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Officially passed the 2-weeks point whereby a good majority of people by now have forgotten and put aside what they set out to do in their New Year Resolution (once again quote from Reader’s Digest). Having developed a Personal Scorecard, I found myself very focused these days on what I want to achieve. Just to give you an idea, I have consciously cut down on my gaming hours. I have clocked in 20.5 hours so far and it should not be a problem not exceeding the target of 40 hours a month as set on New Year Day. I hope that the new World of Warcraft expansion that is due to come out this week will not ruin my plan.

Avid readers of my website probably know by now I have put in a lot of emphasis in achieving my exercise hours target. I still fall short by a great deal and the idea of revising the targets has crossed my mind. But I must practice what I preach: scorecard is not a report card. The aim is not to get green lights at each reporting period but rather to highlight areas of improvement. I still think 8 hours a month is the right thing to do. I may not hit the target this month but I should get closer the month after.

And when I look at my measurements, it does have causal relationships like corporate scorecards. If I free up more time from gaming, I will have more time to do other things such as ideas on book publishing, practicing for my upcoming-yet-to-be-organised gigs, money matters, and etc. And if I wish to fully realise the benefit of all the exercise hours I have put in, I better stay away from alcohol and eat healthily (the other two measurements of mine). As for the healthy eating department, we have home cook food more than 50% of the time so far and I hope to see another measurement hitting the target.

In the medium term horizon, I do have some quarterly targets to achieve. I have public performance to think about and as the very first step, 5 songs are selected and day-in-day-out I have been trying to memorise them. As for the travelling budget, Cynthia has already picked Australia as our next destination. How about “extraordinary projects”? I have something in mind but it is probably too early to talk about it now. Last but not the least, I have already set up 2 private forums in this website as part of the collaboration effort in co-writing some books with my friends.

There are still some measurements I have no clue in how to tackle. By and large, I think I am in for a fruitful 2007. How credible is that statement? I am not sure but I hope that this Personal Scorecard will take me where I want to be.

People usually comment that women love to spend time in shopping and men shop with objectives in mind – just zoom into what they need and hit home run. I had my mother and sister’s jaws dropped when I walked straight to the pillow section of a departmental store and grabbed two of them in less than 5 seconds. These days, I am a changed man. This money saving mode has definitely lengthened my wish-list in every possible ways. And the real fun of shopping is to know that I have made a wise decision after exhausting all available options. Because of that, I was stuck in City Hall way longer than I have – how time flies when you shop! – and got Cynthia kept texting and calling me as subtle reminders. Look, it is really rude to pick up a call in the mist of an … engaging conversation with a salesperson, no?

Actually, I did have objectives in mind – besides the box of brown sugar and the can of WD-40 that I have conveniently forgotten – I needed a pair of goggles for my swimming and a pair of running shoes too. How else am I to hit my target of 8 hours of exercise a month when so far I have clocked in … ahem … half?

My buddy TK recommended Running Lab at Funan Center and indeed, I must say, these folks are professionals. This specialist Marc first asked me to take off my shoes and socks, roll up my pair of jeans, and he gave me a concise introduction on what we would be going through. Had he not told me so, I would have screamed: dude, take your hands off my feet! And when he ran his fingers along the sides of my feet as part of the diagnosis, I tried so hard not to giggle (yes, I am ticklish). After which, he asked me to run on treadmill and I gasped and told him that I have never run on a treadmill in my life!

He nearly gasped and put me on speed 2. I asked him what sort of speed do people usually run and he said 7 to 8. Okay, that hurt my ego a bit. Nevertheless, I did my best on speed 2 and he was observing how my feet landed on the treadmill. He kept asking me to run normally and … I really did my best to act like running on speed 2! I mean, it was sort of slow you know.

His diagnosis was that I need extra support on the inner sides of my feet. I countered that from the wearing and tearing of the heels of my shoes, I may need support on the outer sides instead. He counter-countered that from his observation, my feet landed on the outer side of my heel and then they curved inwards. Alright, sold! Extra support on the inner sides then.

He took out a couple of his recommendations that ranged from S$169 (gasp) to S$269 (gasp to the power 2). I chose the cheaper ones and we narrowed down with two models. I recalled that Marc did mention something about being able to try those shoes on the treadmill and hence, I asked if I may. Marc hesitated and said: you know, since you have never been on a treadmill before, it is rather dangerous for you to do so. But … this month’s motto is “nothing is gonna stop me!” … so I begged and he conceded. I did a speed 8 – proudly – and how I love those shoes! Still couldn’t decide which one to go for and he took out … an orange one. The orange one looked (still do) absolutely fabulous. He touched the heart of a customer and I fell in love with the orange one instantly. At that moment, I didn’t care which brand is which. He surely knew how to help me in making decisions.

So … a pair of orange running shoes worth S$169 … a pair of goggles worth S$30 … two CDs from HMV and an accessory (don’t ask) worth S$45 … BreadTalk snacks worth S$11 … guitar strings for my 12-strings worths S$13 a total of S$268!

Gasp! I really should have stayed at home.

Edit: Thanks to Tong Kiat who pointed out that my pair of running shoes cost S$169 instead of previously written S$269. Dude, you are good!

Edit: I have forgotten that I have bought guitar strings … till I emptied out the plastic bags.