“Financial Freedom”?

I’m pretty surprised that “financial freedom” in many people’s points of view is the state of being financial free from their … mom!? In other words, “financial free” in their terms refers to when they get a job. (!!?)

Gosh, what a naive thought!!!

Well, once you get a job, it’s true that you don’t depend on your mom like what you’ve done in the last 22 years plus anymore but… yes, BIG BUT, you then depend on the much more scary, frightening than your mom that is your job – your boss – your company or whatever you wanna name it.

Well, to be honest, I was damn happy receiving my first little pay check – my bosses asked me to commence work 3 days before my contract started to help them with an urgent project, they paid me $50/day.

When you first start your job, you may feel very good upon receiving your pay check. You would feel deservedly like I did because that is what you try hard to get – yes, in compared to showing your poor face & asking your mom for money.

But then…

It’s good that you don’t depend on your mom. But it’s equally bad or even worst if you then depend on your boss or your job. Why?

(I want you to discover this by yourself – in fact, it’s better that way but – yes but again, ok let me just tell you… cos I’ve seen many people leave their lives without realising this.)

– 1st, you trade your 2 most important things for that (guess what they are). Some even trade their family, friends, etc. just to please their bosses in order to get a higher position, thereby higher pay check.

– 2nd and most importantly, you enter the so-called “rat race” which is quite hard to escape especially when you’re highly educated. (!!)

What’s next?

You would always look forward to weekends – not to enjoy the days with your loves and friends but to escape.

You would be scared of Sunday night & Monday morning blues become a syndrome of a new incurable disease.

You would want to travel a lot – a lot more – good? no, not for the seek of traveling and exploring but escaping – escape the nightmare at daytime.

….

One day you would realise it’s hard to get in (get a job) but it’s even harder to get out (leave that job). Hopefully, by then it’s not too late – it is never too late huh? Good luck!

ps: I was same as you – under those peer, social, family pressure, getting a job after graduate is a MUST.
Our mom & family want us to get a job so that we wouldn’t depend on them – for good reasons. But they don’t know that what they’re doing is pushing us to a race that’s even harder to get out than to get in. Well, it’s not totally their faults. They try hard. They do their best for us. Just that stupid people never know that they are stupid… (sorry if it hurts anyone…)
I did enter the race. But I am lucky enough to know that I should stop. Hope you do too.

Patience!?

Moyes was once described as the “Chosen One” who surprisingly overcame many high profile managers to succeed Sir Alex. Despite Sir Alex’s request to stand by their new manager on his final match, 10 months later, their “loyal” fans asks Moyes to be sacked after his desirable run as a manager.

Man United: Patience?

United’s playing pretty bad – almost as bad as an average team. But that shows us how impatient people are! They want success now. They want success overnight although they know it’s never easy replacing a legend.

That also says How badly we miss Sir Alex. We seem never appreciate him & anything he’s done enough until he’s gone. There were some moments I dislike the way United played, his tactics, substitutions… but one thing we can’t deny it brings sustainable success to United throughout his 26 years. Amazing!

A few weeks later Moyes was sacked ending his 10-month in charge of United.

Patience is such a luxury in this world of “madness”!! #United #HTH

Bro

It seems too early for me to credit someone for something. I’m still young. Real life’s seemingly just started.. But if there is anyone who I should be deeply grateful for so far, it must be my bro.

Though perhaps we’re so different now – in almost everything, I can’t hide the fact that he has made a very positive impact on me since young. He has guided and inspired me so much & despite all the differences I’ve still learned from him a lot.

To be honest, like many others (the averages), he seemed to underrate if not look down on me. He did doubt if I could find a job here. Even when things change, we still can’t work out together…
I did compare & had a shallow thought that if I were him, I would have done a lot better as a bro.
But then I realise we don’t need to be a best-fit to learn from each other. I know many are jealous of me when I posted on FB as they haven’t & may never find someone like that in their entire lives.

I’m lucky! Damn lucky!

…

He gave me some hopes & optimism at home though it turned out to be just diplomatic & might not even be true.

–

He bought then carried some heavy dumbbells from very far away for me to work out at home.

He bought me the widely considered “best business & personal development” book of all time.
He introduced me the guy whose philosophy changed my life over & over again.
My greatest achievement so far – the 100 consecutive push-ups was also introduced by him.

Those are just to name a few…

When I just came to SGP, he told me sth that I’m still & gonna remember for times to come:

I’ve been here for almost 4 years but I’m still studying English almost everyday. So I can’t find any reasons for you not to do the same.

One time, he took me to a restaurant in Bugis & said:

If you wanna date any Singaporean girls, you have to take them here (good restaurants) very often!

And yup, I did 🙂 But of course not that often

One of a few times he complimented me:

Your character, appearance,… If you succeed too, it’d be almost perfect!

I was actually preparing to stand on my own 1 year ago. I took her there & told her the story… Things became even clearer during the last summer. And now it becomes reality. As I told my colleague, we hardly talk since then. But at least I know I’ve still got someone “there”…

I’m totally ready to stand on my own. Be strong & succeed!

