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Showing posts from November, 2015

Finding Passion from Impulse

I was brainstorming on the items for the three new businesses that I was thinking of, and was having a severe mental block. As such, rather than going for businesses, I was wondering, why not try out things that I have an impulse to do, but have never tried. I'm not a passionate person. And if you were to ask me what I really liked, I can't really tell you. But there are many things that I sometimes have an impulse to do, but am deterred by some limitations, self- doubt, and more importantly -- laziness and high inertia. I read a super interesting article on having many passions and how to go about it . The conclusion I have is that, there are too many naysayers (including ourselves around). And if we limit ourselves to only what we are doing now, because of these "advice", we will forever be at the same step. So if you have an impulse for something, go try it, and only doing it, then would you know yourself better, and whether you have the passion for that. As

Complaining is Useless

I re- read my previous post , and felt that it was a complain- ish post, where I whined about whether one's job is worth the sacrifice . But is whining, complaining, of any use? Does it make the situation better? Apparently NOT. Rather than complaining, why not try to make the situation better? I have friends who complain about their jobs, and after years, they are still in the same company, and having the same complaints. Doesn't seem like that complaining helps, ya? So, I decided, rather than complaining, I will spend more time thinking positively on how to improve the situation. It's action that makes a difference, not sound or noise.

Is your job worth the sacrifice?

My partner has been working loads of overtime lately. For your information, my partner is a white collared worker, so no over- time pay. Sometimes, I wonder, is sacrificing loads of time for the company worth it. What are your thoughts?

What's so great about travelling?

I talked about not travelling anywhere for my this block of leave I am taking from work. Well, on contrary, most people I know spend most of their leave on overseas holiday. I used to do that, until one of the vacations made me realize what I really want from a vacation. Vacation of Realization @ Iceland It's my vacation to --- Iceland I was here on a self- drive tour last year in April, and this is the only place, that I feel sad to go home, after more than a week here. Usually, by the last day of any vacation, I would want to go home as I missed my family, our food, my bed, etc. But this vacation was different. The photos below are all taken by me when I was at Iceland last year. They are not from some postcards. What did you notice? I could take photos without anyone inside! The reason why I loved Iceland is because you can be truly yourself. No need to act because there is not many people you can act in front of (particularly I'm on a n

Why being exam smart is related to Real Life

Many people complain that Singaporean students are exam smart, and being exam smart may not be useful for them in the real life. I disagree.  In fact, the skills gain from being exam smart are rather similar to the skills required to succeed in life, the only thing is, you need to remember bring out these "exam smart skills" after you finish formal education.  These skills include having a good understanding of: - what is important in the syllabus, and - how to score What is important in the syllabus There is so much information out in the world. Examinations usually come with a syllabus which you should stick to to do well. Also, there is so much in the syllabus, what are the important "modules" that you need to know well, so that you can do well -- these will affect how much focus you put, and in other words, how well you do for the examination. Similarly, the world out there is information overload. To do well in whichever field, y

So You Want to Retire?

I talked about having sufficient to meet my retirement at the age of 45 . However, what is retiring? To many, retiring means not needing to work, and do what you like.  The latter may be something you may like to ponder about.  Some examples of retiring I remembered my dad retired years ago, and for a few months, he had nothing much to do. You see, he used to work, buy things, eat three meals, look at his 4D/ TOTO book (don't ask me what's there to look at), and occasionally, drink coffee, and work took up most of the workday. On his rest day, replace work with sleep. How does that sound? When he retired, he did what he do on his rest days... To me, that sounds ok for a few days, but super boring for long periods of time. He later went to work part time, and I guess with companion, and something to do, well, he's occupied, and happier. Also, there is more pocket money. I guess, working may be good for him. As for my mom, I see a totally different picture

So what if you have more free time?

I used to work in Jurong Island --- the land of ulu... I ended work at 5.40 pm then, and took the company transport to one of the MRT stations in the west, and reach home at about 7.30 pm (since I live at the other end of Singapore). Back then, I was envious of people who can reach home by 6+ every day. I always thought, I could do so much if I were to reach home by 6+ each day. Fast forward today, my work place is a mere 20 min from my home. With work ending at 6 pm, I can reach home by 6.30 pm. This is about 1 hour of free time more per day, assuming 52 work weeks, and 5 work days per week, that's 156 hours for three years! So what have I achieved with this about 156 hours? Sleep more, watch more TV, eat more, idle more, more random web surfing etc. Actually, nothing much have changed. Why? Goals To Achieve The main reason for wasting away the 156 + hours is because I don't have a goal that I really want to achieve, and the reason why there is nothing