Leadership

"I'm giving you these words because I have very high expectations, and I am confident you can reach them".

I just this on a LinkedIn post (posted by JL), who quoted Adam Grant, on a powerful post on giving feedback and inspiring people. Reading JL's take on it inspired me somewhat I must say. I am at a bit of a cross-roads regarding leadership right now, so it's a poignant topic. That crossroads being uncertainty due to the poor leadership I am being given, and my concerns around the leadership I provide to others.

On another note, and this kind of irks me to be writing this post, as I am a self-confessed, self-help hater, I saw (heard) a pretty insightful quote last night. It was from some yank, white, obese rapper called Jelly Roll, so perhaps I should have kept scrolling, but it resonated. He won some award, which was for "best new talent", which he found ironic at the age of 39. But I guess it means, as I have always thought, that one can keep reinventing oneself. Anyway, the quote was along the lines of, "why do you think a windscreen is so much bigger than a rear-view mirror - it's because what's ahead is so much more important than what's behind you". I probably didn't get that entirely right, but the message is there, and I think it is an important one. I also saw last night, someone saying that if you do "it" right today, then your history has already improved, something like that. This line also resonated, as I do get down on myself sometimes, for my constant failings.

That's pretty topical right now. I was going to write poignant again, but then realised I keep using that word, so needed to figure out a different way to communicate the point. 

My drama is, my boss is hopeless. He knows the business, inside and out. He works harder than anyone else, no question there. He genuinely cares about his people, I do accept that. But he thinks strategy is a nice-to-have and not something that we need to sit down and discuss, adopts a very directive, micromanaging approach, and provides absolutely zero feedback. It puts me in a tough spot. My only feedback is that I give myself. For those that know me, you will know that in this situation, it is not ideal. That is because I am an extremely harsh critic of myself. I am also prone to catastrophism. When I am in a circle of feedback and open communication, I immediately improve my outlook. When I am not, I struggle. But the flip side of that coin is the freedom I have. I like the fact I can work from home when it suits me. I like being able to arrange my own schedule, and be home/at school when I need to be. I get paid well, the bonus situation is pretty good, and generally, the people I work with are great.

But a man needs leadership, especially a man like me. I think if things were better with my boss, I would be less inclined to go looking for other potential jobs, and spend less time all hazy-eyed for SEA. As I have blogged about before, I have the stability I had been yearning for here, so why is that not enough? I know why. The answer is leadership. I am going back to work tomorrow after a two-week break. The new guy in Milbrae should be settled enough now, plus the boss went to Sydney last week and was given a strategy briefing by our new JV partner. This pleases me. Their MD is also coming here next week, to brief our leadership team too, which includes me of course. I am keen to see where this might lead. Watch this space.

My Career - Part 5 - Gladstone

Gladstone. East End Mine. My first foray into mine management, and a damn successful one too I might add. Here are the highlights of my little over one year with Cement Australia;

1) Doubled production.

2) Reduced total costs by 15%.

3) Added 17 years to the mine life.

That sounds like either EE (Cement Australia) was a dog's breakfast or I was a superstar. The answer is somewhere in the middle (actually all I did was the basics). Ultimately, this was a good example of a company focussing on its core business - in this case cement - and not trying too hard to improve some of it's contributors. My predecessor, for example, was in his mid-60's when I took over from him, and had been there more than 30 years. He was a good guy, with plenty to offer, but things at EE had not changed in decades.

For instance, I was able to get them to double production by changing one thing - getting our gear and people to do development stripping, rather than getting a contractor in once per year and doing just what was needed for the next 12 months. We better utilised our resources, reduced external costs, and actually opened up more ground. Win.

This led directly to the next saving too, reducing costs by 15%. We also did that by recognising where we spent the most money, which was in doing after hours work. By redesigning the ROM, working with the kiln guys to create more space, and planning for more regular supply of high-grade, we were able to reduce the amount of shift work. We also hired our own engineer, and reduced our reliance on consultants. Also win.

The last one was just some longer-term planning, doing some drilling, getting a new model prepared, and doing some scheduling. It was pretty easy to achieve, but the fact remained it had not been done for years. So altogether, I was able to make somewhat of a name for myself in a little over 12 months. In that time we also introduced proper operator training and assessment to the site, a la my old mate Richo, and people in their 50's and 60's who had never been formally trained got to experience this. I saw this as a significant win-win.

