Think and Grow Rich

I read many blog posts on their reflections for 2014 as well as the goals for 2015.

There are many noteworthy goals and aspirations by fellow bloggers which are highly commendable. 

End December is always the time where I slow down, reflect on the year and set actionable goals for 2015. 

Reflections for 2014

I have a few passions in life and one of them is to travel. I love to visit and explore new places and will travel a few times each year. Actually that is what keeps me motivated.... by having something to look forward to.

2014 has been a rewarding year in terms of travelling to new places.  I visited the following places for the first time. 

Greece - Athens, Santorini, Mykonos, Nafplio, Corinth. 

Turkey - 4 hours transit in Istanbul (Blue Mosque) 

Japan - Kusatsu, Karuizawa, Nozawa, Yokohama

United States - San Francisco  

I would have loved to share my travel diaries with you except that I need a lot of time to write them and time is indeed the most precious element. Otherwise, the theory of compounding will be rendered useless. 

一寸光阴一寸金，寸金难买寸光阴

My goal for 2015 is to visit more new places and as I grow older, I start to look for more unique and exotic experiences. After all, we only live once, so love your life and live it to the fullest. 

Another passion of mine is to share with people my real life experiences in my journey for financial freedom (be it good or bad). You learn more things from the bad experience and it also helps make the good experience sweeter. So enjoy the journey. (I will leave out the parts on donating to charity and doing good etc. Remember to do good too). 

Financial Freedom

In case you still have doubts, I haven't reach there yet. This is because I equate financial freedom with having a regular passive income (from non work related) that is more than the daily expenses for my family. 

I am at a stage where I am still very focused on building my net worth rather than creating a portfolio for passive income. As such, capital gains from investing or income from trading and IPO punting will not be considered as passive income but will add on to the net worth (if I haven't spend it).  

I am glad that my net worth goal for 2014  hit my target last year. It was a pleasant surprise given how much I spend on food and travels. (Probably the target is too low. Haha)

My definition of net worth includes the property which I am currently staying but I included my wife's share as well since financial freedom is a family affair and I am the family's chief investment officer. 

However to inspire the younger readers, it is definitely possible to hit $1m before you turn 40. You just have to believe that you can, especially if you are below 30 now. There are a few cycles and opportunities in one's life, so grab it when it comes but you can only do that when your eyes are "opened" up to the opportunities that present themselves and you must have some capital to take advantage of them, so save up diligently when you are young and are just starting out.  

Think and Growth Rich ?

I am not sure whether you have read the classic book by Napoleon Hill. I am too lazy to read the original classic, however, I spent the last few days reading the comics version. There are 13 steps to it but i just briefly summarize in a paragraph as follows. 

You must first have the desire and belief to achieve financial freedom and the belief will open your mind and translate into actions which then create a virtuous cycle into achieving your objective. 

Simple enough to understand but you have to constantly remind yourself to practise it. 

Goals for 2015

I will cover that in a subsequent post. I am still trying to make sure the goals are actionable ones and not the fluffy big picture kind. I have read or write enough of those "crap" in the appraisals. ^_^

Happy goal setting.