Hey everyone
Hope you’ve had a good week!
It hard to believe that we are in the middle of February!
Now that it is over a month into the new year, I’m somewhat back into the swing of things day job-wise and am (as usual) working to get my life more generally into some sort of consistent and purpose-driven routine.
It has been a while since my last newsletter (not really living up to the weekly cadence ambition that I set for myself am I?!), so I really need to play catch up and start off with a quick (and rather self-indulgent) recap of some notable things that have happened so far this year.
1. Celebrating the New Year in Malaysia
At the very kind invite of my family friends and their parents, I third/fourth/fifth-wheeled for an amazing nine days at the start of the new year in Kuala Lumpur which was filled with food, beer and a whole range of sports including four full rounds of golf:
Travelling with golf as an activity is something that I really want to do more of with my friends and family in the years ahead, and I’m working hard with a coach in Singapore on a near-weekly basis to improve my swing so that it’s in a state that is ready to fully enjoy the experience of playing golf overseas.
The highlight of the trip for me was driving with my friends to visit my Mum’s old house about one hour south of Kuala Lumpur (first time in over two decades), and not only that, but actually being invited in by the current owners for some refreshments.
How that happened is worthy of a post unto itself in future, but the TLDR is that this is one of those moments where it would never have happened if (a) I didn’t decide to be spontaneous and make a trip to KL; and (b) I did not act on my friends’ encouragement to knock on the front door and ask to speak with the current owners - a real life case of if I don’t ask in life, I absolutely WILL NOT know or get.
2. Having family over for Chinese New Year
For the first time in nearly three years, my family was able to travel over for Chinese New Year.
This included my parents, my sister and her boyfriend, my cousin and her boyfriend all from Sydney, and my uncle and aunt from the UK.
I didn’t take any leave from my day job during this period, but looking back I’m quite sure we packed in as much as possible - Chinese New Year feasting, “clubbing” (beach club and sports club), wakeboarding, tennis, golf and cycling:
Because I’m now more settled and familiar with Singapore (fast approaching four), I was able to come up with better recommendations (and hopefully be a better host) than three years ago.
Needless to say, we definitely contributed to the economy of Singapore during the duration of their stay!
3. Having family over for Chinese New Year
Still in the spirit of Chinese New Year, my friend Janice and I put together a cover of one of the most famous Mandarin Chinese songs. This was my Grandma’s favourite!
4. Other notable things
At risk of this week’s newsletter getting a little too self-indulgent, a couple of other notable things over the past month:
Joined a Sports/Social Club: I’ve recently joined a local sports/social club in Singapore which I hope to use to (a) improve my tennis, running and swimming and (b) invite family and friends over as another place in Singapore to catch up as it has a range of really good F&B establishments. Thank you to my Proposer and Seconder for your support of my application!
Passed my six month probation at my day job: Yes, it has been over six months in my current role and I passed my probation period! Going forward, I think it will be important for me to keep recognising that the job does not make up who I fully am - though I definitely do not take it for granted and recognise that it affords me with the ability to buy things/experiences in life - and that I should aspired to be as busy OUTSIDE of the day job as within.
Released my own podcast: On 26 December last year, I invited one of my best friends here in Singapore, Colin Tung, over to my home to pick his brains on what it takes to represent your country in a sporting event. I’d never done one before, so setting up 2xGoPro cameras, my iPhone (recording in 4K), 2 microphones, recording and then editing it all on my iPad took a ridiculously long amount of time, but it’s something that I have no regrets doing and, in all seriousness, will help me in my own running ambitions particularly for the Chicago Marathon later this year. If you haven’t had a listen, please do and let me know what you think!
What I’ve listened to over the past fortnight
Aside from working to get my own podcast up and running, I’ve also been consuming a truckload of podcast content - mainly from Tim Ferriss and Jay Shetty.
Here are some jottings of from an episode of each that I’d like to share:
Tim Ferriss - Interview with Rich Roll
This was long-form interview by Tim Ferriss with Rich Roll.
Admittedly, I had never heard of Rich until randomly picking this episode but I’m glad I did.
In short, Rich is a reformed high-functioning alcoholic lawyer who now runs (literally) ultra-endurance races on a zero alcohol base.
There were parts of this interview that I glossed over but I like the following quote at about the 1:40 mark:
[Y]ou have to live your life if you’re going to have anything worthy to say about the human experience.
If you’re just constantly engaging in your profession and focused on what it is that you do, and you’re missing out on the other experiences and the richness of life, then you’re not really going to be carrying a meaningful resonance or vibration that’s going to be helpful to other people.
Jay Shetty - Solo Episode
This solo episode from Jay Shetty (from Think Like A Monk fame), although - as the title suggests - aimed at relationships actually had some golden nuggets applicable to life more generally, such as this suggestion that having a routine allows for spontaneity rather than hinders it:
[W]e have to start with structures, start with systems, start with routine.
That routine creates a rhythm….We can create a beautiful practice around that.
And then that leads to spontaneity and excitement.
[O]ften our sentiments make us wait for the other person to prove themselves [and] wait for the other person to create a plan of action.
We're waiting for the other person to say the right thing or do the right thing, or ask the right thing.
And sentiments lead to disappointment.
Sentiments lead to disappointments because they have no structure.
They are an expectation without a system.
…
Creating [sic] a weekly check-in is creating a system.
And in this weekly check-in you could answer three questions. And of course you can edit these questions as time goes on.
What has been your highlight of the week?
What has been the toughest thing of this week?
How can I help you?
These three questions create such a beautiful foundation on which to build a real relationship [with your significant other/boss/manager/friend, etc.
This episode was particularly helpful for being at peace with my OCD in the day job (which, for the avoidance of doubt, I definitely do not have in other areas of my life).
Anyway, I’ll do an abrupt pause here as it’s now 9pm at the sports club restaurant where I’m writing this.
Last orders were at 8:30pm and it’s about time that I should make a move!
Have a good week ahead!
David