So why did I only stay with CA for 1.5 years? Well, put it this way - when I got the job, after my old boss Dick gave me a reference, he said he almost put in for it himself as it sounded like a great retirement gig. In that, he was correct. I did well in my first year - on top of all those things, we demolished the old plant and held an auction for the myriad equipment inside. That happened after I left actually, but was all arranged by me. We negotiated new and better supply contracts. We vastly improved local community relations. In fact the East Action Group, who were against the mine for years, were sad to see me go, as I had put a lot into local weed control, listened to their issues, and I was in the process of designing a program to recharge the main aquifer that they felt had been depleted by mine dewatering over the years. I certainly had a lot of proud moments in this stint. 

I also met and made some good friends / colleagues. My boss in this job was the kiln plant manager - Kevin Savory. Kevin and I worked together again at JMS (two jobs later for me). Bob was in the same boat, as was Ib. They were both in the procurement side. Bob I worked with again at JMS too, and then again at ASN years later. Ib was also a consultant to ASN. Both JMS and ASN were run by John Reeve, who was Kevin's boss at CA. So my reputation in that short period saw me get plenty of work in later years.

The mine was near a small hamlet called Mt. Larcom. I rarely ventured there, except for the odd bit of lunch. 45 minutes north was Rockhampton, a decent-sized plan that I spent NYE 2004 at, with Naomi, Peter and his partner. It was nothing huge, but fun enough. Where I lived was Gladstone - another decent-sized town in Central Queensland, but not quite of the 100,000+ size, as many of them are, such as Townsville or Cairns. 

Not the best photo, as it is a photo of the print I have on my wall. Fond memories of a brief period in my life, and my transition away from the WA Goldfields. I believe it was the change I needed to make some changes in my psyche and my life. Recent feelings have shown that my weaknesses remain a part of me, I just need to continue to choose to think and act in a positive, gracious, and loving way. 

My Health Tips

So I'm not exactly known as an icon of healthy living. In fact, for much of my adult life, quite the opposite! Too much booze, too much overeating, too much eating shit food - I did it all. And for quite some significant proportion of my life too. Yeah, I used to be a fitness freak in my late teens, but once I discovered beer, and had money to party, that kind of all went to poop. Oh well, I enjoyed life, I'll say that!

No, I wasn't an angry fat kid, but boy, that photo made me laugh! Actually, I was probably more of a shy and unconfident fat kid, until I blossomed at about the age of 15. 

Anyway, I digress. The point I wanted to make in this post is that despite my poor performance in the health stakes for much of my life, I have been aware of some key principles, that even in my lowest ebb moments, made a difference to me, when I stuck to them. I know what it's like to try and fail with diets. I know what it's like to try and fail to avoid bingeing. I know what it's like to find the gym so boring you'd rather shoot yourself in the face than spend another minute there. 

So amongst all those things, what health factors did I cling to, that I actually felt made a positive impact over the years?

#1 Water - most people do not drink anywhere near enough water. I am a 2-3 litre per day guy. Yes you get some water value in other drinks, but often the other ingredients can offset this. Drinking enough water helps to keep your system healthy, flush out toxins and other crap, and keep your skin looking good. It is easy to keep sipping throughout the day, and makes all the difference to how you feel, especially if you like the booze!

#2 Breathing - this seems simple, as we have to do it to stay alive. But it's not as simple as it might seem. Yes, you breathe automatically when you sleep, but when you're awake, do you sometimes find yourself short of breath? Do you ever catch yourself breathing very shallowly? The thing is, you can breathe enough to stay alive easily, but breathing enough to optimise the flow of oxygen to your system, and especially your brain, well sometimes that takes practice. I have found that by almost meditating, that is sitting quietly, and focussing on deep, slow breaths, it makes a big difference to how one feels. I used to be a smoker, which no doubt did not help with oxygen absorption, but it's not just the physical difference deep breathing can make. It's the psychological one too. Deep and slow breathing can help you focus, it can help you slow your heart rate, and it can calm you down. It's a great tool for wellbeing.

#3 Sleep - again, this is one a lot of people seem to miss out on. I absolutely must have eight hours of sleep per day. Yes I can function on less, and I used to as well, for years. And yes, I have suffered from sleep apnoea, even after I had half my throat cut out about 20 years ago. The thing is, if I make sure I get that eight hours in bed, even if I am not asleep for all of it, it makes a hell of a difference for how I can approach the next day. Without enough rest time, I tend to start the next day already amped up a bit, in terms of my stress levels. Thus I tend to have a shorter fuse. I don't like having a short fuse. I am stuck with it to a degree, but by trying to manage my stress and angst, through breathing and sleep, I can do better at keeping it under control. I think people tend to push their sleep to the limits over time, and not realise the huge impact it has on their performance. I know that when I wake feeling fresh, not only is my outlook better, but my productivity is hugely improved. 

