Author: annemarie_kim

Being Busy without Being Hurried

In Jordan Raynor’s book, Redeeming Your Time, he devoted one chapter on ‘Eliminate All Hurry’. He mentioned about Fred Roger as a busy man, but remarkably unhurried. I wonder how I could be like that too…

Being hurried is an inner condition of the soul. It means to be so preoccupied with myself and my life that I am unable to be fully present with God, with myself, and with other people. I am unable to occupy this present moment – Jordan Raynor

I find that I’m always in a hurry. Many days, I am rushing from one thing to the next. I realized that I am guilty of this inner condition of the soul that is too preoccupied with too many things most of the time. I find it a challenge to be fully present with God, even during my devotional time.

In Jesus lifetime, he was always busy with his work and always focused on His mission here on earth. However, He was never in a hurry. There is a story of Jesus entering Jerusalem one evening, but went to Bethany as it was late already. The next day, he overthrew the den of robbers in the Jerusalem temple. The fact was that He was there the night before and could have overthrew the robbers then, but did not. Jesus refused to be hurried. In other words – it can wait – there is no hurry, there is a time for everything.

This is something I really need to work on in my life – to stop being in a hurried state. To be busy without being hurry – to focus on the important things in my life and get rid of things that does not bring value to my life, as these are the things that are causing the rushing and hurrying in my life. Be more like Jesus! Trust that everything will work out perfectly in His timing.

Being Grateful with the Bronze Medal Mentality

Last week, I was listening to Mel Robbins’ podcast on the Olympics. One of the topic she touched on was the Bronze Medal Mentality. Based on studies, the bronze medalists were actually happier than the silver medalists. The reason is that the silver medalist would compare with the gold medalist – filled with regrets of all the what-ifs, as he/she had fallen short of obtaining the gold medal. This is especially acute if the difference between the gold and silver medal was by a few seconds or milliseconds!

The bronze medalist, on the other hand, is just thrilled to be on the podium, receiving a medal. Sometimes, this is a chance in a lifetime, for example, at the Olympic Games. Bringing back a medal for your country is such an honour. Standing there on the podium – that is truly a privilege, compared to those who did not make it to the podium.

The problem with most silver medalist is the comparison upwards with the gold medalist, and the subsequent regrets. That happens to most people – we compare our jobs or business, our cars or houses – and find that we fall short of other people who are better off than us, resulting in envy and jealousy. This is true even when we have so much in our lives already. This is most rampant in social media, where people show the highlights of their lives, e.g. their overseas vacation or grand birthday celebration, and we feel we are missing out on these things that we think we should have.

This Bronze Medal Mentality highlights the gratefulness I should have for the many blessings in my life, rather than comparing what others have that I don’t have. What I have IS more than enough. A medal signifies my achievement – how far I’ve come and how hard I’ve worked to get to where I am today. A bronze medal motivates me to reach for a higher level of achievement. There is more room for improvement and advancement. Always be grateful with what I have achieved and aim higher and bigger next time! I am reminding myself to celebrate all the small wins, yes, the bronze medals, and the major wins will come when I receive my gold medals in life!

From Coward to Mighty Warrior

Gideon is one of my favourite Bible story. He was chosen by God to save the Israelites from their enemies who oppressed them cruelly. Let me share the many insights from his story.

The Angel of the Lord visited Gideon while he was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. They were so afraid of their enemies that he had to resort to hiding in the winepress while threshing wheat.

Insight: Too often, we live cowardly out of fear. But God comes to us in our current situation, and seeks us out to do His Kingdom work.

The Angel greeted Gideon, calling him MIGHTY MAN OF VALOR. But Gideon was very doubtful as his clan was the weakest and he was the least in his family.

Insight: We sometimes feel unworthy. But God is able to see what we are capable of, and calls us by a new name, so that we have a new identity. Gideon became a Man of Valor, A Mighty Warrior!

Gideon asked for a sign that the Angel was from God.

Insight: We are always testing God for a sign, and God sometimes shows us.

