Turned 33 this week. Had work during the day, dinner plans after. I didn’t throw a party. Nor there any grand reflection or milestone crisis. Just a normal work day that happened to be my birthday, and a quiet dinner where my husband handed me a hand-drawn card, a cake, and a gift he’d …
Why Mental Peace Is the Achievement Nobody Talks About (And How to Build It) Read More »
I was rolling on the ground of an empty parking lot in pain. After some back-and-forth between the Urgent Care Clinic and Emergency Department – x-rays, CT scans, waiting – I was told I had broken four bones in my left hand. The result of falling off a motorbike. That wasn’t good. …
What a Motorbike Accident Taught Me About the Life You Can’t Plan Read More »
This week a colleague from a different discipline watched one of my group sessions and told me I was talented. “It’s mostly just practice,” I said, and moved on. Later I caught myself thinking about it. Well, it’s not the first time I’d heard something like it. Compliments like that usually don’t …
Why You’ve Stopped Seeing Your Own Competence (And How to Recalibrate) Read More »
This week I sat down to complete the comprehension section of a B1 Spanish test. Let’s just say it was humbling. The useful kind of humbling, where you put the pen down and think “right, so that’s where I actually am.” Not where the Duolingo streak says I should be. Not where the …
The Comfort Ceiling: Why Good Habits Can Keep You Stuck at Your Current Level Read More »
Last month, I got rid of a bad habit without even intended to. I deleted Facebook from my phone before a trip, as my phone was running low on storage. At the same time, I also started reading sci-fi fiction for the first time in years. I stopped scrolling in the evenings. Got genuinely …
The Over-Optimised Life: How to Stop Preparing and Start Actually Living Read More »
This week felt off before it even started. Agitated for no clear reason. Self-critical over small things I would normally shrug off. My inner critic got loud, and the tape it was playing sounded suspiciously like a highlight reel of everything I hadn’t done, hadn’t finished, hadn’t figured out yet. For a couple …
Why Your Inner Critic Gets Louder at Certain Times – And How to Check the Scorekeeper Read More »
“What’s the Spanish word for ‘contact’?” “Contacto.” “What about ‘product’?” “Producto.” “And ‘exit’?” “Exito!” As my husband (then-boyfriend) and I were laughing so hard on my silly Spanish mistake, I reflected on my language-learning journey: I was practically born with three languages. Born and raised in Hong Kong, I naturally speak Cantonese, English and Mandarin. …
There’s a version of me that doesn’t exist yet. Or maybe she does, somewhere down the line, and I’m just catching up to her. Every time I have to make a decision – big or small – I ask myself one thing: does this get me closer to her? Not closer to what …
How to Make Better Decisions by Asking Your Future Self One Question Read More »
Every year around this time, I get the urge to quit everything. Not in a dramatic, throw-my-laptop-into-the-harbour way. More like a low hum in the background that says: what if I just started over? New city, new work, new everything. The days feel heavier. The to-do list looks the same but I’m dragging myself …
The Mid-Year Rut: Why the Urge to Quit Everything Is Rarely About Everything Read More »
A few months ago, I said yes to something that I knew, somewhere under my ribs, I should have said no to. I thought it’s no big deal. Just a small, quiet no that I talked myself out of because the yes felt more polite. More generous. More like the kind of person I …
Capacity Is the Real Productivity System (And How to Stop Leaking Energy) Read More »