Ok, I think that will do. I am no health professional, fark, I am not even a health amateur really! But I do know these simple tips for make a positive difference, so I thought I would share. 

Going C.U. Version #4

You wouldn't believe it. So a few years ago now, Lala, when a small girl, fell off the stool at Grandma's house and broke her wrist. We didn't have any major accidents in the family for some time following this (apart from a few bumped heads here and there really).

Then last year, as posted in this blog, I broke my arm, going C.U. at the bowlo, during the lunch break of the annual board budget presentation. About six months later, B fell off the monkey bars at school, and had a similar kind of fracture to me.

Now, just a few days ago, Babs was on his scooter, using the new jump we got the boys, when he misjudged his approach, hit some gravel, and came off. He went down in a similar manner to me, and as I did, fractured his arm. Unbelievable! 

Like the rest of us, it was a minor fracture, rather than a break. But it's funny how differently different doctors/hospitals treat a similar injury. 

For Lala, it was a full cast, as it was for B. For me, it was a half cast. But for Babs, they simply put on this strapping, that apparently provides the required immobilisation, but with the benefit of being able to come off for showering and cleaning. He was a very good boy about all of this, with the only moaning being about how long we had to wait at the hospital to get seen. 

That leaves wifey as the only one of us without a break in recent years. She is also the only one of us without my DNA, which is perhaps indicative of one of the causal factors here! Anyway, it was worth posting about, this latest family medical event. Hopefully the last one for some time!

My Career - Part 7 - J.J. McDonald & Sons (2006 - 2008)

This was an interesting one.

I had pulled the pin from Barrick at Cowal due to my useless boss and the nepotistic yank GM with the small man syndrome - yes this guy had two-inch soles on his work boots to make him more than four feet tall. It didn't help - his crappy personality still shone right through.

Anyway, no doubt I have written all about this in a previous post, but perhaps not yet, this being one of the drags of writing my story in non-sequential order. 

So I had left Cowal, had my two op's done, and was unemployed. I was still with the ex at that stage. It was time to look for another job. Interestingly, an old colleague from Cement Australia - John Reeve - contacted me out of the blue. I don't remember the exact details, but he was keen for me to have a look at a role developing the burgeoning mining department for a Queensland contractor called J.J. McDonald & Sons, or JMS Engineering. I didn't have a whole lot of options available at the time, so I flew to Brisbane to meet with him, and the boss of their mining group, who it turned out in due course, was a bit of a dud.

Still, the prospect of a move back to QLD, and the variety on offer in tendering and working various projects, was too good to ignore. Plus my in-box wasn't exactly over-flowing with offers at that point, so I accepted, and off we went. Initially, I was living in Townsville, which is where their head office was, although in time the corporate office moved to Brisbane. To begin with, it was a boring job. I started slowly building a database of operating costs, to enable more logical pricing of jobs as time went on. I helped a bit here and there in our operations - at Macarthur River (which is where JMS developed their taste to build a mining group) and Blackwater Coal, both huge operations that were new to me at the time.

It was when the Brisbane office began to pick up that my time at JMS got interesting. That also coincided with when my boss left the business. I have never been able to find a trace of him online since, so God only knows what happened to him. Not that it matters. JR put me in charge of our mining development efforts at that time. I had help too, JMS also employed a couple of my old colleagues from CA - Kevin Savoury and Bob Barnard. Both decent blokes, especially Bob, who became somewhat of a mentor of mine. Bob also became a director of JR's next enterprise, ASN Cement in Malaysia, which I eventually got involved with. That was both to my advantage and eventual detriment. But such is life, is it not? That's kind of how things tend to go with my life, I have found. 

So I moved to a suburb called Hamilton, which was in the ritzy part of Brisbane. It was a super spot - I could walk to work when the weather was good. It was near the river, and not too far from the freeway, airport, and pretty much everything else. My cousin Phil was also in Brisbane, and I did enjoy catching up with him periodically. Check my post on him to see more.

