Master Chi has a habit: every year during the week before New Year’s Day, he takes the full week to slowly reflect and take stock of everything that has unfolded over the past twelve months. If this were pushed back to January or February — when the Lunar New Year draws near — the mind begins to loosen. Festive obligations and the endless small business of the season make it far too easy for your thoughts and focus to scatter.
The reason is simple: to give himself a once-a-year opportunity for honest self-examination.
Never assume that your mistakes and misjudgments can be fully understood the moment they’re over. Master Chi firmly believes that the lessons that truly sink into bone and blood can only be absorbed much later — only after you have completely stepped back, grown calm, and detached yourself from the heat of the moment.
Like you, Master Chi is not the kind of person who enjoys constant self-reflection. He, too, has his own stubborn streaks and fixed ways. But an annual review — once a year, no more, no less — is exactly right. Not so frequent that it sets the mind on edge and breeds restlessness. Not so infrequent that you end up moving entirely on habit and instinct. Once a year offers precisely the right opening for a “measured adjustment” — a chance to look at what you did in the past twelve months and set a rough direction for the year ahead.
Is that goal important? Perhaps the twists of fate and forces beyond your control will pull you from your original intentions as the year unfolds. But at the very least, it gives you a constant compass in your heart — a broad direction to keep your own impulsiveness and whims in check.
And do not overestimate your own cleverness or intuition. This is not a denial of your ability. It is simply that Master Chi knows all too well the disorientation that comes from being deep inside the mountain — unable to see the full picture when you are part of it. He firmly believes that the most far-sighted decisions are almost always made before everything has begun: in a state of complete stillness, with an untroubled mind, striking the table and deciding with clarity.
So when it comes down to it, the days just before New Year’s are the best window to place yourself in a “third-party perspective” — to reflect and plan with the greatest objectivity and rationality available to you. This kind of window is rare and precious. It belongs uniquely to the days before the New Year.
You also know that Master Chi places deep faith in life patterns (格局, destiny framework) — it is, after all, the very work he lives by. And if you want to truly read and bring to their fullest potential the destiny frameworks of both yourself and others, then at every year’s turning point you must set boundaries and direction for the momentum of the year to come. In work, in career, in relationships — when is there ever a more fitting moment to lay the groundwork than before anything has even begun?
Today, Master Chi has a piece of homework for you. If you’re willing, share with everyone what you gained and lost this year, what brought you joy and gratitude, and what your goals and plans are for the year ahead. Of course, if it involves anything private, just say so in the comments — consider Master Chi your keeper of secrets.