If traveling is getting a taste of the unfamiliar, the 9 to 5 grind is drowning in the ordinary. The focal point of the last year was to do the whole get rich slow in big tech thing and I fell victim to the monotony of it all. I felt that because I wasn’t gallivanting across the globe, I didn’t have anything to write. But now, with the 20/20 optics that only hindsight can provide and with 2018 already several months in the past, I can see it for what it was; a transformative and enriching year.
- I bought a car. I know. I know. I vowed to never have to drive again but my bus route was cancelled and I ended up coordinating and driving a van pool to commute to work. I had zero flexibility and my quality of life was going down the tubes. I finally broke and got a Texas drivers licence as well as a pretty little 1990 Mazda MX-5 convertible for around 5000 dollars. It is poor taste to covet material things but I do love cutting through the warm Texas air with the top down and my hand on the shift knob. As an added bonus to owning a car is flexibility. I rarely wakeup to alarms and I work from home one to two days a week.
- I went on a trip to Korea that changed the direction of my life. I won’t get into the nitty gritty of the personal details but suffice it to say that my most recent vacation to Korea smashed my life in the face and I am still processing the circumstances of what happened on a daily basis.
- I suffered a terrible injury that impacted the pursuit of my main passion. I’ve been a dedicated street dancer for just about two-decades and my knee just finally started to give up. After several months of rest it’s finally starting to feel better and I’m even practicing again. However, my time away threw me into a bit of a depression and made me evaluate who I was without one of the pillars that my life revolved around.
- I started jiu jitsu. When I was young I was a scholastic wrestler. I never a great wrestler but I won some matches that I shouldn’t have and I lost a few that I should have. I loved the thrill and the brutal honesty of a solo sport that involves just your training, your body, and your tenacity. My knee-injury brought me back to a grappling sport in jiu jitsu and I’ve fallen back in love with trying to choke people to death.
- I did really well in my yearly performance review (though I could have done better). I should probably break this out into another post to explain my approach to this past work year, what I did well in and what my shortcomings were.
- I didn’t read enough or write enough.
- I exceeded my financial goals. Again this deserves another post. This past year I tried out a new income strategy selling covered calls and cash secured puts.
Pado Pado 