Mid-year's Resolutions

Inspired by Bridget Jone's Diary, I also set out my resolutions for 2006, although 3 months have fleeted away.

I WILL NOT

Go to bed leaving my CFA readings undone.
Allow my desk to rage out of control.
Be a thinker, but a doer.
Get annoyed with Mum, Papa or CC.
Get upset over men, but instead be poised and cool ice-queen.
Get jealous of people more successful than I am, but instead learn from their success stories and do my homework.

I WILL

Not get online every time I start to study CFA, but read books and listen to classical music that helps me focus.
Get up straight away when wake up in mornings.
Make better use of time.
Take action on whatever comes into my mind.
Be more confident.
Be more assertive.
Reduce circumference of thighs by 3cm (i.e. 1.5cm each), that of waist and tommy by 5cm, using anti-cellulite diet.
Go to gym three times a week without excuse.
Improve career and find new job with potential.
Save up money in form of investment.
Get in touch with all nice friends. At least keep them posted of my current status.
Actively form a network with meaning.

奢侈的梦

全世界都在上演着王子和公主的童话剧；没有人怀疑它们的虚幻，但是依然乐此不疲地欣然排编、观看。

在亚洲，中国的宫廷戏永远是最卖座的电影或电视剧的素材；韩国人的《大长今》在国内外都获得了空前反响；

在欧洲，人们对于皇室的兴趣始终没有淡化过。哪家的王子最帅，哪家的公主最漂亮，哪家又娶了一个平民王妃，这些皇室八卦一直为大家所津津乐道。

在美国，肯尼迪家族的兴衰荣辱之所以成为人们茶余饭后娓娓到来的话题，很大程度上是因为“肯尼迪”象征着美国人心目中的“blue blood”。

芸芸众生，虽然貌似不同，但其实心里或多或少都有一个奢侈的梦。

30ish and unsuccessful

It is embarrasing not to be successful at the age of 30 something, while 20ish ambitious boys and girls are coming out of schools each year and relentlessly emulating you and pushing you over at their best endeavors.

That kind of feelings and fears gradually overwhelmed me over the years after I turned 30.

Clock never stops ticking and my days are timed. Leaving the mundane world without any goal achieved at the end of my life will be the greatest sorrow my life could bring to me. And it's scary and sad enough by just envisioning how miserable it could be.

Farewell to the happy-go-lucky attitude. Life is a time bomb and anything we ever did and any moment passed could never be reversed after all.

May my life be full of fulfillment and joyce brought by my hard work and accompanying accomplishments.

比尔盖兹在毕业典礼上给毕业生11个人生建议

1. 人生是不公平的，习惯去接受它吧。

2. 这个世界不会在乎你的自尊，这个世界期望你先做出成绩，再去强调自己的感受。

3. 你不会一离开学校就有百万年薪，你不会马上就是拥有行动电话的副总裁，二者你都必须靠努力赚来。

4. 如果你觉得你的老师很凶，等你有了老板就知道了，老板是没有工作任期保障的。

5. 在快餐店煎汉堡并不是作贱自己，你的祖父母对煎汉堡有完全不同的定义：机会。

6. 如果你一事无成，不是你父母的错，所以不要只会对自己犯的错发牢骚，从错误中去学习。

7. 在你出生前，你的父母并不像现在这般无趣，他们变成这样是因为忙着付你的开销，洗你的衣服，听你吹嘘自己有多了不起。所以在你拯救被父母这代人破坏的热带雨林前，先整理一下自己的房间吧。

8. 在学校里可能有赢家和输家，在人生中却还言之过早。学校可能会不断给你机会找到正确答案，真实人生中却完全不是这么回事。

9. 人生不是学期制，人生没有寒暑假，没有哪个雇主有兴趣协助你找寻自我，请用自己的空暇做这件事吧。

10.电视上演得并不是真实的人生。真实人生中每个人都要离开咖啡厅去上班。

11.对书呆子好一点，你未来很可能就为其中一个工作。

Bon voyage！

Am heading for UK tomorrow morning. Will tour the Greater London area only to take advantage of the free lodgings there , leaving the beautiful Scotland to the next trip with friends/hubby maybe.

Bon voyage to myself!

