To Dreams
As I grow older, I understand myself better. I understand what I want and what I don't. As the saying goes, if you say "no", you say "no" to 1 thing. If you say "yes", you are saying "no" to many things. I had some time to think about what I want, what my dreams are, at least for the next 5 years while I was working out in the gym lately. So here they are:
Get Ripped
Ok, not Arnold Schwarzenegger ripped, but like a healthy, muscular, lean body. My motivation for this is partly for good health (so I can live a long life and enjoy my time on earth) and also having a good body opens up so much more to life. People respect you more, you don't need expensive clothes because a simple tech bro t-shirt is enough etc. If there's anything I learned about society, it is people are superficial, I am too. We all like people who are healthy and fit. It is what it is. It is hard to be ripped especially after 30, so those who work for it, they deserve the praise.
Another reason is I simply want to make the 18 years old me proud. The younger version of me who was traumatised by my life-long skin illness, who had to give up his sporting dream, who had to watch the world go by while he can't even exercise because sweating was painful for him.
See the World - Go on a year long trip at least
Ever since my trip to Pakistan 10 years ago, I have unlocked my interest in exploring some place new. I did that for quite a while during my MBA (2 months). I love that sense of adventure, new environment, new people, new food etc. I hated myself because I had my skin illness which made travelling really difficult for me before my MBA, and now I am 30. It feels like if I want to take such a trip of a life time, I need to do it real soon, before I get more commitments etc.
Our time on Earth is limited, I want to see what this World has. I want to understand the Cultures there are. I want to see the World for what it is today, how it came to be, and where it will go.
My bucketlist is a few more countries in Latin America (Chile especially), Central-Eastern Europe (Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Poland, Estonia) and Central Asia (Turkey). Maybe Africa too, but I am not sure because I have not researched that part of the world yet.
Build a successful Business
I have built a business before, now involved with building another one. I know for a fact that I will be a business owner. It is part of my identity. The whole reason I picked up Computer Science is to build and sell stuff, the 2 key elements of business. Through my experiences with entrepreneurship I know what I lacked: Unfair Advantages. Some people have domain knowledge, some have access to resources, some have a strong online brand.
All I have is a very long time of illness (lol). But I managed to pick up some coding skills and a strong discipline. Now that my skin has recovered mostly, I got my Cornell MBA, I am working towards building up more unfair advantages.
I want to build something for myself, for my family and friends, for Singapore - my home, for the World.
Family
Both starting a family, and staying strong with my existing family. Family is almost everything to me, I say almost because I still have my individual life. Maybe because of Asian culture, I know I want to be there for my family, and that also means finding my partner in life who I can build a life with.
Call me old-fasioned, I want to commit to someone, in fact I always put in the effort in my past relationships. But I think I need to choose who I commit to wiser in the future. As harsh as this may sound, not everyone deserves to be loved. I think I should have higher standards as well.
But yes. Family is everything. I can't imagine my life with a wife and kid yet, but I know it is something that I want.
Let's see what happens in 5 years, when I am 35. How many of these dreams will I achieve?