My Confident Hope in Jesus Never Fails

Nothing prepared me for the challenges I faced this year. I was sent into the wilderness and went through the refining fire. I thank God that He rescued me from the financial hole I dug myself into, and saved me. He showed His loving faithfulness in so many big and small ways during this challenging time.

It has been a year of inner healing working through my inner child trauma. I realised that I had acted so foolishly out of my fear and insecurity. I have emerged stronger and more confident, knowing that God always has my back – that He carries me through my storms and sits with me through my tears. Nothing is greater than God’s love for us. I have experienced it in so many ways this year.

As the year 2023 come to an end, I am truly grateful for the year that has seen me grow in hope in Jesus. I learnt that my confident hope is in the person of Jesus and my dire circumstances will never change it. He also showed the beauty within me and when I look at myself in the mirror.

One of the physical manifestation of my confidence is wearing my hatsI I don’t care what people think because I love wearing hats and I look good in them. So I am just gonna don my hat and adorn my countenance with a smile! God has great plan for each of us. I am reminded this year that, even when I mess up, God is always around to help me pick up the pieces and make things new and better.

My Confident Hope in Jesus never fails.

How to Nourish a Starved Soul

We nourish our bodies with nutritious food.
So I pondered: how do I nourish my starved soul?

Let me share my ways:
– Gratitude: give thanks for the many blessings in my life
– Kindness: being kind to myself, and not beat myself up when I fail
– Gentleness: be gentle and go easy on myself on hard days
– Forgiveness: forgive myself
– Experience pain and sorrow: to allow the emotions to overwhelm me in a safe space, and not bury them all the time; to cry, scream or shout or any other ways to let my emotions flow out safely
– Reading: to gain insight, learnings, and to enter into the world of the author
– Travel: to explore new places, food, cultures and environment
– Support: to seek support from family and friends who understands me, instead of carrying the burden by myself
– Authenticity: to have the courage to be vulnerable and to reveal my true self, good and bad
– Beauty: to recognize the beauty within my soul and treasure it
– Service: to reach out to serve others in need, to service in a community
– To Love: to love others unconditionally, no strings attached
– To Be Loved: to allow others to love me unconditionally, to allow them to enter into my inner world
– To know that – It’s okay not to be okay sometimes, that I haven’t gotten it all together in some seasons of my life, but it’s okay
– To Wait: to know that I sometimes need to wait for God’s timing for my life, that He is working in my life as I wait patiently for Him
– To Meditate or Practice Mindfulness: to quieten my busy mind and seek my inner strength within
– To Trust in God: for me, this is the most important one; to trust that God is always faithful to walk with me through my joys and sorrows, and that He is always with me through thick and thin

To tell you the truth: I don’t always do all these things above. When our bodies are starved, we can feel the hunger pangs. But when our souls are starved, we are sometimes not even aware of it. Let us always remind ourselves to nourish our souls lovingly.

Feel free to add to my list in the comments. I would love to find out more ways to nourish my soul. Thanks!

Small Actions that lead to Big Impact



I would like to share three stories that shows how small actions that led to big impact in my life recently.

Story 1: Last October 25th 2022, I went to my friend’s house to ask her to write the Foreword to my Blessed Journal book. Suddenly, our conversations turned unexpectedly when I found out she actually has not one, but four book ideas! I incredulously asked her: why are you not writing your own book? That’s when I cornered her to choose one of her book ideas and start on her writing journey. Last month, she launched her book – I’ll Never Walk Alone, by Dr. Frances Penafort – in New York, at the beginning of July, then in Malaysia, on 30th July, 2023. A simple meeting for one thing (writing my book’s Foreword) which led to a fabulous writing journey for my beloved friend. It was truly incredible!

Story 2: During the course of my dinner with a close friend, she had a 180 degree about turn for a tricky financial situation she was in. As she was telling me about the situation, I prayed for her silently. Suddenly, she decided to give generously to bless her friend in that situation. Both of us were so shocked, and we felt the power of the Holy Spirit working in this situation to bring about that change! That was the power of a silent heart-felt prayer for a friend.

