2016: My Year in Retrospect

Background: I started doing this "year in retrospect" exercise in the year 2015. Why? Because at the end of each year, we tend to rant that a year has passed by so quickly. But if you look back and reflect, surely, you must have done something throughout the year.  Now whether you consider these activities productive, good, fun or meaningful is another thing. But for me, that's entirely up to you - your own rules, your own metrics, your own definition of enjoyment and your own criteria of what's worth your time with the 365 days we've been given in a year. :)  As my motto goes - life is never too short if we live it well. :)

Here's my 2016 in retrospect (and in random order):

1.  New skill I learned - I finally learned how to swim! You see, I am scared of the water so I never learned how to swim when I was a kid.  But in 2016, I finally decided to overcome my fear of water and also overcome my fear of embarrassment in enrolling in a swim class as an adult! Haha.... But I'm still not that good and I'm super slow (haha...) but I could already swim freestyle across a 25-meter pool even if it's 10 feet deep. :)   

2.  Total books I read - 19. 

Looking through the titles, I've realized I haven't written down my learnings for some books. Tsk-tsk... Hopefully, I'll be able to write down something before I totally forget the key takeaways.

The books which greatly touched me and opened my eyes to view mortality like never before are:

Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande 

When Breath becomes Air by Paul Kalinithi

3.  New home hack I started practicing?  The Konmari method which I discovered after reading "The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up" by Marie Kondo.  With the Konmari method, I finally got rid of sentimental items like my 12 bridesmaid gowns and sports trophies - won not out of my athletic skills but out of circumstances. Wahaha... 

Source: Pinterest

4.  New productivity hack I learned? Personal Kanban by the Japanese.  By using this technique, I was able to eliminate a lot of my backlogs at home.  What did I initially use?  Post-it notes on my wall. Haha...   But now, I use a digital version for both my work list and personal list using an app called Trello.

5.  Musicals and shows I watched? 10.   Here are some of them -

Not in the collage are Blue Man Group, Hansel & Gretel, Little Princess and 50 Shades The Musical Parody.

Production-wise, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (which I was able to catch in London) tops all of them.  But in terms of life lessons, I'd go for Jersey Boys which is a true story based on Frankie Valli's life (of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, a band popular in the 1960s).  It has the best soundtrack too.  If I grew up in the 1960s, I think I would have been their fan. Haha...

6.  Things I did to shake myself out of my comfort zone:  I accepted invitations to (1) mentor winners of a YouthHack competition (2) conduct a workshop for startups in Cebu, and (3) conduct Personal Finance 101 sessions.  But it's still a struggle for me to do this kind of activities coz I don't like designing presentations and I don't like public speaking. :(   Though I do want to help people learn new skills.  Maybe for 2017 I could find another activity where I can teach in small circles without the need for any presentation. Wahaha...   

7.  Movies I watched on the big screen - Batman vs Superman, Deadpool, Civil War, Moana, etc. but the top movies which made me laugh, warmed my heart or gave me the adrenaline rush in 2016 are -

Plus, in 2016, I was able to finally watch a movie alone. :)  I watched Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - solo in Singapore.  I've always admired people who can do it alone and I finally did it - yay! And I think I can do it again. Haha...

8.  New healthy habit I started doing this 2016?  Blending my own veggie and fruit concoctions. But don't ask me what I mix coz a lot of my friends think that the leaves I put are yucky. Haha...

9.  Travels.  This year was a year of mindful travels.  I think it was last year when I realized I don't like to go on long-haul flights anymore unless I super like to visit the place or there's a good reason to go.   So in 2016, most of the destinations I've picked are in my bucket list. :)

Iceland*, Venice*, Copenhagen and Sweden in June.

*in my bucket list

London in October.   This is also in my bucket list

Unfortunately, I haven't had time to blog about my London trip yet. Good luck to me if I still remember the details. Haha...

Bangalore, India in November (official business trip)

And Singapore in December (personal business trip).

That's about it for my 2016 highlights - my own metrics, my own definition of enjoyment and my own criteria of what's worth my time in the 366 days of 2016.  It's a leap year so we got to enjoy one extra day in 2016:)  

Happy new year! :)