Previously I tried buying shares using iOCBC Securities to see how things are like.
And today, I have finally made my first substantial transaction! (actually two).
Based on the advice from an eBook written by a renowned forumer on HWZ, I went to set up a Security Trading Account with Standard Chartered Bank because it's suppose to have the lowest fees for transaction above $1000.
Through this account, I invested in the counter ES3 - STI ETF (for regular investment) and CC3 - Starhub (just because I felt the price was low).
It took me a rather long time before I decided to take the plunge.
I have been monitoring the prices, and the price for ES3 seems rather high at the moment.
I felt like I would be at a disadvantage by going in now.
But the Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA) advocates for a regular investment, no matter the price.
So, I just did it.
Another step towards my financial goal~!
Thursday, May 18, 2017
My Definition of Fun - Spartan Super 2017
The photos from my Spartan Super 2017 on 6 May are finally out!
Wait for them to release the photos for quite some time.
A bit disappointed because there were many photos taken during the course.
And I didn't wear my action camera this time, because I felt that it was a chore to bring, and I always feel distracted by it during the past races.
This time, I felt more free going through the obstacles without worrying about where the camera is pointing, is it on during the obstacles, is the battery still going strong...
I enjoyed it much more!
It took me around 4 hours to complete the whole race.
That's actually quite a long duration for just a 10+ km obstacles race.
My previous timing was 2 hours + only.
The reason was because I walked the entire journey of the race instead of running.
My strength and stamina isn't that strong, so I figured that if I run, I wouldn't have the strength to conquer the obstacles, which is basically the whole point behind me joining the race.
So I just walked.
And practically, around half the race was full of mud.
It would expend much more effort to run on the mud, so it made more sense to walk.
Immediately after this, I signed myself up for the velocity urban challenge 5, which is happening in another month's time.
The organizer revealed 3 obstacles, and one of them makes me wonder if I could pass it.
Will be starting to train for it!
Wait for them to release the photos for quite some time.
A bit disappointed because there were many photos taken during the course.
And I didn't wear my action camera this time, because I felt that it was a chore to bring, and I always feel distracted by it during the past races.
This time, I felt more free going through the obstacles without worrying about where the camera is pointing, is it on during the obstacles, is the battery still going strong...
I enjoyed it much more!
It took me around 4 hours to complete the whole race.
That's actually quite a long duration for just a 10+ km obstacles race.
My previous timing was 2 hours + only.
The reason was because I walked the entire journey of the race instead of running.
My strength and stamina isn't that strong, so I figured that if I run, I wouldn't have the strength to conquer the obstacles, which is basically the whole point behind me joining the race.
So I just walked.
And practically, around half the race was full of mud.
It would expend much more effort to run on the mud, so it made more sense to walk.
Immediately after this, I signed myself up for the velocity urban challenge 5, which is happening in another month's time.
The organizer revealed 3 obstacles, and one of them makes me wonder if I could pass it.
Will be starting to train for it!
Day #4 - Pacing
After 3 days of rather back-to-back programs, I kinda felt that I wanted to rest today.
Although I didn't plan it that way, my mind kinda automatically switched to relax mode. haha..
Perhaps I was pushing myself too hard?
Well, in any case, I will just rest for the evening.
Today's Small Wins
- Rest
- Meditate
- Maintained a 5-min plank before lunch for the past 4 days
Today's Small Losses
- woke up later by 30min
- didn't follow plan
- sleeping later by 30 min
Although I didn't plan it that way, my mind kinda automatically switched to relax mode. haha..
Perhaps I was pushing myself too hard?
Well, in any case, I will just rest for the evening.
Today's Small Wins
- Rest
- Meditate
- Maintained a 5-min plank before lunch for the past 4 days
Today's Small Losses
- woke up later by 30min
- didn't follow plan
- sleeping later by 30 min
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Day #3 - Gambatte~!
3rd day following my schedule!
And I'm feeling a bit tired at work, and at home already.
But at the very least, I'm pushing myself towards my goals.
Tonight is a bit late in posting this, mainly because I was too caught up in finishing up another item for my financial blog contents. Trying to make sure that all my calculations are correct.
Today's Small Wins
- Woke up on time (@ 6 a.m.
- Exercise after work
- Did household chore
- Meditated
- Focused on my financial blog contents for near to 2 hours and finish another item
Today's Small Losses
- Slightly distracted at work
- Sleeping later than planned
Found out that I'm lacking a dedicated time to do my own personal reading (i.e. self-improvement book). Gotta slot in this somewhere, otherwise my Choice 3 won't materialize.
