• Highlight(s) and whether I achieve it
• What made me happy today?
• What am I grateful for today?
• What makes me excited today?
• What made me unhappy today?
• Mood level (1 being extremely unhappy, 10 being extremely happy)
• Overall grade (1 being extremely bad day, 10 being extremely good day)

Highlight(s)

For highlights, I keep track everyday on what is my highlight because in the past I tend to cram too much highlights in my day which made it harder for me make time for.

I started doing highlights log after I read the book “Make Time” and while the goal was to have highlights that you focus on achieving for that day, cramming too much highlights will create stress.

By keeping a log of my daily highlights, I will notice if I crammed too much highlights in my day.

I am happy to report that I have not overload my days with highlights and I have consistently achieved my daily highlights.

For this month, my highlights pretty much consists of

• Reading at least 3 books with Mason
• Running & stretching
• Researching and planning on a certain business opportunity that I have been keeping on the back burner

What Made me Happy Today?

I am one of those people who have to be constantly on the move and ever since I had a baby, my days start to feel like whirlwind of emotions. By keeping track of this event, it makes me focus on the simple things (or even large things) that makes me happy.

This daily log of “What made me happy today” often times give me the “Aha” moment of realizing that my day was not as bad as I thought.

What I noticed is on most days, I answered

• Hanging out with my brother and having a good talk
• Hanging out with family
• Having a good proper lazy day so I can rest

There are a few days where my source of happiness is my employees showing improvement in their work or other things involved with work, but those days are rare. I am actually quite pleased that work is not my only source of happiness

As planned, this question makes me think on simple things that made me happy, for example on 15 August, it was “Playing hide & seek with Mason” or on 24 August, it was “Mason’s excited expression when he realized I am done with work and we are going to play”. Even now, as I am writing this, I remember his expression again and it makes me happy.

What am I Grateful for Today?

Similar to what made me happy today, what am I grateful for today is for those events where you are not happy but you are grateful for like “Family and the safe space it creates”

I am going to sound very cheesy, but I did put down “Family” on the top every day. I am grateful that no matter how much of a bad day I have, my son will always be excited to show me his toys when I walk through the door. No matter if I don’t feel like eating dinner, my wife will always have a home cooked meal for me that she doesn’t pressure me to eat (I eat it, always)

What Made me Excited Today?

This is to keep track whether I am moving “forward” or not. By having something that excites you, you are moving forward because excitement implies something in the future.

I am happy to say that I always have something that makes me excited every day. I am currently researching a business opportunity (which I will write about if it comes to fruition) and it has been keeping me excited.

What Made me Unhappy Today?

Pretty self-explanatory. Often times, we don’t realize something is a big source of unhappiness until we force ourselves to realize it.

It was from Steve Jobs’ biography where he said something along the line if something makes you unhappy for a quite period of time, it’s time for you to change your situation.

Unfortunately for this one, most of my unhappiness comes from work and usually from the problems that I have to solve for the company.

Mood Level

This may make me sound like a depressed person, but keeping track of my mood makes me think on why I am grading my daily mood level a certain way.

As of August, I graded my mood levels on average a 7/10 and I am pretty happy with it. I am not trying to have an every day of 10/10 because I wouldn’t think that’s normal. Nobody is happy all the time, and nobody should be sad all the time.

A 7/10 means that on average my mood is pretty neutral while leaning more toward happy.

Overall Grade

This is similar to my mood level but while mood is intrinsic, overall grade will have extrinsic factors calculated. I can have an unhappy day but if I achieve what I set out to achieve, just maybe not in the way I preferred, my overall grade will be higher than my mood level.

I noticed there are a few days that my overall grade is higher than my mood level because I have busy days that I cannot spend enough time with my family but I was productive. On average, however, my overall grade usually matches my mood level and I am fine with that.

So, What did I learn?

I am glad I decided to do this daily journal even if I did not expect much from it in the beginning. The reasons being:

Daily Logs Help Shape your Day

Knowing that I have to fill out this daily logs make me plan my day that I don’t want to answer it with something I will regret.

