Reflection of 2016
Last night, I slept through the 2017 countdown. Perhaps, it is a sign that I am growing old in my life.
(source: Youtube Image)
On Friday (30 Dec 2016), I watched this movie called Dangal. I grew fond of Indian movies after someone influential in my life encouraged me to do so. It is an Indian movie about the first Indian female wrestler, Geeta Phogat, who overcame the stereotype about female wrestling in India and went on to clinch the first ever gold medal at the Commonwealth Olympics 2010. She did that under the strict coaching regimen by her father, Mahavir Singh Phogat.
As the scenes were playing out, subconsciously, it was a sharp rebuke and reflection of myself lately. Towards the end of this year, I reflected that I was complacent in my life. Maybe I felt that life was quite okay and I did not fight as hard as before – anymore. In the movie, Geeta Phogat and Babita Kumari went through the tortuous 5AM training before going to school. Often, they were falling asleep in school because of sheer exhaustion.
“While other children of our age would sleep cosily in their beds, we were expected to be at the pit for training even before the cock crowed. This remains unchanged, as even today whenever we [Geeta, Babita] and the other sisters are home, we have to follow the same routine. Back then, if any of us ever fell short of Papa’s expectations during training, he would severely reprimand us.
It occurred to me that I should consider myself lucky to be living in Singapore… yet I am lacking in self-discipline lately. I drew myself as a direct comparison with the female wrestlers. I’ve been indulging in TV shows, improper diet, late hours of sleep and too much time on social media wasted.
- Why is my health not improving?
- Why is my wealth not increasing?
- Why is my energy low?
The answer is… I am merely just interested and I am not committed to my goals. To set a goal is one thing; to follow through is even more important.
While my net worth dropped a bit in the first half of 2016, I managed to pull it back up. Last year, I am okay to share that my net worth hadn’t increased significantly. Ultimately, this is my race to run. I am 24 and there is still a long runway.
I also did weight myself earlier this morning, I weight around 80.4KG. At a height of 178cm, this means that I am overweight. I am shocked! I feel that the reason for my low energy is my weight. I stopped running on the weekends. I stopped doing my daily workouts.
I was weak and I gave into my temptations. There were no excuses and I accepted this result.
As human beings, we tend to focus on our negativities and forgot entirely about the positive things. I am grateful for many things that happened.
- I was given the opportunity to speak in front of Value Investing Summit with a record crowd size of over 1,500.
- Started taking full responsibility of tutorials; expanded my knowledge on the stock universe of India, Australia, New Zealand and a bit of Malaysia.
- During Chinese New Year, I sponsored my mother and sister to an all-expenses paid trip to Adelaide, Australia. The satisfaction from doing so gave me the motivation to continue working hard in my life.
- Managed to secure sponsorships, valued over $2,000, for my company’s anniversary.
- Added several book titles to my wishlist and finished over 7 books or more.
- Able to grow my portfolio by over S$27,000 towards the last 3 months of 2016
Looking forward into 2017, my disappointments will be the fuel to spur me into actions. It starts with goal setting. While I am not a firm believer of goal setting, it is useful because it helps to remind an individual of his declaration. Declarations are powerful.
Perhaps, I am too fixated on one goal called the million dollar portfolio goal. The danger of this all-consuming goal is once I have achieved it, I would totally lose my motivation in doing anything else. It’s time to think about a larger goal!
In 2017, I would like, and I direct my time, resources and energy towards:
- Having some form of mastery to be able to conduct full-fledged investment classes
- Create an authentic voice to inspire hundreds.
- Rebuild and reconstruct my portfolio towards S$750,000 goal.
- Being fair and love more.
- Exercise and reduce my weight by 3KG; get fitter!
- Be a happier person inside out and be grateful for my life.
- Find a suitable girlfriend.
- Be rich in knowledge, adventure, laughter, family, health and love!
- Travel more to places such as Japan and America.
It’s time to get 2017 going!