I'm Back!

Yet again, with a slight, (perhaps) expected twist!

Hey guys, I’m back from the break. I’ve been thinking so much about the newsletter and you guys but weren’t quite ready to come back for various reasons. One of them -- I’ve been denying the fact that I can’t manage a weekly newsletter. So I’m planning to revert back to the monthly issue containing all 5 lists.

I made the switch back in June to make each issue more concise to reduce reading time, and I wanted it to be more on the go for my readers. But this plan backfired on me. The lists at times became shorter with less than 5 items, not all of the lists got published and delivered, and I was under-delivering.

I’ve never forgotten or let go of my newsletter, but writing felt overwhelming because of the guilt. But I do miss writing. And that’s why I’ve been curating content even before deciding to start publishing again.

Thank you so much for sticking with me throughout the changes and for not leaving when I took a break (we even got new subscribers joining us during the break, thank you!). I’m utterly grateful for each and every one of you.

Btw, scroll to the bottom to check out the upcoming 1st-anniversary special plan!

Now onto the 5 lists for this month.

List of 5 Ideas:

1. Daybook — popularised by Barbara Sher in her book Refuse To Choose. My recent obsession (both RTC and the daybook), as I realised that I sometimes like the idea of creating and brainstorming more than executing every idea. The daybook isn’t just for scanners. Anyone can have a daybook to capture and brainstorm ideas.

   I’ve since documented some of my ideas inside, including a few business ideas that I was entertaining.

   ‘The idea is to symbolically honor the value of your ideas. After all, your ideas are a manifestation of your creativity, an expression of your innovative thinking, and absolutely worth taking seriously.’ (Source, helpful to know how to start one or what it is in more detail!)

   It was first done by Leonardo Da Vinci.

2. What is something you’ve already been doing for yourself that you can now do for others? That could be a business idea if you’re looking for one.

   Maybe you’ve worked out a journal format for yourself that you found helpful, or it could be something you’ve done for your students/friends and received positive feedback. Perhaps you can start to sell that to other teachers/friends as well. A business idea doesn’t have to be too fanciful or complicated. It can work. A musician on Instagram sells her practice journal which she first made for herself — seeing that inspired this item on the list.

3. Get rid of Either/Or thinking by coming up with a scenario and coming up with as many solutions as you can. An example from the RTC book: you find a can of tuna, dog food and spaghetti. You tell your family you can have tuna or spaghetti for dinner. Sounds funny?

   But how many options are there? Ordering delivery, dining outside, buying extra ingredients? Perhaps more? We don’t always just have two options.

   Instead of doing something or don’t at all, why not do it once, or on an ad-hoc basis instead?

   Rather than continue publishing weekly or not continuing my newsletter at all, I thought I could do monthly instead. There are always more than 2 black or white options. Break the either/or thinking.

   More on the Trap of Either Or Thinking and how to break it. Here’s another one I found interesting —an approach used when coaching others: Both/And vs. Either/Or Thinking.

4. Not quite an idea but a reminder — everything has ALWAYS worked out in the end. No matter what you’re facing right now, how big or small, it all will, even if it doesn’t seem like it now.

   Being late isn’t great, but it doesn’t mean the end of the world. A conflict isn’t always the end of a relationship. And it’s okay to lose something. You’ll be okay eventually.

   It’s perfectly okay to grieve (and please do). And remember the fact you’ve lived up to this point in your life and everything has worked out so far.

   I’ve always told myself, ‘I’ve lived 22 years and been through a lot of things, I can get through this again.’ Or my alternative ‘if I can survive that [insert the toughest thing I’ve ever gone through] I can do this’.

   I think this can apply to not all, but many situations.

5. This thread about AI Art and how people perceive art

   As artists, we’ve always wanted to make art more accessible to beginning, or even non-artists, breaking the mentality that you need the talent to do it. Encouraging school curriculums to have more art classes is one way to break that wall of myth.

   But that doesn’t mean making machines do the work — will that make the AI or the user the artist in this case?

   Recently, I realised more and more things are coming full circle. Software, robots, and AI are programmed to not be too perfect. To emulate the mistakes and imperfections of humans.

   AI isn’t just affecting visual art but other art forms as well. Design, music, creative writing.

   We used to say creativity can never be replaced by AI — which I still believe in. But with some humans letting AI replace art making, a creative sector, I don’t know how to feel about this. What do you think? Let me know. I’d love to hear from you.

   Art is not ‘magic’ or ‘talent’. It’s ALL about practice. Sure, talent helps. But practising does most of the heavy lifting. It’s the same for many other art forms and practices. It’s applying techniques to better your craft and allow more room for self-expression.

   Will OpenAI’s DALL-E 2 kill creative careers?

5 recent favourite Quotes

1. You are not the voice of the mind. You are the one who hears it. (Source)

2. Friendly reminder that "doing your best" does not mean working yourself to the point of mental breakdown. (Source unknown, but if you do, please let me know!)

   Take this from someone who used to think rest and laziness meant not working every possible waking hour equals slacking, but sometimes it just means we need more rest from feeling/being burned out. I also realised not scheduling breaks leads me to slack off even more. Also, rest isn’t a reward for hard work. It’s a necessity.

3. I cannot change what I attack. I can only change what I understand. — Dushka

4. I should have realized that when something is a calling on your heart, the years don't wipe it away — TMann. This hits home for me.

5. It’s ok to be tired, today. It’s ok to take things slow. It’s ok if today isn’t super productive. Your existence is enough. Give yourself grace. Give yourself permission to rest. We are not machines. (Source)

5 readings I found thought-provoking

1. Your Inability to ‘quiet your mind’ isn’t due to lack of effort. It’s the wrong goal. There’s a piece of advice on speaking to yourself from a third-person perspective that seems helpful. Gonna try it out.

