A lesson I learned from a short story — A journalist went to a temple to interview a monk who had just achieved dao (the highest level in practice). “Sifu (master), what do you do before you achieve dao?” The monk replied, “collect firewood, sweep the floor and read the mantras.” The journalist wrote them down on the notepad…

“Forget the goals” — I made a crazy decision to enrol on the Doctorate class. The class started over a month ago, and the course is more challenging than I thought. I have quite a few adjustments for that. I have to wake up early to study before heading to work, and after a…

Get advice from someone knowledgeable, and you might as well get an epiphany in dialogues. — Not long ago, I had one of the most magical conversations in my life. I had one meaningful small talk with a stranger I met at the airport many years ago. Inspiring Small Talk With A Stranger How has a conversation with a stranger changed the way I think?2madness.com I met May, my close friend since secondary school, for coffee. …

New year, new goal —

The perfect way to end 2022. — You Turn: Get Unstuck, Discover Your Direction, and Design Your Dream Career by Ashley Stahl The title doesn’t fit the content. It should be simpler “Ashley Stahl’s Memoir”. End of story. Bounce: Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham, and the Science of Success by Matthew Syed The core idea of this book is “deliberate practice”, which means a series of specifically designed practices aimed at improving one’s skill.

Life is busy as usual, but reading makes it less stressful. — 熵增定律 (Entropy) by 何圣君、王怡 In classical physics, the entropy of a physical system is proportional to the quantity of energy no longer available to do physical work. In this book, the authors discuss the effect of entropy in life — when there are no external forces, everything will lead to chaos. The authors suggest…

“Just Do It” —

Change our self-identity by changing our outlook. —

Stop feeding your brain the same stimuli — “To the brain, context matters.” — David Eagleman. Livewired: The Inside Story of The Ever-Changing Brain. David Eagleman wrote in his book, Livewire that we would only thrive if we were constantly learning in a stimulus-enriched environment. On the contrary, our brains shrink when we stay in a stimulus-deprived environment. …