Month: December 2024

How 2024 Shaped My Framework: Clarity, Courage and Consistency

As you look back on this year, what moments stood out the most—those that challenged you, grew you, or filled your heart with gratitude?

At the beginning of the year, I made a decision to post my blog every week. I wasn’t that confident I would make it through the year. Now, on week 52, I am proud to say that I have posted my blog every Monday (maybe a little past midnight on a few rare occasions) this whole year.

I am most grateful for this “win” in my life, as I can proudly pat myself on my back for keeping my word to post every Monday. It has challenged me, I have grown through my writing, and I am most grateful for the feedback I get from my friends for my posts.

In the process, it has shaped my 3C Framework:

  1. Clarity – knowing what I want and why
    I want to post my blog every Monday, as I want to share my insights and inspire others to pursue their dreams
  2. Courage – taking courage to do what I want
    I had announced I would post every week in my blog, even though I was very hesitant at first. Taking that first step was a leap of faith – faith that God would see me through and reveal to me what He wants me to write every week. There were weeks when I felt it was not “perfect” – I have to overcome my doubts and the fear of whether it is “good enough” to post. Just Do It!
  3. Consistency – show up and do the work
    It has become a habit to post every Monday. So I am always on the lookout for things to share, e.g. books or videos. There are times when something cropped up on a Monday, but I would make a decision to post, not wanting to miss a single Monday. Once I have made that decision, I will find ways to make it happen. Show up, whether you feel like it.

This is my invitation to you today: to get crystal clear on what you truly want, summon the courage to pursue it boldly, and stay consistent in your efforts to make it a reality.

Would You Get Rejected on Purpose?

Have you been rejected before? Do you fear rejection? Do you avoid rejection at all costs?

I recently watched an Instagram post by Maureen Evelyn, who created the rejecto app (I have not tried it yet). She decided to make it a challenging game to get rejected everyday. She even applied to Harvard to get rejected, but she was waitlisted instead! She purposely did crazy things to get rejected – to get herself out of her comfort zone and try new things, without letting her fear of rejection stop her.

Her mindset posed a reflective question to me:

What if rejection wasn’t something to fear, but something to seek?”

You could embrace rejection in practical ways:

  1. Set Rejection Goals – like what Maureen is doing with her app, set rejection goals to achieve every day or week, make it into a game and get over the fear and embarrassment! If possible, make it fun or funny!
  2. Celebrate Every “No” – celebrate overcoming your fear, and let it be a stepping stone towards your goals, and cheer yourself for taking the courage in the first place.
  3. Reflect and Learn – ask yourself what you can learn from the experience and how to improve next time, you can learn to turn every rejection into a lesson.

You can start with small rejections. Every rejection helps you to desensitise from the fear, embarrassment and judgment of rejection. Eventually, you will build the muscles of courage to take bold actions towards your goals and dreams.

I believe that this Power of Seeking Rejection can help you overcome your fears and build resilience. In fact, it can lead to unexpected opportunities, learning and growth. By overcoming my fear of rejection and impostor syndrome, I have published not one, but three books, in the past two years!

This is my invitation to you today: challenge yourself to get rejected on a regular basis, build your muscles to combat rejection, and take action to pursue your boldest dreams!

Do What Scares and Excites You at the Same Time

Last weekend, I attended the ‘Get Paid To Speak” bootcamp by Eric Feng in Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. I was chosen to do the after lunch session to “energize” the participants on Day 2 so they don’t fall asleep after lunch. I was excited initially, then got really nervous, especially after I saw the great job done by the “energiser” on the Day 1!

I was hoping they would cancel this session on Day 2 due to the tight schedule. On Day 2 morning, Eric confirmed my 10 minute session at 2:30pm. Yikes!! It’s too late to back out now. There was only one thing to do: go onto the stage and do the show!

I decided that I will get excited about it and enjoy myself. Once that decision was made, I continued rehearsing, even while walking back from lunch! I imagined the thrill of walking onto the stage, engaging with the audience, and just having fun! And that’s what I did.