I have a bad habit of going straight to my computer to work after dinner, but after filling out the questionnaire for a few days, I realize my family is my source of happiness and work can wait another 12 hours

Doing Logs for a Month Re-aligns my Value

Even as I am writing this, I realize where my values lie. Sometimes when you are in the habit of doing things, you forgot why you do it in the first place.

Why do I always work? well, it’s because I want to make sure even after I am gone, my family will be taken care of as much as possible. But, there are days where I am working just because that’s what I do. Instead of spending time with my family while I can, I was working to make sure that they have enough when I am no longer able to spend time with them. You see what I mean? it’s a circular reasoning that I am not proud of.

What’s Next?

Honestly, I don’t think I will continue to do this log every month but I am planning to do it once in a while for the reasons above. Let me know what you think.

A long while ago, somebody said something to me that has stuck with me almost half of my life now, “A defeated man’s song is tragic to hear, but very easy to sing”

Honestly, I don’t even remember who told me this, but it took me a while to understand it. Even when your friends and family feel sorry and understanding because your song is tragic, let’s face it, choosing to admit defeat instead of fighting on is always the easier alternative. For anybody that said otherwise, I call bullshit.

Ever heard of “When life gives you lemon, make a lemonade out of it”? Yeah, I am sick of hearing that too. Sometimes, when life gives you lemon, guess what, you have to suck it up, smile and say “Thank you for that zesty lemon”.

This philosophy bleeds into my leadership style in my company. Generally, the higher your position is in any organization, the more people want to see how you react when shit hits the fan. They want to see if you are sweating. Never, ever, ever sweat.

It’s not because your underlings do not like you (some of them may) or because they want to see you going through hard times (again, some of them may), but they are looking at you to see if they, themselves should panic.

Now, what happens when that zingy lemon that life hands you seem to be in harvest? and you seem to keep on getting lemons among oranges?

Do you feel the anger? good, use it. Feel that anger rises from your middle region radiating outward. Feel it numbs your fingers. Now smile and say Thank you. Do not act rashly. Do not bottle it up, anger is one of the 8 basic human emotions that prove you are human. When your head is calmer, remember the anger you feel. Use that cold blue fury and plan how you can move forward.

Use the anger to pursue your goals, not as a revenge. Anger can be good if you utilize it to get to where you want to go, it can be destructive if you let it lead you.

In the end, when life gives you lemon and you feel angry, use that anger to motivate you, so next time you will see the lemon coming and you will have a peeler ready to make that lemonade.

My house is not all white and gray and spacious. Sometimes when I am cooking, I have to cut my ingredients on my dining table because my kitchen counter looks more like a liquidation sale shelf.

However, I do not like to spend money on things I do not need. I guess you could say I am an “Essentialist.”

I do not get rid of things just for the sake of getting rid of things or because it doesn’t spark joy anymore, but rather because I do not like owning more things than I need to.

I have the same work bag that I used to travel, however I will not use the same bag when I am going to a sleepover because the 2 bags do not serve the same purpose.

I do not spend money on clothes but instead of having a minimal amount of the same clothes, I will buy more of the same clothes just so I do not have to do laundry every couple of days.

When you have more things that serve the same purpose, you have to maintain it and take care of it. Honestly, I am just too lazy for that.

Minimalist would prefer to have as little material things as possible, I still have stuffs that I like to collect and own. I have 6 pair of headphones, I have a number of watches (an interest that I share with my dad) and many others.

I could download a digital version of a song, but if I am a fan of the music, I will buy the CD.

My de-cluttering report that I have done last year was true and honest but I had been having trouble throwing or donating the rest of my stuffs because I do keep mementos from my childhood, friends and family.

Something that I can relate to when it comes to minimalism, however is collecting experiences and traveling.

A friend of the family once told me,

“You don’t look twice at souvenirs that you got from traveling, and you may forget what a place looks like if you travel enough, but you always remember the feeling being somewhere, because feeling is not done by your head, but rather by your heart“

I promised my wife when Mason was born that every year we will travel at least once to a place that we have not been before.

When I travel with Mason and my wife, I could give my full attention to my family.

The face that Mason makes the first time he was on the beach.

The face (even his cries) that he makes 2 seconds later when a wave came crashing on him.