And I'm feeling a bit tired at work, and at home already.
But at the very least, I'm pushing myself towards my goals.
Tonight is a bit late in posting this, mainly because I was too caught up in finishing up another item for my financial blog contents. Trying to make sure that all my calculations are correct.
Today's Small Wins
- Woke up on time (@ 6 a.m.
- Exercise after work
- Did household chore
- Meditated
- Focused on my financial blog contents for near to 2 hours and finish another item
Today's Small Losses
- Slightly distracted at work
- Sleeping later than planned
Found out that I'm lacking a dedicated time to do my own personal reading (i.e. self-improvement book). Gotta slot in this somewhere, otherwise my Choice 3 won't materialize.
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
Day #2 - Pacing myself
Today is the 2nd day of the schedule that I have came up with.
It's still undergoing minor edits here and there, so I guess it would only be more fixed after I have gone through a few rounds of it.
Tonight's focus is on generating financial contents for another blog that I have. Because I have been neglecting it for close to 1 month, I have decided to focus on it for this week, and alternate between generating contents for my financial blog, and learning mobile app development. I hope this can help me to generate more focus and flow for these 2 separate roles that I want to fulfill.
Today Small Wins:
- Finished a book, Invisible Influence
- Adjusted life schedule to align with roles
- Spent 2 hours on financial blog contents, and came up with a satisfied product
- Meditate (which I'm about to do)
Today Small Losses:
- Woke up @ 6.30 a.m. (slightly later than what I aimed for, but at least it was before 7 a.m.)
- Sleep @ 11.45 p.m. (again, slightly later than what I aimed for, but it was due to me doing personal work)
- Adjusted life schedule to align with roles
- Spent 2 hours on financial blog contents, and came up with a satisfied product
- Meditate (which I'm about to do)
Today Small Losses:
- Woke up @ 6.30 a.m. (slightly later than what I aimed for, but at least it was before 7 a.m.)
- Sleep @ 11.45 p.m. (again, slightly later than what I aimed for, but it was due to me doing personal work)
Monday, May 15, 2017
Day #1 - Organizing my life
Following advice from Choice 3, it would do me good to set up a time schedule, which integrates all the important roles that I want to play in my life. This would ensures that I allocate time for all these roles, and then I would have to work hard to keep at it.
I wrote up the schedule during my commute to work and off work. And I did up a schedule for every single day of the week, catering to the various roles. I would think it needs multiple revisions as I follow them through, but at least I'm starting it now.
At the same time, I thought of doing a daily short blog post of how I did for the day; the various small wins that I achieved. Sort of like a quick reflection before I go to bed.
Things I have managed to achieve today!
I wrote up the schedule during my commute to work and off work. And I did up a schedule for every single day of the week, catering to the various roles. I would think it needs multiple revisions as I follow them through, but at least I'm starting it now.
At the same time, I thought of doing a daily short blog post of how I did for the day; the various small wins that I achieved. Sort of like a quick reflection before I go to bed.
Things I have managed to achieve today!
- Managed to wake up at 6 a.m.
- Planned out a regular week schedule
- Exercise for 1 hour
- Meditate for 10 min
- Vacuumed the floor (so my mum doesn't need to)
- Work on my financial blog contents for 1 hour (and then I got distracted. haha.. shit.)
- Sleeping before 11.30 p.m. (which I'm about to do)
Celebrating the small wins first, and working towards the big ones.
Wednesday, May 10, 2017
The 5 Choices - Part II
Took me a while to finish up the exercises for the 2nd Choice.
I realized that I couldn't really do productive work at home.
So now I'm writing out this blog post at a Starbucks, sipping on my hot chocolate.
Choice 2 - Go For Extraordinary, Don't Settle For Ordinary
1. Identification of Roles
I'm supposed to identify the different roles that I play, or want to play in my life, and prioritize 5 to 7 of these roles which I feel is more important.
More Impt Roles
2. Life Wheel + Performance Evaluation
In this step, I drew a circle and divide the circle equally by the number of roles I have identified. I drew inner circles as well to have concentric circles, and each region of the concentric circles represent the evaluation of how I am performing in those roles.
I felt like I was doing my best as a life partner to Dearest, but I wasn't being Extra-ordinary yet. And my worst performance was as an app developer, because seriously speaking, I am no where near it. Haha.. Feels a bit like a wake-up call.