Gideon built God’s altar and tore down Baal’s altar. He did it at night because

he was afraid of his family and the townspeople.

Insight: We have many forms of idols in our lives. God is calling us to get rid of our idols and live boldly in God’s light and truth.

Gideon got more than 30,000 men to fight, but God reduced it to 300 men.

Insight: We tend to rely on our power and ability to achieve our successes, that’s why God wants to show His might through achieving something impossible, yes, something that only God can do!

God asked Gideon to bring his servant to the enemy camp and they overheard the enemy’s dream and its interpretation.

Insight: God sends people to help us and sometimes journey with us. He is the source of our confident hope. He grant us courage and strength in the midst of our battles or trials.

Gideon led his people to defeat their enemies.

Insight: When God is with us – we can do great things – indeed, we can do impossible conquests through God’s almighty power.

I hope that you are as inspired as I am with Gideon’s story.

When Prayer is like Making A Stew

One of my favourite dish is good beef stew. The beef is tender and flavourful, tasty and nutritious. It takes quite a lot of ingredients, and perhaps a few hours to cook a really good stew.

Why I am talking about beef stew? Because it reminds me of PRAYER.

Prayer is like cooking a stew:

1) Select the ingredients – God chooses us and prepares the family and friends for us, in accordance to His plan

2) Wash the ingredients – God cleanses us from our sin

3) Prepare the ingredients – God prepares us in many ways, like “cut”, “shred”, “chop” or “slice” – those who has gone through tribulations would relate to these preparations

4) Follow the recipe steps to cook the ingredients – God shows us the steps to have a blessed life

5) Cover and simmer for a few hours – waiting on the Lord to work His miracles in our lives

Sometimes, we don’t follow the recipe or we leave out an ingredient or two, resulting in disaster. But our Master Chef God is always able to recover from our mistakes and make a delicious dish. Sometimes, He even create a brand new, even more delicious dish! There is nothing He can’t recover from. He is the God of Master Chef!

The most important part is the simmering, where the full flavour of the ingredients is extracted to give its wonderful taste and nutritious value. And that is why it is so important to wait on the Lord as He brings out our best qualities and bless us abundantly.

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us – Ephesians 3:20

When we become impatient and try to “shortcut” God, we ruin God’s wonderful plan for us. Do not be deceived when you see nothing happening during our “simmering”, for this is the time where the best work is being done by God as He grows our character and extract our full potential to do great works for His kingdom.

If you are in a season of waiting – like I am – trust that God is working in our lives in wondrous ways.

Taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

  • Psalm 34:8

Wax On, Wax Off – Trust in the Process

This famous saying, “Wax on, wax off” was based on the 1984 Karate Kid movie, where Miyagi-san was teaching Daniel-san karate through waxing the car, washing the floor, and painting the fence. Miyagi-san’s part was to teach, and Daniel-san’s part was to learn, without question. And while doing it, “Breath – don’t forget to breath, very important!”, reminded Miyagi-san.

Daniel-san grew impatient and became suspicious that Miyagi-san was using him for child labour. He wanted to quit because he didn’t see the result that he wanted and the way he expected it. Later he realised that the unusual training from Miyagi-san formed the strong foundation of his karate training, even though he couldn’t see it at first.

It is very similar in our lives. We see so many things we need to do, and sometimes we do them willingly or obligingly or grudgingly; other times, we quit. Sometimes, in our young foolish mind, we don’t see the benefit of studying hard for a good education. In our work, we don’t see that our jobs are stepping stones to a higher career path. In our health, we don’t see how our eating and sleeping habits greatly affect our health, until one or two decades later. We prefer instant results.

In our faith, we don’t see the hand of God working in our lives for our good, especially when we are going thought terrible trials. We don’t realise that God takes our failures and turn them into something good. A blessing in disguise. Many times, God uses our pain to grow us to be more compassionate and to help others in need.