The happiness that my wife feels when she finally gets that perfect picture of her OOTD (“Outfit of the Day” for those that are not in the know).

Risking sounding dramatic, for these few moments, life clicks and I found the reason why I welcome hard work and things I have to deal with at work.

Due to the pandemic, this year I have been reluctant to travel but I hope when this all dies down, I can start traveling again.

The kid is asleep, dishes are put away and you have ticked off the final to-do on your to-do list.

You finally have some time for yourself.

Now, what do you do with this time before you are ready to go to bed?

In this post, I want to share with you 3 questions I ask myself almost every night when I finally have time for myself.

1. Did I do something that makes me learn today?
2. Did I do something that makes me healthier today?
3. Did I work on a hobby/ task that helps me create today?

I know, at this point you are thinking “Oh heck no, this post is a clickbait” and you have probably heard these 3 questions before. But before you click the back button and call me a no-good-lying-sack-of-red-beans, please bear with me and let me try to explain to you why these 3 questions deserve your reflection every day.

1. Did I Do Something That Makes Me Learn Today?

I am not asking if you learn something new today, but did you actively tried to learn something today. This can be as simple as reading a book for 5 minutes in the morning, or watching a 7 minutes tutorial YouTube instead of the news.

There is a boatload of research (which I could link, but you are most likely not going to click on) that links dopamine (that chemical in your brain that stimulates happiness) to learning in children and grown adults among other benefits.

Proactively trying to learn something everyday make you able to relate to more people because there are more topics you can talk about. It helps you learn new things faster in the future because your brain, like a muscle is better conditioned to absorb new information.

For me, I have been trying to read a book as I drink my breakfast and coffee in the morning (I wake up before my wife and kid). On days where my eyes are just about 3 Watt (very dim) in the morning, I watched tutorial on YouTube for Filmora Video Editing.

2. Did I Do Something That Makes Me Healthier Today?

For this, it’s simpler said than done. But did you order the salad instead of the burger? Did you buy the skimmed milk instead of the full cream?

I am not saying that you should suddenly become a vegetarian, just a small change in behavior to kickstart what hopefully will become a good habit. If you usually order a large soda with your lunch, maybe this time order a medium.

For the longest time, I can honestly say my answer to this question is a “NO!” Like I said in my last post, I used to wake up with shoulder and neck pain due to bad posture. I got sick easily because I don’t watch my diet.

Starting October of last year, I started a smoothie breakfast diet every day and I noticed I rarely get sick. Granted, I was lazy to prepare breakfast and it was not because of a specific health choice.

But the smoothie diet snowballs into more healthy decisions. Starting 6 months ago, I started running because I have more energy. Running everyday boosts my energy level even more.

When your body is healthy, the world just seems that more colorful, you are less cranky and your body just feels…stable.

3. Did I Work On a Hobby/ Task That Helps Me Create, Today?

Now this is a tricky one. Where the first question deals with your intelligence and the second questions deals with your physical health, creativity does wonder for your heart and soul.

When you create something out of nothing, you feel pride, you feel better about yourself. Again, I am not saying that you should be the modern day Leonardo Da Vinci, but work on small things that help you create everyday.

If you always wanted to learn graphic designing, sharpen your pencil and put it on your desk today. Tomorrow, use that pencil to draw a line. The next, draw another line. Whatever it is, as long as it helps you create something everyday. Baby steps is fine, baby steps is great. That’s how everything starts.

During the COVID-19 lock down in May, my business couldn’t operate because of government regulation, so I decided that I wanted to paint my PC case. I finally finished painting 3 panels in 75 days. Not because I picked a hard design or my PC is full of corners and crooks (the panels are flat metal plate in case you are wondering), but because of baby steps.

There are days when I spent 5 minutes picking the colors that I want. Another day when I browsed the internet looking for design for 30 minutes.

At the end of the 75 days, I have PC panels that probably look better before I painted it. But, it is my PC panel. It is my work. I created the shapes and color that people see when they look at my PC.

Now, It’s Your Turn.

