I’m sure some of my unconventional choices backfired, but today’s focus is on the successes.

• [o] 文化程度 in spouse ??????? No I Chose a girl not highly educated but with decent learning attitudes, able to /instill/ the right attitude into my kids
• [o] 老牌资本主义 U.S./Europe/Australia ????? No I Chose the upstart Singapore. Like my dad, I remain optimistic about Singapore government. See my email drafted around 2020 National Day
• [f] big, new house on high floor in quiet clean estate ??? No I Chose a small, run-down hdb home in a noisy location
• [fo] SG local private properties ??? No I chose multiple small overseas prop in very emerging countries. I focused on current yield rather than windfall
• [go] stable VP job in a big bank ????? No I chose contractor career. Am optimistic about job security.
  • What I got? peace, security.
• [go] You can’t remain a hands-on guy at your age. Need to improve leadership and comm ??????? No I chose to remain hands-on dev.
  • What I got? dev-till-70
• develop interpersonal comm skills such as chitchat ??? No I chose to focus on written English esp. vocab
• build personal network ?? No I never did it on purpose.
• [w] take care of your appearance like hair, skin… and don’t look so old, as wife told me ??? No I chose to focus on wellness including waistline, stamina
  • What I got? many wellness habits
• [w] pay attention to your breath ? No I chose to focus on dental health
  • What I got? more “sunshine” on dental health
• [o] In the U.S. you must embrace driving ??? No I chose to stay in places that don’t need a car. I relied on a bicycle.  Am optimistic that I can limit or remove car dependency if I choose my location.
  • What I got? more healthy lifestyle, carefree in terms of car ownership
• [??.. =the more question marks, the more doubt I have about the conventional wisdom]
• [w=wellness]
• [g=gz]
• [f=per finance]
• [o=demonstrates my optimism]