Story 3: A mistaken wrong number on WhatsApp turned into a friendship that inspired me in many ways. To know that it’s not scammers and stalkers out there, but a kind soul who wanted to be a friend. Just a small gesture of kindness that is returned back many folds.

These, and many more incidences, led me to ask myself if I see my daily seemingly small actions have any impact at all. The answer is: YES. Small actions can and do lead to big impact. If we heed the nudges, take the action (however small), and allow ourselves to be vessels to bring about the impact in people’s lives.

Soar, not Strive

This morning, I listened to a devotional from YouVersion for the verse from Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV):

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

What I loved most about the message was this: to SOAR under the wings of the Holy Spirit, instead of striving with our own effort and failing miserably. God truly wants to bless us immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. The sad part is, we sometimes dare not even ask or imagine much in the first place, as our cynicism buries our dreams and hopes.

Whatever place you are in your life right now, seek God to lift you up and SOAR in the wide blue sky under the mighty wings of the Holy Spirit. Let God bless you more than you can ever ask or imagine.

Paused – to catch the word of the Year

Yes, I have PAUSED in my blog – again. I am not quitting, but putting it on “pause” for a few months. During these few months, the Word of the Year was revealed to me: CONSISTENCY. The irony is that – I have consistently been procrastinating, instead of taking action towards my goal of writing consistently. Perhaps, like the water in the kettle, it takes time for it to boil. I consoled myself as I pondered during this season of “pause”.
I believe the concept of Consistency is tied to forming a habit, e.g. forming the habit of writing consistently or the habit of exercising regularly. Doing things consistently is one of the keys to success. Part of that doing things consistently – is not quitting, and to show up, again and again, especially after we’re down and don’t feel like getting back up.
Last year, my Word of the Year was Integrity. It helped me focus on doing what I said I would do. The greatest thing I achieved last year was to publish my Blessed Journal on Nehemiah. This was one thing I had said I wanted to do for a few years, and it finally came to fruition when I published the journal in 52 days last November in 2022. All because I had focused on one word for that year – Integrity.
It is my fervent prayer – that I would achieve my Word of the Year – CONSISTENCY – in 2023, with the help of the Holy Spirit. That I would write to share my thoughts, insights and what I have learned – and to be faithful in what God had called me to do.

I would like to suggest that you decide on your Word of the Year too. Just one word to focus on for this year. Something that resonates with you, and to challenge you! If you are bold enough – share it out!!!

What do you do when you lose your momentum?

The 7 Habits to Keep Momentum Going

The new year for 2023 started exciting enough, but I kind of lost my momentum as January progressed and the festivities of Chinese/Lunar New Year started. That’s where the third part of Evan Carmichael’s book Momentum comes in – The 7 Habits to Keep Momentum Going.

  1. Morning Routine – setting a routine to start the day with energy and to do what matters most
  2. Chunk Your Time – batch similar tasks together, and setup a Weekly Routine
  3. Big Why / Little Why – a reminder for today for your Little Whys when you lose sight of the Big Why – in other words, what I do today towards my goal matters
  4. Tie Your Self-Worth to Your Effort, not the Results – just put in the effort of showing up, and be the person who shows up, the results will eventually come
  5. Pass the Pillow Test – ask the question: Am I proud of myself? If I didn’t follow through, ask the question: Am I proud of my reason why? However, be gentle to myself
  6. Join A Community – of like-minded and like-actioned people, get your supporters and be a supporter
  7. Focus on Who You Are Serving instead of who you aren’t – continue to reach out to those I am serving, and not be affected by those I am not serving

This post is about my showing up and keeping my momentum. Yes, it has been a challenge maintaining my momentum, but I am reminded not to give up.

As it is still in the season of Chinese/Lunar New Year, I will end this post with: HUAT AH!!!

Take Action to Start Your Momentum

Continuing on Evan Carmichael’s book on Momentum, taking action is the next step after shifting your mindset. He starts with the 2% difference – to start immediately even just a small difference. Then have a mini plan of 5% and start doing 95% – this will help you to start the momentum and find out what works and what to improve at the next cycle. Start small to learn what works and what doesn’t work so you can improve on it.