We mucked around with a number of tenders, and started pushing more into WA. JMS had a Perth office already, but it was all civils, no mining then. A job came up for a trial leach pad construction at a start-up called Jump Up Dam. It was not all that far from Kalgoorlie, my old stomping ground, so it was a great opportunity to go visit some old haunts. We tendered the job, won it, and because they needed JMS to provide a QM, I ended up having to go run it. Our main PM Goose was the guy calling the shots on the ground, I was mainly there just for my ticket and to do the occasional arm wave. On one of my stints, I was able to take half a day and go exploring. I went past old Tarmoola, but couldn't get in the front gate. I was able to drive around the back at the foot of the waste dumps, but wasn't able to get to the pit, which was really what I wanted to see. On the way back I stopped at the old Kookynie pub, which is kind of in the middle of nowhere, and a nice historic spot to stop for a meal and a cold one or two. On another day I had call to go into Kal, mainly looking for gear to hire. So driving around one of the industrial estates, I spotted a machine that looked damn familiar - old EX3, the 100t digger we had at Tarmoola. It ended up being written off as Ab dropped it off a bench one day, and was damn lucky he didn't kill himself in the process. I don't think it ever worked again, and I was rapt to spot it in a yard in Kal. You can still vaguely see the Gwalia logo on the side of it.

So I did a couple of stints, and then we had a change - JMS sold out to fucking Watpac. They were an east-coast civils company, mainly in metro projects. They were not old school, they were not patient, and they wanted me just in the office to do tenders. That was ok, but boy I missed the mix and match of both office and field work. Of course, back then, having the chance to spent time away from the ex. was always a benefit. So under Watpac, instead of reporting to John Reeve or a McDonald, I ended up reporting to our shit new CEO, Peter Secker. More on him in a bit, below are a couple of examples of the various business cards I had while at JMS.

So, the Peter Secker / Watpac era was the end for me at JMS. I didn't like him and he didn't like me. Yeah, the McDonald cowboy style didn't really work all that well for me either, but at least it allowed me freedom, and I did make them plenty of money. So, sitting in the office one Saturday, was when Dean rang me to interview me for Penjom. That was the end of this chapter, and the beginning of the next, hugely important one. Thanks JMS, I did enjoy the ride!

Retiring Early - Part 5 - We Got This

Right, so here I am again. It has been a while since I posted on this theme. Largely, that is because I had begrudgingly come to the conclusion that there was to be no early retirement for me, and that I was just going to have to continue working until old age, with the one in a trillion sniff of a Lotto win the only hope of avoiding that.

Yeah, the prospect of online business, freelance work, and other get-rich-quick schemes appeal, but only ever fleetingly, and only ever marginally. I could make a modest income from some of these approaches I am sure, but certainly not enough to maintain our current lifestyle, and keep paying off the house. Yes it helps that wifey is working a lot these days, but really, that is mainly to help her own savings, extended family support, and of course, dental for our kids. 

So realistically, I did not have any practical path for early retirement. So I just resolved to be more disciplined, do better at saving/investing and control spending. I had been doing that for some time, with my list of assets and their value, that I had been tracking six-monthly. After a couple of years, we had experienced some growth, so the other day I decided to model this. Based on what growth I had achieved over 2.5 years, what could I meaningfully expect to achieve over the next eight? The answer surprised me somewhat. Check out the graph.

So to my surprise, I had been able to achieve an annualised growth of 13% on our assets over the period of time I have been monitoring. And it is actual too, no assumptions there. I have an actual valuation of the Barooga property, as well as a conservative one of the Echuca one. The rest are just numbers from statements, including bullion. With that, I have gone for precious metal value alone, not numismatics. So in reality, I could likely get more.

Anyway, next step is to take that performance, and see what would happen if I was able to maintain that over a period of time. 13% might be a little ambitious for an amateur investor like me, but one must consider that this includes yearly inputs in terms of income and superannuation contributions. So as long as I can maintain my income, I think that is a very achievable target. So using that 13%, I thought, ok let's take this out to the age of 60, and see where I'm at. Results below:

Wow! That surprised me. If I can maintain this, then I will have hit ~$2.3 million by the time I turn 60. By my way of thinking, that is enough for a comfortable retirement. That ticks plenty of boxes hey. #1, it sets a goal date, fairly firmly I feel. #2, it satisfies the criteria of early retirement, which frankly, is anything less than 67. #3, it is very realistic. I am thrilled with this!

Only one thing remains really. That is answering the question, am I going to see out the remaining eight years with Mawsons, or am I going to look to go elsewhere? Right now, I really don't like my job, so I'd much rather go elsewhere. However, house, schools, stability, well they do count for a fair bit, so we'll see. One thing wifey and I agree on is that if I go, it will need to be a better offer. Watch this space.

