Health is Wealth

Went to Commonwealth MRT Station to take a look at the old Tanglin Halt before its redevelopment. Under the Selective En Bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS), 31 blocks of flats as well as market and hawkers stalls were slated for demolition.

Taking a walk at Tanglin Halt 

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How do you spend your morning?

 How do you spend your morning?

01 

Sleeping late seems to the habit of a hardworking individual. But when you think about it, it is actually not the sleeping late part that widens the gap of different individuals, but rather the getting early part.

I used to stay up late because I feel the need to have my ‘own’ time after working overtime in the office. I will watch Netflix, youtube, etc till late and because of that, I was always very tired at work. I once tried a "30 Days Early" challenge. After I started insisting on going to bed early and getting up early, sleepiness became an occasional thing, and my work efficiency was greatly improved. I also have more time to plan the work to be done for the day when I am much more clearheaded. From then on, I made getting up early as my daily routine.

Although getting up early seems like a slight change, I gain a lot more from it. Life is still the same, but I can choose to take more control of it.

02 

In our subconscious mind, we always feel that if we stay up a little bit, we gain more time for ourselves. But in fact, what does staying up late give you?

It’s the same eight hours of sleep, from ten o’clock to six o’clock, and from two o’clock in the morning to ten o’clock, but the first group of people will have more energy and clearer mind to do more effective work.

What staying up late can't give you, getting up early may be able to give it to you. Time is fair to everyone; it will not compromise to anyone. What we should learn to do what is how to do things in the most efficient and least disruptive way. Get up early, you deserve the best day to start a new day.

03 

The reason that one can't get up early is because there are too much external interferences consumes one’s willpower.

Try having an ordinary alarm clock and make sure not to touch your phone before doing the first thing after getting up. Do also split the things you have to do into 2-minute things: if you want to exercise, just walk for two minutes; if you want to learn new language, then recite a word; if you want to write a script, write a sentence first. Then getting up early is no longer tough because the sense of fulfilment will replace anxiety.

Those who can control the morning can control their lives. Go to bed early, have the courage to end today, then you will have the energy to welcome a better tomorrow.

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Taking a look at Tanglin Halt Estate before it is gone

Able to wake up earlier is a step closer to the life you want

Able to wake up earlier is a step closer to the life you want

I have often heard people complain that they have stayed up many nights in the past year, but they still feel that their lives have not changed much. How to live the life you want in the coming year? In fact, there is a very simple answer - get up early. Every morning is a new beginning, and insisting on getting up early is the first step towards transformation.

01 Control Time 

When I just graduated from university, I experienced a period of crazy days. Staying up late at night to watch dramas, often not sleeping at three or four in the morning was a norm. I don't want to get up at all in the morning, and I often get up in the afternoon to have a simple meal. Days passed, nothing was accomplished.

Later, I started to give up the habit of staying up late and tried to get up early. Enjoy a warm breakfast in the bright sunshine. Gradually, I no longer felt that life was boring, but took the initiative to make a schedule, study and exercise according to the above time. After a long time, I regained the drive I had when I was studying, and I also had a clearer direction for the future.

I once came across this sentence: "When people tiptoe closer to the sun, the whole world can't block their sunshine." It is very comfortable to stay in bed and get up late, but behind this indulgence, it consumes the future passion.

02 Control Health 

I have a friend who is widely recognized as a workaholic. She stayed up late every day until two or three o'clock at night, and her work and rest time was particularly chaotic. There was this day, she worked late again, and after she got home, she played with her mobile phone for a while, and it was half past one when she went to bed. When she woke up the next day, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her neck, and the pain was excruciating. The family rushed her to the hospital, and after nine days of bedridden treatment, she was finally discharged.

Staying up late to sleep seems to enjoy more “Me” time, but it is actually detrimental to one's health, which is not worth it or necessary.

On the contrary, the pleasure brought by staying up late can also give you the pleasure of getting up early, and the pain caused by staying up late can be cured by getting up early. In fact, it is the long-term irregular life and rest that makes people's bodies overwhelmed and worsened. Going to bed early when it’s time to go to bed and getting up early when it’s time to get up is the healthiest and most ideal way to live.

03 Control Life 

Some people say: "staying up late is because you don't have the courage to end the day, and staying in bed is because you don't have the passion to start the day." People who get up early often have more time to plan, arrange their time and life, and can better face the present and future.

Just imagine, when you get up at seven in the morning, your day has already started. The additional time can be used for breakfast, morning exercise, and reading. These small habits accumulate over time can bring people a strong physique, a positive attitude, and a better sense of happiness in life. And some people are still in bed until noon, so the gap is widened.

The transformation of life often starts with a small change. We can't decide what time the sun will rise, but we can decide what time we get up. Let us start from going to bed early and getting up early to make a change in our lives.

 

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Are your life half completed?