There. Hopefully I changed your mind regarding this post as a clickbait. I know how it feels when somebody show you a result of their work without knowing how they achieve it (washboard abs, 30 minutes animation video, a 300 pages book). But everybody starts somewhere and most of the time they started small and simple.

If you find that your answers to the above questions are “No,” don’t beat yourself up. Your situation is not the same with mine or other people. There will be days when you just can’t find the time to create something, learn something or eat healthy. Do not give up, keep fighting that uphill battle until you get at least 1 “Yes” out of 3, the rest will take care of itself.

The point is for us to continuously work on it everyday that one day we can look back and see we have made a mountain out of a molehill and that…feels empowering indeed.

But, until that day,

Try.

You promised yourself to wake up at 5 am to go running in the beginning of this year when you made the resolution to be healthier.

6 alarm snoozes from 4 different alarms later, you finally got out of bed and you are back to your old habit: same waking up time, washing your face and brushing your teeth to get ready for work.

Well, after intensive and rigorous research, I finally cracked the solution…if you can’t wake up to run, then run when you are already awake!

Brilliant and eye-opening, is it not?

Overwhelming? maybe, but don’t worry, in this post I will explain to you my process, my reasoning and why night time running is the best idea since sliced bread for you to get healthier.

Why Nighttime Running Works

1. Things Slow Down at Night.

Usually around 8:30 – 9 pm my kid is already asleep. If I were to run in the morning, I will be outside thinking “Is Mason awake yet?” every few minutes.

Night time is when things slow down and there are less things that require your attention.

2. If you can’t Wake Up to Run, Run When you are already Awake.

If you are like me, being able to wake up should already be an achievement. I am so lazy in the morning, that I literally blend my breakfast so I don’t have to chew it (I even post my recipe here). Morning jogging is just not going to work for me.

3. A Chance for you to Unwind and Reflect on the Day.

Exercising and unwinding may not the be the words that you think should go hand in hand, but running can help you de-stress.

I look forward to my running session because it feels almost meditative, a chance for me to think about my day, problems that I haven’t had a solution for yet. Yes, your body will feel tired, but your head feel clearer after a run

Why I Start Running at Night

I read a book by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, where he outlines that even dealing in corporate business, you have to have a “Heart of a Hustler.” Despite the sound of it, what this simply means is that it is not enough for you to want to work hard and be successful.

You have to commit to lifestyle choices that allow you to have the energy, focus and stamina to actually do the work and the way for you to do that is to prioritize leading a clean lifestyle and proactively try to preserve your body. The best way you can do that is through eating right and working out.

Jackson, 2020

Despite what you think about his public persona, if a guy is pushing 50, looks like Curtis Jackson and have the success that he has, he might be on to something.

At that point, I had been having shoulder and neck ache almost daily due to bad posture. There were days where I couldn’t even turn my neck 45 degrees to the side and my fingers feel numb and tingling (The chiropractor says that because of my posture, there were nerves that are pinched around my shoulder cuff area which leads to the numbness)

It was the quote above that made me really think about my health at the time. I do not doubt my work ethic and willpower when it comes to business but I do not think I will be able to maintain if I wake up in pain everyday at my age.

The Beginning

Admittedly, in the beginning it was difficult to get used to running at night because I am used to unwinding in front of my laptop or iPad after 8:30 pm. I had to keep reminding myself that my day is not over until I ran.

There are days when I don’t feel like running. On those days, I tell myself that I will just go out for a walk. Usually after walking a distance from my house, my body just go into “might as well make the best of it” mode.

The point is not to be too hard on yourself, a short run is still better than no run. A walk is still better than sitting on the sofa in front of the TV for the rest of the night.

If you ran for half a mile today, great, if you walk for a quarter mile tomorrow, that’s fine. Just get in the habit of walking out the door to exercise. Before you know it, even when you are not motivated, you will fall into the habit of running just because it is a routine.

One hack that I used is the “2-Days Rule.” Allow yourself a break or a cheat day, but do not go 2 days without running (hence the 2-days rule). You can learn more about this rule from Matt D’Avella’s YouTube Video here.

The Result

As of the time of this post, I have been running an average of 3 km (or 1.86 miles for my imperial system using friends) everyday, which I plan to increase gradually.

