#129 A brief review of 2024 and what I learned (17/11/2024)

It's that time of year again, a time for reflection. Today I reread my journal entry #073, written in October 2023. Looking back on 2022, it seemed like I was constantly busy, but really I was just dealing with "what was at hand," not actually putting in much effort. Now, looking back, I realize I really didn't work hard enough in 2022. Sometimes I wonder why it feels like I didn't do anything at all. That feeling of not doing anything is when you look back and can't remember what you did. All that daily toil seems to have yielded little in the end. There weren't any major breakthroughs at work, and I didn't put in much effort to prepare for the future with the product. In 2023, especially after the middle of the year, we really put in a lot of effort. We made some great comforters, created the very popular Pro Add-On, and most importantly, started a brand new series at the end of 2023 – new sheets.

The launch of new bed sheets at the end of 2023 also marked the beginning of the work direction for the whole year of 2024.

Making new bed sheets is a painful process. Beyond the product itself, there are so many areas I don't understand and have to deal with alone, including how to satisfy consumer tastes in terms of style, how to estimate sales and manage inventory of different sizes and colors, trying not to make too many of some sizes and too few of others, and how to allocate different sizes and colors to different branches so that customers can buy as much as possible and start using it that very night – that's another difficult task. It's much more difficult than starting with just a few pillow designs. I believe that painful processes lead to growth, and I believe that after going through this process, I will be stronger. Looking back at 2024, before August, I really felt like I was constantly busy dealing with these things every day. Only in recent months have I started to use a better system to handle these things, and slowly things have started to improve.

This year, we've expanded from "four sizes and six colors" of last year's new bed sheets to "13 sizes and 17 styles," including different textures, new floral patterns, and some very unique, special edition map-themed sheets. My goal is to make the new bed sheets more accessible, and I'm still working hard towards that goal. In summary, 2023 was the beginning, and 2024 is about truly perfecting the details and execution. We're also increasing the variety of styles and sizes, making them available to more people and encouraging them to consider choosing new bed sheets. Of course, this isn't enough. Next year, we need to continue our efforts to promote them and improve both the front end (products, sales) and the back end (management, production, logistics), hoping to make them the choice of even more people. But of course, man proposes, God disposes.

This year I've also tried to do more different things, including participating in the Convention and Exhibition Centre and Home Expo for the first time, sponsoring some public events for the first time (the Coastal Trail Challenge charity event), and starting to discuss some cartoon collaborations for the first time. I'm working hard. As I've been working for a while longer, I've realized that there are too many things beyond my control. It turns out that the best thing to do in life is to focus on what's within your own immediate circle. If you do those things well, you'll already be incredibly busy and won't need to think about the details of things that are too far ahead. I used to think about those things, but it turns out there's no way to do it, because things often don't happen the way we imagine. Therefore, discussing the execution details and worries about things that are too far ahead is sometimes a waste of time. Being mindful of this doesn't mean you shouldn't have general goals and a clear work direction. Goals and long-term planning are important, but you don't need to think about the specifics of execution five years from now, because you won't be able to. Start slowly and gain some work experience.