When Miyagi-san instructed Daniel-san to practice without questioning, he is asking Daniel-san to trust him. Similarly, God is asking us to put our trust in Him. When Miyagi-san reminded Daniel-san to breathe, God is reminding us to pray.

Just as Daniel-san couldn’t see the purpose of doing the wax on and wax off – we don’t always see God’s hand in the mundane or tragic events in our lives. Only in trusting God that we can eventually see God’s amazing plan when He reveals it to us.

So, continue to wax on, wax off!!! Have fun and enjoy the process!

Planting A Garden of Dreams

Once I have overcome my fear of dreaming, I found that having and pursuing my dreams are definitely scary and yet so exciting. Since starting my blog in 2019 then publishing my journals in 2022 and then in Amazon Kindle in 2023 – they have given me the confidence to pursue even more dreams.

I imagine it as a Garden of Dreams – I start with putting little pebbles to make the pavement, then plant different flowers and trees. The little things build up to make my Garden of Dreams. So the most important thing to do is putting the first pebble in , then planting the first flower or tree, and continue to let them grow and make them beautiful.

As in any endeavours, planting a Garden of Dreams takes a time and effort. It takes time to plant and grow the trees and flower for the garden, but the journey is definitely worth it.

One thing I realise is that: we have to believe in ourselves to start this garden. We believe in who we are, and more importantly, who God says we are. Our divine dreams come from God. He uses our dream to bless us abundantly and to grant us exponential growth. In the pursuit of it, we can find our new higher-level identify, and grow in confidence in who we are and what we are capable of, through the power of God working in our lives.

The pursuit of our dreams also influence and inspire others too. I went to Singapore last weekend, and shared with a friend about pursuing dreams. I pray that she too will be inspired to pursue her dreams. That both of us can leave a legacy of Garden of Dreams for our daughters. I have decided that I will describe myself as a 50s Dreamer, because it is never too late to dream and to start my Garden of Dreams!

The Privilege of Treating Myself

In Gretchen Rubin’s book, Better than Before, she talked about treats:

If I give more to myself, I can ask more from myself.

In the world of fairness, that sounds absolutely fair!!! Haha!! The idea that I can give more, ask more and eventually, be more and have more – it is such an awesome idea!

When we don’t get any treats, we feel depleted, resentful, and angry, and justified in self-indulgence. We start to crave comfort – and we’ll grab that comfort wherever we can, even if it means breaking good habits.

So the opposite is true – when we constantly deprive ourselves, we end up rebelling and doing things that we know are not good for us. The little kid in us wants to throw a tantrum and get what we want, regardless of its consequences. And we eventually give up our good habits.

But it’s important for obligers to have treats. They’re susceptible to burnout, self-deprivation, or too much work for benefit of others, may lead them to feel resentful, neglected or deprived

As an obliger, this is so true for me. I am in the habit of always thinking of ways to make others happy – that I would do whatever I can to make it happen, within my power to do so. And sometimes, I end up feeling depleted. By giving myself a treat, I feel I am “deserving” and hence, will be more willing to continue my habit of meeting expectations, mine and others. The privilege of treating myself gives me the license to ask more from me. It is such a win-win situation – I get a treat and I get to be more!

Here’s a short list of my treats: a nice cuppa Earl Grey tea or hot chocolate at a fancy cafe, reading Agatha Christie’s book, eating beef steak and dark chocolate (maybe not together), walking at a beach, watching the rain fall, explore and travel, etc.

So. What’s your list of treats? Go treat yourself today!

We Don’t Always Know the Impact of Our Actions

Last Saturday, I attended a World Vision event to promote the “1000 Girls – She Matters” event. I was very touched by Yaru from Cambodia who courageously and eloquently shared her story of how her life changed through joining World Vision. And not just her life, but her community in Cambodia as well.

When I donate to charity organizations and churches, I seldom see the direct impact of my donations. Yaru’s story gave me an insight of a charitable organization’s impact to the community that they are committed to serve.