Productivity Tools

Far out, this is a holy grail I have been searching for - FOR. YEARS. - yeah, yeah, I know that grammar sucks, but I needed to make that point abundantly clear. I have always wanted a planner I could use to help set goals, to help me record my thoughts, and to be more productive. I remember a course I did years ago, at Tarmoola I think, making it 1995-1998. The guy was all about goal-setting. He journaled everything, and seemed to really have his shit together. I remember next to none of it now, other than how it made me feel - which is that I need such a tool myself. 

So I have fart-arsed around with a number of things. I have my timesheet file now, which is a massive piece of information, going back years, and covering everywhere I have been, meeting planning, budget planning, and much more. It is good and I like having it. I also use Microsoft To-Do, which is not a bad tool for getting tasks down, and delegating them. But of course, the thing with this software is that it is too easy to ignore, or forget about, often leaving tasks months overdue. There are numerous packages on the market that seem to have a lot of bells and whistles, but I want something that doesn't take more time to set up than doing the bloody tasks it is there to manage. So is this truly a holy grail, and something that does not exist? Is the answer simply better self-management and discipline for me? Who knows.

Anyway, yesterday I saw reference to a very cool Kickstarter project, that I ended up supporting, planning for it to be a festive season gift. While there, I did what I have done 86 million times before, and searched for to-do, productivity, and the like. As usual, SFA came up. But then I tried a different couple of words, and all of a sudden, there was quite a list of journals, goal-setters, planners etc. that looked promising. I spent some time sieving through them all, and came up with a short-list of five. I figure I might try one or two and see how we go.

 

So I ended up with the Mal Paper one, the daily goal setter. It looks interesting, with lots of nice prompts, a lot of space for planning and reflection, and it smells really nice, which is a bonus! My only initial concern is that it is going to be a fair bit of work keeping up with this. But I need prompts to help me keep disciplined. So I am going to muck around with it and start putting some plans together, in order to kick off on October 1st with this new daily goal setting approach. If I get through the first quarter and love it, I might even look at some of the other items they have on offer.

The other day I saw an article on Forbes (link and extract below), with some useful for tips to managing ones to-do list, so that you focus time and energy on important tasks. What they talk about hit a nerve, because it's exactly what I do (the not-so-productive approach that is...). Worth having a look if this kind of thing interests you:

Forbes To-Do List Planning Article

No Time Like The Present, To Be Present

I saw this post online the other day. It hit home and hit hard.

Let's do a reality check on this. Here is my own spreadsheet of calculated time together by year. Lots of assumptions here but it'll be fairly close.

Ok that might be a bit hard to see, but according to my estimates, by the time they turn 12, it'll be 52%, rather than 75%, and by the time they turn 18, it'll be 70%, rather than 90%. Those numbers in the post did shock me, so I'm glad they are an exaggeration. However, the truth is still stark - assuming I live to 75, I have already spent half the time I am going to spend with my daughter. It'll be even less for my boys (not much less). Whichever way you look at it, the fact is, that the more independent your children become, and the older they become, the less they will look to you for their entertainment, support and company, and the more they will seek all that elsewhere. I need to make the most of the opportunity I have now, to spend quality time with my lovely kids. They do make me a much better person, and I love them so much.

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Supplements - worth it or not?

Vitable is pretty cool to look at and very convenient to both purchase and use. But is it a gimmick and am I getting value for money as well as convenience? Let's look at my current pack:

$108.50 for 30 days of;

Chromium, Fish Oil, Gingko and Brahmi, Magnesium, Acetyl L-Carnitine, Daily Probiotic, B-Complex, C Plus and Ashwagandha.

Now, I'll go to Chemist Warehouse and see what I can get in multivitamins, etc. and what it costs in comparison.

The above pic is not what I got, it's just a sampling of other supplements I have tried over the years. Frankly, they all seem to do fuck all for me, but in fairness, for much of that time I was busy pickling myself on a frequent basis, so perhaps any effect would have been lost amid the booze, fat and sugar.

Anyhow, I did my research based on Chem Ware's prices, and found that there was not a whole lot of difference, once you factored in everything. Vitable may be a little more expensive, but no more than 10-20%, and probably not more than 10%. The benefit, apart from the cool personalised sachets, is that it is targeted to my needs, and doesn't have any fluff with it (other things I don't want). Plus, only one order and one lot of pills to take, rather than the multitude that the pharmacy-bought ones would require, to cover the same needs.

