Three adjustments my wife and I made. — I woke up to the cry of my 8-month-old daughter calling from her room. I sat up groggily, squinting at the side table where I last left my phone, my wife was already on her way out to attend to our daughter. “It’s 7:04am, that 1, 2… 5 hours of…

Anyone can speak, but not everybody communicates. — You know that moment when you thought you had communicated something, only to realise you were misunderstood? Or that time you thought you replied an email, only to end up being asked the same thing again later? We all know that communication is a skill and that it takes time…

It’s not bad or shameful; it just IS. — In general, compromise is frowned upon. There’s a plethora of motivational quotes out there that will shame you into vowing never again to compromise anything in your life. Here are three examples. “If you constantly compromise things in your life how will you ever realize your full potential?” “The ‘morality…

Be an artist, argue and ignore feedback. — Alright, let’s cut to the chase. Be an artist Specifically, be like Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel. To the uninitiated, Michelangelo was a Renaissance sculptor who painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican City. Throughout much of history, the church has been a patron of many artistic works, engaging artists…

2. Have a stop loss in place. — I wonder if this is the case for everybody who first got into crypto: “Hey Ben. Have you heard of ADA coin?” “Ada who?” “No, ADA coin. It’s crypto.” “Um… no. What about it?” “I think it’s going to be big. …

Stimulus, gap, response. — You know what the gift of the gab is, even though you may not think you have it. Some of us have it and are, rightly, proud of it. But I think what we really need is the gift of the GAP. I think we all could use with a…

COVID-19 is the game changer schools needed. — I’m a Malaysian who has been employed in education for the past 10 years. Many things took place in Malaysia during that period: we’ve had political rallies (and counter-rallies), Najib Razak, Jho Low and 1MDB (and clown posters of politicians), and a nonagenarian prime minister for almost 2 years. Seemed…

The passion of Steve Jobs at Stanford. — This article is based on Cal Newport’s 2012 book, “So Good They Can’t Ignore You — Why skills trump passion in the quest for work you love”. For the most part, it’s a good book that I agree with. …

Mine did. — Going into marriage, many people with good-intentions warned us that “marriage won’t change you or your partner”. We were told that whatever baggage we bring into the marriage will remain there (habits, worldview, etc.). Marriage isn’t going to suddenly make things better. I’ve always agreed with this advice and saw…