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:
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...
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! :)