Brienne writes

Got intrigued by this video  and its content today. In it, a book named Dokkodo by Musashi Miyamoto and one of the rules from it was mentioned. Think Lightly of Yourself and Deeply for the World You get what you want by not focusing on what you want, but by  considering  the world deeply.  It means to not be selfish and think about your wants but what the world needs. This way you'll differentiate  yourself  from the  majority. Be valuable and be perceived to be valuable to attract what you want instead of chasing.  Be the prize.  In another article by Jon D'Alessandro , he shared a different perspective. This beautiful aphorism reminds us of the all-too-human tendency to view ourselves as the center of the universe.   This is an exercise in humility. Tokitsu explains that Musashi is inviting us to meditate on our own smallness - another decidedly Buddhist concept - in relation to the power of nature, the immensity of the world, a...

It's almost the end of January. How does it feel like for you?  Have you been keeping to your goals?  I know I haven't been working out thrice a week like I'd love to because of a slight injury which caused me to not know how to proceed forward.  But with writing, I think I'm slowly trudging along the right path with being consistent.  I remember reading in When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Daniel H. Pink that the start of the month is another perfect time to set goals.  Other info bites from the book include: The most productive people tend to work for 52 minutes straight and take a 17 minutes break. If you need a nap, take one that's between 10 to 20 minutes for your energy to be restored.  A 5 minute nap or less gives no benefits.  Take a nap of 30 minutes or more and you'll go into sleep inertia where you'll wake up groggy.  What would you do with the new info you've learnt?  I'm for sure going to set some new goals for ...

Social media is meant to suck you in to no end.  I'm not saying it's no good I've learnt so much from TikTok and Instagram  but you're the consumer,  you're the data point,  you're the one that they need to keep on board.  I've been struggling with Instagram a lot lately it has really got me hooked.  I mean of course, I somehow chose to be hooked by following new accounts with the specific interests that I have (it's bouldering lately, and all my 'for you page' is filled with bouldering reels!!).  Am I the only one who's going through this?  I could be spending that time learning a new course, watching a podcast or reading a new book.  Instead, I'm scrolling through Instagram! Today, I got angry and I immediately went on Instagram to avoid my feelings. *inserts the shakes head emoticon  This has got to stop.  Which is why I'm going to be doing an experiment for the next 30 days. For the next 30 days, I'm only going to be using Ins...

Stealing the title and a lot of other stuff from Austin Kleon because I truly resonate with this. Info I'm about to share here all came from his newsletter and his post about productive procrastination .  Clive Thompson quotes Saul Griffith :  I gave up on trying to do exactly what I was meant to be doing in favor of always doing something. Frankly, I'm not sure we're designed to focus on only one thing for eight or ten hours in a row. I've always found that it's useful to have something else to be doing when you're too burnt out to face the next thing on your list. That way, flipping back and forth between the two projects prevents focus fatigue.  Griffith makes sure that the side projects he's working on are geared towards helping him learn something new. Clive explains:  The trick is to procrastinate with one of his learning projects - not by zoning out on Netflix. As [Griffith] writes: "The most important thing is to make sure your other projec...

Writers write. They don't always have ideas popping out of their heads but they sit down at a set time everyday and let their words flow on paper (or the web page). I keep going back to the thoughts of manifestation. I am a manifestor. So are you.  If we all are manifestors, why is it that some people seem to manifest better than others?  Are we really manifesting things into existence? Are we manifesting our reality? Today, I'd like to think I manifested a hot, sunny day for the kids to have an enjoyable day at the pool.  One of them told me, "I'm enjoying swimming so much today!" Another even wore her goggles all the way as she got her bag to go wash up and change.  She clearly didn't want to leave the pool.  It's really stuff like these that put a smile on my face.  I know I've manifested a lot of things in my life. There's loads more I wish to manifest.  I truly can't wait to see what 2023 has in store for me.  Actually, it should be, I can...