However, do expect things to be challenging as you start, especially when you don’t know how to start. The best way to avoid backing out is to tell and commit to someone. Also, elevate your environment by auditing your energy – reduce energy vampires and collect good people who support and inspire you.

One interesting thing he suggested to change your state is through music. He has a playlist for how he wants to feel. I used to put a playlist when I did photo processing. I also find energetic music motivates me to exercise better.

As I come to the last few hours of 2022, I would like to reflect on the year that is coming to an end. I have started on the momentum of my journey to become a journal author, and I need to remember my intention when I’m having my doubts and insecure.

As I welcome a new year for 2023, it is my sincere prayer that each of us will pursue our god-given dreams and take action to keep our momentum to always move forward. Never give up!

Shift Your Mindset for Momentum

Recently, I read Evan Carmichael’s book, Momentum. It was easy to read and understand, practical and full of insights.

The first part talked about mindset shifts. I realise that everything is about our mindsets, which controls most of our lives, whether we are aware of it.

In our lives, we sometimes have great ideas. Yet how many of us actually act on them. As fleeting as an idea comes in, it flies out just as fast. We talk ourselves out of it when we stop and (over) think. So, his litmus test is this: if you are feeling bold about the idea, it is the right one for you! Believe that great ideas do flow through you! Believe in yourself and your great ideas! We do love our bold ideas, and when it passes another test he calls the “Boom Boom Boom” test where you body tells you, then you should definitely go for it. Think Boldly! Be Audacious (I love this word, it sounds so delicious)!

What I love most of this mindset shift is this: make big decisions with the heart, small one with the head. How to create alignment with your heart and mind. Your heart will be excited with your bold idea but your mind will be terrified as it overthinks it. So what do you do? Let your heart focus on the Why and let the mind work out the How!

One Night Procrastination that led to 13 Days Delay

One Night Procrastination
One Night Procrastination

The day I wanted to apply for ISBN for my second journal book based on Esther, was the day that the Depositori (for ISBN application) website went down. I had tried to apply for it the night before, but I couldn’t download the pages for submission from Canva, thinking I can try again tomorrow. And as a result of one night’s procrastination, I was delayed for 13 days!

Waiting was frustrating as I checked the website and its Facebook page daily. After 10 days, I realize I need to stop waiting, and move on to my third journal, based on Ruth. I already have the momentum of two books, and need to continue to keep it up for my third book. I know after my first book launch last month, I was slacking. It took a lot more effort to get back my momentum. So now, I decided to move on to the next book while waiting.

Thank God I finally got the ISBN number today, not via the website which is still down, but by emailing them and filling up a Google form.

So now, whenever I am tempted to procrastinate, I think twice: what if this delay is not just for 1 day but much longer? I think that’s quite a motivation to get things done today!

Journal Author in 52 days!

Interview with Malar
Interview with Malar

I had an interview with my friend, Malar, on my journey as an author. It started when I decided to take up 3 coaching sessions with Ze Ann with the objective of starting my side hustle. I was determined to complete and launch my journal book on Nehemiah in 52 days, which was how many days Nehemiah took to rebuild the broken walls of Jerusalem. Hence my Blessed Journal was launched on 6th November 2022.

What really made a difference this time – as I had been wanting to do this for three years – was having my coach be my accountability partner. I was committed to take daily action towards my goal and update my coach on a daily basis, which created a momentum.

I am still wrapping my head around my new identity as a Journal Author. I am glad that God has paved the way for me to this new life adventure.

I pray that each one of us dig out our long lost dream and pursue it with determination. God gives us dream to pursue, and in our pursuit, we will feel alive and confident.

Dare to Dream.

Dream Big.

Be Bold and Audacious.

Pursue Your Dream Relentless.

As we come to the end of the year, let us seek our God-inspired dream to pursue for the coming new year. Best to share your dream out as soon as you can, so that you don’t get a chance to back away from it!

Please check out my Blessed Journal-

Online store https://blessedjournal2022.com

Facebook https://www.Facebook.com/blessedjournal2022

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/blessedjournal2022

Stop Procrastinating Now!

Yes, the last post I had written was one year ago. I had procrastinated for one year to resume writing my blog post today. The thing is: the longer I delayed it, the harder it was to get back.

