Who is this Mat?
An instructor with Outward Bound Singapore since 2008. Loves physical challenges and outdoor activities as well as educating and motivating myself and others. I like to simplify stuffs i learn for others to benefit. I also like to link real world stuffs with stuffs i learnt in class like Economics and Physics (my favourite subjects in school!)
I created this blog out of a sheer need. A need to keep me focused on my resolutions. More often than not, resolutions are made and yet not fulfilled.
I used to have a resolution to be more religious. To keep to my 5 times a day prayers irregardless of where i am. I made that resolution a few times. Once, right after my grandfather passed on. Another when i started out my job at OBS. I tried to keep to it, i went on good for a while but then you suddenly have provisions. "Hmmm, missing once is OK.." or "Man, i'm too shagged out!". This then became routine and routine became habit. Bottomline is, i did not keep resolute to my resolutions.
Then i remembered something that was shown to me during my 21-day Outward Bound Challenger Course that publishing and sharing your thoughts inevitably will make you more resolute to achieve it. Having yourself repeat it over and over again in various ways will keep you focused to it. And having big goals require you to break them up into bite-sized chunks so that the small victories can motivate and lead you to the big one at the end of the day.
So this year, my resolution is BIG.
1. Improve my Vital Stats 2. Rediscover Him 3. Improve Relations 4. Be Meticulous 5. Communicate Well 6. Be a great Motivator-Mentor
I will do this in small steps following the S.M.A.R.T. goals tip. Goals must be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-based.
Improving my vital stats entail improvement of fitness and health. How specific is it? At the start of this year, my father enrolled in a weight management programme lead by a friend of my mom's. My father used to be athletic in his heyday and is now obese. He is mildly diabetic with a family history of diabetes (both my paternal grandparents are diabetic) and has fractured his rib bones once after a fall from his bike. He also used to be a heavy smoker. However, egged on by my mom, he decided to enroll this programme even though it is expensive for our means.
Every week, my mom's friend will pop over to measure his stats and see progress and this is where the kids (everyone else in the house!) will clamour to use the machine once my dad is done with it to measure our stats. This Omron machine measures visceral and subcutaneous fat percentage, weight, BMI and muscular percentages as well as resting metabolism rate. Good eh? How accurate? I also don't know but since the machine is something that does not change and i am the same person, on the basis that this is a science experiment, the only variable is the stats!
When i first viewed mine, i was shocked! BMI shows i am overweight. Visceral fat percentage is dangerously high for my size and my resting metabolism is too low. Worse, skin carotenoid level is very low! It was just the beginning of the year and i had not have a resolution yet so it was apt and timely. I needed to shape up for good health.
So i researched on specific targets to meet for my body height.
- Weight Target: 63kg
- Visceral Fat %: 3%
- Overall Body Fat%: 8%
- Skin Carotenoid: >40,000
This is the main gist of my resolution this year.
The other bonuses are to improve myself as a whole.
Find back my religious and philosophical self which has been drowning and reaching out to me. I remembered my first official date with my girlfriend. We were to watch Superman Returns at Omnimax theatre but the ticket ran out. So did the time for maghrib prayer. We decided to pray together at the one of the staircase landing at the building and that was my first time leading a prayer with her, alone. It may also have been one of the last in a long time. That was the most memorable date so far for me and i wish to will it back once more so i can live it a thousand times over. I miss the calmness and the quiet talks with Him. I miss the solitude.
I am also a closet introvert. If you give me a situation to choose. Hang out with many people or be alone riding my bike, i'd choose the latter. However, i love to spend time with close-loved ones. People i am comfortable with. I plan to get out of my social comfort zones and improve my relations and communication skills with others; learn how to make small talk and initiate conversations. That way, i think i can get to understand people better.
Through the years, i have also realised my apparent lack of meticularity. My lack of details. I see macro, seldom micro and i find it hard to micro-manage especially a team. I am not able to think deeper than the depth of my capabilities and it has caused some problems especially at work. I will need to improve this so that i can position myself better in the organisation as well as be useful to any team.
And last, i wish to develop myself so that i can live out my lines "the most exciting man in the history of mankind" in terms of what i do, mentoring and developing people. I hope that every course i run will be impactful and beneficial to the different stakeholders. I hope the positive learnings that they derive from the courses i ran invoke and incite positive learnings to other people too. And i hope to be a great role-model to everyone in the organisation. And i wish to do that being the best at what i do.
These are my resolutions this year and this blog is part of that dedication to stay resolute to my resolutions.
