2017: New Year, New Me

I meant to do this post sometime back, but got distracted by some stuff. Also, there was that 2 week high key ICT that just ended recently. 4 day outfield exercise is no joke man. Especially when one is starting to age. So yes, about the plan I have for 2017. It's about time I get into it early into the year, ASAP. Better not drag because I know my procrastination tendencies all too well.

As I had laid out in the past, life planning for a single solo man with no family (but hopeful), only revolves around a few areas of concern. My previous attempts at this (Project: Young, Rich, Active) didn't yield too much results. Perhaps, I was just trying to do too many things at the same time. Circa early 2017, progress report: my finances are in a mess and I have no income, I am somewhat active in the community but nobody knows me, I still try to go to the gym but have no membership because California shut down.

Now that we have some understanding of my present position, ground zero, or maybe negative one, I can better plan out what I want to do for the rest of the year. What I can say about the theme for this year, is that it will involve more urgency and less experimentation. Fact of the matter is I am quickly approaching a soft deadline in terms of age, and just don't have as much room to fool around anymore. Things need to be done dammit!

That being said, I am not one who chases after milestones for the sake of getting them. Not anymore at least. What are the standard milestones in Singapore? Graduate from local university, get an office job, get married, lease (not buy!) a HDB, have kids, retire, grow old and die. I don't know about you, but that's the most boring story I've ever heard. Pretty sure it wouldn't get published. Agreed, there aren't many radically different paths you could take. But I would like my path to at least align with my interests. And that's what I've been doing lately, spending long hard time thinking about what truly interests me. At the end of it all, I always come back to the same result. I love Japan! Singapore is just too small and monotonous to even pique my interest. It's stifling. I want to work, live and grow in Japan. And here is my plan on how I intend to work to that.


Skills 
First and foremost, I will be going through skills upgrading and retraining. I know that sounds like something an old guy would do in his mid-career switch. But it's similar. 3 years without touching any programming at all has left me rusty and complacent. I mean, I still understand basic HTML/JS, but sometimes I don't even know where to get started to publish my apps. Currently, I have purchased resources online to jumpstart my learning in Ionic 2 and Angular 2 so that I can eventually be a pretty competent app developer and designer.

Once that competency is built up, I will of course turn to monetizing that skill set. I probably have some contacts in the cosplay realm that I can tap on to market my product. For now, I have nothing more to say except that it will be something like a résumé and portfolio app. This is the first milestone I will be working towards early this year, and hope to market and propagate it throughout the year. It's not going to be a lot of money lah (I charge cheap), but is good exposure and experience I can add to MY portfolio. Win-win.

I have other additional ideas in my head that I can flesh out too as the year progresses.


Health 
I guess health and fitness is not quite the main goal here. I've always consistently worked out purely for the sake of aesthetics. The health and fitness benefits are secondary. Speaking of which, progress thus far has been pretty good already. I have dropped 10 kgs in about slightly under a year? Decent but not drastic progress? Sustainable at least. Good enough that my NS mates noticed and complimented me on it though. #recognition

But I'm not done yet. I'm still another 10 kgs out from what I consider as my ideal weight. And despite my efforts of late, the weight just wouldn't budge. So much so that I think I've failed my IPT targets and need to do RT for the first time this year. FML. As mentioned, this year I do have a slight bit more sense of urgency in me. And I am hence willing to take slightly more drastic measures.

So far, I haven't been doing many supplements besides the protein shakes and occasional omega 3 pills. This year after my birthday, I intend to start on trying some bodybuilding level supplements. Yes, I have done ample research over the past year, and some of these may err on the slightly shady side. But rest assured I wouldn't take anything harmful unless I knew what I was doing. Nothing replaces the hard work though, so more cardio sessions will have to come in too. I expect to shed the remaining 10 kgs and lean up by the end of this year.


Education
Learning and growing has always been the name of the game. It's what I believe is the number 1 most important thing in life. The only time we should stop adapting and changing is when we die. Being so out of touch of everything, I know I have to put myself through studying again. That's why I started learning Ionic and get my hands wet with coding again. I want to rekindle my love for programming and developing!

But I know that that's not enough. There's only so much I can do by my lonesome. Knowledge is really cultivated through the interactions and conversations with intelligent people. And if I want to springboard myself back into the game, I will need to surround myself in such an environment. Which is why, this year I have decided to apply to study my Masters degree. To so called restart my intelligence again, and to sharpen my thinking skills.

Working for a bit may have blunted my once super sharp intellect, but it has gained me quite some experience in the human interactions and social department. I just feel more seasoned now, no longer afraid and hesitant to do anything. Now I want to hone my intellect back to the same old levels to get the best of both worlds!

Another side benefit, is that employers generally pay a bit higher for Masters graduates. That could prove to be a boon for my finances down the road. The Japanese firms that I was looking at in the past, and hope to join soon, do pay quite a bit more for Masters, so there's that. If my eventual goal is to work for these firms in Japan, then I had better position myself correctly for those roles. And having the correct experience and education goes to serve just that.


So that's my plan for 2017. Not too much to ask for right? I tried to keep things simple with just 3 clear areas that I need to work on. No doubt, my finances will continue to take a hit with all my school fees and such. But I consider that a pretty good investment into my future and my continuing search for happiness. Honestly, Singapore may not have what I want. Then it'd be wise to leave early to start my journey overseas before I grow too old to do so.

What are your new years resolutions? How do you intend to improve your life this year? Let me know in the comments below, or do hit me up in person. I'd love to have these sorts of conversations.


Peace out!