For a long time I’ve been waiting to keep track of my times, sometimes daily, or weekly. Like Jerry Seinfeld said, “writing is the hardest thing in the world.” Commitment to write or post daily is not a simple task neither. As of recently, I’d like to remember what I’m doing and what my inspirations are. Someone had said inspiration is perishable, it runs out. If I don’t act on it now, it’s gone.

Reading

Non-Fiction: The Lives of the Stoics by Ryan Holiday. Great history of so many philosophers in the Roman times compiled into a single book. You can read about each philosopher on how each defined stoicism, who they taught and how they practice that created Stoic into modern time. A wealth of knowledge and wisdom to put into practice and be inspire. Follow Ryan Holiday as he’s a great forward thinking author.

Fiction: The Last Duel by Eric Jager. This novel is being adapted to screenplay by Matt Damon and Ben Afflect. The film is expected to release end of this year. It also stars Matt Damon and Ben Afflect, directed by none other than Ridley Scott (The Gladiator). When it’s rumored to be the next screenplay adaptation I picked it up right away. I want to read before watching. The novel is so well written it feels like like a history book. That’s just reading only a quarter into the novel.

Watching

Finding the time to watch TV or movies at home can be difficult especially when you have a little one at home. Often times, the things to watch end up being my son Winston’s entertainment. My enjoyment is to be immersed into a two hours movie without any disruption. I have been picky as to what to watch when I have that privilege time. First, I have to see what critics and reviews have to say first. Second, what type of genre it is. It’s a lot more exciting if it’s a thriller drama genre.

This week I was able to watch one of the new films I’ve been reading on the reviews.

‘Promising Young Woman‘ starring Carey Mulligan. Directed by Emerald Fennell. Most critics raved this incredible film as the top film of the 2020. And yes it is so good to sit through this well executed pace film. If you’re into sort of revenge type of movies this is a good choice.

One of the other movies I’m hoping to catch this weekend is Palm Springs, currently on Hulu.

What am working on

It’s beginning to feel like really hard labor work. I’m prepping and planning to build our house. Consider it as the most ambitious projects yet. It’s not even a renovation but a complete built out from a vacant land without any infrastructure. I’ll be documenting all the very little steps as we begin construction. We’re in our final phase of getting the permits after two maybe three years long. If you have the patience and reserve capital, perhaps it can be rewarding and proud.

The next step is to be in the zone, envisioning what the house looks like, know the construction process and how realistic the timeline from beginning to completion. This requires lots of studying, literally putting the house together on paper with all the details.

Parenting

Raising kids is never easy especially when you don’t have a firm structure to guide your children as they grow. Rachel has been great with household rules and authoritative demeanor that gets Winston to listen and obey. Whereas a more loose and genuine structure like me needs to build an effective communication and structure with Winston to get him to understands and guide him as he grows to be the man with character and virtue.

Exercising

It feels like a first step every time. A simple commitment to walk or run needs you take the first step, and that’s out of the house. Get dress and get out.

Set your mind. Make the commitment. Put in the work.

All I’ve been thinking about over the past 11 days going into 2021. My determination is to wake up early at 6am, make my coffee, check the market and do some reading. Exercise has always been an important aspect of my life. The next few steps are to put exercise in my first priority. With this cold misty weather, we all want to sleep in or snooze for 10 or 30 minutes more. A two or three mile runs can be easily done within the those snoozed times.

Yesterday I went on a hike with a friend, a cohort, that turned into more like a bootcamp deep hike, pulls up and rock lifting. Tom has been one of those guys who is always reinventing himself with new ideas, new motivation and new plans. We had discussions about businesses, current works and what we can do to be better. The benefits of having a cohort to exercise with:

• keep each other accountable
• share thought provoking ideas
• help each other challenge

The pandemic takes a huge toll at businesses including commercial real estate. Adapting to the new norm and the way of conducting business, we continues to push and challenge ourselves. As a commercial real estate advisor, here are some questions I ask myself.

• What’s your goal for 2021?
• What are the lead metrics behind that goal?
• Who’s going to hold you accountable to those goals?

Some of the obvious plannings would come down to asking yourself how to achieve those goals.

Let’s review year 2020 as a forward approach to 2021. What we have accomplished, struggled and learned in 2020 will determine a better outcome in 2021. We also ought to review what were positive and negative so we can focus on what would considered best in 2021. One of the strategies I find most effective is Tim Ferris’s approach to New Year’s resolution. He created a year-in-review with two columns: positive and negative. Then reviewed the list by asking “What 20% of each column produced the most reliable or powerful peaks?” For the positive ones, do more of those immediately. For the negative ones, put them on “Not-to-do-List.”

