It’s time to look back on the year and think about what to do in 2025. Let’s get to it!
YouTube
Well, well, well. I started off 2024 really gung-ho about teaching English on YouTube. In February, I started a new channel which blew up! The very first video brought in 12,000 subscribers right away and I was monetized two weeks later! It continued to grow to 25,000 subscribers, almost entirely from that first video, and then… the views just plummeted.
It was really demoralizing. I even quit my online teaching gig at CafeTalk, thinking I could get students directly from YouTube, but that didn’t happen at all.
Summer
I don’t usually get any visitors, but this summer was a rare exception. First, my brother Mark came over to Japan for two weeks. It was a lot of fun. Having him here got me out of the house and exploring the country again. We went around Gifu and Nagano, and he even took my son on a huge roller-coaster at Nagashima Spa-land, which they both regretted, lol.
Then as soon as he’d gone, an old school friend came to visit! And then not long after, another friend came, too! This never happens! 😀
Health and Study
I read a brilliant book called Atomic Habits, and it gave me the impetus to lose wait and learn Chinese! That was five months ago, and since then I’ve been waking up at 6:15, studying Chinese for half an hour, then doing a quick stretch, kettlebell and yoga or pilates routine before going for a morning walk.
I lost 6kg and am now at 68kg which I think is as skinny as I want to get at 6ft tall. I’m taking a break from walking over the New Year because it’s so cold that my glasses fog up and I can’t see anything. I still do the rest, and even take Chinese lessons at my local college every Saturday. My motivation? To watch dramas.
Work
With YouTube mostly behind me (I’ll keep my old channel alive), I’m now working on making courses to use in my school. With ChatGPT’s help, it’s easy to make my own materials. My biggest problem is a lack of marketing savvy. Just because I make great courses, doesn’t mean anyone will sign-up for them.
Surprise
The funniest thing happened a couple of months ago. I got a friend request on Facebook from my first ever crush! This is a girl I set my heart on when I was a teenager, but never had the confidence to tell her.
So, I accepted the request and we started messaging back and forth, catching up on old times. She’s married with kids and… teaches English overseas! How about that?! We’re still in touch, but I haven’t told her about my old teenage desires. That was 35 years ago after all!
2025
In 2025, I’m going to stop putting pressure on myself. I’m constantly living in fear of students quitting and my business falling apart, and it’s not good for my health. My anxiety causes back pain, which drains my energy… I even have to take a 2 hour nap every afternoon!
Instead, I’m going to chip away at improving the lessons I teach, make more materials for my website (I’ll set up a little shop) and just let what happens happen. If disaster strikes I’ll do something about it, but until then, I need to chill a bit and enjoy life – heck, I’m turning 50 this year!
If you like, you can find me on Twitter at @nick_ramsay. I'd love to hear from you!
Hmmm a very interesting year indeed! Lots of ups and downs. Hard to believe you are only 68 kgs, I think you should get to 69. At least it’s a really cool number.
How about making a resolution to post on this website at least once a month? Give the people what they desire!
I can do the weight. Gaining it is easy! As for the blogging, I promise to post once a year. 😀
I want to see you get to 90 kg. And please blog once a month or more.