Since so much craziness has happened in 2020, the year before really feels like a decade ago.
Really the craziness started on Dec 30th, 2019, when my car got broken into and my camera bag, my girlfriends handbag containing all (and I mean all) her cards and passport containing a $1k worth of visas. The bag itself was a gift from me, the Airpods in that bag was my first gift to her, and $800 of cash was inside. My camera bag had ~$2k of equipment, and they shattered two car windows. The police came to the scene of the crime, and even with a witness account of the license plate number, the police were useless. Due to her passport being stolen, we had to cancel our Las Vegas trip and spend that time taking trips to the Chinese embassy, cancelling her cards, and replacing my window glass. Needless to say, she was devastated and our US trip left a bad taste in our mouths. I bandaged the trip by seeing Hamilton together.
A few days later on Jan 3rd, Trump ordered the assassination on the Iranian general and it seemed the world was taking the first step towards WW3. Then in mid-January, while I was in China, the corona virus started gaining attention. I fled China to the US, for the pandemic to break out here a month and a half later. The government and people were woefully unprepared despite weeks of time that could have been used for preparation. The resulting financial disaster erased a year's worth of my gains and continues to erase more, while we continue to live sheltered and fearful of the virus.
In late February, my dad, brother, and I were diagnosed with an extremely irritating diseased called HMFD. It lasted for a week and half, with scars from the disease taking a month to heal.
In conclusion, 2020 has been a rough start and the roughness won't abate until the world recovers from the pandemic and resulting corona recession.
Focusing on what actually happened in 2019:
Major life events. I broke up with my girlfriend of almost 4 years. It was a mutual and planned breakup. That was the first time in years I cried... just as I waved the last goodbye to her at the airport, I couldn't stop the tears from flowing out - 4 years of hardship and bliss flowing away like a toy boat in a river, a memory of a story captured in two minds a world apart.
A few months later met another girl. I told myself the next relationship would not be long distance, but apparently life is full of fun surprises. Even though we live a world apart, in very different upbringings and countries, we are continually surprised by how matched our wavelengths are. We met in a serendipitous manner (at a crowded bar, in Shanghai. I was there with my co-workers and she was there with her friends) and our values are so aligned that if I assigned a ratio to the the manner we met and how well matched we are, I would say our match is one in a million. She is smart, beautiful, caring (which I did not realize until we got to know each other better), emotionally intelligent, and so much fun. When I wasn't working (which was rare), we spent a great amount of time drinking with her friends and exploring Shanghai, Hangzhou, Vietnam, and Japan together. All within half a year of dating.
Another highlight of the year was releasing my first (well, technically second) product I worked on. I had a major impact on the success of the product. It was nice to see the efforts and long nights that the team put in be such a global hit and generate billions in revenue for the company, propelling its stock up. I love using the product myself and carry it everywhere.
My resolutions for 25:
1) Finance - Loss
Add +40% to my current portfolio:
- From Jan 2019 to Jan 2020, I increased my portfolio by 36%
- However, at the time of this writing I am only up a meager 10% from April 2019 to April 2020, and will probably dip lower in the next few weeks due to the corona recession
- This is a work in progress
- Transfer cash to a higher %APY savings account - Done
- Mid/long term treasury bond or CD - Considered, decided not to
- Continue stock trading - I was 30% up year-on-year until the Corona crash, but now I am 2% down :(
- Risk analysis - Not done
2) Posture - Win
Continue daily posture improvement exercises:
- Proud to say I've done this daily. Skipping a day is the exception, not the norm.
3) Exercise - Loss
I wasn't able to hit any of my goals (5K, 10K, or marathon. OTF at least once a week. Full body workouts daily/run) for this one. There are many factors at play here but the major one is my work intruding (or as the company likes to say, integrating) into my life.
4) Festivals - On track
I had lots of fun and did lots of drinking in 2019, but I couldn't go to Outsidelands due to work, and missed EDC and Snowglobe. However, I am booked for my first Coachella and festival experience! Now moved from April to October due to the pandemic.
5) Fun and travel - Big Win
I made my first visit to Paris and the continent of Europe for the launch party of my product I'd been working on since March. What an incredible experience. My first international trip with my girlfriend was to Vietnam, a first for both of us. That was both a tremendously unlucky and extremely fun experience which really tested our relationship, and made us realize how strong we were as a couple.
Highlights from the Vietnam trip:
- I forgot to print out my Vietnam visa, which I realized a shortly before boarding. I called for an emergency visa right before boarding the plane, to realize afterwards that my Japan passport lets me into the country visa-free.
- I got robbed $150 by the taxi driver from the airport to the hotel.
- "Fun" stress, mostly for my girlfriend. She is a city girl and totally not used to some of the activities we did, such as riding motorbikes up a rainy mountain, walking barefoot down a rocky river, or crawling through the Cu Chi tunnels. In the end, she really enjoyed the unique experiences.
- Right as we were about to check in to our next hotel, we realized the booking had not gone through on my app. My girlfriend was able to reserve a last minute opening at a better price an hour or so before we arrived at the hotel.
- Our connecting flight from Nha Trang to Ho Chi Minh was delayed, then cancelled, causing us to miss our flight back to Shanghai as well. I booked a last minute stay on points and she was able to make a separate booking.