Lastly, Vitable have also reintroduced my investor discount (I crowdfunded them to the tune of $250), which is worth the best part of $10 an order, so nothing to sneeze at.

I guess I have answered the question of which source of supplements are most suitable for me, but not so much the one of whether or not they actually do anything. I think, for those that live healthy and active lives, a good, balanced diet should provide most of the nutrition that a body needs. But having something extra to fill gaps, help support immunity, perhaps aid in stress reduction, skin quality, all those good things, is worthwhile. I think I'll keep doing it for now, and see how we go.

What Advice Would I Give My Younger Self

So yeah, there has been a bit of a theme lately, and really, over the last few years. I wouldn't say I am trying to reinvent myself - not at all - but I am trying to improve myself. That does not equal self-help ok? Jam it up your clacker if you think it does. Self-help to me, is one step away from wokeness, and I would gladly die a thousand deaths before I will ever become a wanky wokey.

In my quest for self improvement though, I have recently purchase a personal planner. I have my own electronic versions, and To-Do, plus my trusty notebook, but I have always been on the lookout for a physical book that I can use to help me become more organised, and more productive. So since I bought this book - from a group called Mal Paper - they have been sending me emails. Mainly as sales pitches, but today's had the title "What advice would I give my younger self"?

Now, mine, and probably many people's immediate reaction to that would be swift and broad - don't spend so much money, don't marry your first wife, don't stop exercising, travel more, become an expat sooner, the list goes on. Yes, I could have done all those things, and yes perhaps I would be better off financially, have better habits now, and be healthier.

However.

One thing I have learned in life, and my #1 mantra really, is regret nothing. Why? Well, in my case, consider where I'm at today. Any change in my past (well almost any) could risk me not being with wifey, and therefore not having my three amazing kids. Any circumstance that could result in them not being born, is not one I wish to exist. All I have done has led me here, and I am ok with that. I am better for my experiences, even the utter shite ones. So I am not going to tell my younger self to do/not do those things I mentioned earlier.

Having said that, well, there are some things that a better version of me may not have done so much of. The #1 of those is wasting money. I essentially came into my Malaysia job in 2008 with almost nothing, apart from super, to my name. Ok, I had done a bit of travelling, a whole lot of partying, plenty of gambling, and way too much shopping. Some (many) good experiences for sure. And yes, that persona was likely one of the reasons I ended up crossing paths with wifey, which is pivotal. But had I just been the tiniest bit disciplined, I could be so much closer to retirement now than I am. As it stands, 60 is still looking like the age for me, so I must be grateful - not too many will be able to do it at that age. But many times have I seen graphics demonstrating what putting a fairly small amount aside at a young age can grow to by the time you hit 50. It is hundred's of thousands, if not a million bucks, pretty easy. So yeah, I could have eaten less shit, or just less overall. I could have drunk a lot less, spent a lot less time at strip clubs, all that kinds of stuff. But ultimately, if I started saving at a younger age, it would have made a big difference to where I'm at now. 

I think I need to put a model together - one of those graphics - to demonstrate the value of this to my kids. 

 

50 Best Cities

So I got my normal weekly email from Time Out magazine.

best-cities-in-the-world was the article. Of these;

I have been to 12 - NYC, London, LA, Melbourne, Singapore, Bangkok, Sydney, KL, Manila, Hanoi, San Francisco and Hong Kong.

I don't want to go to 21 of them - Cape Town, Madrid, Rome, Porto, Paris, Lisbon, Chicago, Manchester, Sao Paulo, Amsterdam, Lagos, Naples, Montreal, Glasgow, Barcelona, Abu Dhabi, Philadelphia, Austin, Accra, Marseille and Istanbul.

I do want to go to 17 of them - Berlin, Mexico City, Liverpool, Tokyo, Mumbai, Miami, Lima, Budapest, Beijing, Dubai, Buenos Aires, Seoul, New Orleans, Boston, Taipei, Osaka and Vancouver.

I think some cities have been missed off this list. My 50 Best Cities In The World would also include - Jakarta, Saigon, Shanghai and Las Vegas. 

What makes a great city? Well, there are a number of things:

The city needs character. Hong Kong has an incredible amount of character. East meets west in terms of its heritage British colonial buildings and layout. New meets old in terms of its towering skyscrapers and glitzy malls, but with dai pai dongs and street markets just around the corner. Urban meets wilderness in terms of it's super high-density city blocks, but with a spectacular harbour, beautiful mountains and bush parkland all within a stone's throw of each other. HK has an amazing vibe - it can be on the cutting edge of everything, what with it's world-class train network and digital economy. Yet the near-century old Star Ferry still happily plugs away across the harbour each day, an institution in itself, and a hark back to the days of empire and history. It's a super city, one of my favourite places on Earth, and somewhere I was lucky to call home for seven years as a child. 

