Happy New Year!
It’s been over a month since I’ve sat down to write, and there is no better time to jump back on the bandwagon than the start of the new year when everything seems fresh, like I’ve had a chance to hit a reset button and my oomph is back.
I felt towards the end of 2021 like I was lacking in a bit of energy.
It wasn't for lack of trying - I was trying to keep up with everything work and non-work - but I’m human and I guess end-of-year life caught up to me.
If I reflect on what has transpired since the last newsletter back in November 2021, I’ve returned back to Singapore after a month in Sydney (which was amazing and quite fortunate given rising case numbers in Australia by the day), submitted an extended self-assessment of performance for work, did a bunch of Christmas activities with friends and welcomed in the new year with my family friends and their parents in Malaysia.
I also sat down in the last week of 2021 with my good friend, Colin, to record a podcast episode at home about his running experience - something I’ve been meaning to do for quite some time given his international experience representing Singapore in the steeplechase event.
I finished a rough first edit of that this afternoon after several days of slowly working my way through it - i.e. syncing the audio track with the three cameras I was using for different angles, and then editing out most of the extended pauses, ums, ahs and “you knows”.
Although it was slow going (the editing app I was using on my iPad crashed a countless number of times - processing 3 x 4K image files must have been too heavy a load), it was thoroughly enjoyable as it forced me to listen to everything that was said during the hour-long conversation.
Here is a screen-grab of it:
Will aim to get it out on YouTube and Spotify soon!
Anyway, maybe I felt low in energy due to general laziness, maybe it was tiredness or maybe it was a combination of both - but now sitting in a Saizeriya fast food outlet typing this out and waiting for a Sunday Spaghetti Bolognese dinner washed down with a cheeky Coke Zero - I think I’m ready to get back into a sustainable and effective routine for 2022!
What I’ve listened to this week
Another timely Jay Shetty episode on ways to manifest results in the new year. Key takeaways are:
Have an intention-focused not results-focused mindset
Acknowledge that thinking is good, but don’t think TOO much
There is time for efficiency - the ability to get a lot of things done - and a time for effectiveness - the ability to get IMPORTANT things done.
Another brilliant episode in this series that I’ve been listening to since almost the very start. The analysis and foresight - though a lot of the times with rather crude language included - is quite brilliant. I’ll keep an eye out for the first and second derivative of the 10-year Treasury bond yield this year for sure thanks to this episode!
Have a great week (and year!) ahead :)
David