Guess what I found out? It wasn’t as scary as I thought. And guess what else? It was quite exciting and fun! One of the things I realise from my own experience is this: when it is exciting and scary at the same time – always go for it! It is a sign to overcome the fear, and feel the excitement.

As I mentioned last week, do not let your Lizard Brain scare the shit out of you when you are doing something new, unfamiliar and out of your comfort zone. The Lizard Brain is doing its job of protecting you in case you fumble and embarrass yourself in front of a big crowd. That’s its job – to protect you. However, mistakes are lessons we can learn from – so that we can grow, improve, and reach a new level.

This is my invitation to you today: if you encounter a dream that is scary and exciting at the same time, do not let your fear stop you from pursuing that bold dream. Create a new chapter for your life!

The Hazard of our Lizard Brain

Have you ever had a great idea, only to talk yourself out of it?
Have you ever wanted to start something new, only to abandon it?
Have you dreamt of going to new places, only to chuck it one side?

I attended the Mindworks Program by Frances Penafort today, and she talked about our brain. There are three parts to our brain: lizard brain, limbic brain and pre-frontal cortex. The lizard brain is the primitive brain that used to protect us from predators, but in the modern world, it is more to keep us in our safe and comfort zone. Therefore, when we have any new ideas that kicks us out of our comfort zone, then the lizard brain will quickly put in motion all the danger signs and warnings to keep us back in our comfort zone. Hence, it will cast doubts and cause anxiety, it will analyse and overthink the matter. Eventually, we talk ourselves out of it with excuses and return us to so-called reality. In other words – stop dreaming!

So we need to be aware of the hazards of our lizard brain. It has the important role of keeping us safe. However, implementing new ideas will definitely require us to get out of our comfort zone and do new things, meet new people and have new experiences. Most of the time, our default mode is to stay the same, comfortable and don’t rock the boat. However, for us to improve and grow, we need to get out of our comfort zone to explore new ideas, maybe fail a few times, learn from our mistakes, improve and level up. It requires a lot of hard work and going through frustration, sweat and tears. Hence, it is important to know the reason why we want to set new goals or achieve new dreams. It is the “WHY” that pushes us through the hardships and sufferings as we endure towards our goals and dreams.

This is my invitation to you today: be aware of the lizard brain, but don’t let it stop you from achieving your dreams and goals. As we approach a New Year of 2025, dare to pursue your boldest dream!

Advent Hope as an Anchor for Our Dreams

Do you feel like the year has passed too quickly, and you can’t believe it’s December already?
Are you stressing out that 11 months have passed and you feel like you’ve wasted so much time?!
Do you realize that you have only one month left to achieve the goals and dreams you have set for this year?

As we come to December month, many of us might feel the stress and pressure of having one month left to achieve our goals. I certainly do! The tendency is to shrink our goals. This was what Terri Saville Foy was tempted to do when she heard her daughter sharing how she has already achieved most of her goals in July! But God told her otherwise – Don’t shrink your dream, enlarge your faith.

Terri shared a few ways on how to enlarge her faith:

  • Visualise your future – be it your wealth or your health, let it be crystal clear and be specific in how your future looks like
  • Deliberately choose your input – faith comes from hearing, therefore listen to God’s Word on a daily basis; use your drive time to listen to godly messages
  • Declare a fast – God asks us to pray, give and fast, so that you can see many fold increase in your blessings – pray and ask God what you need to fast from, for example, certain food cravings that you usually can’t resist
  • Sow your memorable seed – do not delay in giving your best offering that God has prompted you to give, for it is in giving that we receive

As we start on this year’s Advent season, let us place our Hope in Jesus to achieve our goals and dreams. He has placed the goals and dreams in our hearts for His purpose. And as storms come our way, let Jesus be our anchor to keep us steady and strong. Let us hang on to Jesus when we feel like being tossed about in life’s messy storms.

This is my invitation to you today: as we prepare ourselves during this Advent season to celebrate the coming of Jesus on Christmas Day, let us anchor in the steadfast Hope of Jesus. Whether it has been an eventful year or not, know that God makes all things good for His purpose.