Unpacking Everything (Part One)

I’ve chosen the image of a snow-capped mountain for this post for good reasons. The most important reason is because, unlike an iceberg where we only get to see what’s above the surface and not what’s underneath, for a mountain, at least we get to see it in its entirety. And that is exactly how I’m feeling at this very moment when I think about my own financial circumstances.

I wanted to take some time over the course of this week to unpack all the stuff that I had written yesterday. You can read about the post here. It’s my first full-length blog post in quite a while. Personally, I also think that it is one of my best posts in a very long time.

Seeing My Financial Challenges for What They Are…a Mountain 🏔️

That’s where I really want to begin unpacking today. For many years, I’ll admit that I’ve tried to avoid looking at my financial debts for what they truly are because if I had accepted them for what they are, it would seem almost impossible for me to clear it all. At this time, I think it is safe to say that my debts have accumulated to somewhere in the 100K range. It is such a scary amount to think about. But I think I’ve had enough of trying to not see it for what it is. It has only been hurting me. I’m where I am today because I didn’t have the courage to accept my financial situation for what it was. If I did, it wouldn’t have become so bad.

Breaking It Down

If my most recent experiences of working on my new portfolio showcase projects have reminded me of anything, it is that I need to break the challenge down into smaller pieces. Perhaps setting a goal of clearing S$5,000 a month. For a debt my size, that would take about 20 months to finish clearing everything that I owed. Down to every last cent. Now, if I were to work everything out in greater detail, I would say I have just over S$100K to clear. So, that puts my final goal at 2 years. I’m going to give myself 2 years to clear off my S$100K debt.

But how am I going to come up with the extra funds that I’ll need every single month in order to meet this monthly target?

I could lower my monthly target to S$2,500. But that would mean I need up to 4 years to pay off everything. Honestly, 4 years feels like a very long time. So, no. I think it’s time that I stopped turning a blind eye to just how bad my situation is. It’s time that I did something serious and drastic about it.

先苦后甜 (“Bitter First. Sweet Later.”)

When I think about my current circumstances and the genuine seriousness of it all, I can’t help but remember this Chinese phrase that I’ve learned ever since I was a child, “先苦后甜”. It directly translates into “Bitter First. Sweet Later”. The proper translation is more like, “Suffer now, Enjoy later”. And even better, we know a phrase called “delayed gratification”.

While you know my stance of the whole abuse of the “hustle” culture. But what I also believe in is that there are seasons in our lives where we have to do what we must. There’s a season to work hard, and there’s a season to enjoy the fruits of our hard work.

Right now, I believe this is a season for me to do whatever I need to do to pay off my debts every single month. Even if it means I’ll need to sleep a little less every day for the next 2 years.

I cannot, and will not allow myself to make the same mistakes again.

How to Contact Me for Freelance Gigs

For anyone that is looking for a seasoned freelancer that specializes in web and mobile development, you can always reach me via my official work email at d2d.weizhi@gmail.com. Right now, I’m open to taking on both small-scale projects (anything that is under S$10,000) as well as full-scaled projects (usually between S$10K~S$50K). Again, like I’ve written in my post from yesterday, I’m not sitting around hoping and waiting for my next full-scaled web project. I honestly have no idea when/if it will happen. But I think those small scale projects/gigs (sometimes between S$3,000~S$5,000) are still possible and realistic even. I’m also hoping that I can rely upon my existing network of contacts to help me achieve those monthly goals as I work towards becoming officially debt free.