Recently, I was notified by Feedspot that I got featured in their “Top 75 Singapore Investment Blogs”, and I would like to thank them for the feature.
Although I do not write as often as I used to since I started giving my market analysis in my Telegram channel, I hope that this year I will be able to write more.
Stay tuned! 😀
After reading countless self-help books and websites, the idea of goal-setting seems to be staple advice for anyone looking to get their life in shape.
Hence, every year, either at the end of the calendar year, (or at any significant point in the year such as one’s birthday), it became standard practice to set goals, or resolutions, specifying what one hoped to achieve by the next goal-setting date in 365 days.
But really, how effective is this?
Depending on one’s willpower, one might be able to stay motivated and work on the goal for 1-3 months, but soon after life gets in the way, and the resolution quickly gets forgotten. Hence quite often people end up recycling their new year resolutions.
So is there a better way? (spoiler alert: yes, there is.)
The problem with goal setting is that it shows you what the end-goal is like, but it misses out the exact steps to get you to that goal.
For example, one of the common goal setting methodologies is SMART, which stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-based. While these help you define the parameters of the goal, it does not show you how to get there.
That’s where the importance of habits come in.
“A habit is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously.” – Wikipedia
While goals can help you think of the desired end result, habits can show you the path to get those results.
Table of Contents
For example, if you are like me, and enjoy doing extreme planning and goal-setting, the sequence will look like this:
Lifetime goal > Goal for next year > Actionables > Daily habits
Lifetime goal: being physically healthy and keeping in shape
Goal for next year: hitting a desirable weight of xx kg
Actionables: eating healthy, exercising more
Daily habits: only eat healthy snacks, eat 3 servings of fruits/veg, exercise 30 mins a day, etc
As you might have realised, the main purpose of the goal is to allow you to formulate the daily habits which you should be doing if you want the desired end results.
This means that on a day-to-day basis, you should just be focusing on executing the daily habits. It might seem slow at first, but be patient and wait for the compounding effect to kick in.
If you only focus on the goals without clear steps, or try to take huge steps, it will require a lot of willpower every single day to chase the goals. This is why most people give up after a few months, due to a gradual attrition of willpower.
However, if you work on building habits, they do not require much willpower to maintain once they become ingrained, so in a sense it is like working towards your goals on auto-pilot, which greatly increases your chances of success.
The easiest way is to start with something small, and stick with it, and as the action becomes a habit, slowly build on it. Each level can last anywhere from 1-2 weeks, depending on how long it takes you to ingrain the habit, and automatically do it daily without missing any days in between.
Level 1: Do 5 push-ups a day
Level 2: Do 10 push-ups and 10 sit-ups
Level 3: Complete level 2 and go for a 10 min run
Level 4: Exercise for 30 mins
Level 5: Continue building as you see fit
Don’t try to start working on too many goals at a time, it is best to pick the top 1-2 goals, and work on ingraining the habits for them, before moving on to the next goals.
In investing we often talk about the power of the compounding effect, and this concept can also be applied to our personal growth.
If we improve our lives by 1% daily, the compounded returns is 3800% per year.
So, have you set your goals and habits for the year ahead?
If you are excited to get more life hacks, also check out: “Beyond Financial Freedom: An Unofficial Guide to Living Your Best Life”
On 26th December, there was a rare “Ring of Fire” annular solar eclipse, which occurs when the Moon covers the centre of the Sun, giving the appearance of a fiery ring around it.
Here in Singapore, this sight was visible for the first time in two decades, and will next appear in 2063.
As a former member of the Astronomy club (back when I was in school), I was delighted to see the general public take such an interest in this event.
Here are some of the photos I got:
Hope you didn’t miss it, or you will need to wait for another 40 years! ?
Last weekend, we conducted another successful run of our monthly Skillsfuture workshop, and it was an intense full-day of learning and activities, and not just the theoretical aspects, but the hands-on practice as well! 😀
I strongly believe that it is important for every individual to master the basics of personal finances, trading and investing, so that they can start building towards financial freedom as soon as possible, by adopting the right habits and strategy to growth their wealth.
For those who are keen to join us for the next intake, you can check availability here: https://synapsetrading.com/skillsfuture-singapore-course-trading-investing/
See you there!
I just got back from one month of travelling in Eastern Europe, and I’m glad to see some progress on the trade war resolution.
The US and China finally agreed on Phase One of the trade deal on Friday (Dec 13), including immediate cuts on import tariffs.
This is good news for Trump who is now battling impeachment, and with his 2020 reelection campaign coming up, he needs to give voters some small wins.
If this deal was not reached, a new round of tariffs on consumer electronics like cell phones and computers would have kicked in on Sunday.
As a sweetener, the US will also slash in half the 15% tariffs imposed on US$120 billion of Chinese goods that were imposed on Sep 1 previously.
However, existing tariffs of 25% on US$250 billion of Chinese imports would stay in place pending further negotiations on a second phase deal.
In return, China is committing to increasing purchases in four sectors: Agriculture, manufacturing, energy, and services.
In a sign that tensions remain high, Foreign Minister Wang Yi accused the US of “suppressing” China in a number of fields, including the economy, trade and technology and had “seriously damaged the foundation of hard-earned trust between China and the US.”
The US also angered Beijing by backing Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement and criticising China’s mass detention of mostly Muslim minorities in the northwest region of Xinjiang.
Looking at the chart of the S&P 500, stocks have continued to climb even during the trade war, which shows that the uptrend is still very strong.
Now that we are at the top of the trend channel, we might see some correction to the middle or bottom of the channel.
If there are no major political surprises or escalation of the trade war, then we might even see a Christmas rally before the year end.
Overall, I would be looking to invest in high growth US stocks.
