Ten years

How does one look back at a period of time while avoiding the cliche of self-importance? You can’t. 

I began this blog/website/diary with my first post on September 19, 2011, ten years ago to this very day. Why did I begin? What did I expect to accomplish? Why? Why? Why?

Here is how it began, with a welcome to an audience I suspected would never come. For the most part it went unread except for a very few that somehow stumbled on it from a backlink or inexplicable google search. A few even made comments and made me feel worthy of someone’s time. However, the way in which I really succeeded with the blog was in keeping myself to account. Regardless of the state of my life, I would record it. It is amazing to say but I have documented my monthly net worth, every month, for the last ten years. 120 times I have added and subtracted these numbers while comparing percentages and monthly growth. It was satisfying even when my job made it difficult to save more than a couple hundred dollars a month and an entire paycheque would go straight to rent. My life has changed a lot in some ways but also very little in others.

If I may indulge in history I would like to review some of the moments I have gone through.

 

In the last ten years…

Financially

I have increased my salary from thirty thousand dollars to over seventy thousand.

I received one adsense payment from this site of $100 only a few months ago. $10/year of revenue which came so late in the history of this blog that I felt empty when it finally arrived.

I have lost 100% of an investment. $1,000 lost on Urthecast - RIP you terrible company.

I have raised my net worth from $20,927.84 on Sep 2, 2011 to $163,715.49. Annualized growth: 22.84%  

 

In the last ten years…

Personally

I have moved out on my own, moved in with someone else in a new country, and then moved out on my own again.

I have grown to be a 30 something year old adult.

I have moved to a new country but also unexpectedly learned what it is like to see your new home transform into authorianism.

I have visited 15 new countries and have now visited more than 30.

I have experienced many things and learned to temper one’s thoughts and consider more carefully.

I have started a new career and found something of value to share.

I have lost loved ones including my mother. I have struggled emotionally.

I have cried, adventured, been scared, felt hopeful, and beaten down.

I have helped others in times of need. I have also broken the hearts of others.

I have accepted more of what I couldn’t before.

 

This blog was supposed to be where I discussed my financial growth but in reality it turned out to be something different. It’s a record of my life and of gradual change, for better or worse.

 

This blog was not for you. It was for me. It still is.

I still want to do better. I will try my best.