Reflecting 2013 and Plans for 2014

2013 was a calm year of misery. Let's see if I have achieved any of my goals for the past year.

Career Development
Things to learn to ensure career development & progression:
Its also important to review knowledge learned 3 times and have a deliberate plan to implement this knowledge to affect change in work practices.

• ITIL Certification (Foundation & Service Strategy)
• Design Thinking (DSchool)
• Change & Communication (AIM or UQ BS)
• Agile
• COBIT
• CISSP

Industries to focus on next - Financial sector, Aviation sector

Life Adventures 

Spiritual Growth

Commitments


Lessons Learnt in 2013

• Being more earnest and dedicated to life; being in the moment and making clean hard decisions; listen to the heart, trust your gut.
• Invest in improvements and innovations that provide a big positive impact, and spend less time on or automate ongoing maintenance stuff.
• To achieve a passive income, other than investing, businesses that can be automated to provide scalability with a minimal increase in headcount would also suffice. 
• Work is not all about the work, emotions and relationships play a big part in progression and enjoyment of work.
• Travel Trips should be eye-opening learning experiences or relax vocations to de-stress. It should be about the travelers and their meeting with the locals, their lifestyle, their culture, their history and the environments' bio-diversity... and not about rushing for the next flight/hotel/car rental/train.
• Changing habits requires repeated performance over a period of time. Changing lifestyle requires changes in many habits or a total environmental change. Change by planning a week of deliberate change and living through it.

Vision, Values & Priorities - What's important in 2014

1. Family & Relationships
2. Health
3. Career
4. Wealth
5. Fun & Gadgets

Career

• Tried to start a few startups, but find that I am a dreamer like most which is not good at executing. A moto I learned is, never give up on a dream, but only do it if you can ace it and change the way people live. Be agile and ready to pivot if changes are required.
• TOGAF & CISSP certifications are in progress and not yet achieved
• Learned a whole lot more about startups and UX this year, and gained a better understanding of how innovation is related to the bottom line.
• Did not attend HK UX conference due to Queensland Rail employment, but participated in several UX meetups in Brisbane during the year.
• Have been gaining a better understanding of Application and Solution Architecture at Queensland Rail.
• Need a more visionary approach to career planning

Health

• Cycling is used as a means to get to the train station, this is a highlight in maintaining health for this year.
• 75kg body weight with BMI of 23.5, which is quite average towards the chubbier end.
• Physiotherapist recommended a bit more back muscle training

Relationships

Since starting my career in 2008, I have let fate determine my relationships (both family, friends, romantic and professional). Through some self-discovery in the past year, I have matured in this area and learned that similar to career directions, relationships also need to have goals and directions, and effort is required to progress relationships. 

Family

Dad has moved into his 'retirement' and rolling up Richmake, whilst Mum is still working at Dr.Lee's clinic.

Horse Racing has become the main staple of Dad's interest, with nearly 40% of his time allocated to the horses. As he has moved closer to DGJ, the rest of his time has been to take care of the grandchildren and his other work. He is also developing better relationships with old friends through common interests such as stock market and horse racing. 

Finding other more balanced interests is in order with criteria of balancing as below:

Physical Activity: Need to be balanced, including cardio, strength, flexibility.

Mental Stimulation: Memory, Reflex Speed, Problem Solving, Attention and Flexibility

Dad's health has also taken a wrong turn during the year and has made him slow down and reflect upon life itself. His eardrum has deteriorated due to an infection and eye pressure is very uneven which requires specialist's attention. A health check is underway, with an audiologist and eye specialists all booked.

Task:

Vinky to develop a retirement plan. 

A review of his Hong Kong and Australian health insurance is required.

An annual health check plan and e-health record need to be established.

A criteria-based retirement activities plan need to be established.

Application for seniors card in Australia.

Review Driver's license and Passport to check expiry.

Obtain uncollected money from ANZ.

Wealth
Need to start building wealth more effectively, including reduce spending and increase investments. 

Task: Create a realistic saving and investment plan, account for all expenses (get reimbursement for house maintenance). Set goal for 1st investment property.
KPI: Achieve savings and investment targets on wealth management plan.


Fun & Gadgets
Technology - a means to accelerate innovation and assist better living: I upgraded my 6 yr old Macbook pro and 2 yr old Mac mini. Both now run much quicker and should last for another 2 years. Total upgrade cost: $365

Car - a passion, and a means of transport: Paid off the Audi A3 in January 2014, and owed nothing on it. Plastic components are starting to deteriorate as it is getting to its 8th year on the road.

Vacation - to have fun, see more and relax: Completed a short trip to Melbourne and Tasmania with Mum and Dad in April, went to Melbourne again with Gary on a property investing trip during mid-year and saw Melbourne in a different light - at dusk on a bicycle. By the end of the year, a trip was made to Auckland and Rotorua of New Zealand with Vinky, which felt rather like a scouting trip for his return. Regret that Queenstown was not on the agenda, but fun could be had when more people join.