When I was drafting my articles for this week, I noticed something that surprised me.
Since I started writing on this blog back in late 2011, I have published a total of 999 article posts and this marks the 1000th article that I will be publishing.
An Entire Decade of writing.
That is the amount of time I have spent on writing articles in this blog since I started my first article on the 20th December 2011.
This post commemorates the 1000th article I have written in this blog and I wanted to take a moment to make this article a milestone on its own as I looked back and realized just how much this journey has brought me along.
My First Few Articles Suck A Lot
I looked back with fond memories at how much my writing has changed over the past few years since I started writing.
As I was not a natural born writer, it was inexplicably difficult for me to explain and put every single things into words – forming a sentence constructively that can illustrate my thoughts in a proper and logical way for readers to understand.
But I kept on going.
I just wrote one article after another, and over time things get better as I get to construct sentence in my own personality and preferred structure.
“I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.” – Joan Didion
Although my first few articles probably suck as I went back time to re-read them again, it was the start of everything for me.
The start of my journey towards achieving better financial security, taking ownership of financial needs, targeting financial independence but also growing up from it, becoming a better parent and a more matured person.
In my own perceived benefits through writing, this leads me to:
- Discovery
The act of writing itself forces me to rethink and and articulate my inner thoughts and put it into writing, something which I have not been able to do throughout my younger days. It helps me discover my identity, strengths and weakness and the things I should improve on to get better.
- Liberating
Writing itself as a form of hobby that liberates and gives me the freedom to write without inhibition. In the early part of my career where work needed me to follow the proper protocol to do most things, writing offers me a different freedom which I much desire.
- Meditating
Writing is an alternative silent form of meditation.
Through writing, I became a lot more calm and peaceful and it is somewhat therapeutic as it allows me to cultivate, face and observe my own feelings and thoughts.
- Connecting (Relationship-building)
I have lost count of how many fellow bloggers, investors, traders, writers, personal finance seekers, and partners that I have worked and build relationship on a personal level over the past decade.
Just through writing, I joined a community that is unique and found a space in my heart where I felt I belong to.
Many Fond Memories From Reading Back Past Articles
This feels somewhat a little nostalgia when I looked back and read my past own articles and surprised by some of things I wrote to the extent that I suspected if some of the articles were written by myself.
Having written so many past articles, I wrote in a variety of personal tell story of my own journey. For example, I wrote about how life was back then as an accountant, showing my messy desk in an environment that they are expecting you to be “fun” and “challenging” – What an irony! I also wrote about how life was moving was a corporate set-up to a more flexible start-up environment is like.
I also wrote about the time when I hit my proud financial milestone moment – the first $250k, $500k and $750k and how because of that I was featured in a national newspaper media back in 2017.
Since I started writing for this blog in 2011 (when I was still single), I had also documented about the time when we had just got married and had our child. I still recall the fond memories, walking a transition path from a carefree single to couple to parents journey. Fast forward today, our eldest child is 7 and is in primary one already.
Same same but everything is different.
As with everything in life, things were not always rosy and I had my own fair share of mistakes and decisions that I regretted.
For example, I terminated and surrendered my WL policy at a loss for something which I signed up earlier in my life and didn’t know anything about it. I paid the price at the end by realizing the losses which was unnecessary.
I have also documented my experience dealing with my Dad’s stroke 2 years ago and how financially and mentally it has crippled me. That moment still remains in my memory as one of the toughest period in my life.
If you are into investing, I have also documented some of my earlier mistakes of investing back in 2014 and 2018.
There is a lot more to read if you are interested and it will probably take you months to finish reading all the articles from the past. After all, it’s my 10 years worth of journey we are talking about! lol!
Building A Legacy We Want To Leave Behind For Our Children
Legacy is about life and living, and to keep that legacy for one generation after next is a big one to plan for.
After all, if you don’t pass on your life experience by leaving a legacy, the wisdom you’ve gained through decades of learning will be a waste to miss for.
Through the majority part of our lives, we spent our time dedicating to working hard and earning for more money in order to provide a better care for our families.
Many parents in the developed world ended up leaving tons of money to their children – money that can last them a few years lifetime if they spend it prudently.
Building a legacy through our own writing forming the majority part of the story of our lives and what we went through should be a good present to give by the time they’ve grown up and be able to settle on their own.
Of course, that’s not to say that the other parts are not important.
We still have to do our parts as parents, making sure the necessity such as CPF Nomination and Will Legacy are all properly administered so there won’t be things at the later part which raises questions. We want to make sure the hard part is done so we don’t drag things on.
Going Forward – Will There Be A 2000th Post Milestone?
I will continue to write for as long as I can for now – although reaching the next milestone for a 2000th post milestone is likely almost impossible to reach. I am pretty sure 99% that will not happen but we’ll see as we take one step at a time.
The thing about writing is it takes a lot of time, effort and a story to tell for all the new contents. You also need the dedication, discipline and love for writing to make that happen. I’m just not sure what the next 10 years life will bring me to.
While the passion for writing as a hobby still remains for now, I don’t know what takes going forward in the future.
Like everything in life, things can change drastically and we may suddenly find a different liking or hobby that we want to spend time with. I’ll keep it finger crossed for now and will continue to write for as long as there’s story to tell in me.
With that, I’d like to also thank all the readers for the contributions and support all these years.
It has been a journey that we grow together.
THANK YOU!
