My 2018 Retrospective

The last day of 2017, I got everything I really wanted in life, but yet, I was lost.

The ONE thing that is bothering me. I don’t know what to do next.

I don’t know how to make full use of this new gift, time.

My desperation became my inspiration.

I went deep into happiness, philosophy and the human condition. Looking back, 2018 is the year of re-learning the basics.

"There are no glib answers because they are no answer that applies to everybody."

WHAT’S WORKING? (“WHAT DID I DO RIGHT? WHAT AM I PROUD OF?”)

I consolidated everything I knew about life.

  • I learn a new set of happiness and life philosophy: How to be Happy (without being rich).
  • I wrote out my foundational values (inspired by my friend, JR Hinds).
  • I wrote 7 blog articles.
  • I solo travel a lot. I travelled 5 of 12 months in Japan, US, Canada, Bali and Taiwan.
  • I live out of a campervan.
  • I went to the World Domination Summit in Portland. (Will be back again next year)

"Working on values is long-term selfish, short-term sacrifice."

I doubled down on health.

  • I quit smoking. I will write more about this.
  • I am okay with boredom.
  • I started taking care of my teeth – brushing and flossing.
  • I created a personal contact management system to record and sort my contacts.
  • I swapped my to-do list system to Things 3. (highly recommended)
  • I started working from a co-working space.
  • I am no longer attached to being a wedding planner.
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I feel that I am ready to meet some new people.

  • I shaved my goatee. I wrote about it here.
  • I got some fashion advice and brought nice clothes. (Thanks Harsha and Qiyi)
  • I worked on my dating profile.
  • I went on “dates”, for the first time in my life.
  • And no, I have no found the one yet.
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I built a company that funds my freedom.

  • I made about $60K profit this year.
  • I saved $30K this year, exceeded by goals by $10K.
  • I rebranded the Sage Animation – new logo, website and showreel.

WHAT’S NOT  WORKING? (“WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED? WHAT ARE MY BIGGEST OPPORTUNITIES FOR GROWTH?”)

I am still fat. My weight today is 80.3kg, it should have been 72kg. I just eat too much, more than what the body needs.

I tried the jars of salad, cutting grains and cutting sugar. I tried supplements. I struggle with binge eating at night and when I am mentally fatigued.

My hand is occasionally in pain, causing inconvenience and dropped in productivity. I tried on going on all sorts of scans – MRI, X-ray and physio. Nothing major found.

I created an excel file and recorded my daily activities. Good news, the possible cause might be excessive usage in poor postures.

I plan on fixing that next year.

HOW CAN I FIX WHAT’S NOT WORKING FOR A BETTER RESULT? (“WHAT SPECIFIC THINGS CAN I FOCUS ON NEXT TIME?”)

Action steps: Hire a coach.

Rationale: I’ve tried doing it myself for 3 years. The weight has never dropped below 74kg. It comes and goes. I need to develop habits and retrain my thinking.

I am very excited for 2019 with a couple of new secret projects in the pipeline.

And yes, I am not lost anymore. I learnt that I was never lost to begin with.

2019, here I come!

What about you? How does your year look when you looked back? What did you learn to prepare yourself for the coming year?

Thank you, Nate Green for inspiring the post.

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