I realize that: a small single action can have rippling effects to larger communities. I decided to pledge my donation of RM65 per month to sponsor a child in World Vision – it is a personal and effective way to empower a child and her family as well as the community – and to break the chain of abuse, ignorance, oppression and poverty.

My bigger realization is that – we don’t always know the impact of our actions – that our impact to people around us are more significant that we think or assume. In our families, our actions and decisions model for our children our values and hopes for them. At work, our actions affect our company’s performance. In our social circle, our interactions with our friends reveal our care and concern for them. In our social media, our comments and likes make another person’s day. In a strange place, our warm smile brightens another person’s mood. Anywhere and anytime, a kind word or action always brings hope and joy to another person. Whenever there is an opportunity to say something nice to another person, say it sincerely with a smile. Whenever there is an opportunity to help another person or to show kindness, don’t ponder about it – just do it.

One thing we know: all our actions do impact others and we can effect a positive change to make the world a better place to live in.

Side Note: The event was hosted by Freda Liu, who has been an advocate for World Vision for many years. I’ve often heard her voice on the radio ages ago, and I was so thrilled to meet her in real life. She is so lovely!!!

Always Seek to be Better Than Before

I am currently reading Gretchen Rubin’s book called ‘Better Than Before – Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives’. In the book, she started with knowing yourself by your tendency, which she identified below:

1. UPHOLDERS respond readily to both outer and inner expectations
2. QUESTIONERS question all expectations, and will meet an expectation only if they believe it's justified
3. OBLIGERS respond readily to outer expectations but struggle to meet inner expectations
4. REBELS resist all expectations, outer and inner

Wow! I realize I am an Obliger – I am habitually doing things for people and what I believe they expect from me, and more. But I lack the same conviction to keep the promises I made to myself.

Obligers often dislike their tendency. They’re vexed by the fact that they can meet others’ expectations, but not their expectations for themselves

I was screaming in my head, YES! This is so true! I am totally frustrated when I fail to meet my own expectations.

The happiest and most successful people are those who have figured out ways to exploit their tendency to their benefit and just as important, found ways to counterbalance its limitations

This is what I have learnt and my actions taken so far:

  • I need external expectation to push me – that’s why I had publicly announced in my blog that I would post every Monday – and this has worked well starting this year 2024
  • I need an accountability partner – and I found one who keeps me accountable for my weekly blog posts and even give me great feedback on my posts
  • I need to do scheduling – I have setup an paid app called NotePlan and I am starting to do time blocking for my projects and daily tasks
  • I need to abstain from social media on my phone – after many failed attempts to curb my social media scrolling, I finally deleted both Facebook and Instagram apps on my phone last week (I can still access them through their websites but not so convenient)

Finding out my Obliger tendency has opened my eyes to understand why I fail badly without external expectations and how I can overcome it. I am glad that I am working toward becoming ‘Better Than Before’. Do check out the book and find out which tendency you are!

To Be A Star In My Movie

I have just finished Ali Abdaal’s first book, ‘Feel-Good Productivity’. I enjoyed reading it and learning the importance of “feeling good” to motivate me to do what matters most to me.

I realise that trying to motivate myself by pushing myself, and feeling guilt ridden when I failed to do what I promised myself – all these negative feelings did not bring the desired result of getting what I want done. The book’s Part 1 was about using play, power and people to energise us to do what we want to do. And one of the ways was to choose a character to make it fun and having daily quest to achieve your goal. Later in the book, he mentioned how Beyonce has a persona called Sasha Fierce that she could channel on stage to become more confident, more powerful and free from inhibitions.

I really like this idea of a persona as I am an introvert, and usually don’t like too much attention. But with a “persona”, I can be free from my shyness, be daring and bold. In fact, I CAN BE A STAR!!! If you’re laughing, that’s great, as I am laughing my head off too!!!

Let’s have a little fun imagining ourselves as a “STAR”. Perhaps you don’t see yourself as a star yet – I certainly did not – but just let your imagination run wild for a minute! Picture yourself as a star – in a star-studded event, or walking on the red carpet, or on a bright stage with a spotlight on you, or on a podium – and immerse yourself in the thrill of being a star..!!!