- All through this, we didn't blame each other or have any fights. We both instinctively went to how to solve the immediate problem at hand. Once each problem was solved, we laughed off the bizarreness of the situation. These experiences strengthened rather than damaged our relationship. She really is a champ.
Since March 2019 I've traveled:
- Shanghai 7x
- Hangzhou 3x
- Jiangxi 1x
- Shenzhen 5x
- Vietnam 1x
- France 1x
- Japan 1x
Really an awesome year for travel and experiences, despite how busy I was with my professional life.
6) Cool project - Loss
Unless you count my work as a project (a very high volume, very cool, very high impact project), which I put couple months of my life and soul into, I have not worked on anything. Needless to say, with spending 130+ days in China last year, I haven't been able to mentor my robotics team.
7) Learning - Loss
You think that after dating two girls who speak Mandarin, I'd would pick some of it up. Wrong! I've only completed 15% of my beginner Mandarin course, a very far cry from being able to remotely understand the language. I don't think with my work life balance (or work life management, as this company calls it), I can pick up any long term goals like this. Especially not this year, since this year has been and will continue to be very busy and emotionally taxing with work.
My Japanese has gotten worse after breaking up with my ex. I finished two books and have gotten halfway through the third. I have not subscribed to The Information.
My next four years
I feel that over the last almost four years since graduating college, I've made great financial progress, have had incredible experiences both inside work and outside, have been able to use the frequent Asia travel situation to my advantage in boosting my personal life, and have been incredibly blessed with my relationships. I haven't made much progress in the active personal development zone, where I shape my development through efforts outside work and relationships. During and after my academic years, life has been chunked into years of four, so this birthday would be the time to start focusing on what I want to do for the next four years before I turn 30.
I read that people can be more happy by focusing on what they have, and feel less stressed by focusing on what they have done. So let's start with that. I have:
- Incredible company on my resume
- Incredible actual work experience, playing a key role in launching one of the most popular products in both company and the history of consumer electronics, a product which won Times invention of the year
- Built a network of industry relationships
- Built personal financial security, therefore freedom of choice. If I wanted to, I can drop it all and live comfortably without work for the next 10 years. 25 years with my current expenditure rate.
- A relationship and experience that made me a better person with memories for a lifetime
- A loving relationship and truly great partner, who is on the same wavelength despite having grown up in very different countries an ocean apart
The next four years is the last chapter of my youth. That is crazy to think about, and real. I am still grappling with the fact that I am closer to 30 than I am to 20. Over the next four years, my objectives are to:
- Focus on my personal development, both mental and physical, by:
- Staying true and diligent to a workout routine. These are the last 4 years of my youth before I turn 30!
- Staying true and diligent to mental exercise and continuous learning
- Developing a system that continuously helps me reach goals, enrich the lives of people I care about, and progress society in a positive direction
- Most likely leave my current company for a smaller one with high potential for growth and large gains, and one that I am passionate about. Or start something of my own.
However, I cannot achieve this with my current work-life balance. I need to take the harsh but much needed decision of moving on, probably in 2021. We're all responsible for our own choices, and I'm thankful that I have more choices available than most.
My resolutions for 26, in order of priority:
1. Increase my net worth by 50% over the next two years
2. Run a half marathon in 120min
3. Score a 5/165/165 on the GRE (max 6/170/170)
4. Have a blast at Coachella 2020
5. Visit a new country or place, with my girlfriend and/or with my family
6. Promotion in my current role
7. Learning: Finish these courses/books
- Automated the Boring Stuff with Python (video course)
- Factory Physics (text book)
- Become certified in something (candidate: Six Sigma Blackbelt)
8. Interview with at least 3 prospective companies
Resolution details
I am setting a two year horizon for my net worth since it will take the economy some time to recover from the corona shock. Hopefully the worldwide economy will be able to avoid a financial crisis resulting from this shock. For me to make my target by age 30, I need to double my current net worth in the next 4 years.
A task I didn't do as part of last year's resolution was managing the risk side of my finances through insurance, and am making it a goal for this year:
- Research and buy insurance, if appropriate
- Buy a car dashcam
I need to get off my ass and integrate regular exercising as part of my system. Running a half marathon is a metric, but the real accomplishment lies in the process of getting there. 2:00 comes from slightly faster than the average men's half marathon time of 2:23.
Getting a good score on the GRE will open up many more possibilities in higher education. Possibly, I may replace this with the GMAT. I am still not too sure on whether I want to pursue a technical masters or go the MBA route.
#4 and #5 is reminding me to have fun in life. That's what life is about, after all! 20s is the best time to have fun.
Getting promoted ties into my net worth goal, and I can leave the company satisfied after the promotion.
I've started to make reading a part of my weekly routine, especially during shelter at home. I've finished Sapiens, Factfulness, and am almost finished with I Will Teach You To Be Rich. I've always wanted to dig deeper into Python since it a practical and widely applicable language. Factory Physics is a great textbook in learning more the industrial engineering side of manufacturing. Six Sigma certification is actually a work goal as well, and it ties into my overall goal of career growth and increasing my net worth.
Interviewing for new companies, depending on where I am accepted, may be the fastest way to increase my net worth. RSUs are great but jumping from company to company usually rewards the highest pay increases. Diversifying experience across a broader range of companies is something that is good for growth and learning. I know how the most profitable company in the world operates, what it values, and the company culture it has to drive such success. I'm interested in learning how other teams do it, and perhaps using my experience to enhance how they operate.
