L.I.F.E - Learning Intensively For Everyday

Dear readers,

Don't know how much of you are out there.

Just want to let you guys know, apart from my ramblings and personal stuffs I write on this particular blog, I also have another one dedicated to capture what I have learn. Posts are usually daily, but may stop a day or two.

So yeah if you're really interested in what I've learned for the day, do check me out at

http://jpdailylearning.blogspot.com/

Regards,

jpthedarkknight :)

Staying Up Late

I kinda enjoy staying up late. Because one of the main reason is I can't really wake up early (6-7am ish) without feeling drowsy. I have no problems waking up at 8 or 9am feeling good. But factor in a normal 6 hour sleep pattern, even if I were to wake up at 8am, I should go to bed at 2am.

Now I know 2am is nothing compared to most people out there. I have numerous friends who sleeps at 3,4,5am. Calling myself a night owl takes up the one and only adjectives to describe those sleeping beyond 3am.

But still I like sleeping around 2am or 3am. I can sleep later than that. But for the sake of my biological clock and body's health and wellness, I never push myself to sleep after 2am.

I noticed my brain tends to get active at nights. Actually it also does too during the mornings. But definitely not in the afternoons. Stimulants or interesting stuffs tend to incite me more during the night and morning. So that is when I do my research, or browse for answers to random questions.

I like staying up late for a reason. Doing something that excites you. Like playing piano at night. It gives a really different eerie or perhaps soothing feel, depending on the song you're playing. Never tried that before though, but I really want to do it like continuously every night. Or going through something that requires me to think eg. solving puzzles, riddles.

Perhaps one of the best thing to do staying up late is to talk to someone that matters alot to you. Talking at night really does give a different ambiance and feel. Definitely one of the best feelings in the world that I have ever encountered. Too bad that feeling has been all but lost for a long time ago.

It's not that I am phobic to sleep though. As much as I like the feeling of dozing off and recharging my batteries, I find sleep as a seduction as I always tend to snooze off my alarm and wake up 1 hour later, sleeping beyond my quota.

And I know that my body can't really sustain me in sleeping mood after 10am. Even if I sleep at 6am in the morning, I would wake up before 12pm. Maybe I have a strong affinity to breakfast eh?

So yeah, hopefully I might find something to keep me up the night. It's not because I'm masochistic. Just that I would want to utilize my time more :)

Rain

The gloomy weather can be nostalgic. It reminds me of UK, notably because almost 1 out of 2 days I was there, it was raining. The sky was grey, but still the scenery and buildings are beautiful.

Rain has always been a popular theme for musicians and songs. No matter in what language, what genre, even what year, rain has been always been in titles of songs and movies.

I came close to watching the musical "Singin In The Rain" while I was in UK. But hard luck, the tickets sold out. I wanted to have a new feeling when it comes to rain. Thank God this trip to UK broadens me a bit. I have gloomy and happy stuffs to think about when it rains.

Well rain affects me in many ways. Back here in Malaysia, rain stops me from going out, or makes me find shelter. Back in the UK, walking in the rain was normal. I would just stare up to the skies and let the rain fall on my face, like a child first experiencing rain. What I experienced back there, stills flashes through my head every time it rains

Another way rain triggers me is music. I think listening to rain themed music on a rainy day just makes the song or music so much more meaningful and evokes feelings more than normal times.

Here are my favorite rain-themed songs, with no particular order after Yiruma's Kiss The Rain.

1. Kiss The Rain by Yiruma

2. 春雨里洗过的太阳 by Wang Lee Hom

3.下雨天 by 南拳妈妈

4. 비가오는 날렌 (On Rainy Days) by B2ST

5. Rhythm of The Rain by The Cascade

6. 천둥 (Thunder) by FT Island

2014 New Year Resolution

HEALTH

1.       LOSE WEIGHT

 My weight has been up again. Boohoo! It’s been up to a maximum limit I had once achieved. Due to an unbalanced lifestyle and some very infrequent exercise, my BMI is over the limit.

Solutions

1.       From January onwards, substitute lunch with oats or maybe cornflakes.

2.       Eat less for dinner. Half a serving of rice will do. Increase intake in vegetables and avoid over eating meats and oily stuff.