I wish I can tell you that it has been life changing and I feel drastic improvements. I don’t, but what I do notice are

• No more shoulder & neck pain. There are still days when I feel a little pain, but in general it has been very manageable.
• Weight loss. This was not my primary motivation, but I noticed a significant weight loss (3 kg) without changing my diet the first month I started running.
• Much better energy level. I cut down my caffeine intake from 7 – 9 cups of coffee a day to 2 – 3 cups a day just because I feel more energy throughout the day.
• More healthy decisions. Running leads me to drinking more water. Now I automatically reach for water instead of coffee when I am thirsty. This is also why I have been drinking less coffee. On days that I can’t run (rain or Mason), I also find more activities where we can be more active (chasing a balloon in our front yard).
• My body moves better and less sluggish. It’s not like I suddenly turn into Spider-Man but, I feel like my body moves a lot better, which may also due to the lack of shoulder and neck pain.

Note that the above results are based on my observation and not something that happens overnight. I slowly notice that I can play with my son longer without running out of breath. I woke up more often to find that my neck could turn with my body without feeling pain. Everything comes gradually.

How about you? have you been on the fence about running but couldn’t wake up in the morning? well maybe you should give night time running a try. Put on your headphone, play your best playlist or that podcast you have been wanting to listen and just run.

Come back and tell me how it goes.

My financial goals for 2020

1. Start a side hustle, preferably as passive as possible
2. Continue investing in dividend stocks
3. Learn a new skill set

Start a side hustle

Starting a side hustle has consistently been one of my financial goals every year and admittedly not the one always achieved. I would start a side business but my discontinue it or choose to stop it if I don’t see it as a good investment for the future. The point is to invest in our future self either in opportunities or in skill set (goal #3).

Currently, the side hustles that I am thinking about are

1. ATM Business
2. Aquaponic business

Invest in dividend stocks

I started investing in the stock market when I first got my full time job out of college. I was actually looking for a get rich quick scheme by trading more volatile stocks, and while I did made 40% return within 5 months, I understood that luck played a big part in my returns and the 40% was not sustainable. That’s when I heard about Warren Buffet and after reading The Warren Buffet Way I became a value investor.

Ever since then, I continuously invest in index funds and blue chip dividend stocks as my part of my retirement plan.

Learn a new skill set

Like I mentioned above, the point is to invest in yourself whether in opportunities, or in a new skill set. With that said, every year I try to learn something new that interests me.

In 2018, I learn leathercrafting by purchasing cheap equipments on Amazon and watching YouTube videos.

In 2019, I learn how to blog and convert all of my notes and book into digital format.

So, these are my 3 financial goals for the year 2020. I am interested in hearing yours. If you have thought about your financial goals and want to chat about it, feel free to drop me an email or message.

For the month of December 2019, my challenge is to track my spending and expenses for 3 months using the Spendee app.

Ever since I was in middle school, I have always been good at tracking my expenses and spending. I would input my daily spending into an Excel spreadsheet and at the end of the month, my parents will look at my spreadsheet with me to help me “analyze” my spending.

I remember Dragon ball Z playing cards took up a big chunk of my spending and they would explain to me where I could save up in order to buy what I want in the coming future. Years of doing this eventually instill this “You can buy anything if you are willing to save” mentality.

When I reach college, I stop tracking my expenses because I was generally good at feeling out how much money I have spent that month and I was living very thrifty anyway.

Why I decide to start tracking my spendings again?

While I have always been good at estimating my financial condition and living below my means, in 2019 there were many months where I am cutting it too close in term of cash flow

1. My son started school in April
2. My wife no longer has a monthly income, thus home and her living expenses fell on to me
3. New home mortgage is based on floating interest rate
4. I had to pay a lot of my new home’s furniture on credit using my bank’s credit card (0% interest + admin fee for 12 months)
5. I made it a point to save money monthly to save and invest

I made the mistake of thinking school expenses are fixed when there will be times the school will tell you to buy a certain items for my kid to bring to school. While generally these items are cheap (certain colored shirts for a school events, or certain toy items), they do add up.

