My CEO Journey

I was evaluating my expenses to be for 2017. Unlike previous years , where I have no mortgage to pay for, there is mortgage for 2017, and other additional. Hence, 2017 seems likely to be a year of high expenses. Except for the home that we bought, my partner and I have totally separate finances, so his expenses are not included here. It's astonishing that even before 2017 starts, almost $60,000 is likely to be out! Do you have this problem like me? Some of the items can actually be cut down. Like cable TV, but it's at my parents' place... And the amount is small, compared to insurance and endowment, which easily eats up about 20% of the likely expenditure. Ridiculous. Unless I do something about insurance and endowment, it's likely that I will need to spend $65,000 or more 2017. I am keeping $65,000 as the maximum target for 2017. I hope to spend lesser than that. Variable will be about $490 per month. Welcome austerity... Fixed Expenses  - $59,130 $5050

I received two thought- provoking emails almost at the same time recently. Task one comes from email one which requires that I change a few words and the title of my report. Bang, I finished task one almost as soon as I saw the mail. Task two comes from another email which requires me consider A to Z, ground to sky, hair to heel, calculate godzillion of the godzillion, and include them in a report. Guess which task did first? Task one of course.  As for task two, it's too much of a hassle to complete it, and I procrastinated, until I couldn't anymore, and completed it at the end of the day.  Now, what if we change the tasks to our goals. Which one is more likely to be achieved? I would bet on goal one. But many would argue that such small and simple stuff is unlikely to amount to something significant. But, if we were to do many of such small and easy task, 积少成多， it would accumulate into something significant. Ya? It's human to be put off t

December is the month where I would attend many weddings. I recently attended my sister's wedding, which is extremely atypical of a Singaporean Chinese wedding.  I had to take leave to attend it, since it is on a weekday day time. The wedding started off with solemnization at ROM. After that, the groom chartered us on taxis (ok, he booked the cabs) to their place for a lunch reception at their newly renovated flat. The event was cozy, and we get to chat with everyone, and even get to know the other side's relatives.  The lunch buffet was from a caterer which food my parents like. I am from the bride's side, and I personally know the people she invited. As for the groom's side, it was a time to know his immediate family. Honestly, I really enjoyed this wedding. I have never thought about a wedding like that, but I feel it's really really cool. It was atypical of the 8 - 10 course banquets that I usually attend, sitting in a table usually with some

Having reviewed and reflected on 2016 , I decided that I need goals for 2017. Many of us have set new year resolutions, and how many of us actually achieve what we have set? For me, new year resolution is crap. They are never effective for me. One week before the "deadline", I will be cramping stuff to complete, so that I do a bit, and the year doesn't look so bad. 零时抱佛脚。。。However, the amount accomplished is so minute that they do not materialize into something substantial enough. So for 2017, I am not going to make annual goals. Since I am the last minute type of person, and there is a limited amount that I can do last minute for a year of work, annual goals don't work for me. At the same time, I am a "result orientated" person. I don't want bad results when I evaluate myself, so I will try to do something when the deadline comes. So, why not set new month resolutions or new week resolutions? Even if I were to work one week per month o

2016 is coming to an end soon in just slightly more than two weeks' time! How has the year been for you? I have started this blog back in September last year, with the intention of leading my CEO life , where I take charge of my business (my life), by focusing for six key departments: - health - personal finance - family - current business - new businesses - personal development As I have not set specific goals to be achieved in each of the department explicitly, in this review, I can only look at what each of my department has done. No specific goals set, no yardstick, hence it's going to be very hard to evaluate performance. But well, this is my attempt in some form of evaluation. Review of the performance of each department Review of Health Department I have done a medical checkup recently, and the results aren't great. Cholesterol (LDL) and fat levels are way above the tolerable amount, and the report indicated to do a checkup in a few months tim

What is love? To me, to love someone means to think about their welfare, not only for the immediate future, but for the long term. Recently, I have been talking to many people, and hearing their stories regarding housing. As someone who has recently bought a home , I find that Singapore is still a very Asian society, where parents do impose their thinking on their children (even if they are not paying for it!). I guess if that's for the good of the children, it's okay. But many a times, I feel that the decisions that parents force on their kids, are more for their own desire/ needs, rather than for the welfare of their children. As such, sometimes, I wonder in these cases, do parents really love their children? The following are some stories that I heard recently, which set me thinking. Story 1: Peter is 65 years old. His children are all married, and moved out. Their 5- room flat now lives him, his wife, and his wife's parents. According to him, th