Last day with A&SP

Today is my last day with the Analytics & Special Projects team. It’s been five years since I joined the CIHI Western Office. We did some great things together, and I look forward to seeing the awesome work this team will continue to produce. I start with the Classifications & Terminologies team next Tuesday as a Program Lead.

Today is also my 23-year Canada-versary. I can still remember the very first step I took on this island and vividly remember the air smelled so sweet and clean. I’m grateful for my parents supporting me all these years. Without them, I wouldn’t be here.

Shoe Dog

I finished reading Phil Knight’s Shoe Dog today. It was such a great read that I didn’t want it to end. I read the last chapter extra slowly and chewed on every sentence. The book was such an emotional journey. I laughed and I cried while reading it. Phil is such a phenomenal writer. He used simple language with short sentences that captivate readers’ attention. Reading this book was like sipping on a steamy cup of tea on a cold winter day; awakening and heartwarming. Anyone who enjoys a good read, is into entrepreneurship, or owns something from Nike should read this book. Highly recommended.

Leprechaun Trap

I was giving Griffin a bath tonight. He said something that almost brought tears to my eyes.

Griffin: Dad, I know how to make Leprechaun trap now. I learned it at school on St. Patrick’s Day.

Me: Oh? That’s cool.

Griffin: Next year, I’ll set up a trap and catch a Leprechaun. Then I’ll take his gold.

Me: Okay, but why do you want to get his gold?

Griffin: I’ll give it to you so that you can sell it for money.

Me: For money, eh?

Griffin: Yeah, so that you don’t have to work and play with me more.

I was choking up and didn’t know what to say back.

I should play with Griffin more.

Man’s Search for Meaning

Today I finished reading Viktor Frankle’s Man’s Search for Meaning book. It was fairly fast read compared to the last one (Principles by Ray Dalio). Frankle’s memoir was inspiring with some great messages. Below are some of the lines I enjoyed:

  • Don’t aim at success – the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one’s dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself.
  • He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how.
  • What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for a worthwhile goal, a freely chosen task. What he needs is not the discharge of tension at any cost but the call of a potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled by him. What man needs is not homeostasis but what I call “noo-dynamics,” i.e., the existential dynamics in a polar field of tension where one pole is represented by a meaning that is to be fulfilled and the other pole by the man who has to fulfill it.
  • Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather he must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being reasonable. Thus, logotherapy sees in responsibleness the very essence of human existence.
  • In some ways, suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice.
  • What matters is to make the best of any given situation. “The best,” however, is that which in Latin is called optimum – hence the reason I speak of a tragic optimism, that is, an optimism in the face of tragedy and in view of the human potential which at its best always for: 1) turning suffering into a human achievement and accomplishment; 2) deriving from guilt the opportunity to change oneself for the better; and 3) deriving from life’s transitoriness an incentive to take responsible action.
  • If you want anyone to laugh you have to provide him with a reason.
  • I know that without the suffering, the growth that I have achieved would have been impossible.
  • Live as if you were living for the second time and had acted as wrongly the first time as you are about to act now.
  • For the world is in a bad state, but everything will become still worse unless each of us does his best.

Principles by Ray Dalio

Today I finished reading Principles by Ray Dalio. It’s an excellent book on life and work principles Dalio found helpful and encouraged readers to either adapt these or write their own. Ray Dalio is one of the successful investors in America. I’ve highlighted many sentences and paragraphs in this book. One of the sentences in the last few pages that I enjoyed is, “since your journey and evolution will certainly be a struggle, I hope that these principles will help you struggle and evolve well.” The Principles book is like a reference book that I can refer to when I’m struggling in my journey and evolution as I learn and grow.

Run

Tonight’s run:

Felt great. Nice to explore the neighbourhood a bit. Still missing morning workouts, but awesome to leave the house for some fresh air and movements.

Griffin’s Good Night Words

As a part of our bed time routine, I snuggle the kids for a bit and then tuck them in. When I was snuggling Griffin tonight, he said something sweet and cute that I want to remember forever:

“Dad, I wish I could cut your arm off so that I can snuggle you all night and you can tickle me whenever you want. Don’t worry, I’ll get some strong glue to glue your arm back during the day so you can use it when you need it.”

I wish I could naturally record my interactions with my kids. They are in such a sweet phase right now.

Radically Open-mindedness

I’m reading Ray Dailo’s Principles again. I’m on Part II – Life Principles, Chapter 3 – Be Radically Open-Minded, where he introduces the concept of Radically Open-mindedness. Here are some snippets of what I enjoyed:

  • If you know that you are blind, you can figure out a way to see, whereas if you don’t know that you’re blind, you will continue to bump into your problems.
  • Radical open-mindedness is motivated by the genuine worry that you might not be seeing your choices optimally. It is the ability to effectively explore different points of view and different possibilities without letting your ego or your blind spots get in your way. It requires you to replace your attachment to always being right with the joy of learning what’s true.
  • Sincerely believe that you might not know the best possible path and recognize that your ability to deal well with “not knowing” is more important than what it is you do know.
  • Radically open-minded people know that coming up with the right questions and asking other smart people what they think is as important as having all the answers.

21 Years in Canada

Today marks 21 year I’ve been in Canada. Time flies when you are having fun. I still remember the first step I took on this land and the smell of fresh Canadian air. I didn’t plan to stay here for this long. Life has been good to me. I am blessed.