I also made the mistake that many first time home buyers do, that is buying a house that are too expensive. I was so worried of buying a house too small that will last me only for 1 child, that my current mortgage takes 45% of my income every month.

I took advantages of a lot of deals and promotions that furniture stores have with my bank, which allow me to pay off my furniture monthly through my credit card at 0% interest and 0 processing and admin fee. While not a mistake, I have to remember to set aside money to pay the monthly installments.

What I hope to achieve from this challenge

By no means am I in financial difficulty, but neither am I comfortable because these new variables hinder my capability to set aside money to invest every month.

What I hope to achieve by doing this challenge is to give me a better picture on my financial situation in the foreseeable future.

By setting aside a fixed amount based on the worst case scenario of each of these variable expenses, I will be able to decide the minimum of money set aside to save and invest.

Whatever is left over from these variable expenses (since they are based on worst case scenario, there will be money left over every month), will go into the save & invest account quarterly.

Method of tracking

To track my spendings, I will use the free app, Spendee which is available in iOS and Android because that is the beauty of technology. I no longer have to create an excel or google spreadsheet when there is an app that will do it for you and show you the result beautifully.

By the way, if you are interested in doing this challenge with me using the Spendee app, please click on the link below to use my code. By using the link, both you and I will be able to use the app’s premium version for 1 month for free. I will not make any money if you click on the link, but I am curious to see the premium version of the app since I enjoy using the app.

For this week, I have managed to de-clutter:

• Old gadgets’ empty boxes that was in a corner of my cabinet
• Bunch of cables (USB-A, Mini USB, etc)

I guess the timing for the end of this challenge is just right because I am running out of things to de-clutter. In fact, I had to actually look for stuffs to de-clutter.

The old gadgets’ empty boxes were in the corner of a cabinet that requires me to use a stool to reach and the cables were inside one of the boxes.

Sticking true to my promise from De-Cluttering Report #1 , I actually did not make any sale on my old stuffs so:

• I gave away the iPhone 5 and XiaoMi RedMi 2 to one of my employee because she wants to try to fix it.
• I threw away the KangerTech EVOD Vape Pen
• I gave away the VR Kit to my nephew

Honestly, at the end of this challenge, it did not feel like I am a true minimalist where you walk into my home office and everything is just empty and spacious. But now at least whatever stuffs are there, I know I need it and will use it soon.

That and some of my cabinets and it will actually be empty.

For this week, I de-cluttered

• 2 pairs of sandals that I usually just leave outside my house to wear when I am walking around the yard
• Some more pajamas and old clothes (2 pajamas and 2 old clothes to be exact)
• Some old notebooks that I kept in case I need scrap papers (never seem to run out of scrap papers, so I threw out the old notebooks and keep the new notebooks)

I know I am supposed to de-clutter 5 items per week, but this challenge is harder than I thought it would since it’s getting harder for me to find stuffs to throw/ donate/ sell. At the same time, I don’t want to de-clutter stuffs juts for the sake of de-cluttering when I still have use of the stuffs.

I was doing a mental calculation of my current state, and if I have to move suddenly, the following applies

• 2 Large suitcases for all my clothes & shoes
• 1 box for my computer
• 1 bag for my electronics, laptop & work stuffs
• 1 box for my leathercrafting tools
• 1 box for all my books (I can’t seem to throw away books even if I have the kindle format)
• 2 big boxes (U-Haul Big size box) for all my other misc. stuffs

So I can say that all my stuffs will fit into the back of 2 SUVs. My goal is to reduce it to 1 SUV, if possible.

• More old pajamas and work clothes (Donate to church)
• KangerTech EVOD, an old never been used vape pen that I got for free from my friend when I told him I wanted to quit smoking. (Put up for sale online)
• Generic VR goggle kit. VR sounds cool, but when I actually use it, I just feel dizzy (Also put up for sale)
• A broken iPhone 5 (Put up for sale as spare parts)
• A broken XiaoMi RedNote 3 (Put up for sale as spare parts)

A lot of the stuffs I de-cluttered this week, I put up for sale online because it still has street values, but if I can’t sell it by the end of the challenge, I will just donate it or trash it.

Will report back next week with updates. Wish me luck on the sales!