Happy New Year!

The last time that I've updated this blog was last year. There are several unfinished posts on running and my transition from UK to Malaysia.

2020 is will mark the first year that I will be a PhD holder in academia. At the same time, I'm nursing my weak hip, so ambitious long distance running goals will have to take a pause in 2020.

Here are my resolutions for the year 2020.

Run 
  1. Be consistent in strength and stretching work, make it a daily habit.
  2. Daily commute by walking > daily commute by motorized transport (also good for environment)
  3. Climb a new mountain in Malaysia every 2 month. 
  4. Attend weekly yoga class for overarching muscles development.  
  5. Complete 400 hours of aerobic activities (run/walk/cycling) for the whole of 2020. I've managed to only do 342 hours in 2019 while it was 414 hours in 2018.
Research

As a young academic working in Malaysia, my research strategy will around under-promised and over deliver in terms of output. Given the recent interests of Malaysian policymakers on behavioural economics/insights, I have a feeling that 2020 will be a productive year for me. I'm also thinking of offering a university-level course on behavioural economics in my university, considering that the university wants to see more of its researchers teaching. I'm mulling with the idea, should I be more public in pushing behavioural findings and evidence-based policy making to the public. 

In addition to resolutions revolving around my professional and running careers, I'm implementing following changes to positively affect changes in the areas above. 
  • I will not reply a Whatsapp message/Twitter DM/Instagram DM from unknown sources. If you want to elicit a response from me, do write an email. 
  • For social messages from groups or people I know, I'm going to limit my interaction with them on for specific hours (i.e. I would only checked my phone every 2 hours). Messages from me would only be expected to be short and straight to the point. If you want to have a longer social interaction, I'm open for phone calls/coffee/lunch/dinners etc. Face-to-face communication > virtual communication.
  • I will not click news articles/videos shared on platforms like Twitter/Whatsapp/Facebook. I would however very much interested on academic papers shared on social media platform. 

Welcome 2020. 


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