Life is only half completed for most people

When I was young, I was a very curious person, and I asked "why" every day?

This is of course a good thing, and it will get a lot of encouragement.

But as we grow older, "why", it becomes a disaster.

 

When we were young, our "why" might be:

Why does the sun rise from the east?

Why are the flowers colourful?

Why does Santa Claus have to come in through the chimney?

Why haven't the aliens invaded the earth yet?

 

But when I grow up, the "why" I asked has changed unknowingly:

Why am I so ordinary?

Why does he make so much money?

Why is there no hope of being promoted this year?

Why did this stock lose money again?

 

So I kept asking "why" and found countless answers.

A lot of answers, but meaningless.

Most people will stop here, exactly half.

 

Don’t worry about “why”, but think about what to do next.

In fact, there is still a second half to it!

After "why", there should be "what to do next"!

 

What to do next?

 

Imagine you have a card in your hand,

See the card in your hand; don’t bother to worry about "Why is this card"!

 

You have two choices now, just choose what to do!

One is to dare to pursue your dream, no matter you succeed or fail, you will have no regrets.

The second choice is to accept and embrace your true self, calmly face the boring life and find meaning from there.

 

If I am destined to be ordinary, I don’t have to be depressed, I don’t have to feel sorry for myself, I don’t have to be like a child all day long asking, "why", "why" and "why"...

 

Please find a way out of life and live for yourself as soon as possible.

Life is not about right or wrong.

Life is a real experience. You don't have to know all the answers, but you have to walk the road by yourself.

 

If you have asked too much "why", but are getting lost.

It's time to practise the "what to do".

This is to live the complete life.

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7 tips for saving money

 7 tips for saving money

I have seen many people discussing whether the money is earned or saved? Personally, I think that making money and saving money are indispensable, so that you can earn money and save money to accumulate wealth faster.

So today I will talk about money saving tips, so that everyone can save money more easily and faster.

1. Keep track on your expenses for a month to understand yourself first

Many people think that accounting is troublesome and cumbersome, and it is useless. It is just money spent, so they don't bother to keep it.

In fact, you may wish to consciously record a month first, so that you can find out your consumption situation and tackle it accurately.

Look at how much you need to spend in a month through accounting, which are necessary expenditures, and which are non-essential expenditures, find out these non-essential expenditures, and reduce on this type of consumption.

2. Make a good budget

After you understand your consumption situation, you can set your monthly budget so that it is not overspent.

For example, if you have a budget of 1k, then put the money in a convenient and flexible account. Every time you want to buy something, you pay from it.

Of course, the biggest advantage of doing this is that every time you spend money, you can clearly know how much money you have left to spend this month, and you won't spend it lavishly.

3. Spend less time on shopping app , supermarkets and shopping malls

When I have nothing to do, I will tend to use shopping apps. When I see something, I can’t help but want to buy it. So if you want to save money, the most important thing is to stay away from temptation. If you don’t see those things, you will have less desire to buy.

4. Don't buy things you don't need even there are discounts

In order to attract customers to spend more, some shops will set up activities such as discounts.

At this time, you have to be rational, and you can’t buy unnecessary things for the sake of discounts, otherwise you will not only not enjoy the discounts, but also spend more money.

5. Learn minimalism

In many cases, we feel that the more things we have, the stronger our sense of happiness. But in fact, think about the clothes in your cabinet, but you can't find the clothes you like. Every time you have to tidy up the clothes for a long time, is it very tired and annoying?

Let’s think about it. If you only have a few but fine clothes, you could just take out one that you like, and wear it, then your mood will be different immediately.

When you open my wardrobe, it will all be your beloved things. Isn’t it cool to think about it?

So you might as well learn to let go and let go of your obsession with things.

Before buying something, ask yourself three questions: "Do I really need this item?" "Does this item meet my spending power?" "Do I really like this item?"

6. Make a shopping list

Do you also have such a situation: strolling aimlessly at the supermarket, seeing this and wanting to buy, seeing that there is a discount, and buying it, after a round of shopping, the shopping cart is full, and the money is spent?

In fact, you might as well make a shopping list, follow the items on the shopping list to buy, go straight to the relevant product area as soon as you arrive at the supermarket, and leave as soon as you buy it, so as to reduce the shopping impulse to a certain extent.

7. On your payday, immediately store 10% of the salary

Save first, spend later, deposit money in a regular or fixed investment account, and stop thinking about spending money. This method of compulsory savings actually works well.

The above are some tips for saving money. Isn't it practical? If you think it is, you might as well act now.

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30 years old: three problems you have to face

30 years old: three problems you have to face 

The first question is the question of family and responsibilities. Don't think that you are still young. Don't think that some problems are still much distanced from you. There are some problems, whether you are willing to face them or not, you must take on the responsibilities that match your age. Most people, at this age, have to think about family issues. If you have already married and established a business, you must be soberly aware: How should your career develop in order to ensure that you can support the burden of your entire family? This includes not only your lover, but also your children and parents.