The truth is: we are the star in the movie of our lives. Sometimes, we direct our lives, but more often than not, our lives are directed by others (in our family or work/business). However, we play the leading role in our movie, so let us shine brightly as a STAR!

Emotions are like children in the car

I watched an interesting Instagram reel by mightypursuit where they sit down with Dr Arianna Brandolini on the topic of emotions:

Emotions are like children. You don’t want them driving the car because they will crash it. You don’t want to shove them in the trunk because they might die. You want them in the back seat where they can be seen and heard and attended to but they are not in control of anything.

As a child, I was confused about my emotions and I tend to hid them. I had the belief that being emotional is a sign of weakness, and if not controlled, emotions can cause havoc . So I learnt to be analytical and logical, as they are based on facts.

And to me, processing emotions is literally just allowing yourself to feel them. And if you look at research, emotions don’t last very long. Emotions are like waves, if you let them happen, they will move through you. … it’s allowing the emotions to happen without suppressing it, without trying to change it, without trying to ignore it, and maybe without trying to indulge it too much.

For a long time, I suppressed my emotions, until they burst out in rage. I could barely recognise myself in those times. I found out that I can’t suppressed just the bad emotions without becoming cold and unfeeling to other positive emotions. It was only in later years that I understood God made emotions for us to feel them. It is what makes us human.

I let myself cry when I am upset or heartbroken. I let myself go through the range of negative emotions of sadness, grief, disappointments, rejection, shame, guilt, anger, embarrassment, betrayal, etc. The emotions, like waves, will move through and move on, sometimes quickly, but oftentimes, much longer than I cared for.

I find out that going through the dark valley of emotions, heightens the big and small peaks of positive emotions like love and joy, hope and peace, enjoyment and optimism, inspiration and motivation, and most of all, gratitude.

All these emotions give meaning to our lives. Even in the darkest hours – when our emotions overwhelm us – we know that we can overcome them to become stronger and then, we learn to be more compassionate.

It’s better to disappoint others than to disappoint yourself

In my last week’s post, I talked about keeping promises to myself. Connected to this topic, is the concept of not letting myself down.

Excellence is more than meeting other people’s expectations. It’s also about living up to your own standards. After all, it’s impossible to please everyone. The question is whether you’re letting down the right people. It’s better to disappoint others than to disappoint yourself – Hidden Potential by Adam Grant

When I was young, I studied hard in school to please my parents, who believed that getting good grades + obtaining a degree was the ticket to getting a good job. I grew up as a “good girl”, even to the point of being a nerd in school, which many of my friends now find it hard to believe.

I realise it is truly impossible to please everyone. I found out that the sacrifices I make trying to please everyone eventually stripped me of my identify, my dreams and my hopes. So I decided I will stop letting myself down, but to allow myself to grow in strength and courage, beauty and grace, hope and love. To become the best version of myself as I journey through my path of self-discovery, and always reaching for my higher self.

In life, we will always let some people down, even though we tend to try our best not to let anyone down. We must decide who are the ones we will let down in different circumstances. Nevertheless, let us be more intentional in not letting ourselves down but to value ourselves more. And to set a higher standard for ourselves and what we want from our lives, so that we can soar higher in the sky!

Keeping Promises to Yourself to Boost Your Self-Confidence

One of the ways we can grow in our self-confidence is by keeping promises we make to ourselves. However, we tend to break our promises! We tell ourselves we want to go to the gym or go for a walk tomorrow, but we become lazy or tired the next morning. We tell ourselves we want to spend less and save more, but we can’t resist the online special offer. We tell ourselves we want to start eating healthy but we end up having too many cheat days. I am so guilty of them!

When it comes to our own promises, we tend to justify breaking or ignoring them. Why? Because it is so easy to get away with it, especially if you don’t tell anyone about it. Or we just procrastinate and make new promises to do it tomorrow…!