The city needs history. Many of these cities do, but London has it in spades. Over 1,000 years old, with vestiges of its Roman past, plus iconic locations such as the Tower of London, this is an amazing city, for those interested in our past. One of the things that makes London so unique and fascinating is the glimpses of bygone eras that remain, amongst the relentless modernisation of the metropolis. Highgate Cemetary This is a post I did some time ago, about a trip I did to the UK in 2012. Visiting this cemetery was almost an other-worldly experience, and one I highly recommend. 

The city needs great food. Kuala Lumpur, hands down, for me. Yes, many places in the world have amazing cuisines, but not all of which tantalise my tastebuds all that much. KL though, has such a cosmopolitan flair, with it's cultural melting pot of races, religions, and nationalities. It has it all really. This includes a vibrant street food scene, a super fine-dining culture, great prices, and an unpretentious attitude. I love wandering the streets of KL looking for food, love the hawker stalls, and think the unique blend of everything that makes up Malaysian food - be it Malay, Malaysian Chinese, or locally-influenced Indian - provides simply the best taste one can find in the world today.

The city needs good facilities. Singapore is a walk-up start for this. Other cities do have amazing train systems, such as Hong Kong, but Singapore just has it all. So efficient, so modern, so clean, so reliable. So everything really. Some might say that causes it to lack character, but to me it just makes for an easy experience, and removes a number of factors that one normally has to spend time planning for in other places. Throw in the malls, the shopping precincts, the ubiquitous hawker centres, and the natural beauty, and you have a wonder travel experience, that is easy to enjoy, and just "wing it" in. That's Singapore.

The city needs plenty to do. Probably all of those I have already mentioned fit this bill. You could throw Vegas into that mix too. Don't shoot me, I know a lot of people find Vegas to be a den of iniquity, lacking soul, and with no culture at all. Yes, it can be that, but frankly so can most other cities too. Vegas doesn't pretend to be anything other than what it is - a place for people to live on the edge, and indulge their vices. I loved the place, be it the wide variety of food on offer, the cool casinos and their kitsch architecture, the access to places like the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam. Plus so much more. When I was a younger man, on my first visit to the place, I had a haircut by a lady in lingerie. These days the cancel crowd would probably put paid to such an establishment, and I certainly didn't go there with sleaze in mind. It was just a fun and quirky thing to do, and likely only to be found in Vegas.

Well, I could write 100,000 words on this topic, as I have been fortunate enough to have some great travel experiences in my life. This is a bit of a taste though, of what to me, makes for a great city.

Two Weeks

Ok, so I have two weeks off. It looks like it'll be two weeks at home, pending a possible quick Melbourne trip in the first week of school holidays.

I was always going to have a week off, but decided to expand it to two, well, for reasons. Wifey and I had some good chats this week, and I need time away from work to reflect on that, and work on myself for a change. There is a lot going on in life, and I need to get my priorities right, protect and love my family first and foremost, and look after myself too. I also need to put in perspective where I'm at in terms of my commitment to my job, and whether or not I need to consider a change. Remember, I was looking for stability as my top goal. I now have it. But perhaps my psyche yearns for a bit more variety? It certainly yearns for Asia...

So what is it that I am going to do in my break? I need (want) to achieve a number of things:

1) Hopefully get my bonus paid and distribute according to my plan. That includes investments, savings, and others below... (done)

2) This will include booking Darwin flights, important for others' planning, not just mine (done).

3) Importantly to me, I want to do a blog post for each day of the break. Including this weekend, that makes 16 posts in all. I will update this post to measure my progress as I go;

        1- A bit of a free kick here, as the first one will be this post!

        2- 50 Best Cities - finally finished this one off!

        3- What Advice Would I Give My Younger Self

        4- Supplements - worth it or not?

        5- No Time Like The Present, To Be Present

        6- Productivity Tools

        7- Retiring Early - Part 5 - We Got This

        8- Going C.U. Version #4

        9- My Health Tips

       10- My Career - Part 5 - Gladstone

       11- Leadership

       12-16 didn't make it, but I'm satisfied with the output! (done).