不犹豫－不后悔

关于人这辈子怎么过活才最理想，以前看到过很多spam。有一个始终忘不了：

年轻时，不犹豫；
年老时，不后悔。

要真做到，不容易。瞻前顾后，往往让我们丧失了时机，留下无穷无尽的悔恨给年老时品尝。

Just do it 的广告词之所以震撼人心，是因为，我们大多做不到。

回到人群中了！

昨天，在网上见到了严征宇、杨伟中、席时雍和张曦莹几位久违的中学同学。毕业N年后，网络把分散在地球各个角落的我们又拉近了。

掐指算来，与中学同学中的绝大多数人至少有8、9年未能谋面了。工作繁忙不是借口。我天性懒惰又散漫，总是疏于联络旧友。再加上，对自己曾就读的那所中学从来没有好感。离开的时候是长吁一口气，感到此生终于可以不再踏入那压抑人性的地方。所以自己的“疏于联络”也是有因噎废食之嫌的。

到如今，年纪渐长，历经了一些起伏；回想起幼时的所谓怨愤，不过是有趣的经历罢了。每一种经历都是让我成为今天的我的某种诱因。经历是财富，经历多一点，人也便豁达些。

念念旧友，彼此通报一下现时的状况，知道大家过得都还好，也是很开心的。

Ageing & Pensions

In February 18 issue of The Economist, ageing and pensions were at issue. The author claimed that in the coming half-century, it will seem just as absurd as the exclusion of women out of the labor force before WWII that western societies today are content to press old people - the potentially productive set of workers to stay at home sipping tea and potting begonias - and to pay them for it, to boot.

The workforce is ageing across the developed countries. Within the EU, the number of workers aged between 50-64 will increase by 25% over the next two decades, while those aged 20-29 will decrease by 20%. In the US, the number of workers aged 55-64 will have increased by more than half in this decade, at the same time as the 35- to 44-year-olds decline by 10%. In Japan, its workforce is expected to shrink by 16% (approx. 10m people) over the next 25 years.

The concurrance of the falling supply of skilled workers and soaring number of retired people will lead companies/social security systems to cut the retirement benefits and urge governments to amend the regulations to send the elderly back to the workforce. Such changes are now under way.

Farewell to the good days after 60 or 65. For auld lang syne, we'd live a better life if we aged earlier. :-P For people at my age, a clear mind is needed to see through the changes and implications to our future life. Develop an attitude of independence and self-help, cos that's the only way how God is gonna save you.

Movie Proseidon flashed back to my memory... 9 out of 1,000 passengers on that ship survived the bombing, and they were exactly the only few people who tried so hard to get out of the cabin and climb up to the top...

越来越爱CC了

CC是我最喜欢的宝贝。

寻找原动力

关于“how to motivate myself”的问题，和Robert一直谈到凌晨。觉得是史无前例地谈深谈透了。所以趁热打铁地记录下来，让结论得以沉淀。

1. 动力在外部：偶不是一个能勤勉治学的人。偶的energy source来自外部，一个令我兴奋的行业、一幢梦想中的beach house、一种因给别人带来value而腾然升起的成就感......任何一个让我感到眼前的工作怎么都无法使自己向beach house走近一步的career，必定会drive down my morale。说到底，偶还是一个物质俗人。Bernard Shaw说，我们每个人活着的首当其冲的duty，就是让自己摆脱贫穷。偶也是一个有虚荣心的人。所谓希望别人认可自己的价值，难道不是虚荣？
2. Industry：能让我真正喜欢而且可以兴奋起来的，还是new technology that is driving the evolvement of mankind， e.g. chips making, nano tech......看看自己的人脉，最多的还是在hi-tech行业。（investment/finance在我看来算不上是个standalone的行业）因为内心深处respect这一行。Service的naiveness让我觉得可笑；FMCG的tricks太shallow，看多了让我sick且无聊。当然，直接从自己喜欢的industry开始切入，还是PE（PE似乎能够切入尽可能多的new tech sectors，但是可憎的number-crunching工作是一大心理障碍，那么多年了，再也不愿看那些spreadsheets了），这是一个问题？但是，如果最终认准了，这是最快的路径的话，那么就不得不面对自己厌恶的东西。就像去年夏天在丽江，为了走进黑龙潭公园，就必须经过那篇骇人的坟地一样。不过就是几分钟的时间，忍一下也就过去了。
3. Functional expertise: 并不适合number-crunching/modeling等纯技术性的工作。要去尝试经常和外界打交道的工作，以及high-level management的工作。e.g. technical和selling结合的工作也许是我的competitive edge. Ultimately，可能CEO才是一个能让我真正high起来的工作，CEO的工作就是high-level selling呀！