What we don’t realise is that we start losing confidence in ourselves when we keep on breaking our promises. Subconsciously, we know that we can’t trust ourselves to keep our promises. This will subsequently erode our self-confidence.

Two years ago in 2022, I decided that my Word of the Year was Integrity. Personally, that meant that I would do what said I would do. Hence, I decided to write my book, which I had said I wanted to do for many years. I not only wrote my first journal book on Nehemiah, but published it in 52 days (as Nehemiah rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem in 52 days)! Keeping that promise to myself really boosted my self-confidence in what I am capable of doing, and what miracle God can do in my life when I trust in Him.

What are the many promises you make to yourself? What are the excuses or justifications you make when you fail to keep those promises? Please realise the impact it has on your self-confidence. My challenge to you is to make a list of the promises you have been making to yourself, and schedule to work on them every month.

As you keep your promises, you will boost your self-confidence and have a sense of integrity for keeping your word. As a parent, you can be a good role model for your children to always keep their promises too.

The Opposite of Addiction is Connection

I was intrigued by this idea by Johann Hari, in his TED Talk, ‘Everything you think you know about addiction’.

The opposite of addiction is not sobriety.

The opposite of addiction is connection.

  • Johann Hari, TED Global London, June 2015

He talked about the experiment done on rats in empty cages, with two bottles of water, one plain water and the other drug water. The rat always chose the drug water and eventually died. A Professor Alexander changed the environment to a Rat Park, where the rats were well fed and played with other rats. They almost never touched the drug water, and lived happily ever after. And he asked the question: What if addiction is an adaptation to your environment?

Another professor wanted to call it bonding instead of addiction. We are created to bond with each other. If we’re unable to bond with people, due to trauma or other issues, we might bond with things like drugs, pornography, gambling, social media, etc.

Social media feels like connection, right? Maybe some of us connected to childhood friends through Facebook. We feel connected to our friends as we watch what’s happening in their lives through social media. Yet, I’ve read that our current society is more lonely than ever before! Social media can never replace the real connection of meeting face-to-face with conversations and laughter (or tears) over a meal. Social media can’t replace the deep connection which is fostered as we see our friends weather through the storms in their lives.

We’ve got bonds and connections that you want to be present for. You’ve got work you love. You’ve got people you love. You’ve got healthy relationships. And a core part of addiction, I came to think, and I believe the evidence suggests, is about not being able to bear to be present in your life.

  • Johann Hari, TED Global London, June 2015

The connection we long for – in whatever we are addicted to, be it social media or drugs – is the connection of love and acceptance. We seek that connection of one human being with another, in a safe and loving relationship. Let us create a world of real connection and deep bonding of caring and loving unconditionally, and of supporting each other in our struggles.

What A Weekend Down With Flu Taught Me

I was down with flu last weekend – running and blocked nose, throbbing headache, and coughing. It was enough to bring me down – weak and lying in bed – cancelling all my weekend activities.

When I was young, I shuddered at the thought of how one’s life can change in a split second, for example, how Christopher Reeve was paralysed from the neck down due to a horse-riding accident. A famous celebrity who played Superman was not immune to life-shattering accidents? This really struck me!

Reading about Christopher Reeve, he became an inspiration through his research, advancement and building a foundation to help quadriplegics. He even had a directing debut and returned to the screen for a short time. He became a different “Superman” for us.

It is my faith in God that brings meaning to the sufferings in this world, as Jesus had come to suffer an excruciating death to die for our sins. Sin, death and suffering came through the original sin of Adam and Eve, but Jesus came to redeem us and grant us fullness of life. I do not understand many of the sufferings of the world, especially diseases and wars, and I don’t think I ever will. I do know suffering has its purpose of gaining a different perspective, and helping us to be more compassionate. And I know that God is with me through the trials and storms in my life. He longs for me to turn to Him for safely and protection, comfort and consolation, guidance and leadership, hope and inspiration, and mostly importantly, love and grace.

What I realise is that life is fragile. Do not take for granted what we have today – especially our loved ones and our health – they are the ones that we tend to ignore most of the time. Treasure our loved ones and take good care of our health. Before it is too late.

