Day #989 - When you are content to be simply yourself

And don't compare or compete,
Everybody will respect you.

Did this quote really come from Lao Tzu? haha..

I don't know.
But it's a reminder to just be yourself.

Goals of the Day:

• Finish project F work scope on overview
• Not Achieved
• Iron x 3
• Achieved
• Read for 15 minutes
• Achieved

Things I'm Grateful for Today:

• Bun slept through the night for 10 hours last night
• Dearest taking care of Bun even though she was still recovering from her illness
• Boss being conscious of my time of getting off work early

Day #984 - Doing the RIGHT things, RIGHT.

Today is the 8th anniversary as a couple with Dearest.
Happy 8th year my Dearest >_<

This period is a busy one with family and work.
And among these two, I'm also trying to squeeze in time for myself.

So on top of doing things efficiently, I also need to remind myself that I need to work on the right things.

Goals of the Day:

• Be efficient (fast and focused) and effective (impactful and prioritized) at work
• Give myself and my family more time buffer to breathe

Day #981 - Daily Reminder

To my Dearest, and to myself.
We both, have come so far.

Goals of the Day:

• Get all the work schedules mapped out and prioritize work
• Get new money notes for CNY
• Clear out the 2 storage boxes in BR3

Day #969 - Starting Early

Finally managed to wake up early in the morning at 6am+!
And feeling not that bad.

An early start is a good start of the day.

Goals of the Day:

• Jot down my new year resolutions in writing and in blog
• Clear out the newly bought IKEA stuff
• Reach home early

Day #966 - Discipline in place of Motivation

Motivation is something that rises and falls.
And in times when it falls, discipline would be a good catch-all.

Goals of the Day:

• Finalize the 20 new year resolutions
• Achieved
• Organize the remaining top kitchen cabinets
• Not Achieved (left some parts untouched)
• Financial administration
• Achieved

Things to be Grateful for Today:

• Dearest doing her best to give me smiles whenever I come home from work
• Being able to squeeze in time at work to do some personal tasks
• Some comedy on my drive to and fro work

Day #965 - Be The Lion

I have been reading a book called "Be The Lion" by Tim Castle.

Hopeful that I would find inspirations and approaches to find me find the way in my life.

Goals of the Day:

• Have quality family time
• Achieved
• Finish organizing the cleaning the kitchen cabinets
• Not Achieved
• Write down 10 new year resolutions
• Achieved

Things I'm Grateful for Today:

• A nice outing to IKEA with the family
• BunBun getting lots of nap through the outing and not fussing
• Dearest and I being open to each other's ideas on how to organise the house (specifically the laundry bags for today, haha)
• Dearest dressing up for the day >_<
• Dearest doing her best on a daily basis

Day #963 - Action Plan for Resolutions

Making resolutions is just the first step.
Create an action plan for each and every resolution is the key to fulfilling the resolution.

Like the previous year, I hope to make 20 resolutions for this year again.
And next year, I could see how many of these resolutions I have fulfilled =)

Goals of the Day:

• Have a good dinner gathering with my psych guys and our partner
• Achieved
• Create 20 resolutions for this year
• Not Achieved

Things to be Grateful for Today:

• Having a bunch of friends who we could talk and relate to with regards to parenting and financial concerns
• Dearest for being able to communciate to me on what I am doing well in

Day #962 - 1st Work Day

Decide what to do.
Write it down.
Make a plan.
Do it every day.

Sounds quite straightforward.

Goals of the Day:

• Review past year's resolutions (a bit late for this, but I still wanna do it)
• Achieved
• This year's resolutions
• Not Achieved

Year 2019 Resolutions:

1. To start trying for a baby with Dearest - Achieved
• Tried, and gotten it within the year. Woohoo~! haha..
2. To go on a romantic getaway with Dearest - Not Achieved
• Wanted to plan a short getaway before Bun comes along, but we were late in planning. And the one we planned for was during the 7th month, and the only good thing there was the private pool. So in the end, we didn't go.
3. To strive to be an affectionate and loving husband - Achieved
• Hopefully, from the eyes of Dearest
4. To help mum and dad - Achieved
• I think they helped themselves more than I helped them, which I'm grateful for.
5. To continue to spend time with mum regularly - Achieved
• Less towards the end of the year as I got real busy with taking care of Dearest and Bun
6. To find a common activity with Dad to spend time with him - Not Achieved
• Still not sure what to do together with Dad.
7. To schedule time to meet friends regularly (guys, John, e4, psych, army) - Not Achieved
• Tried to do so, but it's not easy to gather all. Even mahjong was only 5 sessions in total this year. This's a record in my life.
8. To get started on the adventure of JMaths and see how it can evolve - Achieved
• I took the leap of faith and created a website to contain a database of maths solutions (though not a lot at the moment), and conducted public tuition within my estate. Only had 1 regular 'customer', but that was enough to feel rather fulfilled.
9. To do regular financial research and update A2RY blog at least once per month - Not Achieved
• Just didn't have the energy and time to do
10. To research and execute financial decisions that would benefit the family - Achieved
• Deliberated on the purchase of a car through reviewing and predicting family expenditure, and also deliberate and bought extra insurance to financially secure my family (term plan with critical illness)
11. To finish the only course of Mobile App Development - Not Achieved
• Delayed for many years.
12. To create and publish one app on Google Play Store - Not Achieved
• Delayed for many years
13. To make time to play hard - Achieved
• Still had some time to play badminton regularly and VR games once in a while
14. To plan a short solo hiking trip - Not Achieved
• After Dearest got pregnant early in the year, it was quite tough on her physical state. So I made the decision to stop all travels away from her.
15. To reach an investment portfolio of $50K - Not Achieved
• Stopped my regular investment because I needed the cashflow for Bun
16. To reach $50K in savings - Not Achieved
• Kinda had to drop this after buying the car. haha..
17. To plan my time religiously - Not Achieved
• I did make an effort here and there, but I felt that I could do a lot better
18. To build a habit of meditation - Not Achieved
• Didn't make this a habit
19. To reduce my weight to 63kg - Not Achieved
• Only managed to reduce my weight to 64kg+. But still, it was something, having went up to 67kg
20. To read 6 books - Not Achieved
• Read 3 books I think. need to read a lot more vigourously.

In summary:

• Achieved: 7
• Not Achieved: 13

Although I didn't manage to clear even half of my resolutions, I still feel that I have worked quite hard, for my goals, my family, and myself.

It's getting a bit late. I gotta get some shut-eye before bun wakes up later for feed.

I shall do this year's resolutions tomorrow!! or maybe during the weekend. haha..

Today's Wins:

• Reviewed last year's resolutions
• Managed to be less distracted at work

Today's Losses:

• Stayed up a bit later than I should
• Didn't manage to spend quality time with Dearest

Things I'm Grateful for Today:

• My MIL for coming to help with taking care of Bun
• Dearest for being proactive in handling the house chores together with me
• Bun's smile when he saw me after I came home from work