2. Intrapersonal intelligence: Examples and how to tell if you have it

3. How to Play to Your Strengths

4. 5 Things Your Job Shouldn't Be (+ What It Should Be)

5. About the perfect body

5 things to think about this month/writing/journaling prompts:

1. I’m pretty sure this has been said elsewhere. But ask yourself. ‘What would the version of you that you wanna be, do?’ Instead of what would the ‘you’ right now, wanna do? Take steps to become that version of ‘you’ that you wanna become with this. (source)

2. Rest: I used to think it just means downtime (hobby-ing), sleeping, and spending time with others. But sometimes, it can mean doing absolutely nothing. Not doom scrolling. Not writing. Not doing any hobby. Just nothing. And be okay with that. We’re constantly stimulated w technology (portable) and doing nothing now means mindless scrolling, and not doing ‘anything’ productive. That’s still doing something. Not a good something, either. That I’m guilty of.

   Rest: freedom from activity or labour; a state of motionlessness or inactivity.

   The TED-adapted article was sent in a previous issue before, but I think it’s so important to revisit from time to time again: The Real Reason Why We’re Tired and What To Do About It

3. Don’t “Do What You Love,” Do What Lets You Have the Life You Want

   I’ve always known what my dream life consists of, but never my dream job or career as that has always changed faster than I could keep track of (jokes, you know I list down everything). But this is a great thing to think about. We’re often absorbed in our routines, schedules, goals, and careers. How about our dream lives? Beyond wanting to have more money or travel, what does your dream life concretely consist of? Maybe it’s the freedom to learn new things, focus only on your hobbies, or live in a different place altogether.

4. Just because you’re not where you want to be yet, does not mean you suck at your craft. There will always be someone else that's better than you. But that doesn’t mean you’re terrible at what you do. Even masters/experts/teachers have people who are better than them at their craft. Think about how far you’ve come instead of how much longer you need to go.

5. Are you rushing to compete in the rat race, or are there other reasons? Why rush, instead of doing things at your own pace?

5 Random Tidbits:

1. Two of my produced podcast episodes were out in July and August!

   1. There's Kpop, There's Mandopop. Will We Ever Have a Thing Like Singapore Pop? On Apple Podcast and Spotify

   2. Are Influencers all Frauds? A Brief Guide to the World of Influencing on Apple Podcast and Spotify

2. I finished reading Barbara Sher’s Refuse To Choose in early October. For scanners/generalists/multipotentialites/jack/jill of all trades, this is the perfect book with many helpful and practical strategies. I am especially obsessed with the idea of using a Daybook. After debating whether I should stick to the digital or physical format, I’m waiting to check out a physical one with the other things in my cart. I’ve even kept a list of ideas and tools, the types of scanners I identify with, and my plans to implement them to achieve my long-term, seemingly overwhelming goals.

3. Honest status update on my ebook on the topic of generalists that I was previously so excited about since this Jan: I’m not gonna continue for now. There are too many great ideas out there already. I’m gonna rest, collect ideas and see what happens instead of collating existing ones.

4. I’ve recently gotten back into my notebook obsession phase that I had in primary school. I’ve found and started two at home and been thinking about shopping for new ones to add to my collection.

   The two I just started are a doodle notebook and a coffee recipe notebook for me to log my attempts at adjusting the recipes (which I always do) and log how they turned out for future reference. I’ve also copied down the new recipes I found online that I’d like to make someday.

   I also realised that for me, expanding on my ideas, journalling, and sometimes even personal thoughts, are better captured by hand compared to typing.

5. I was making career plans for next year after I graduate. I was looking up companies, and roles, and making a list of contacts for the ones I deemed pretty suitable (and might hire me). Then it hit me while job searching that I could continue taking up internships (the internships in Singapore are paid) even after I graduate.

   A friend, at the same time, replied to a previous conversation over text and I asked her a few questions since she’s a fresh grad who just started her full-time job. She shared that she regretted not taking up internships and seeing the world before ‘settling’ for a full-time job right after school and felt like she had rushed the whole transition and not having enough rest. But then she also talked about getting older, saving up to settle down and the more practical things like that, which I can understand.

   Then the whole idea of a rat race hit me yet again.

   What are we rushing for? Why does everything have to move so quickly? Why do have to ‘settle’ down or plan to do so by a certain time, sometimes at the same time we’re starting to establish our careers, or at the start of our careers?

   I mean, I’d love to save up and provide for my family. But I’m still not a fan of the rat race in general. I really don’t see a point in rushing through life, settling for things you don’t really want. If we can afford it, why rush? Life is too short to not take the adventures you want, while you still can.

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P.S. To celebrate our upcoming 1st year anniversary on January 3rd 2023, I’d like to ask for you to submit 1 article that you’d like to see featured on this list. It could be one that you read or even one that you wrote! Consider adding a reason you chose it, the way you would read them from one of these emails that you receive from me.

If you chose to submit your own work (add your socials so I can link it!), it’d be collated in a separate list to promote the works of you guys’ here. Submit one link (per subscriber) by hitting reply before the 31st of December. The deadline’s important since the anniversary issue will be published in January.

So hit reply with:

1. one item (read/wrote) — title and hyperlinked

2. add a reason why you want it featured

3. promo time for you: link your socials to be featured alongside your entry (whether the submission is written by you or not)

P.S. 2: Chat feature on Substack is on in the Substack app, so feel free to chat there to say hi or discuss anything there as part of the Live In(spiration) Progress (I call it LIP) community :)

Let’s connect! Quora, Medium, Substack website, Beacon, Twitter