Never been somebody to make tons of resolutions for a new year as I think that one can be made on the spot when you come to a decision regarding your life, there is no need for that number to increase by one, meaning to wait for the New Year.
Anyway, the last few weeks I had thoughts brewing in my head, so much that they ended now in a firm plan for the near future, and before you ask --> NO, I won't give up smoking, gambling and occasional drinking and partying.
1. Cut work hours to the bare minimum
I have been some 30 years in sales, the last 10 as freelancer and hours / week never counted. Had too many times when I was doing 80+ hours in a week thinking it would really matter ... well, guess what --> it doesn't...maybe on the monetary side, but certainly not on the personal one. I can't count the events, birthdays, weddings, funerals etc that I missed in the past 30 years just because I was in some corner of the world trying to sign the next project.
I changed recently my main work and that gives me much more freedom to live my day as I feel is right.
2. Cut the gaming budget by a factor 10
It will never be more than $500 per month from now on. My marathon, although it was fun, opened my eyes to things that for some reason I did not see or maybe didn't want to see in all my years of online gaming. I literally threw in total some $19K at slots in December and had in nearly 5 weeks only 2 wins that are worth mentioning. Just think of that number, $19,000 --> many people in this world would be happy to earn that in one year including those in the country I am currently living in. The losses were of course much lower, but that is not the main factor in this.
The fact that you can wager 100,000's with those $19K and barely get some excitement is the very disappointing part. And to be honest, this wasn't just some bad or unlucky month, it hasn't been much different for the last 1.5 years. The last time I had some sort of winning streak was in August 2015, ever since it has been rather a deposit-spin-lose affair with only the length of the session being a variable factor.
3. Move to Johor Bahru, Malaysia
As some might know I have a 7-year old son who lives with his mother in Singapore. Have not been allowed to see, nor speak to him since June 2015 and I miss him dearly. Moving to JB will get me to within 20-30 minutes of his home and school, meaning I will be able to spend much more time with him once I got past the legal "spiel" with his mother.
Living in JB will cost me probably 2-3 times of that here in BKK, which is mainly the apartment rental, but I don't care. Missing his growing-up years is not something I want to regret once he is an adult and starts his own life.
My current rental contract in BKK ends on 15th March 2017 and that is the date I will move. Next week I'm off to Penang, MY to renew my Thai visa and from there I will fly to JB on a reconnaissance mission to find the right serviced apartment / condominium which has to be close to the Singapore border checkpoint.
4. Go on a holiday every month
Ever since moving to Asia I used to go every month to some island, country, city or region for a few days, just to get out of the day-to-day routine but stopped it some 2.5 years ago. Don't ask me why, I don't really know. But I went to some magical places over the years. Ever heard of Palau, Bintan, Batam, Tioman, Pangkor, Koh Lipe, Koh Chang, Koh Tao, Koh Kood, Korat, Saigon, Phnom Penh, Miri, Sandakan to name just a few?
Indonesia has some 18,000 islands, i have been to 6 so far, the Philippines some 7,000, only been to 2 there....so much to see and explore and I have to do it while I am fit and curious enough.
This is my plan, lovely CM'ers. Any plans you have for this year???
Anyway, the last few weeks I had thoughts brewing in my head, so much that they ended now in a firm plan for the near future, and before you ask --> NO, I won't give up smoking, gambling and occasional drinking and partying.
1. Cut work hours to the bare minimum
I have been some 30 years in sales, the last 10 as freelancer and hours / week never counted. Had too many times when I was doing 80+ hours in a week thinking it would really matter ... well, guess what --> it doesn't...maybe on the monetary side, but certainly not on the personal one. I can't count the events, birthdays, weddings, funerals etc that I missed in the past 30 years just because I was in some corner of the world trying to sign the next project.
I changed recently my main work and that gives me much more freedom to live my day as I feel is right.
2. Cut the gaming budget by a factor 10
It will never be more than $500 per month from now on. My marathon, although it was fun, opened my eyes to things that for some reason I did not see or maybe didn't want to see in all my years of online gaming. I literally threw in total some $19K at slots in December and had in nearly 5 weeks only 2 wins that are worth mentioning. Just think of that number, $19,000 --> many people in this world would be happy to earn that in one year including those in the country I am currently living in. The losses were of course much lower, but that is not the main factor in this.
The fact that you can wager 100,000's with those $19K and barely get some excitement is the very disappointing part. And to be honest, this wasn't just some bad or unlucky month, it hasn't been much different for the last 1.5 years. The last time I had some sort of winning streak was in August 2015, ever since it has been rather a deposit-spin-lose affair with only the length of the session being a variable factor.
3. Move to Johor Bahru, Malaysia
As some might know I have a 7-year old son who lives with his mother in Singapore. Have not been allowed to see, nor speak to him since June 2015 and I miss him dearly. Moving to JB will get me to within 20-30 minutes of his home and school, meaning I will be able to spend much more time with him once I got past the legal "spiel" with his mother.
Living in JB will cost me probably 2-3 times of that here in BKK, which is mainly the apartment rental, but I don't care. Missing his growing-up years is not something I want to regret once he is an adult and starts his own life.
My current rental contract in BKK ends on 15th March 2017 and that is the date I will move. Next week I'm off to Penang, MY to renew my Thai visa and from there I will fly to JB on a reconnaissance mission to find the right serviced apartment / condominium which has to be close to the Singapore border checkpoint.
4. Go on a holiday every month
Ever since moving to Asia I used to go every month to some island, country, city or region for a few days, just to get out of the day-to-day routine but stopped it some 2.5 years ago. Don't ask me why, I don't really know. But I went to some magical places over the years. Ever heard of Palau, Bintan, Batam, Tioman, Pangkor, Koh Lipe, Koh Chang, Koh Tao, Koh Kood, Korat, Saigon, Phnom Penh, Miri, Sandakan to name just a few?
Indonesia has some 18,000 islands, i have been to 6 so far, the Philippines some 7,000, only been to 2 there....so much to see and explore and I have to do it while I am fit and curious enough.
This is my plan, lovely CM'ers. Any plans you have for this year???