As this is an exercise, we must spend 30 minutes to an hour to complete this approach.

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Here is Tim Ferris’s blog based on the strategy:

“P.S. Last year, around this time, many of you found the text below helpful. I am including it again, as this what I do every year. Have a wonderful NYE!

I’m often asked about how I approach New Year’s resolutions. The truth is that I no longer approach them at all, even though I did for decades. Why the change? I have found “past year reviews” (PYR) more informed, valuable, and actionable than half-blindly looking forward with broad resolutions. I did my first PYR after a mentor’s young daughter died of cancer on December 31st, roughly eight years ago, and I’ve done it every year since. It takes 30-60 minutes and looks like this:

1 Grab a notepad and create two columns: POSITIVE and NEGATIVE.

2 Go through your calendar from the last year, looking at every week.

3 For each week, jot down on the pad any people or activities or commitments that triggered peak positive or negative emotions for that month. Put them in their respective columns.

4 Once you’ve gone through the past year, look at your notepad list and ask, “What 20% of each column produced the most reliable or powerful peaks?”

5 Based on the answers, take your “positive” leaders and schedule more of them in the new year. Get them on the calendar now! Book things with friends and prepay for activities/events/commitments that you know work. It’s not real until it’s in the calendar. That’s step one. Step two is to take your “negative” leaders, put “NOT-TO-DO LIST” at the top, and put them somewhere you can see them each morning for the first few weeks of 2019. These are the people and things you *know* make you miserable, so don’t put them on your calendar out of obligation, guilt, FOMO, or other nonsense.

That’s it! If you try it, let me know how it goes.

And just remember: it’s not enough to remove the negative. That simply creates a void. Get the positive things on the calendar ASAP, lest they get crowded out by the bullshit and noise that will otherwise fill your days. Good luck and godspeed!”

As we’re winding down to the Holidays, we take a pause to reflect, to recognize what we’re most grateful and appreciative, to embrace the struggles, challenges and mistakes learned, and to feel the joy and all the great blessings. Most importantly, being alive and warmth together with family on the holidays.

I’ve also come to question about our precious times, our desires, goals and wants, our values, abilities and consciences as individuals, and our placement in this industrialized economy versus being you self and how we utilize the abundance of resources for the betterment of our lives and those around us.

I’m don’t recall when but perhaps the past two decades starting after college in my early 20s that I kept telling myself ‘this year will be the year.’ Even now in my early 40s I still ponder about the my next year.

How many times have you told yourself that THIS will be the year? This will be the year you finally fulfill your potential. Live your best life. Implement better habits, think better, read more, write more and exercise. This year will finally–finally–be the year you get yourself together?

“The value is not in the goal, but the habits you form to get that goal.” – Gary Keller

You can be really smart, have great ideas, and a burning desire, but your outcome is always determined by what you do. Maybe you’ll discover that the habit you need most is not something you add to your routine, but rather something you eliminate. There’s never been a better time to take control of your future.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. #mondaymood#Holidays#Blessings

What are the five things you want to focus on and/or goals moving in to 2021? May it be your business, personal or professional goal. There’s a need to for more attention, growth and development. Simply thinking about it will be on the scratch of the surface. If an intention is real and practice is put into the work, we manifest growth and development in the project, business, personally and professionally.

I’m sure there’s a lot more to think about.. Without thinking too much here’s my five things, with no certain order.

• Personal – more reading, more writing, more exercising, golfing and creative works – editing and filmmaking.
• Business development in commercial real estate – prospecting, team building, operation and human capital
• Professional – relationship building, project organization, education
• Financial – allocation into investments – stocks and real estates
• Family – time values, home and moments

Some of the distractions that hinder the works you set out to do are your cell phone, social media and television entertainment. Shut down the phone, wifi and tv for a couple of hours. A reminder yet hard to do.

My habits have shifted into a territory most not desired. Early morning wakes, exercise or running, and a nice coffee were the ideal healthy routine. Having lived at Santana Row gave me the luxury to do all that. The gym was literally downstairs, an easy walk moments of waking up. A good routine gave me endurance – running and exercising – an ideal habit. Starbucks was another walking distance. If order by mobile through their app, a quick pickup and go was a piece of mind.

