Thursday, January 01, 2009

2008 Accomplishments and what is next?

It is time to look at my 2008 accomplishments. Sometimes we did something good and sometimes we screwed up. Let’s see how I had have I done and what I have screwed in 2008:


What I Did Well (I Think So)

  • I still maintain my yearly income raise at 7% rate or higher. In fact, it is a higher than that. This is my financial annual goal in order retire rich at 40 years old. If I’m staying at 7% or higher rate, the chances that I get retire rich at 40 years old is higher.
  • I was getting promoted in management path in my company. When you’re a single contributor, whatever you contribute reflect directly to your accomplishment. This is easy as everything is within your control. Therefore, I’m getting exceed expectation most of the time when I was still in single contributor. Now is another story as my accomplishment now is the team accomplishments and every manager is used to be a top performer when they was in single contributor. Therefore, the competition within the management is also getting tough.
  • I have been consistently staying out of comfort zone in 2007 and 2008. This is really something good news. I used to have a life stay in a comfort zone 2 years ago, before 2007. So now I’m in good track, staying out from comfort zone and consistently increase my learning curve and make sure it won’t slow down and keep up the momentum.
  • I managed to convince my parents to move from their hometown to stay closer with me. We used to meet once a year and sometimes once in every 2 years. Now I’m seeing them every weekend. I can tell, they love the new place that I bought for them. Now the relationship with parents is getting closer again like it used to be. This takes 3 years for them to completely move here.

What I Screwed Up (Did I?)

  • I still failed to build up my second income. In blogging, I earn averagely USD 100 in every 2-3 months. It is a way far from my main income. I started my 1:1 tuition business in 2006 and I didn’t continue it in until now. The thing is I can’t jeopardize my main income with my second income. Building a second income is still in second priority as for right now. Unless I don't get promoted last year, then I probably can still have more time and resources focusing on the second income. But at this point in time, I'm still struggling with my new role.
  • Investment return is also not very impressive and less than 8%. 8% in my goal again for me to retire rich at 40 years old It seems like investing in Wawasan 2020 and ASN have the highest investment return among all other investments such as mutual fund, stocks and etc. These are the government mutual funds in Malaysia for those of you who may not aware of this.
  • I have health problems which is the saddest thing. I did my medical check-up recently and found 3 problems that I do not meet the healthy guideline standard. First problem is my high cholesterol level. Second problem is my oily liver. The third problem is my high uric acid level. According to the doctors, all these happen because I really know how to enjoy and appreciate seafood. Guess what is my 2009 resolution?

What is Next? (2009 Resolution)


  • To be performed in my new role in management path. As I said, it is going to be very challenging as your performance is no longer within your control. It is your team performance and now and the competition among managers is also getting tough. Also retain my sub-ordinates is also one of the biggest challenges that I faced in my current team.
  • To be healthy again. I'm going to exercise at least once a week. I have been consistently exercise (play badminton weekly) for 3 months. I think I have start losing some weights which is a good sign. :) Exercise is the most effective way to burn your cholesterol in case you guys do not aware. Also I will try to eat as much as vegetable as possible and reduce the meat consumption. If I really want to eat meat, fish is the preferred option. Also, now I'm having a habit to drink Chinese Tea and Oats which I believe is the healthy one. Please correct me if I'm wrong or any ideas for me to stay healthy. :)
  • To improve the quality of my blog content. I have 2 blogs. This blogs is a little bit messy as it contains almost everything of my life journey toward financial freedom. Not 100% of the content belongs to personal finance. I wonder if I should make any major changes to it. The second blog that I have is more specific on reviewing any useful freeware. Anyway, sometimes when I look at the old post, I find that it is very funny. Therefore, I decided to take some time to review them again see if any changes are required.
Okay, these 3 high-level goals have been set in 2009 for me. What about you? Happy New Year to everyone of you!

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13 Comments:

Anonymous said...

My investment and health also not very good :T I also have uric acid but it's not serious. The bad cholesterol level is quite serious. Need to go for more workouts and no more junk food. :D

By the way...how u earn so much for blogging? o_O after 3 months, my adsense only $20 !!

