Everyday is a vacation

I think a lot of people would love to live their life as if they are on a permanent vacation. Before I was married, I didn’t make a lot of money but felt like that everyday was a vacation.

For me, vacation means:

1. Eating out/not cooking
2. Not cleaning
3. Spending time outside
4. Not working
5. Ready to travel

Eating out is cheaper than cooking, if you are not picky. I ate mostly fast food. Of course, it is not healthy but it is vacation. Also it is still better than overeating home-cooked meals.

Heros

Follow up to my last post, the people I admire the most are usually startup founders or business people. And then creators of open source softwares.

This weekend, I also met my engineer turned entrepreneur friend and saw Jobs movie. It seems I know what I should do.

I want a business that gives a lot of freedom, especially freedom to be with my kids. If I can involve kids in the business, it would be even better. Would love low stress business but it is not a requirement.

What you should do with your life

“What should you do with your life”, this the question I almost ask myself daily. I am still not sure what should be my long-term goals.

I have gone back and forth between pursuing my hobbies as a career, focusing on corporate career, and starting businesses.

Recently, I learned a simple question that can provide you insights into your deeper aspirations. The question is:

Who are your heros?

Ask yourself who are your heros, who do you feel inspired by, who do you read about, and who were your heros when you were a child.

Why Midlife Crisis?

I am not sure if women experience midlife crisis but I know several men who have experienced or are still in middle of midlife crisis. I have a theory that every 20 years, men need a big change.

Usually, there is a big change in 20s, people are moving out of their parents’ homes, going to college or starting their careers.

And when people turn 60, they are getting ready to retire. Downsize their homes.

Don't buy the house

We just recently bought a beautiful single family home. Before this, we lived in a townhouse. And before townhouse, I have lived in apartments. Buying a townhouse was a big step but buying single family home is a whole new beast.

First, buying a house is probably a sound financial decision. There are plenty of articles and research that shows people who own homes are financially better off.

But very few people talk about negatives of homeownership. And I think because lack of that information, a lot of people make incorrect decisions and end up regretting their home purchase. I did. I had huge buyer’s remorse the day we moved into our new home. I am still getting over it.

10 Years Goals

There is a saying that we overestimate how much we can do in days but underestimate how much we can achieve in years.

Nothing makes a father as proud and happy as his children. My biggest guiding principle for my long term goals is to provide Ayden and Zayn an environment where they can grow to be happy and successful. Also it is important to realize that I cannot make anyone happy or successful. Only thing I can do is create an environment for them to grow in.

Digital Minimalism

Just the other day, I happened to skim a blog post, “My awakening moment about how smartphones fragment our attention span.” It struck a chord, and I realized that I’m in the same boat. It’s been ages since I’ve properly read a book. Even when I have audiobooks on, I’m doing something else and hardly ever genuinely enjoy them.

I’ve got this habit too, of kicking off loads of projects and then ditching them once it’s time to roll up my sleeves and do the detailed work. Setting up a new project is a rush, but finishing something? That’s a snooze fest.