Your morning should not be focusing on your phone or laptop or eyes on screen of each stock’s movement. A new habit is formed, becoming a slave to monetary glory and stock value. Morning becomes a distraction, a territory most not desired. Although stocks and trading are considered prestigious opportunity, they can quickly divert your attention, giving you so much anxieties to deal with. It’s a prestigious opportunity because you have enough savings, or an amount allocated to simply just for that, you’re fortunate and ought to appreciate what you have. This morning habit is my biggest distraction. Away it goes. I’d recommend long-term holding and simple investment strategies.

Family values are so important so be in the moment with them. Put your phone down.

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” Benjamin Franklin. Instilling a love of learning into your child is a critical task. You don’t only get one shot at it, but it’s crucial that you get started early.

You don’t even realize the greatness that’s waiting for you when you decide that you want better for yourself. That declaration and choice you make is the catalyst that alters and shifts everything that you attract to yourself. Start with your mindset. Start now. 2021.

Q: Why are companies moving their headquarters out of Silicon Valley to Texas?

Some of the prominent Silicon Valley’s companies include Oracle, Hewlett Packard Enterprises and Palantir Technologies. Many of the high tech executives also moved out of California. Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk also moved to Texas, though his companies still maintain their major operations in California.

KEY POINTS

– Companies are implementing flexible employee work location policy, a more modern approach to further improve employees’ quality of life and quality of output. Several tech firms have said they’ll give employees the option to permanently work from home even after the pandemic ends.

– The coronavirus pandemic has given a number of tech companies an excuse to exit Silicon Valley.

– Silicon Valley also has notoriously high real estate prices. And California has a high personal income tax rate, while Florida and Texas have none

What is the best version of yourself? What’s holding us back from being the best version of ourselves?

Lots of times I realize it comes within. It starts with you. Every actions and potential possibilities come from the start. To see the result of the work or project we must first really have to invest in the time. The time to start on the process.

What distract us from being the best version of yourself? We’re being surrounded by the digital world – our phone, social media, television – the most distraction on daily life. If we want to put in the practice, we must dedicate a small amount of time without phone, wifi, internet and television.

If we can dedicate two hours without the digital world, we can accomplish a little bit of the practice everyday.

The industrial economic turns us into a dependable of money, status, reputation, and many other comparable aspects of life. It’s difficult to step out of the zone where you can be more conscientious, connected and be your self. This is when we do not required the dependables to sustain our lives. This is when we can be the best of self, knowing that we can now produce, work on the process, deliver the goods and a result that are not guarantee. It’s alright if it’s not perfect for everyone.

Everything can be gone. Everything can subsided, collapsed and become powerless. There are certain things you can control and those you cannot. You might have all the experiences, power, knowledge and wealth. But when a natural cause as the COVID pandemic hits, without a vaccine life is on the edge. Wear a mask.

It’s a chance to be curious, generous and connected. It’s a chance to make contribution to the change we seek to make. A chance to be generous to ourselves and others. An opportunity to connect with things you wish to contribute.

It’s merely the work put in. It’s shipping the creative work. It’s sharing the work to a viable group. It’s to changing, not the world, but a small group of individuals or simply a person or two. It’s doing the work with intent, the work I seek to make change. It’s about contribution to the world which we live in.

There’s many works I intent to complete. Am I over promising? From volunteering to profit works, all has its place of importance.

It might be money or time, a little bit of it adds up to quite an amount. If you go shopping for something that costs $1,000 but on sale for 30% off, you’re spending $700…not saving $700. A little bit of expense adds up.

As I beginning to start writing a little bit more, a little bit adds up many ideas and thoughts. One of mine favorite blogs is Tim Ferriss’s 5-Bullets Friday. If you haven’t seen it or subscribe to read it, check it out. Or you can read it entirely on his blog page www.tim.blog. The other respected blog from the professional and marketer Seth Godin with the blog www.seth.blog. Seth hasn’t missed a day of writing for a decade. Incredible. Generous and practically a role model.

Reading a little bit adds up. Just as I log on online to write, my main yahoo page pops up with the news that Tony Shieh from Zappos has just passed away at the age of 46. Wow… that’s heartbroken. He’s another incredible person.

In the time of hardship because of the pandemic, we ought to carefully shelter in place, pick and choose who we see, and how we protect ourselves and loved ones. A little bit of exposure can do great harm.

A little bit of everything adds up.