Skip to main content

Thoughts about Mistakes - learn your own

People often boast about their achievements, profits, gains but how many people can you find out there who publish their mistakes and reflections? Not many, it would be fortunate if you can read one. Why? Because they would rather appear like gurus so that you will visit their blogs more and believe in what they say, duh! Besides, people don't like to read laments and people get turned off quickly by negative things.

However, from another perspective, knowing of others' mistakes would give you a more realistic view of how things are and hopefully come to a realization that not everything is 'a bed of rose' - without having to go through it yourself.

Of course, the flip side is that whatever reflections you have read would be HIS and not YOURS. As a Chinese proverb says "if the knife doesn't cut your flesh, you would not be aware of pain". It is sometimes a little difficult to have an understanding of others' mistakes without experiencing it yourself. Start early, start small, do what you know not, pay some school fees to the market...

And remember to always learn from your own mistakes, keep a diary of them. Don't tread on others' mistake (if you are fortunate enough to come across), and most importantly, don't tread on the past ones of your own!

***

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Reflections for year 2024

2024 has been a relatively peaceful year. So peaceful that I have read countless novels and other books, met my sports buddies almost every weekend and picked up horticulture. Physical and mental health As we say, health is wealth. I have stuck fairly consistently with my exercise regime and tried to include more fruits and vegetables in my meals (although I eat out more and cook less these days). My weight, BP and cholesterol levels are doing ok. For those 40 years and above, remember to get your  subsidized health screenings from the government . Working less and meeting up with friends more contributed to an improved mental health. I see that the government has stepped up on initiatives in the community but work place initiatives from employers still seemed lackluster, especially for those who can't WFH and need to commit 44 hours or more a week at frontline work. I have also started a Gratitude journey to celebrate all my little life milestones. Financials Investment wise ...

The best credit card for my house reno & prep

As updated in my previous post, I have finally bought my own place solo. For the past few months I have been busy coordinating with various contractors and vendors for my house renovation. As I am still on flexi work schedule, I decided to be my own ID. With only a simple renovation in mind, I set my reno budget as 20k (aircon & fixtures inclusive). The renovation process and acting as my own ID were not as easy as I thought. It took me about a month to gather and compare quotations from different contractors and another few weeks to finalize all the things that I need my chosen contractor to do. I eventually settled for a main contractor who specializes in carpentry work but also provides painting, tiling and electrical services. I have grossly underestimated the amount of defects that need fixing for this resale flat. Fortunately, the floor tiles and some of the existing built-ins are still in good condition so I kept them, otherwise I would have burst my budget. The first issue ...

Shit happens and I lost my low-hanging fruits

My SAYE account has just hit its 25th month anniversary which is also the "month of maturity". Anticipating to get the 3.5% bonus interest for all these months of saving, I was shocked to see only $17+ cash gift credited as opposed to a few hundred dollars. I was about to send a message to query the bank what caused this interest plummet versus what I got in the 13th month when I came across a debit transaction in my account history (GASP!). To my oblivion and horror, I have accidentally selected my SAYE account to transfer $50 to a joint account to foot some bill in one of the months last year. Here's the terms and conditions for those who are not familiar with the SAYE account of POSB. "To receive the additional 3.5% p.a. Cash Gift Interest, ensure that you do not make any withdrawal from your POSB SAYE account." "If a withdrawal is made in the month, this will result in the previously accumulated additional 3.5% p.a. interest to be forfeited." Damn....