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Why I’ve Lost Interest In Words And What I’m Doing About It
So I lost interest in words for a bit. No writing, reading, or even listening to words, except when work is involved. It was just one thing after the other: a new job, a newborn, my old procrastination habit. You know, the usual. But it’s coming up to 16 months since landing a full-time job,… — read more
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It’s Okay To Hurt
You’ve always felt different from a young age. You grew up being told you weren’t enough. These would be the voices of a permanent gloom, a cloud that would follow you for the rest of your life. Yet you try outrunning your cloud. You pick up self-help books. You play motivational podcasts on repeat. You… — read more
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So I Wore All Black For A Year To Improve My Social Skills
I’ve always worn a black T-shirt for as far as I can remember. Scroll back through my Instagram account and you’ll probably catch the rogue grey or white, but I’ve always leaned more toward black clothes. I have to credit my genesis story to the series Californication. Hank Moody was a true inspiration to the… — read more
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I’m Not Cut Out To Be A Magazine Editor Because Of These Responsibilities
Ever since I joined the publishing industry, I aspired to be an editor. I just needed the writing skills, and I had a decent serving of that. I pictured myself catching typos and lecturing writers on how they could improve their style. I’d be perched at my desk, approving or rejecting pitches like I was… — read more
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This artist is dropping bombs about writing
Ideas are about confluence. I believe it’s Neil Gaiman who said that. I can’t come up with quotes like that. That’s because I don’t typically insert ten-dollar words like confluence into my everyday speech. And that’s despite the fact that I live in Kuala Lumpur (which literally means muddy confluence in Malay), but I digress.… — read more
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Sometimes you just have to embrace the chaos
My entire life has been based on sweating the details. I’d been a hairdresser, then an auditor, then a writer. And those vocations have been all about that centimetre, that one decimal, that one letter. So it didn’t come as a surprise that I felt obligated to pursue my hobbies the same way. That meant… — read more
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Why routines are important
Say what you want about the self-help world, but if there’s one thing they got right, it’s morning routines. You don’t even need to adopt the industry standard habits either. No 4 a.m. wake-up times or cold showers necessary. A walk would suffice. Or a stretch. Even brewing your coffee a certain way counts as… — read more
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Plan to do it again tomorrow
You might adopt a diet to lose weight, a workout regimen to get fitter, a writing routine to finish your novel. But you’ll never attain anything meaningful if your pursuits end after you reach the finish line. It’s not about reaching your weight goal. It’s about staying there. No point aiming for riches if you’re… — read more
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House always wins
In the game of life, it’s important to play the odds. Maybe you’re born with a shitty hand, but that doesn’t mean you can’t work on improving your chances. Casinos are rich for a reason. Despite the tiny edge the house has, they still make a killing thanks to volume. And while your life shouldn’t… — read more
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Here’s how you build good habits
You move the starting line backwards. That means simply sitting at the keyboard for an hour if the goal is to write. Changing into your gym clothes and stepping out the door if it’s to run. Or just opening your textbook if it’s to study. Don’t look too far ahead, don’t aim for the results.… — read more