Most people don’t achieve their dreams. The reason, they say, is they’re busy and they don’t have enough money. But I don’t know if that’s true. I doubt it. Sure, part of it can be true — we lack resources, opportunities, or maybe enough time. Some people have to look after a sick loved one, …
Is What We’re Doing Worth the Time and Energy?
Chances are, 50 percent of our daily activities aren’t worth doing: mindlessly scrolling on Facebook watching trivial TV shows randomly searching something on Instagram gossiping and comparing debating and arguing on social media thinking about negative thoughts, and many more. Truth is, it’s possible to eliminate these irrelevant things if we’re only true to ourselves. …
Do You Really Need it? It’s Just FOMO
It’s true that most of us want to have all the nice things others have — things that can boost our social status or make our lives more convenient and fun. We want to earn millions. We want to own a luxury car and a mansion, and have a successful business. We want to be …
Happiness and Success: Why You Need to Lower Your Expectations
We label everything that happens in our life into two categories: Good or Bad When we succeed in what we do, we believe it’s good. But when we fail, we convince ourselves that it’s bad — a bad experience. In other words, when our expectations meet our reality, we feel happy or successful. But when it didn’t, …
Ignore and Move On
Ignore what other people say about you. Ignore what they think about you. Ignore the things that are beyond your control. When you react to these things, you’re only running in circles. It doesn’t lead you anywhere. It ruins your inner peace. It makes you stuck. But when you ignore, you open more time for …
Where Do You Get The Time to Criticize?
How come we have time to criticize someone’s post on Facebook but don’t have time to read books? How come we have time to criticize other people’s works but don’t have time to create our own? How come we have time to criticize our friends’ behaviors, but don’t have time to correct our mistakes and …
Your Reactions Aren’t Helping You, Do Something
Life sucks. And all you want is to make it convenient and fun and interesting and positive. That’s why when something bad — maybe not bad, just something you hate — happens, you react. Here are some examples: You badmouth your neighbors for their lavish lifestyle. You complain because the coffee shop’s Internet connection is …
The Cost of Your Ambitions
Ambitions aren’t free. They come at a price: Your health Your time Your energy Money Your relationships And whether you like it or not, the price is the sacrifice. Sacrifice your health, and you’ll end up unhealthy and ill (even worse dead). Sacrifice all your time, and you’ll end up ignoring your loved ones, or other …
The Most Embarrassing Mistake I Did and What I Learned from a Police Officer
Yesterday, my bicycle was stolen. Maybe the intruder stole it last night or at dawn. Either way, it was unbelievable. My housemates have two dogs. That’s enough to scare the thief! Plus, our landlady — she lives upstairs — assured there weren’t any burglar cases in her premises throughout her life. Ah! So we were …
If You Think Your Idea Is Useless, Then Test It
When you do something different, most people think you’re a fool. You can either: Believe what they say, be like them, and forget your idea. Or trust your idea, decide for yourself, and give it a try. Most parents may disagree because it feels unsafe for their children. Your boss may discourage you for many …
“The Story of the Chinese Farmer” by Alan Watts
Alan Watts was an influential philosopher who gave lectures at universities across the United States. We’re lucky most of these lectures can be found on YouTube — one of these is “The Story of the Chinese Farmer,” which is my favorite. I read somewhere it’s originally a Chinese fable. But I think it doesn’t really …
100 Insights on Living a Good Life
1. Ideas without execution are worthless. 2. Find that one thing that makes you excited. Pursue even if there’s no money in it. 3. Don’t learn everything. Instead, learn intentionally the things relevant to your goals. 4. Improvise but learn when to stop. 5. Let your actions speak for yourself, not your words. 6. To master one thing, give …
You Become What You Consume
To become the person you want to be, consume the right information. For example, you want to become a jazz musician. By all means, study everything about jazz music — songwriting, theory, techniques, melodies, jazz music icons, and so on. Or if you want to be an actor, study everything about acting — the fundamentals of …
Your Standards Are Making You Miserable
“What does it mean to be a Christian?” I asked them. They hesitated. One of my bandmates tried to answer with bomb-carpeting definitions. Dissatisfied, I asked again, “No. I mean what’s the simplest definition of being a Christian?” He hesitated, “It means follower of Christ.” “So what’s wrong if we just let our audience decide whether …
22 Books and 350 Blogs Read in 2018
Last 2018, I opened 22 books and finished reading 14 of them. (Twenty eBooks and two audiobooks; a variety of fiction and non-fiction — philosophy, psychology, art, business, self-improvement, and guides). I’m still shuffling the other 7. Yes I would like to finish reading them hopefully. But I don’t feel the pressure anymore. If the …