My 2020 Goals and Resolutions

Welcome to my page!

Let me introduce myself. I'm an accountant who is passionate about numbers and finances, and who is currently working at one of the big four accounting firms. As a 27 year old female professional, who has been working in this industry for over 6 years, I want to share the tips and tricks I have learned related to finances and my career, with you. I am also currently on my journey to becoming more financially independent and learning how to invest my money smartly. Along the way, I also want to share some of my other passions in life - traveling and leading a healthy lifestyle.

Today, I want to take the time to do some reflection before time gets the better of me. It's already half way through February of this new decade, and I have been putting this off for a while. I have always wanted to document my discoveries, successes, failures, as well as the ups and downs in my life. This blog and my Youtube channel will be a space for me to do that - and I hope it can also help you in some way along this journey.

I don't want to start off with making excuses as to why I haven't been very productive the past month and a half (when this post is about my new year's resolutions). Though, I must admit I have pretty good ones and I want to have a chance to explain myself. I had just uprooted my life of nearly three years in Korea, and had made the decision to return to Vancouver.

Reflecting back, I had the most amazing time in Korea and I'm so glad I had taken the leap of faith to move there, and experience everything a new country has to offer. As someone who has lived, grew up, went to school and university, and even started working in Vancouver, I had been yearning to get away to a more exciting city. Especially, one that is dear to my heart, and a country that is connected to my family history as I am ethnically Korean.

It had been somewhat of a fairy tale - the time I had spent in Korea. My time there was filled with traveling, meeting new people, and immersing myself in the new culture (such as going to way too many hweshiks at work). While Korea didn't quite live up to the expectations that I had built while watching Korean Dramas (which I was completely obsessed with at the time), I was happy with my experiences there. Life in Korea filled the void I was looking for - something exciting and fast-paced.

Though after spending almost three years in Korea, the honeymoon stage started to wane. Work was starting to get more intense with later evenings and life was starting to get into a cycle that I had in Vancouver - work, sleep, and repeat. It was time to move on and leave while the memories were still good. To top it off, the fine dust levels were getting pretty bad and I was yearning for the clean air and nature present in Vancouver.

So I had made up my mind in returning to Vancouver, but before I did, I took 3 months off. I was fortunate that I had my Mom in Korea with me at the time, though, she was in Haeundae, Busan (a different city that is three hours train ride from Seoul). I had spent my last three months in Korea in Haeundae, with the beach within a 15 minute walking distance as well as numerous hiking trails nearby. I also traveled to Europe with my mom - visiting 10 cities in 18 days (that is a whole another blog post). At first I was happy with the break - I was extremely fortunate to have had this opportunity. However, after the months passed, I had enough and wanted to get my life going again.

Fast forward, I got on a plane on December 16th, 2019 to Vancouver. I was ready to start my new life. Without a place of my own, I couldn't get over the feeling of being a floater, a nomad. I was lucky to have a place to stay - staying at my brother's place in Victoria during the Christmas holiday, and then moving into my sister's place in Vancouver, who was staying on campus as she was finishing up law school.

I don't want to sound like I'm complaining but the first month was rough. I was used to having my own space and having a system for myself. But I had essentially been hopping around, living at my family's place for almost 6 months. Don't get me wrong, I feel extremely blessed that I had the options and the places to stay, but at the same time I felt a little lost. Not to mention, I've been having a tough time trying to buy a place of my own in Vancouver. It had been a dream of mine to purchase my first property, but the new year suddenly brought on a spike of demand for real estate, driving up the prices and increasing competition to buy homes. To top it off, Vancouver had the worst bouts of rain and gloomy skies, which was one of the reasons I left the city in the first place. My S.A.D (seasonal affective disorder) was in full swing and I was having second thoughts about whether returning to Vancouver was a good decision after all.

Now, it's February 16th, a full two months since I returned from Korea and I feel great. I had a chance to settle in, the weather is getting better with more sunnier days, and I have decided to not let my situation get the better of me. Rather, I'm starting to feel more productive and I'm looking forward to what I can achieve this year. 2020 holds a special spot in my heart, as I'm sure it does for most people. It's a new decade and, also, in less than 2 weeks time, I will be turning 28 years old. I had set goals for myself over 5 years ago, when I was fresh out of university and I had imagined that I would be at a certain point in my life when I was 27 years old.

The funny thing is, almost by fate(?), I had been searching for an email in my mailbox when I came across a reflective essay my friend wrote and had sent to me for editing. It had been the very last assignment of university. I had been taking this special course, where we develop our leadership and problem solving skills. It sounds really nerdy, but essentially, I took on extra credit and paid more money to discuss Harvard Business Cases over the weekend with other like-minded people. Anyways, one of the last assignments for that class was to write a 10 page reflective essay on how you see yourself in 1, 5, and 20 years time.

As you probably guessed, I went searching for the essay that I wrote, and luckily I was able to find it. It felt strange reading what I wrote in May of 2014 when I was only 22 years old and reading about how I imagine myself to be in 5 years time when I am 27 years old. While my goals haven't changed to become an entrepreneur, I do admit I'm a little delayed and I'm not quite there yet. I feel that I'm still two years out before I'm in the position that my 22 year old self thought I would be in.

That whole process brings me to my current state - I'm motivated and I'm willing to take action and not just think about the things I should be doing. In reference to Rob Moore's book on Start Now Get Perfect Later, I just need to start somewhere.

On that note (and a long winded post), I would like to share my resolutions for 2020. I am putting it out there so I can keep myself accountable.

My goals this year is to:

1) Build my personal brand and share my experiences to help others.

2) Become more financially independent by investing in stocks and/or real estate.

3) Build my career by obtaining another designation: a US CPA.

4) Expand my knowledge by reading at least one book a month.

5) Work on my relationships with family and friends to build a stronger bond.

6) Build my network by meeting like-minded people and those with similar goals as me.

7) Work on my well-being, both physically and mentally.

I may be a little too ambitious in trying to achieve so many things this year. But it's better to reach for the stars and fall short, rather than not trying at all, right?

In that regard, I decided to live a life of balance by working on all aspects of my life and not be too skewed in one area. That is why I had chosen the name Ms. Balance, so I can remind myself that life is about balance and that is what I will strive for this year.

If you managed to read this far, I would like to give kudos to you, and I hope you can also join me in this journey in trying to lead a balanced life of success and happiness.

Sincerely,

#2020newyearsresolutions #newdecade #newyearnewyou #letsknockoffthosegoalsonebyone #journeytoadulting