We may go in totally different roads but our destinations seems exactly the same. We’ll reach there for sure. See you there, bro! 🙂

Do something that lasts!

Lately I’ve discovered what is really meaningful to me in work & life. Surprisingly, it’s just as simple as to do something that lasts. What do I mean by that? Well, I mean:

We should have meaningful & deep conversations particularly with the ones we love rather than just pure chit chat or shallow gossips with “friends”!

We should acquire skills that will help us in life – not just in school or at work.

We should read! (books, autobiographies & not news nor gossips)

We should write timeless articles, together with daily journalling, rather than just school reports.

We should do something that’s gonna stay for a long time not just temporarily like assignments or homework.

…

Something that lasts is something meaningful, useful & important.
Do something that lasts so that our lives won’t just pass by.

My Definition of a Loser

Level 1:

• More than 26 years old
• Struggle with his life & job
• Have limited friends & networks
• Good at nothing except complaining, criticising, gossiping whilst mediocre, average at almost everything else

Level 2:

• More than 26 years old
• Single & always available (not a player)
• Achieve little or no success in career – having a stable job
• Travel less than 10 countries and 20 different places
• Purposeless – He doesn’t know what else to do with his time & his life except work (for money), girls and some basic entertainment

Don’t judge a man until he’s thirty!

Level 3

• Have high paid job – i dont mean a successful man should get a low pay but a high paid job doesnt make one successful
• Have a master degree
• Have a Saving account
• Own an expensive car

2013 Year in Review

I’ve just built 2013 Year in Review which summarizes my 2013 in 10 lessons & memorable moments. I’m quite satisfied with that (time & efforts spent to build & write that)

Here’s a quick list of things I proudly did in 2013:

– Get my heart broken

– Convert my cash flow from paper to sys (G. Spreadsheet) – much more cleaner & comprehensive

– Buy a great membership for the first time

– Have a lean team

– Travel a lot lot

– Have a new close friend

– Donate

(to be updated)

Rexy.me goes minimalist

I started revamping the site as early as Sep 13. After so many delays, it’s first launched at Nov 17 & then took me roughly 2 weeks to complete all the makeover. Alright, let me go through some of the major changes in this latest, minimalist design.

What’s new?

To begin with, font size is probably the most striking difference. I’ve increased the base font size from 16 to roughly 20px (1,25rem). The left side animated line which makes use of HTML5 canvas is another highlight. It’s absolutely a fun replacement for the navigation line “flop” which was somewhat minimal and creative but didn’t seem to pass the usability test in the last design ;( The search and footer are both removed as part of a cleaner, more minimalist theme.

In the blog home page, there is no more page pagination – meaning there is only 1 page now featuring current month’s best moments (I create it for me not only to save my good moments but also to be grateful for everyday I have – which I shouldn’t let it pass wastefully), 3 latest posts & the Best of Rexy. Archive page is used in favour of the unnecessarily long blog page pagination.  As you may notice, the page is completely redesigned (partially based on Paul Irish’s if I’m not wrong). One of my favourite new design!

One of my favorite new function is the so-called magic dot button which is always flashy after a few seconds and will lead you to a random old post of mine upon click. I steal the idea from my friend’ tumblr blog, which I find it very useful in such a way that I’m now able to read my old posts randomly. This is also where the small & hidden navigation is located.

There is a header banner at the top in each post just before the title which now actually consists of a link to facilitate sharing (testing). Inside the content, blockquote & links are changed dramatically. The post footer is also vastly changed to an awesome and minimalist way. The original date of publish comes first followed by the latest modified time if applicable then there is my nickname, post’s categories & tags & lastly <3 love it –  a personal “facebook likes”.

Another feature worth mentioning is the brand new 404 page – which bases on my fun song & animation. Click here to see it in action 😛

Admin-wise, there is no more wp annoying “top fixed” admin bar. Post edit is now still conveniently at each post’s footer.

Design makes what is complex feel simpler, and makes what is simpler feel richer — John Maeda

Last but not least, this design is responsive – meaning it would work well in various devices no matter it’s desktops, tablets or mobiles.

What else?

Search which is deemed unnecessary for a personal blog is removed. So do the comments – bad news for spammers. Sometimes comments serve good purposes but usually it’s a bad thing to have. It’s only closed by default not completely removed. I do leave it open for some posts.

This launch also marks a new milestone where What I wish I had done has topped Money won’t make you rich to be the number one article in Rexy. It’s justified by growing number of regrets of people who have lived more than two third of their lives.

Unlike the last 2 major revamps, I think this minimalist theme will last long – much longer than its predecessors. For me, this version is absolutely stable (framework-free, styling-free), minimal & overall fantastic – my most enjoyable design thus far!

Colophon

Version 2.0 – minimalist
Built on WordPress. Make use of HTML5. jQuery. CSS3. SASS.

ps: I’m gonna release this  rexy theme – standalone version – for free. Will try my best to release it asap. As of now, it’s still a child them with minimal dependence on its parent’s