Oh snap! I do yoga now!

Yep, and there we have it! Out of the 24 days of this year, 12 of them  had me do some form of yoga, which means a 50% rate and thus I have to conclude, my trying yoga is no longer an experiment but probably part of my life now. I'll be honest, it has helped me a lot, both physically and mentally, but it's strange how it's now something I look forward to doing on my off days rather than an item to try.

What do I mean by off days? Well this year has seen me take my fitness regime to a different level. I've been focusing a lot on things like jumping, agility, and basic functional training. I've become faster and more powerful than before, lasting longer in different circuits and also learning to become more explosive and supple. In a weird way, I now enjoy that burn you get when you exercise a lot... it's my mark of a "good workout".

On the other hand, comedy has been good this year. I've been writing a lot of new stuff, making sure I hit up some open mics to refine them before leaving it to the comedy Gods to decide if the audience will laugh.

I've already traveled to Kuala Lumpur and established my Tuesdays-half-day-off routine. So far so good.

Oh and did I mention, I don't allow myself to check/reply emails after midnight. So far out of 24 days, I only failed at doing that for 3 days. So far so good!

I guess with my yoga practice, it has kind of reminded me that every minute allows me a choice on how to spend it. Perhaps I could be running around, otherwise I could be worried about my work, or I could simply try my best to accept that whatever I used it for, was based on my best decision and abilities.

It's kind of allowed me to not end the day thinking of what needs to be done, but kind of think "well today was a good day after all".

I still get very excited about the next day and sometimes I'm lying in bed thinking "come on! Come on, let's go to sleep already!" because I can't wait for the next day to arrive and i get to do the things I am waiting to do (yoga being one of them ahaha)...

It's super duper cold in Hong Kong right now, hitting like 4 - 5 degrees celcius. I'm absolutely loving it, especially when I'm in a nice piping hot shower. Oh man, those moments make the cold worth while.

Anyway, so the last 10 days have been kind to me, still got a few bumps here and there, but realizing when to stop has definitely become a very good asset I have now.

The mirror is not working

Happy new year everyone! I hope 2016 has been being awesome for you. Well this year has been a very different year compared to before. I've decided to take time to self-reflect rather than initiate new adventures. Looking back at 2015 and also random moments of my life in the last 7 years, I realized how much I've not just grown, but also changed.

Sometimes for the worse as well.

My life as a comedian transformed from a kid who always dreamed about this to someone who had to hit gig targets and pay bills with it. My web design business kept growing despite my strict "no new/unknown clients" policy. The hole in  my plan was that if a current client referred someone, that wouldn't count as "unknown" and let's just say my clients are very generous people and enjoy sharing something they like with their friends. I've been very fortunate for that.

My fitness life improved from the guy who often walked with a hunch back without realizing it to the person who is working on hand stands and making sure I stand/sit up straight no matter what.

But somewhere there was still a crack because I often found myself so exhausted at the end of the day, I didn't remember what I enjoyed. It's a classic case of forgetting to stop to smell the roses because you were so busy making the garden perfect.

I love what I do and I am forever thankful for what I am doing. But many nights I'd end it with "OK what else needs to get done" rather than "Wow, I did so much!". It's only now that I've realized I had forgotten one of the key lessons in life. Make meaning, not money.

Sure I was making meaning, I was doing what I loved, but it's weird how even with that, you sometimes forget why you're doing what you're doing since you're so hung up on doing that you forget to take a moment of being.

So far in 2016, I've had to literally force myself to stop because I found I was starting to become a workaholic. I was over-disciplining myself to the point I'd plan what to do in my breaks because I wanted to maximize it. Basically, I forgot one of the lessons I learned from Think like DaVinci, one of the books that really opened my mind -- Be ready to step into the shadows and the unknown. Basically take the leap of faith. Turns out I had forgotten to do that.

I guess this is what they mean by there is no such thing as perfection. Even though I'd system-ized everything, scheduled breaks when I knew I'd needed it, turns out that's not what life is all about. Life is about sometimes wasting time just so you could appreciate the other times you are efficient. Kind of like how I appreciated my foot more when I sprained my ankle vs. when I was hopping down a flight of stairs flawlessly.

As I said, I had to get strict with myself (I know this sounds silly) about letting go of things like discipline once in a while just so I could loosen up. Much like how you have to learn to focus your mind on relaxing yourself, I've been setting limits to my go-go-go-go side so I can stop and smell the roses no matter how crappy the garden was. I've stopped myself from doing any more work after 12am at night and so far 12 days into the year, I'm 100%. I take half of Tuesdays off and force myself to go outside (I'm actually at the sea front now typing this). I'm going to go lie in the grass later and just stare at the sky for an hour. What's that for? Literally nothing. I'm taking things as baby step, but not demanding so much. If I go to the grass and decided I want to reply an email, that's fine. Then next time I'm out, I'll add one more random element and hopefully after a few months this will become 2nd nature, just like my crazy self-discipline became normal to me.

So here I am, enjoying the cool breeze on a work day and all it took was for me to pack up, wear my shoes (oh and another thing is on Tuesdays, I have to wear my good ol' slayer/Vans shoes, like I used to as a kid) and just get stupid. Feel like cup cakes? That's happening.

I encourage you guys to give it a shot as well. I know it sounds pointless, but that's the point. It's not easy, I am still addicted to my work and routines and my mind is still going "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!!?!?!?!" but this time, I'm listening to my soul :)

Happy next 10 days everyone!

2016. Let's keep things simple stupid

Well, happy new year everyone!
2015, you've been a great year with me experiencing so many new things, like cruise ships, epic comedy festivals, lots of traveling and of course, challenges. I've learned a lot about myself and life recently and one thing I've realized is that I've had to go back to my roots.
They always say you learn your biggest lessons when you fail or get your heartbroken, well yep. After a crazy 2015 where I found myself on-the-go like 90%+ of the time, when it came down to it, there were times I forgot what really mattered, why I was even doing what I'm doing and my roots.

Having a bit of time to myself made me search through my soul, only to realize I was so busy focusing on the next actionable item most of 2015, I often forgot to stop and smell the roses.
I was trying to "get things done" that I forgot to ask if it's something that I even need to do.

Well reality, thank you for the lesson you gave me at the end of 2015. It was well needed so I had the right focus and mindset to start 2016.

Going back to my roots reminded me one thing -- KISS. Keep it simple, stupid.
And based on the way I'd been near the end of 2015, the focus is on stupid.

Anyway, self-bashing, as my good friend reminded me, does nothing so instead, I watched Fight Club to celebrate the beginning of 2016. It literally was the perfect movie to both help me get my blood pumping properly (it's a guy thing watching other guys beat the crap out of each other) and mind thinking (it's a dark movie about facing the different characters that make up a person).

What's that? You haven't watched Fight Club?
I know I was like 16 years late to watch it, but trust me, it's a movie worth paying 2 hours for.

Enjoy the trailer, enjoy 2016 and I'll see you in 10 days!