If you knew how you could optimise your mind to do whatever you will it to to get exactly what you want would you? Am still in the midst of listening to The Diary of a CEO Episode 215: The Mindset Doctor: The Secret Man Behind the World's Top Performers .  In it, Prof. Steve Peters talked about our 3 modes of thinking. The Human, the Chimp and the Computer system. The Human system is logical and very slow. When you operate in this system, your body and reflexes slow down because you're analysing as you go along. That's good in some circumstances but not in fast moving sports. The Chimp system is a primitive system although it thinks. It's more than just a reaction and impulsive system but it thinks emotionally. It'll think thoughts which are not helpful such as "Should I go faster at this point? Or should I slow down and conserve my energy?" And then it could make a decision to go faster and then burn out.  Particularly in fast sports, we'd want to ta...

off the top of my head there's so many things I'd like to share with you. just thinking for myself I'd love to share loads of stuff here stuff that could help optimise our lives help us lead happy, healthier lives,  stuff that could help us make tiny tweaks with massive return on investments. Well, if you're reading this, join me. I'm still a work in progress, forever will be,  but I'd love to grow with you and learn from you too.  --- am currently listening to this podcast episode by Steven Bartlett . I'm liking what I'm hearing. I'd recommend you go give it a listen. Will summarise what I've learnt in future blog posts.  See you in the next one. In the meantime, keep learning will you? It's so much fun. 

Wanna travel but haven't a clue where to go? Don't know where to get the best accommodation for the most bang for your buck? Wanna know somebody at your travel destination who can come to your rescue with all your questions? Any more travel related questions? Join *(insert community here). --- Just came back from a bbq so kindly organised by a digital nomad for digital nomads or people looking to travel soon. They've built such a huge community. It's so heartwarming meeting so many like-minded individuals who have found a way to work remotely/ travel for months at a go/ are working and living overseas.  This year, I'm making a move.  I don't know where I'm going, but I know I'm definitely going.  See you on the other side of the world. x *will insert the page my friend is creating when its ready, I'm so excited for her!

Suddenly thought about death if I were to die at 75,  I'll have 15688 days to live that's not a lot of days left not too little too. In about 121 days  I'll be a year older feels like I haven't accomplished a lot there's load of stuff yet to do. Why do I think of accomplishments I'd like to make when I think about my life? I think I've grown heaps, gone through countless of heartbreaks, failures,  achievements,  they all make a part of me. I want to make the days count I want to look back on each day and be proud of myself Are you proud of what you've accomplished to this day? Are you proud of you , today? 

When I was younger, I remember Daddy telling me to work hard  not to achieve the best grades in the world but to give myself more choices. In secondary school, I didn't do so well,  so I didn't have a lot of choice. I went on to a polytechnic with a course I chose because I thought I had the genes of an engineer.  Dad was an engineer.  I did ok only because I felt it was too easy, I skipped classes, my grades dropped and it was difficult to bring it back up again. I went on to find a job related to what I did at school. Because of the financial crisis at that time, I jumped on the first job offer I received. Then I spent the next 9 months asking myself if that was what I'd like to do for the rest of my life and I eventually changed what I did.  If I could turn back time,  I wouldn't change a thing I'd make the exact same choices I made back then. But, I'd wish I'd worked a little harder and gave myself a few more choices. 

What is it you'd like to do during your retirement? Can you do that now? Or can you take a sabbatical and simulate a retirement? I spoke to a cousin yesterday. He's a pilot. He told me the pandemic forced him into retirement for a year and a half. He enjoyed the plenty family time he had and time to fulfil his hobbies but given a choice, he'd rather work while he is able to,  because he enjoys what he does at work. How did the word retirement came about? Why did people think they had to retire? If you found what you love, would you think about retirement?