3.       Run daily after work. Target to run at least 3 km daily. A 10km run per weekend is mandatory.

4.       Morning and night work outs. Do the pumps, pushups and crunches. Start from 20 each, increasing 10 fold each day. Maximum of 50 pumps and pushups per round. Wake up at 6am during weekdays so that you complete your workout cycle in time before work.

Projection of Results

Target to lose at least 5kg before Chinese New Year. That would be around 1kg per week. Around 1500cal a day.

Target to lose a cumulative 10kg by end of February.

Reward

RM100 to be credited into a new account, dubbed the “posh and fancy” account. This means I get to spend the money I’ve earned as a reward on luxury items without feeling bad of overspending.

Stakes and Punishment

Post a status on facebook asking for anyone to ask ANY question (limit 3), and to answer it honestly as a status. And no dinner for a week.

2.       6 PACKS

Wanting to have 6 packs and a fit body has always been badgering and appearing on my resolutions year after year. Sure there were times that I was almost there. But most of the time, nope. It does not even deserve to have it posted.

Solutions

1.       Keep up with the crunches, pushups and pumps as per mentioned. But first you gotta find the full work out schedule of it

2.       If by May 2014 there are no feasible results, then you would have to join gym. Say bye bye to your money

Projected Results

Visible results in weight loss and muscle gain. All has to done by December 2014.

Reward

RM300 into the “posh and fancy” account. And go ahead to post your well built body in facebook and instagram.

Stakes and Punishment

Post your flabby body on to facebook with your face. You’ve failed and you deserved to be shamed.

3.       SLEEP

Get 6 hours max on weekdays. Up to 7 hours are allowable on weekends. Try to not get a siesta for more than 25 times a year. Should you get a siesta, keep it not more than 1 and a half hour. Could be managed and charged under normal sleep under negotiable circumstances.

Reward

An extra 30 minutes of movie or games. Preferably movies

Stakes and Punishment

Do an extra 100 hand pumps and 50 push ups.

LEARNING AND KNOWLEDGE ENHANCEMENT

1.       FOREIGN LANGUAGE (I)

Took up German via Duolingo. Am at level 2 at the moment.

Solutions:

1.       At least 2 Lessons daily.

2.       Scour the internet for additional info 

Projected Results

Master basic German by May 2014

Reward

TBC

Stakes and Punishment

TBC

2.       READING

Preferably a wide array of genres. But it must include “Health”, “Self Improvement” daily. A chapter each will suffice. Then you’re free to read whatever you like.

Solutions:

1.       Read at least 30 pages of reading material daily. You can include any online articles (excluding 9gag)

2.       At least something on health and self improvement or something that is new and something to capture in L.I.F.E

Projected Results

1200 pages read for the year 2014. In terms of books, 30 of them.

Reward

Buy a book of your liking at any price. You love books more than your money. No big deal right?

Stakes and Punishment

Don't like reading your books? Give 5 of them away to someone.

3.       MUSIC

Practice at least 1 hour weekly. That includes learning a new song. No goals are set as learning a song can be too complicated beyond words for me.

Review this when you have the chance to slot in guitar.

4.       SPIRITUAL

Pick up meditation and reiterate your goals and targets.

INTERPERSONAL AND SOCIAL

Self Improvement

1.       Speak your mind, but make sure you speak after thinking. Voice out your thoughts more often. Don’t  be a Yes-man. Be brave and have more courage.

2.       Think creatively and out of the box more often. Get ideas influx from the net and through reading. Make your thinking and ideas exciting and mind blowing.

As a son, family member and a relative

1.       Communicate more with family. I notice I spend a lot of time in my room and laptop. Although I have been improving since end of last year but I want to improve further. Make an effort to hold conversations with aunts, uncles and cousins.

2.       Phone back home more often (weekly) to talk with grandparents. I seldom do that. Yeah Grandpa and Grandma deserve more attention from me.

3.       Visit KL grandparents more often. Once every 3 weeks or once every 2 weeks.

4.       Phone back home more often to talk with parents (weekly). Will try to Skype weekly. Time to learn from my brother.

As a human being

1.       Be involve with something that does good to mankind, around 1 acts of kindness a month. This could be volunteering or giving a donations – any form of help that help brings a smile to others.