Chasing Who I Am in 10 Years

Recently, I heard Matthew McConaughey speech:

They are three things to my account that I need each day. One of them is something I look up to, another is something to look forward to, and another is someone to chase.

Someone To Look Up To

The something he looks up to is GOD. He thanked God for his blessings – how amazing that is! I too believe that God is someone I look up to and give thanks to everyday. I am who I am today because of God’s amazing love and grace.

Someone To Look Forward To

The something he looks forward to is his family – how wonderful that is! To always look forward to his loving family is such a blessing. We must never take granted our family and friends, who have supported and love us.

Someone To Chase

The person to chase? That’s him in 10 years time! He is constantly chasing the person he will be 10 years away. He knows he is not going to attain that, and it’s fine with him because it keeps him with somebody to keep on chasing.

I love this concept of imagining my future self and chasing after my own hero. I get to envision the best version of myself in 10 years time, and keep on chasing after my awesome Future Self. It is a moving target of chasing the best version of who I can be in the future. I can play my own hero in my story, writing the adventures of my life!

I want more from my life because I know I can be more – that I can contribute more to the world. There is a purpose of who I am – to do something that I was meant to do, that only I can contribute to in this world. It is the unique contribution of my Future Self that I am pursuing – whether it is in one year or ten years’ time!

Overcome Feelings of Being Stuck

After starting a project, we sometimes go through a phase of feeling stuck, where we don’t feel like we are making much progress, or not making progress fast enough. What I would call: an annoying plateau.

One of the ways of overcoming this feeling of being stuck is to have a sense of progress, however small the progress. Maybe write one sentence for your book, or one line of code for your program, or one small social media post to say ‘Hi World’, a 3-minute exercise, or reading or researching on your topic, or making connection with someone who might be related to your project.

Just do anything – the smallest action – to gain a sense of progress, especially when you don’t feel like it. Make the action so small that you can’t not do it.

The strongest known force in daily motivation is a sense of progress – Hidden Potential by Adam Grant

I believe what is most important is not to get stuck for too long, as the longer we are stuck, the harder it is to get unstuck! I like the idea that I read somewhere – not to miss your daily action task for two or three consecutive days. Quickly get back on track as soon as possible, even with a small action to get that sense of progress. For example, if your project to lose weight requires you to exercise 20 minutes a day, just do a 3-minute exercise to keep the momentum and have a sense of progress, instead of having a total loss of one day. I always tell myself: 3 minutes is still better than 0 minute.

The secret to overcome the feeling of being stuck is by having a sense of progress, however small the progress is. A progress is still a progress, however small or big.

Start, even if you are not ready

We have a tendency to analyse and research when we want to start a personal project – Google search, ChatGPT, seeking expert opinion and friends’ advice, do research – all to make sure our little project that we have been dreaming of is fail-safe..!

The problem with all these checking and analysing is that we end up not starting at all – the curse of “analysis paralysis”. Furthermore, all the preparations might not prevent us from failure, as many things are not under our control.

So when do we start? NOW.

How do we start? Whatever first steps we can take. We don’t need to figure out all the steps to start our project. Along the way, we will figure things out, as we get more feedback and can improve on our initial action plans.

God always puts in our heart the desire to dream and make it happen. He will be the one to show us the way, but He will only show us a few steps at a time. Just so we trust Him. He will remove the obstacles in our way, and bring the connections and resources that we need. Sometimes, it is harder or longer than we expected, as we prefer to have things fast and easy. God wants to grow our character and it takes time. Humans and plants do not grow overnight – it takes time and seasons. Caterpillar takes time to turn into a beautiful butterfly.

We don’t see the finish line of a race when we are at the starting line. God sees the finish line and our victory. We journey together on this adventure, but we need to be at the starting line to start the race.

Trust in God’s timing.

Trust in the process of growth.

Just START.

Whether you feel ready or not.

Especially when you don’t feel ready!