Solutions：
1. 积极地寻找外部动力，而不是被动等待。不断地尝试自己认为exciting的工作。也许要尝试好多年，但是至少这个过程，会让真正的动力渐渐浮现出来。悬挂一张beach house的照片在书桌上，也许能让我克服对手头工作的厌恶，只要是一份自己坚信通向beach house的工作。6月的考试就是一个通向彼岸的第一步。如果过不去就意味着明年同样痛苦的事情还是免不了要再经历一次，而且还会赔上机会成本。认识到这一点，自己对于这份考试的commitment和devotion就陡然而升了。
2. Industry expertise重要，还是functional expertise? 以前我觉得是functional，现在我觉得也许是industry expertise。勇于尝试自己喜欢的industry。大不了不喜欢了，再回来。要快点行动，而不是等到老了，一切梦想都不再有实现的可能的时候。
3. sales的好处在于，一旦build up client－base，它就是自己的，更不用说sales在一个公司里的bargaining power了。
4. 理解goal和dream的区别。dream有可能是不现实的，永远都不可能实现的。而goal是一个mature的人为自己制定的achievable的目标。
5. 不积跬步，无以致千里。不要把眼光仅仅盯在巨大宏伟的大goal上，而是把个大goal break down成阶段性的milestones。步步为营，逐个攻破。当完成了第一个milestone的时候，就会逐步积累勇气，迈向下一个......直到全部完成。

Love

“Love is not about two persons gazing at each other. It is about two persons looking ahead together in the same direction. ”

Love this！

食为先

嫁作人妇的一大好处在于－厨艺大长。
没有正职的一大好处在于－厨艺大长。
身居异地且囊中羞涩的一大好处也在于－厨艺大长。

所以偶如今厨艺大长也。今天又煲了个好汤，好到简直不敢相信是自己的杰作了。 故感沛如斯。

Gym and Will Power

Started workout again at a gym only one-minute's walk from my apartment. To me, it was not just a way to keep fit, but also a mental exercise that I look to boost my will power.

We need will power to get anything done. Sometimes will power is a lot like the television remote control -- hard to find just when you want it most. Researchers at the University of Washington found that 63% of those who made New Year's resolutions were still keeping their resolution two months later. I suspect the true figure might be even bigger than the whopping 63%.

It's not going to be easy to stick it out. But those who make it, are gonna like themselves so much more.

狂欢节

Mainz的fifth season －carnival 到了最后一个星期，据说是人们最疯狂的日子。反正不远，趁着周日坐40分钟的火车去凑了个热闹。

火车站里站满了奇装异服、着各色脸谱的人们。有歌声、但没有喧哗。是太文明的缘故吧。有些不习惯。

车到Mainz，城里一片静悄悄。有没有搞错？！满腹狐疑地继续往town hall方向走。15分钟以后，终于听到音乐了。声音越来越大。原来人群全都集中在town hall。最拥挤的地方，人们也至少保持一尺距离。有组织、有纪律。德国人真是好孩子。只是，对于我一个来自chaotic国度的国民, 没有混乱，就意味着没有乐趣。

Surprise是一个连着一个的。有一个专供小朋友们乘坐的碰碰车。管事的大哥居然不让小孩子们相互碰撞，在他的干涉下，所有碰碰车只能往一个方向行驶。晕倒！

抬头望见可供大人玩的碰碰车，和Robert冲了过去，每人占了一辆......在我们两人的搅和下，大伙儿立刻撞成了一团，各种尖叫声，笑声不绝于耳。

这才象狂欢节嘛！呵呵！

凡人的智慧

一口气看了很多朋友的blog。看得我感慨良多，深受启发！

凡人的智慧不亚于名人、伟人和哲人。只是凡人时常对自己的优点视而不见，也对自己的缺点避而不谈。