3. Anchoring Purpose & Passion in a Q2 Role Title
Next, the book advised me to renamed the roles that I have identified, but embed them with a purpose and passion. Not so sure how the "Q2" is supposed to help guide this renaming, but I'm guessing the role titles are supposed to be "Important, not Urgent"; roles that I should be consistently working in.
For each of the 6 initial (and boring) role titles, I have individually thought through carefully on what I want to achieve in these roles, and thought of the most suitable names to re-title them. I showed them to Dearest, and she praised that the "Son -> Freedom Enabler" was a really apt title for the things that I want for my parents.
The book advises that these roles can change over time, as my purposes and passion would change as my life progresses. Perhaps reviewing them in a half-yearly manner would be ideal to rethink my priorities.
4. Craft a Q2 Role Statement for Each Role
This exercise is quite similar to life goals setting; to come up with an aim, and the concrete steps to achieving that aim. The template for this exercise is to start out with the retitled roles with "As ...", the aim "I will ...", and the concrete actions "By ...". A rather exhausting exercise for me.
I realized that I couldn't really do productive work at home.
So now I'm writing out this blog post at a Starbucks, sipping on my hot chocolate.
 |
| This can be addictive~ |
1. Identification of Roles
I'm supposed to identify the different roles that I play, or want to play in my life, and prioritize 5 to 7 of these roles which I feel is more important.
More Impt Roles
- Life Partner
- Son
- Friend
- Company staff
- App Developer
- Financial Freedom Pursuer
- Solo Trekker
- Obstacle Racer
- Mindfulness Mediator
- Maths solver
2. Life Wheel + Performance Evaluation
In this step, I drew a circle and divide the circle equally by the number of roles I have identified. I drew inner circles as well to have concentric circles, and each region of the concentric circles represent the evaluation of how I am performing in those roles.
 |
| Life Wheel + Performance Evaluation |
I felt like I was doing my best as a life partner to Dearest, but I wasn't being Extra-ordinary yet. And my worst performance was as an app developer, because seriously speaking, I am no where near it. Haha.. Feels a bit like a wake-up call.
3. Anchoring Purpose & Passion in a Q2 Role Title
Next, the book advised me to renamed the roles that I have identified, but embed them with a purpose and passion. Not so sure how the "Q2" is supposed to help guide this renaming, but I'm guessing the role titles are supposed to be "Important, not Urgent"; roles that I should be consistently working in.
For each of the 6 initial (and boring) role titles, I have individually thought through carefully on what I want to achieve in these roles, and thought of the most suitable names to re-title them. I showed them to Dearest, and she praised that the "Son -> Freedom Enabler" was a really apt title for the things that I want for my parents.
The book advises that these roles can change over time, as my purposes and passion would change as my life progresses. Perhaps reviewing them in a half-yearly manner would be ideal to rethink my priorities.
4. Craft a Q2 Role Statement for Each Role
This exercise is quite similar to life goals setting; to come up with an aim, and the concrete steps to achieving that aim. The template for this exercise is to start out with the retitled roles with "As ...", the aim "I will ...", and the concrete actions "By ...". A rather exhausting exercise for me.
5. Making My Roles Tangible: Setting Q2 Roles
The final exercise is to come up with some immediate course of actions to fulfill my roles, in the format of "From X to Y by When". So I came up with some immediate things that I want to do now.
Role: Journey Companion
Action: Making a project schedule and lead the journey for the wedding and renovation By 14 May 2017
Role: Freedom Enabler
Action: Make a list of food to avoid/eat for diabetes for mum By 13 May 2017
Role: Lasting Buddy
Action: Organize a dinner with the e4 guys By 18 Jun 2017
Role: Diligent Researcher
Action: Finish off the book "Invisible Influence" By 31 May 2017
Action: Read 3 academic articles By 12 May 2017
Role: Aspiring Developer
Action: Schedule fixed time periods for Udemy lessons By 11 May 2017
Action: Finish at least 3 lessons By 14 May 2017
Role: Freedom Aspirer
Action: Schedule fixed time periods for working on Financial Blog contents By 11 May 2017
Action: Decide on regular purchase of ETFs (amount and when) By 10 May 2017
These exercises took me quite a bit of effort to finish them, but I'm glad I did. They made me sit down and review my priorities, evaluate them, and come out with a course of actions to pursue them.
Onwards to Choice 3~!
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