Setting my 2025 KPIs

Time flies and it is already Feb and I am late for my annual setting of new year goals to list my Key Performance Indicators to achieve for 2025.

This year is a bit different from previous ones. I have decided to join my wife and retire from full-time work. At 58 and 56 years old, we want to plan for our halftime life journey. We had both been working for more than 30+ years and decided it was time to take a well-deserved break.

Coincidentally, our younger son is about to complete his uni life and embark on his medical work career soon. This was similar to what my dad did in 1990 and retired when I graduated. Life is repeating itself.

My 2025 KPIs:

1. Read 20 books – They can be non-fiction or fiction books, short stories or novels. I will read anything that interests me, at a rate of 1 to 2 books a month. I will borrow the ebooks from the National Library to read on my PC or iPad. As usual, I will write a short summary of every book I finish as a matter of record.
2. Do 5 courses – Either physical classes or online MOOC, I will utilize the new Skillsfuture funds ($4k) to educate myself on topics I want to learn more about, with more than 25,000+ courses listed on the Skillsfuture website for me to explore.
3. Deep dive into at least 2 more new or existing interests, to continue on my life-long learning journey. With the Internet and AI tools available to help us, it should be easier. But we get an overload of information around us and the main problem is to sieve between the BS and discover the truth. That is getting harder to do nowadays.
4. Travel more – My wife and I have already planned for one major long trip every quarter to Portugal/Spain (Lisbon, Madeira, Porto, Madrid), South Korea (Busan, Seoul) and China (Chengdu, Chongqing). There will also be short trips between these trips to neighbouring places like Johor Bahru and cities in South East Asia. Given that we have more time on our hands now, we do not need to rush during our vacations and can slowly enjoy and absorb the local culture and vibe.
5. Be happy and healthy – to enjoy our 2nd halftime period. Life is short. We will take time to smell the roses. Have a regular exercise regime, and aim to constantly seek small feelings of happiness while exploring new experiences. We need to also count our blessings daily as we enjoy our retirement years.