Thanks for all the responses guys. I must be honest, I definitely wasn't expecting such unanimous disapproval. It's not necessarily a bad thing though as most of what I hear from people irl is positive things about what it's done to their motivation levels, concentration ect... I really like it for writing comedy especially. Anytime I want to spend a few hours turning little notes and ideas I have into bits to try out on stage I take a modafinil and I can sit at my desk with my notebook and write page after page. But I will think twice before swallowing each pill from now on as Jdawg's post is pretty terrifying.
Pretty disappointing December given how it's got the reputation for being the most profitable month of the year.
2019 was a very successful year for me in every way, bar financially. I would go as far to say that it was the best year of my life. In January I moved to Thailand. Next week it will be one whole year since I left Scotland. One year since I ran away from my past mistakes and started again with a clean slate, on a continent where nobody knew who I was and I wasn't scarred the reputation that I had in my hometown.
There's many, many benefits to living in south east Asia but one of the big ones for me is that it's so much easier to meet people and make new friends here than if I were to move to any English speaking city where I didn't know anyone. The expat communities in whatever circles you want to mix in are very welcoming in all the cities I've been too here. This is really great for me as one the things that was stopping me from moving out of my hometown and into the city was always the fear of never gaining new group friends out there while the friends I left behind moved on with their lives. Knowing that for however long I stay in this part of the world that won't be an issue is a very comforting feeling for me.
Other positive changes in my life that I made in 2019 were that I got back into stand-up comedy after a near four-year hiatus, I quit alcohol (One bad night in Summer where I got scammed for like 12k in Chiang Mai made me go cold turkey and I haven't looked back) I started going to the gym regularly, stopped being a vegan soy boy and I am better at German now than when I was in Berlin this time last year.
Other highlights of 2019
- Flew business class for the first time in my life. (DUBAI to BKK)
- Met up with my best friend as a kid who I hadn't seen for 6 years
- Absolutely killed it performing at Stand-up Hanoi in October. Biggest crowd I had in 2019 and I couldn't have dreamed for a better reception.
I know that I need to do is put more effort into stand-up and getting ahead of the curve in poker and I'm sure 2020 will top 2019!
I'm leaving Bangkok to move to Hanoi in February as well. Won't be there forever, just 6-9 months most likely.
gl with all your 2020 goals guys!