I feel like I say this every December, but 2024 has been quite the year. It has been a mix of the usual, mundane, day-to-day surviving stuff, but also filled with many treasured highlights that I feel are worth reflecting on. One big highlight for me was appearing with James, Stacey, and Stephen on the CBC documentary “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” with misinformation expert Timothy Caulfield. The doc explores the “crisis in masculinity” and debunks toxic men’s health myths. (It’s free to watch on CBC Gem if you’re in Canada.)
And so, as I try to do every year, I’m back with another retrospective to tally up the numbers of 2024, both as a content creator and a content consumer, as well as reflect on my goals and guiding words for the year that was. Let’s dive in.
Note: The numbers below are believed to be accurate as of this writing (December 20) but may change between now and the end of the year. I’ll try to come back to update the numbers after December 31, but we’ll see.
A Look Back at My 2024 Guiding Words
Back in January, I decided on three sets of guiding words for 2024: Quiet mind, small joys, and incremental improvement.
I have a habit of overthinking everything and not taking the time to enjoy the little things in life, so the first two sets of guiding words really leaned into addressing those habits. Any time I caught myself ruminating or brooding, I reminded myself this behavior wasn’t doing me any favors.
And every time I got down on myself for not making monumental leaps forward, especially in my professional career, I reminded myself that slow and steady wins the race… and even so, you don’t have to win the race. Just enjoy the views along the way. I’m always going to be a work in progress, but reminding myself of these guiding words helped in 2024 for sure.
As a Content Creator
As someone who has been publishing online content for 25 years, I’ve seen how the work I do — both as part of my “day job” and my other life as an “influencer” — has changed over the years. This has meant changes in the types of content I do and where I choose to share it.
BTR Blog Posts: 7
Once upon a time, I’d write seven blog posts a week, every week, here on Beyond the Rhetoric. But, as I’ve discussed before, priorities change and so has my approach to this blog. In 2024, including this one you’re reading right now, I’ve only written seven blog posts in total. Part of me wants to write more, but when I write so much for my clients already (more on that in a moment) and when I already share my stories elsewhere (also more on that in a bit), I’m less motivated to write and publish longer style blog posts here.
When I do write something on Beyond the Rhetoric, it’s intentional and purposeful. I wanted to document my Mexican Riviera cruise during spring break, for instance. And I thought it was fun when I ran an online poll to determine the top ’90s TV sitcom dads, as voted by you.
Instagram Reels: 147
By far, my most active social media platform is Instagram. You’ll see most of what I do in the form of Instagram Reels, as well as random slice-of-life stuff I share as Stories. I shared nearly 150 Reels this year, many of which I reposted as YouTube Shorts. Most of the content centers around funny dad jokes and fun foodie finds, with some local adventures and daily parenting sprinkled in for good measure.
YouTube Videos: 3 (+ Shorts)
Continuing with the topic of content shifts, I definitely spend more time on shorter Instagram Reels than I do on longer (traditional) YouTube videos. Even with just three “regular” videos, including the Manning Park cabin tour below from Dads Go Wild, plus the repurposed Reels-into-Shorts, my YouTube channel saw 159,000+ views and 150+ new subscribers with 2,000+ likes and 600+ shares in 2024. Not too shabby.
Content Created for Clients: 448
A common piece of advice is to focus your time and energy on where you can have the greatest impact. It’s about return on investment and making the most of limited resources. With that in mind, I’ve allowed myself to spend more time on my professional endeavors and a bit less time on my personal social media and blogging exploits. All said, I created nearly 450 pieces of content for my clients.
Much of the work I do these days is copywriting on a ghostwriting basis. This means my name isn’t publicly attached to the content and I’m not really at liberty to tell you about articles I’ve ghostwritten. The articles I write are in line with my past experience, balancing the needs of the reader with SEO considerations and business goals. It has to rank, in most cases, but it also has to deliver value to the real humans who read it.
A couple of pieces I can tell you about are a Hipcamp article on camping with an EV and a Popsguar piece on tackling the mental health stigma as an Asian dad. I encourage you to read both. I also created a few UGC videos for a major supermarket chain you might recognize. Of all the work I did in 2024, this video series is what got the most attention from friends and acquaintances.
As a Content Consumer
Part of being a good content creator is taking the time to consume good content too. I spend a good portion of my leisure time either nose-deep in a book, ear-deep in an audiobook, or couch-deep in a movie. Here are some highlights from what I’ve read and watched in 2024.
Books Read: 44
It’s funny what happens even when you don’t prioritize reading after you’ve made it a goal for several years. I set a soft goal of 30 books for my Goodreads Reading Challenge, but I easily surpassed that by reading 44 books this year. I just started Growing Together: Raising a Community-Minded Generation by James Smith, which I should complete by year’s end too. The Kindle version is currently free if you want to pick up a copy for yourself.
Some of my favorite reads this year include:
- Star Wars: Light of the Jedi: The High Republic by Charles Soule
- Yellowface: A Novel by R.F. Kuang
- Uprooted: A Memoir About What Happens When Your Family Moves Back by Ruth Chan
- Across the Nightingale Floor (Tales of the Otori, Book 1) by Lian Hearn
- Denison Avenue by Christina Wong
Movies Watched: 67
Looking at my Letterboxd profile (follow me and I’ll follow back!), I’m honestly surprised I watched 67 movies this year. That’s more than five movies a month! Some of them were rewatches, because the kids were watching them for the first time. Yes, Jurassic Park and Grave of the Fireflies absolutely hold up.
Of the new (to me) movies I mostly watched alone, some of my favorite films were:
A Look Ahead to 2025 and Beyond
Something that has quickly become one of my favorite pastimes is scrolling through my Google Photos to reminisce on the past year. I see the adventures we had, the laughs we enjoyed, and the delicious food we consumed. When we get so caught up on just making it through the day, sometimes we lose sight of where we’ve gone and what we’ve done. It’s worth reflecting on as an exercise in gratitude.
I don’t know what 2025 is going to look like. No one does. But, I feel like I’m reasonably well-prepared to take on whatever comes my way. How was your 2024? What’s your outlook for 2025? Share your thoughts via the comment section below.
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