At this stage, your pressure has increased exponentially, but if your growth in the workplace cannot be doubled, or even going backwards in some form, Then, your future career development will face more pressure. And this kind of pressure, more often, will make you have no spare energy to seek better development. Many people often have a big worry when they change jobs: if I quit, my income is not as high as it is now, will I easily move again in my current job? To put it more politely: Do I dare to move again easily? Do I still have the guts and courage? So, if you want to take action, try your best to move forward as soon as possible before you have the burden of family.

 

The second problem is the matching degree of ability and age. Why do many companies clearly stipulate similar work experience requirements such as 5 years of experience, 10 years of experience, etc. when recruiting talents? Because working time means the level of ability that matches it. For the same job, the abilities accumulated by 5 years of experience and 10 years of experience are not the same, and the responsibilities that can be undertaken are also different. The longer your working years, the stronger your ability.

One of the more difficult situations is the mismatch of ability and age. Many people who have worked for 3 or 5 years, or even those who have worked for a year, are not much different in terms of ability, so when their careers want to make a breakthrough, they will encounter a lot of resistance. There are two reasons for this situation: one is frequent job-hopping, there is no accumulation of experience; the other is that although accumulating experience, only the first year is growth, and the remaining few years They are all doing repetitive work and no growth. Therefore, for those 30-year-old friends, from now on, you must carefully examine a question: from graduation to now, how many years have you worked? Do the abilities you have match your age? If it does not match, then you must establish a sense of crisis as soon as possible and run forward to fill the gap.

 

The third problem is the organisation and structure knowledge. As one progresses in the corporate ladder, one cannot be stuck only having knowledge at operational level but also how the management level thinks and solve issues. In the workplace, people at different job levels do different things, and their vision and thinking patterns are also different. A most basic salesman thinks about how to maintain his sales quota. This is a tactical thing and his responsibility; but if a marketing director is in the role, he still thinks like a salesman. , that is his negligence. The operation of every enterprise is composed of strategy and tactics. Big strategies will be subdivided into small strategies, and small strategies will be subdivided into execution tactics one by one, which will be implemented by grassroots personnel. People at different levels are responsible for work at different heights and perform their duties. This is also the meaning of teamwork. Similarly, people at different levels have different knowledge structures. The higher the level, the higher your perspective and thinking on the problem, and the higher the level of your overall knowledge structure.

 

In addition, from the perspective of communication, the higher your position, the closer you are to the boss, and the more opportunities you have to contact the top leaders of the company. If your level of thinking is inconsistent with the bosses, then your ability cannot be recognized. In this situation, your chances of getting promoted are slim, and your career will stop there.

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Should you lend people money or not?

 

01

At the beginning of this year, my friend Chris and his wife had been quarrelling over this issue of lending money. Chris had agreed to lend money to his relative in order to have a wedding banquet.

Chris is straightforward guy and is honest with others. But in the eyes of his wife, Chris is too nice and she is worried that he is being deceived by others.

1. Chris’ relative borrowed 15k on the grounds of decorating the house end of last year and I heard that his relative have not repaid him the full sum yet.

2. When Chris bought a house, he wanted to borrow money from these relatives at the beginning, but he was rejected straight in the face, and this time his relative wanted to borrow money which Chris agreed to lend.

 

02

In my humble opinion, to borrow or lend money, in addition to the emotional considerations, we should also rationally examine the three borrowing principles:

1. Borrowing money, liken to investing, requires background checks

From Chris’ experience, he cannot bear to reject others, so he has to suffer himself.

To lend someone money, you must first know the ‘credit score ‘of the other party. If you are close enough with the potential borrower, you will definitely know the lifestyle, character and the purpose of borrowing money; you will probably know whether you can lend or not. Remember: the money is yours, not others! There is nothing wrong with not lending! So don't feel bad about not lending. If you need to refuse, you must refuse.

If you refuse to lend him money, you may lose this friendship; but if you lend him money, you may lose the friendship + money.

No matter what, the "friend" who always thinks about borrowing money from you is no longer a real friend, so it's even more understandable not to lend.

2. Agree on terms and abide to them

Borrowing money from anyone will incur interests. If the borrower can initiate the interest rate based on the borrowed sum that will reduce the awkwardness between them next time.

3. The bottom line of borrowing money

No matter what is the reason for borrowing money, it is nothing more than to win the understanding and sympathy of the borrower. If the borrower is ill or has no income for a period of time and other reasonable reasons, can consider his character and lend some money appropriately.

We can abide by the principle of "saving the emergency, not the poor".

What is the secret of maintaining friendship between friends? Don't lend money! Don't try to borrow money, and don't agree to borrow money easily.

Instead of owing favours to borrow money, it is better to learn how to plan and manage money. It is better to get a bank loan if it is possible.

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