How do people keep going when it gets hard? It's hard to churn out content everyday, it's not impossible it takes work. You need to have a strong why and an end in sight a sight so lovely you know you have to reach it I gave myself another push , a looming deadline lets see where that takes me. --- If you're facing the same challenges I am, don't give up. Let's put in the work. Sending you good cheer for the week ahead x 

Watched the second half of a football match between Team A and Team B.  Team A played poorly as compared to Team B. Players from Team A missed a few passes and missed making a few goals. They were playing ok, good at best. Team B players, on the other hand, were fast, accurate with their passes, ready to take the shot and score a goal any time.  And they did! Immediately, you see Team A playing better. They're running faster, they're upping their defence, they're on alert, not ready for another goal to be let in.  They know they need one goal too to make it an equaliser. You can see the hunger now.  And they scored! With the same form and the momentum going, they scored another goal! The final score 2-1, Team A won. --- The push.  The push takes many forms: deadlines, a big event, the opponent scoring a goal.  Same with life. Most of us are cruising through life. We take each day for granted, not making the most of it.  We watch Netflix, eat junk food,...

zenhabits.net Used to get on that site, read a few articles, feel inspired to do something good with my life  and go and get work done. Today I went on and chanced upon this one . Here's a snippet I like, "Do we want to spend the limited time we have putting our noses to the grindstone and trying to do what we think we should do? Do we want to spend it feeling dull? What if we could live a life full of wonder, joy, love, fully alive? Do we want to spend the hour we have at the playground trying to rigidly make sure we're doing the merry-go-round correctly, or do we want to have a raucous good time?" I want to have a raucous good time with my writing, with my life.  Really, what's the fun in life if we're not learning and experimenting along the way? Is there a correct path to writing? Is there a right way of finding or making a career?

Creating a habit,  sticking to it,  the desire  how much do you want it? No.  How much do You want it? That's the effort that you would put in to achieve something have been skipping some days of writing but following the rule of not skipping two days in a row. I want to build this habit of writing. I love writing. I love hitting publish. I love going back and reading what I wrote. I love sharing what I've learnt. What's your why ? What makes you keep going? There are good days and bad days. What are you going to do with them? How much work are you willing to put in to achieve this thing you so desire? It starts with one post, one word at a time, a minute for the first thought to go down on paper. That's all it takes. Come write with me?

get some good sleep not like how we clock hours nowadays, "if I sleep at 11pm, this is the number of hours I get to sleep..." but get restful sleep. Have a ritual before bed,  drink a cup of camomile tea, turn off screens an hour before bed, listen to relaxing music, or even meditate even if your mind is racing,  perhaps you can jot your thoughts down on paper then lay in bed and let your mind drift till you fall asleep being able to say you got a restful night is truly a blessing x goodnight

consistency is hard. easy to say I'll take 5 mins a day to write something and then not judge it much,  just let it be one of the data points but damn, its hard like running. or working out one of my 2023 resolutions was to work out thrice a week. today, my head was somewhere else, frustrated about things I couldn't get done getting out for a run was totally not in my mind but I made a commitment and I stuck to it. and it wasn't the best run but I'm glad I got it done.  I made progress. I felt a little better after the run, the problem became much smaller,  it is what it is, this will resolve on its own just like everything else those were the thoughts in my head. I didn't get to writing yesterday, but I think I'll let myself go it is what it is . we try again today

You need them when your feet start hurting after wearing the pretty shoes which you know give you blisters but you still wear them you thought one day the blisters will just not form again so you chose not to bring them but no, blisters stay regardless of what you 'thought' the transparent ones are the best when you need to look nice but got to cover up what 'became' ugly due to you wearing shoes that look pretty oh the irony tldr: put plasters in the bag. the transparent ones thank me later oh, and boys? pls do this for your girlfriends

Set a goal, or better yet set it as a New Year's resolution the probability of you achieving it has just increased by 1050% *  Here's my New Year's resolutions write everyday  work out thrice a week  What's yours? Let's be accountability partners ;) *according to studies mentioned in  this podcast  by  Steven Bartlett . PS   If you aren't already listening to The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett , get on it . What are you waiting for? 

fail miserably in 2022 realise you don't have enough data points to analyse if you are a good or bad copywriter sit down and write your first copy incorporate the elements of copywriting you've learnt so far do this for the next 360 days have better writing at the end of 2023 realise that the love of writing does not help in making you sit down and write everyday no amount of motivation will help you too its consistency  its discipline  join me?