you also:
If you’re cramming too much into your days, you won’t be productive, and you will become drained. This will naturally lead to unhappiness, regardless of how productive you are. You’re asking too much of yourself, and when you don’t finish your to-do list, you’ll grow frustrated with yourself. Set an achievable limit to the number of tasks you seek to complete each day.
Schedule free time into your schedule and ensure you take this as free time. I stop at 6 pm every day and take Saturdays off completely.
Be disciplined with the time you go to sleep. Sleep at the same time every night, and wake up without an alarm.
Self-reflect on the day. What is one lesson or realisation you took from today? It’s through this exercise that I recognised how much music can affect my mood positively. Getting sunlight or going on an adventure somewhere I’ve never been before also heavily boosts my mood.
Be aware of the different types of discomfort. Positive discomfort feels rewarding once we tackle it. Negative discomfort feels upsetting once it’s over. Pursue positive discomfort, but avoid repeating experiences of negative discomfort.
It’s easy to adopt all the typical “morning routines”, but consider how they make you feel. Does a cold shower or a multivitamin provide energy, or could an alternative use of your time be more prudent?
If you’re a perfectionist, always have strategies that ensure you execute. If you don’t, you’ll constantly search for improvement, and you’ll be less likely to hit that metaphorical or literal “publish” button.
If you aren’t consciously using your mobile phone, your mobile phone is likely using you. Be aware of its power of distraction.
There will always be people who oppose you. If they spread hate and anger, kill them with kindness.
Doing exercise alone can make it difficult to motivate myself. If I’m ever asked to play a sport with somebody, say yes. Exercising with others is easier, as is taking part in a sport.
Pushing myself to do something scary often leads to growth. This feels good. If I’m feeling down, consider the last time I pursued growth, or if I’m stagnant.
Having a life project gives me direction, helps structure my days, and provides me with energy. To others, it’s work, but to me, I’m exploring my curiosities. Find what aspects of the world make you curious and pursue growth in these fields.
My motivation drops when I eat. Hence, I don’t eat breakfast, I complete my biggest tasks of the day first, and I save smaller tasks for after lunch when I have less motivation. Consider your levels of energy throughout the day and how you can better structure your day in alignment with your energy and motivation.
Track friendships and family relationships in a document. Are you cultivating this relationship with effort, or are you casting it aside? If you’re casting it aside and this relationship fuels you positively, you should focus efforts in to this relationship.
Put your phone in a different room when you sleep. Waking up and getting distracted on your phone can waste hours of your day if you aren’t careful.
We get less done than we think possible in a day, but a lot more in a year. Think long-term.
Find yourself in rooms where you’re the least smart person there. Naturally, like a bell-shaped curve, you’ll rise to the average.
Does your work fuel you? If not, craft an exit plan. Then commit to it. If we sit in our comfort, we’ll stay there forever. Notice comfort, and push yourself to escape it. Feel discomfort with comfort.
Writing tells a story of your life. There will be things people like, and things they dislike. There will even be things that you will look back at and dislike in the future. However, this is all you. It can allow you to better understand your past self, and where you can seek growth and improvement. Write the story of your life.
People are scared by what they don’t understand. Society is scared of what it doesn’t understand. It seeks to reject what it doesn’t understand, and to put everyone and everything in a lane where it can be understood. Don’t put yourself in this lane. Build your own lane.
Taking time to relax with no expectations of yourself is good for the heart.
If your schedule is too busy, consider implementing negotiable and non-negotiable tasks. Your non-negotiables have to be done, but on days when life gets busy, the negotiables could wait until another day.
Don’t buy things you don’t need as a temporary distraction. Live below your means and you’ll maintain flexibility in your life.
Without sad times we couldn’t have happy times. Don’t wish never to have sad times, because without them, how in comparison would the happiest of days be so happy?
Everything being within your control is a proxy for comfort. We want days when things are out of our control. In these scenarios, we adapt and learn.
We weren’t made to sit inside all day. Get outside and feel the sun on your face.
Know your circle of competence, but always seek to expand it.
Always consider what is the true message or meaning, and what is only noise that can be cast aside.
Sometimes just starting is the only push you need to begin something big.
If it is endurable, endure it.
Being able-bodied is taken for granted. If you can move, take every opportunity to incorporate it into your day.
Occasionally shut off your brain. It’s good to recharge it and to avoid fogginess.
Have big goals, but be aware when these big goals are leading to inaction. Can I scale back a big goal with smaller steps that still eventually lead to the big goal?
Rigidity is the biggest enemy of creativity. Be fluid with your creativity.
Almost all decisions are reversible. If a decision is reversible, make the decision and see what happens. Sometimes you won’t feel ready for a change, but if it’s reversible, throwing yourself in can often be the best course of action.
Ensure that other people determine as little of your time as possible. If you give them the option to determine your time, they will accept it with open arms.
Self-reflection is good, but be aware that your predictions about the future are very likely to be far from reality.
It’s a never-ending pursuit if you seek to understand yourself. This is all the more reason to continue the pursuit.
Life is about seeking answers to questions and then discovering more questions. Again, this pursuit should never stop.
Every single day, there is beauty to be found. Pretend you’re an alien, seeing this world for the first time. Even the smallest blade of grass becomes something to smile about. Go out and find it.
2024 Geopolitics Explained Reading List
I didn’t read as much as I would have hoped this year. Here is a smaller list of books that I did get a chance to read, but even then are are a few I haven’t yet finished. Alas, I loved the sections of these books that I have read that I’ll include them anyway:
Patriot by Alexei Navalny
Boom or Bust by William Quinn and John D. Turner
Collapse by Jared Diamond
Behave by Robert Sapolsky
Connectography by Parag Khanna
Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke
On Palestine by Ilan Pappe and Noam Chomsky
Klara and The Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Better Angels Of Our Nature by Steven Pinker
Quantum: A Guide For The Perplexed by Jim Al-Khalili
Concluding Remarks
I hope I included some lessons that could help others or some books that could help expand all our knowledge about our ever-changing world. It’s a constant pursuit of knowledge, but I’m honoured that anybody decides to read what I write. Thank you immensely for joining this pursuit with me, and I hope all my readers have their best year yet in 2025.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll dive into my 2025 geopolitical predictions. Keep an eye out over the next few weeks for this!
Other News In Geopolitics This Week
7 Chinese Nationals Arrested on Guam For Illegal Entry During Missile Test
Azerbaijan Airlines Flight Hit By Russian Air Defence System
European Natural Gas Prices Rise As Putin Says New Transit Deal Is Unlikely
U.S. Fighter Shot Down Over Red Sea In Friendly Fire Incident
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