4) I want to do some serious weeding in the backyard, and arrange some of the next steps in the yard development, namely quoting for concrete, talking to landscaper, perhaps buying the big planter box for outside the kitchen, getting pavers, getting and installing a clothesline. That would be a good start. Maybe also get the guy in for pruning and hard rubbish removal (done).

5) I want to go to Sophie's assembly for her award, and her PT interviews (done).

6) I want to take the boys to the cricket try-outs and see how they like it (cancelled, they decided against it, but in the end we spent a lot of time together, so all good there, done.).

7) I want to look to get another bookshelf, for my room, so that I can look to bring home my personal goods from Cohuna. Ditto for a pin-up board that can go in my office.

8) I want to clear my desk. That means reading the mag's and saving the good bits, then disposing of them or putting in my office at work. It also means dealing with all the annoying bits of paper. It also means deciding if I need all these bloody decorations or not (largely done).

9) I need to open and start using the Mal Paper goal setting thing that I got a few weeks ago and have been carrying around Australia ever since. Being productive is a HUGE part of my wellbeing. I feel SO much better, so much more in control, and more content with life, when I feel like I am being productive, and Getting. Shit. Done. I think also, in order for me to properly assess where I am at with my job satisfaction, and to be able to better manage upwards, this particular goal is essential.

10) I want to do some more reading (currently got Stephen King's new book of short stories on the go and bought the latest Money magazine), and build another Lego set (done).

11) I want to wrap some presents, and do some more Xmas planning (what's Ma doing for instance) (done).

12) I want to review my current stock holdings, so I can decide what income shares I want to stick with, set some sell targets for those I don't, and make some calls on my growth / penny stocks. This is important, as it forms part of my retirement plan (done).

13) I want to do some spring cleaning, and do a donation box run (done).

14) Finally, after all these months, plug my laptop into the internet box and see if there are any issues.

15) Set-up quarterly rates payments, and adjust budget spreadsheet accordingly (done).

16) Do that passport photo framing, and look into the other ones (done).

Ok, so we have ended up at a goal for each day (not specified to a particular day), including a blog post for each day as well. I don't think that is too onerous (as I do want a rest too), but at the same time, will see me accomplishing a lot in this next fortnight. 

Let's do this! 

Update: at the end of today (Saturday) I will be 50% through my break. How are we going for goals so far? Well, blog posts, I have done 6, so am falling a bit behind. Goals, I have done 6 as well. So realistically, I need to put a bit more effort in this coming week. Might be hard with the kids at home now, but I'll have a crack.

Update2: at the end of today (Sunday), my break will be complete. Back to work tomorrow. In terms of goals, we have hit 12 out of 16. Not bad, by my usual standards! Especially considering half the break was laden with children. In terms of blog posts, we have hit 11 out of 16, also far better than what I would usually achieve in such a timeframe. I will try to continue the run during the coming week, and I will try to knock off the remaining tasks. In fact, I will put them in my to-do list now.

Life

I just saw a clip on Facebook. Yeah, yeah, I know. Fuckin' moronic FB. I'm on it mainly for local buy swap sell, and to keep in touch with a couple of old mates. Plus there are some cool groups with old Hong Kong pics that titillate my nostalgia.  

But anyway, this clip:

Life - Neil de Grasse Tyson

Far out. So doing some calculations and assumptions based on known history, we think the total number of people who have ever lived is around 100 billion. Big number, but not in the context of the universe - be it macro or micro. So how about the total number of people who could possibly ever live, based on our DNA, the human genome, and how all that works? Well, they reckon the number is at least 1 billion trillion trillion, and quite likely, more than that. A million is six zeroes. A billion nine. A trillion 12.

So that means 9 x 12 x 12 = ~1,300 zeroes after the one. That is the total possible combinations of human DNA, as in, how many possible individuals could be born. Not sure if it is possible for the same person to be born twice, but for the sake of this, let's assume not. So we have 1,300 zeroes possible, compared to 11 that have ever lived. 11 / 1,300 = 0.84%. A very small proportion.

What this means is that we - the people who are alive today, or at any time - are incredibly lucky. For even if you assume that the human race goes on for another 100 billion lives, hey let's say 900 billion, which is probably unlikely. That puts another zero on the actual. So 12 out of 1,300 = 9%. That means 91% of the people who could possibly ever live, won't ever even be born. Those of us who do live, even if life isn't always a whole lot of fun, are getting the chance that most will never have. Wow, that kind of puts a different perspective on things doesn't it? What an opportunity we have. Most people will never even exist, let alone have the chance to live a life full of amazing things. I must keep that in mind, and make the most of this life that I have.