Mt. said...

next time u come KL, all sea food is on me ... hee hee hee ...

job in management also opens up the skill needed to run a business in future too, only one advice from me ... the only thing you cann't do is the one that you think you cann't do.

good luck and welcome to 2009 :D

ChampDog said...

@Alvin
My bad cholesterol high and my good cholesterol low. *sign*. Earn a lot? I thought normally people earn USD2K/3K per month? This is at least what they’re telling people and I’m not sure whether they’re telling the truth is or not. Earning money online through Adsense doesn’t seem to be as easy as many website claims. But anyway, if the frequent update that you have, I’m quite sure you can do this better than many others. It is just a matter of time. Keep up the good job!

@Michael
Yupe, I agree it opens up the skills needed to run a business but it is still way far from that. The good thing I’m in marketing umbrella, still have a lot opportunity to look at the company from business perspective. Good luck to you too and happy 2009!

JamyTan said...

Champdog,
What an accomplishment on your blogging. I do not earn any money blogging, ha ha ha ha.
Have a blessed new year.
Jamy

Alvin said...

Hmm, not really. I seriously only earn $20 only since August. Maybe because my blog isn't a niche blog? :(

Anonymous said...

champDog..take care of ur health..and hopefully can make more money from second income in year 2009..good luck

ChampDog said...

@Jamy
Thanks. Happy new year to you too! Have your couponing business will be very successful!

@Alvin
No idea. Perhaps it is just luck. :D You know if you update your post very often until I don’t have time to read it at all. :D

@imDavidLee
Yupe, hopefully but at this moment making money is not my focus. As long as I can learn something, I share it out and people are thinking that is useful then I’m very happy already. This is my biggest accomplishments already.

I think if you really want to make money in blogging, one should become celebrities first either in the real life or in blogging. Do something special to get the attention (maybe sing some song and post in the youtube? Hahahaha), then you only starts blogging. This is the most effective way, in my opinion. :D

Anonymous said...

Wow. I'm very impressed with your accomplishment. Honestly, i dont even meet 2 of the 3 that you have mentioned. In fact, none of the similar nature! :P

Anyways, the last i know, if you have high uric acid, you should avoid taking too much tea. If fact, u should not take any chinese tea. According to the dietician, if we like tea, we should try to go for flower tea. It is apparently better than tea leaves that we consume because they are (apparently) fermented ones. And do avoid spinach (poh choi) which is bad for your uric acid too. Whatever it is, consume your food moderately. Should be ok considering you are exercising :D at least you are doing way better than me :D

Anonymous said...

ewww cholesterol lol
please eat japanese foods. we dont take oil much. you can be very slim like me lol
im also impressed! it seems sooo difficult to earn money by blogs.
you are doing well chamdog chan..
please take care.
lots of love

Anonymous said...

forgot one thing.
i love chinese tea tooo!
jasmin tea is a must before sleep..

ChampDog said...

@Pig
Thanks for your recommendation. Where can we get flower tea, btw? I"m drinking specifically "Buer" Chinese tea which I believe should be the fragmented one? I don't aware spinach has the high uric acid content. The one I know is the "Mushroom" which one of the food that I like most. :) But if we compare (e.g. spinach") to meat, it should be much more lower right? Correct?

@Niki
Wow! What a surprise! It is really have been a while we haven't get in touch. What about Japanese tea (e.g. Green Tea)? I'm sure you like it as well? Thanks for the comment, we should keep in touch. :)

Anonymous said...

ewww ive been feeding your pet sometimes lol
thank you chooo much my friend!!
green tea is a bit strong and makes me awake at night.
and i believe jasmin tea can lead me into good sleep. haha..
green tea is good for stomach problem though.
yeah keep in touch. thanks a lot for your reply champdog chan!!

ChampDog said...

Hi, I think I don't even know who is feeding my pet. Anyway, thanks for feeding my pet and I think being my pet must be hungry in 24 hours per day. Too bad for him...


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