CAREER

Have the discipline to end your work. Go back home NOT MORE THAN 8.30pm TWICE a week.  On Fridays leave on 5pm sharp, LATEST on 6pm. Have a total working hour per week of less than 55 hours.

Reward

Very obvious. Free time for what you want to do. Good stuffs.

Stakes and Punishment

You like work so much? So spend the following day at work until 9pm. Ermygod! T^T

COMPUTER GAMES

I think I have cut down a lot of my gaming time these days. But it would be better if I can monitor myself and control myself even more. 

Solution:

1.       For pure entertainment based games, maximum 2 hours, but equally spread out, especially during the weekends.

Reward

Treat yourself to that good meal (once every 2 months)

Stakes and Punishment

Run 13 km when you should be running 10km for one week. And no internet for 1 week.

OTHERS

-          Dare to fall in love

-          Finish 2 marathons, if possible a full marathon

-          Search for other platforms to further showcase and mould yourself into the person you want to be

   
     

      

The Number Game

Bet most of you guys heard of it! You give someone who's "hosting" the game a number, and this person is going to write what he or she thinks about you.

So here's what I got from a friend of mine

 

I was kinda moody and feeling empty upon returning from UK. I saw a lot and I'd say part of my dreams changed course after being there for a mere 13 days.

I loathed coming back. But upon receiving this from a dear friend, I picked up that much needed courage, which I hope is suffice to help me face my first day back at work, for the year 2014.

And yeah scum bug heart of mine, apparently you've loosen your grip and let someone into you again. 

It has been such a long time since I had this type of feelings boggling and troubling me.

But then on the bright side, it proofs that I'm very much straight (oh no, I just let out that it's a GIRL my heart is yearning for).   

And that puts in another reason to look forward to 2014. Either its gonna be another heart wrenching experience to get over, or finally someone to break my relationship duck - it's something to look forward to, aye?

I appreciate what was written for me, thanks mate (if you're reading this). I am indeed living part of my dream. That big dream to travel the world got ignited in the year 2013. I just got to make my dream bigger and better :)

Happy New Year Ong Joo Parn, and may this be a good year for you.

Sincerely,

Yourself

2014 New Year Resolutions - Making It Concise, Effective and Achievable

I dreaded on making one up. Partly because I didn't really achieve what I've set out to to in the 2013. And partly again I was in UK during the transition period from 2013 to 2014.

I again doubted the effectiveness of a New Year Resolution. I bet most of us too. Why?

We set goals yes. We are specific too in mentioning them.

But what we lack, was an action plan. Those tiny tiny bits of action, steps that you must walk and take daily, which all adds up to a single goal that you've stated down in your resolution. That's the most vital point of all!

In the year 2013 I set out a target to read 52 books a year. That's 1 book per week. I hit around 50% of it, if including all the magazines, Reader's Digest that could not be documented by Goodreads. 50% isn't bad. In terms of pages it would be around 6000 pages (around 16 pages per day). But it could be a lot better and much more closer to the target I've set if I had a set of daily routines to capture them.

Moreover, there must be a reward system to make you push yourself harder towards achieving a goal. That was also what I left out during drafting out my 2013 resolutions. With nothing to reward myself by setting those terrible and difficult goals, naturally I failed them.

So for this year, rather spending 1 hour to draft out and uneven spread of resolutions to be achieve, I will make a really concise one, capturing mental, strength, personal well-being, individually, and socially.

It's gonna take up a huge chunk of time. But I hope it will rock my 2014 :)

Post UK Trip Thoughts In A Nutshell

They say time passes faster if you're happy. True but not so though.

Cause agreeing to that would make me admit that I'm super happier during my work then having a vacation.

15 days away. Strictly speaking though just 13 days of exploring UK, minus the time on the plane - its not a long period, but neither short.

How is it possible that for this 13 days, I've learned and seen so much.

I've changed. In terms of being realistic. In terms of setting dreams. For the better I guess.

I may not have found courage like Bilbo Baggins (or a ring), but I see how things are in reality, in a different country and perspective.

1 year ago I dismissed the thoughts of being complacent to work and live in my comfort zone, Taiping. I took up the offer and challenge to brave Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.

One year passed. My dreams got bigger. Can I make it to one of the top cities in the world?

Food for thought. Time is ticking. Make it count!