What's new for you in 2009?

Good afternoon folks,

Wishing all of you a wonderful new year. I apologize for being MIA during the past few weeks. Yours truly was traveling in Singapore and Malaysia and spending a significant amount of time with the family back in Hong Kong. I hope everyone had wonderful holidays, no matter which country everybody hails from. Of course, the Chinese still haven't had their new year celebrations yet.

On New Year's Eve, I was thinking about some of the resolutions I could have made for the new year. Honestly, I hardly ever make resolutions, because I figure if I want to accomplish something during the year, I'll go right ahead and do it. In the end, I didn't end up making any resolutions per se, but I did think about some things I woud aim to do in 2009.

1. Stop comparing myself with the next person

Sure, your best friend is working for Goldman Sachs. Your roommate has 4.0 GPA. That guy in your fraternity drives a Porsche. The girl down the hall has a father on the Forbes 400. You're going to hear things like this again and again as you go through life. Why compare? It hurts your self-esteem and depresses your levels of happiness. When you compete, compete with yourself. You're going to feel a whole lot better that way, and life will just seem amazing!

2. Spend more time with friends and family

God is always going to remain first place in my life, followed by family and friends. I think I'm a huge family person, which is why I love going home during the vacations while my friends travel the world. I get as much satisfaction from playing golf with my parents as I do from going water skiing with my good friends. Studies have shown that a lack of social relationships will kill you faster than smoking. Listen up, people.

3. Smile more

I must walk around with a smile on my face, because I get random people, both young and old, saying hi to me while I go about my daily life. Smile! Smiling is contagious, I'm sure you know. It makes you ten times happier (okay, maybe twice as happier), and you'll look at life a whole different way.

4. Enjoy life

Life is too short to be focusing on trivial things like trying to make as much money as possible. If you've got a loving family, good friends, and a steady job, that's all you really need. Slow down and enjoy the finer things in life (excuse the cliche). Yesterday, I rolled out of bed at 7am and turned on my laptop to do some e-mail. At the same time, I opened the window and checked out the amazing sunrise. It was priceless. Money couldn't buy the feeling I had at that exact moment.

So, folks, consider these points as you go into 2009. Thanks for checking in, we'll definitely be open more this year.