life

Discover Your Story (Painlessly) With This Writing Technique

/ Stuart Danker / 58 Comments
A woman writing on post-its with a marker

Photo: Magnet Me

You know the ‘write a shitty first draft’ advice? It’s actually connected to a host of other practices—do your morning pages, keep a journal, use the Pomodoro technique—and today we’re going to explore another related technique.

I’m sure this technique already exists with a different name, but for the sake of this post, I’ll christen it the Hunter Gatherer Method™, because that’s what you’ll essentially be doing, and that’s going out into the literary savannahs and bringing back the food that is your writing ideas.

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Why Even Bother Staying Disciplined?

/ Stuart Danker / 41 Comments
Woman exercising on ab-wheel

Photo: Jonathan Borba

You know how you always wish for a windfall? Something like a promotion, winning the lottery, or accidentally rubbing shoulders with an angel investor that suddenly sees fit to pour in two million dollars into your business?

These manifestations of luck sound sweet and all, but are you really ready for them?

Are you good enough at your job to handle the added expectations from an investor? Can you handle the extra digits in your bank account if you’re currently struggling with your personal budget?

What about your personality? Do you think you’ll be able to lead a team just because you got that swanky new promotion?

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Lessons Learned From That Time I Joined A Cage Fight

/ Stuart Danker / 36 Comments
Girl putting her fist in the camera

Photo: Timothy Eberly

I had many unorthodox interests growing up—I wanted to be a magician, an X-Games rollerblader, a breakdancer, a pro gamer, an MMA fighter—and thanks to the invention of the internet, I was able to truly learn just how lacking my country was when it came to these new interests.

For instance, instead of mixed martial arts (MMA), I would train kickboxing, only because it was one of the few martial arts gyms in Malaysian that didn’t involve Silat, Karate, or Taekwondo.

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Today’s Bad Days Will Be Tomorrow’s Nostalgia

/ Stuart Danker / 41 Comments
Nostalgia Photos - Sarandy Westfall

Photo: Sarandy Westfall

I’m going to join in on the pandemic whine-fest and say that it’s been a dull few months. My government can’t decide on its lockdown regulations, freelance opportunities are dwindling, and I just tore my abdominal wall.

So it’s a no-brainer that I choose to see how much my present days sucks and to reminisce on how much better everything used to be. If one thing’s for certain, it’s that I’ve been taking one too many strolls down Memory Lane.

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Why You Should Be Grateful For Pain And See It As A Blessing

/ Stuart Danker / 38 Comments
Pain Figure - Hailey Kean

Photo: Hailey Kean

There’s this saying that life only gives you what you can handle, and I’m compelled to think that that’s the case. After all, haven’t we all moved on from what we thought was the worst pain in our lives?

Now, I’m particularly lucky that my experiences of pain have been somewhat mild, comparatively speaking. After all, I didn’t have to live through wars or famine.

Heed this advice though: if you’re going through tough times in life, never compare yourself with others to decide if you should or should not suffer. If you’re feeling pain—both physically or mentally—then there’s probably a reason why.

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