Farewell 2017

So this is another year I failed loosing 5 kgs. Oh well, I did loose 3 kgs without having to starve myself for the first 4 months of this year then maintained my weight for another 2 months. For the second half of 2017, I got myself into some project work that requires me staying in the office for very long hours. It all went downhills from there. Adjusting myself from working from home to going to an office everyday was hard, my whole body went to survival mode and I just worked, slept, ate a lot and felt depressed for months. As a result, I’ve put back on all the lost kgs plus some extras. Yay?

Today, on the last day of 2017 I’ve finally managed to sit down and reflect the past year and write down my main takeaways of 2017.

The main thing I learned in 2017 is the importance of personal financial management. If I’ve managed my personal finance better, I wouldn’t have to be this situation. I never cared about money and spent as freely as I wanted. Invest wisely is also a key factor of retiring from office work earlier. But I recklessly played in Forex market and lost $100K +. Selling my investment properties too early (right before the huge boom in Sydney) also helped me be poorer than I should have been.

I also felt the urgency to sharpen my senses. My vision is a lot narrower than my younger peers and I find myself having difficulty understanding a person who’s talking to me – especially when someone talks fast and softly. This is partly because English is my second language (but hey, that’s not a valid excuse – I’ve been in Sydney for 20 years!), partly because my brain isn’t processing what I hear quickly and accurately enough. I played a little brain exercise games but soon gave up because the result wasn’t encouraging enough for me to keep playing. You see, one of my biggest weakness is quitting too easily.

I realised that I don’t have as much energy as an average person. Because of iron deficiency, I’m feeling exhausted all the time. Maybe it’s due to family genes. My mum is 70+, she sleeps more than 12 hours a day and still has a huge appetite. So basically all she does now is sleeping, cooking and eating. That scares the hell out of me. I really don’t really want to end up having a life like that! But looking at myself now, I’m not that much different. All I do is going to work, eat then sleep! The only difference between me and my mum is that mum has given up on her life and I still have the desire to be a better person. I’ve got to find a way to have more energy and squeeze more time to do things that I always wanted to do!

The solution to above problems?

Firstly, I need to learn to track my spending and stop gambling (Forex trading is Gambling!). Secondly, I need to force myself to do brain exercise regularly. Stop browsing on the phone and I’ll have time to work one something that’ll hopeful benefit my wellbeing. Also, I need to take iron tablet and Vitamin C everyday. It’s sad that I have to depend on pills to give me more energy but whatever helps. Lastly, eat less and move more! I’ve never been a fan of exercising but again, whatever helps.

Thank you 2017 – I’ve learned so much more about myself and am now ready to tackle another brand new year!