I needed to know my compelling reasons for my blog:
– To share what I have learnt – distilling the knowledge and putting it concisely in a few short paragraphs (due to my short attention span)
– To live intentionally – not just going through the daily grind of living

I found that procrastination was a Stressor. It stressed me out that I am procrastinating. Worse, I am not able not do what I want to do, but I end up doing what I don’t want to do –  scrolling through endless social media news and videos for hours. So, it’s a double whammy!

I also found out that procrastination is sometimes caused by perfectionism. I realized that I was attempting to find the perfect topic to make a comeback and the perfect time too! Looks like one year is a perfect time to return?!

So today, I am following Nike’s simple and powerful logo – JUST DO IT!

Habit as a secret of success

I have been reading up a lot on habits lately. I realize that our habits have such an impact on our lives. We don’t think about our habits much – there are just things we do automatically, without thinking about it consciously. We automatically brush our teeth every morning, or drive to work, or eat with our fork and spoon (or chopsticks or hands, whichever). What we don’t realize is that these habits are our building blocks developing our personality and character. Healthy habits make us healthy, conversely, unhealthy habits make us unhealthy. Habits can lead us to our success, or to our ruin. Hence, it is so important to have habits that help us achieve what we want in our lives.

A quote by Aristotle summarizes it well:
We are what we repeatedly do. 
Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.

We live for many years trying to achieve our goals with our willpower and self-discipline. However, our willpower and self-discipline do not last long. And not many people can sustained their willpower and self-discipline over long-term to achieve their big life goals. I realize that the secret lies in developing the habits needed to achieve our goals, and replacing the bad habits that prevent us from achieving our goals. When we have these habits, then we don’t have to struggle so much with willpower and self-discipline. With habits, we can start small and start with something achievable, until it becomes easier and automatic. Then we can incrementally increase it to make it harder. For example, changing our eating habits can start with cutting sugar, or eating more fruits or vegetables. Recently, I bought a nice portable blender to blend fruits and vegetables (kale and pineapple at the moment). Once I started this habit, I find that it is quite easy to do it automatically before my meal at home. So, find a habit you would like to develop, then figure out a way to make it convenient for you to start! Good luck!

The 4Rs of Winning the War In Your Mind

I read the plan, ‘Winning the War in Your Mind’ in YouVersion, a Bible app that I use regularly. It is by Craig Groeschel, based on his book of the same name. I would like to share the 4Rs in his plan:

1. Replace the lies with the truth of God – identify the lies we tell ourselves, and replace them with God’s Word in our hearts

2. Rewire our brain, renew our mind – constantly declare God’s truth to create new neural pathways in our brain, to renew our mind. Yes, it is very true that we can rewire our brain with new neural pathways!

3. Reframe our mind, restore our perspective – we cannot control the circumstances in our lives, but we can control how we think about it. We can gain God’s perspective for the situation and discern His will for us. Most importantly, we can believe that God is in control and will use the situation for our benefit (mostly to develop and strengthen our character)

4. Rejoice in the Lord always – rejoice in all our circumstances, as Paul did even when he was in prison. What Paul did in prison was to praise God for Who He Is, i.e. God is good. What struck me was that Paul praised God before God saved him and before God showed up. Bottom line: we can change our perspective through prayer and praise.

Our mind is a battlefield. We can only win this battlefield in our mind with God’s help. It is God’s Word and Truth that we can conquer the battlefield in our mind. Let’s start to identify the lies and Replace them with God’s Word, Rewire and renew our mind by declaring God’s Word, Reframe our situation in God’s perspective and Rejoice always in the Lord. Alleluia!

12 Week Year

Many years ago, there was an American movie called, ‘Honey, I shrunk the kids’. That’s what I feel like when I first read the book, The Twelve Week Year, by Brian P Moran and Michael Lennington. They challenged the Annual 12 months planning, to shrink it to 12 weeks.
The starting point is the vision, the emotional connection, the purpose of it. So why 12 weeks? It is more predictable, more focused, and has a better structure and more importantly, better execution.
The important lessons I have learnt from the book are:
– It is not a knowledge problem, it’s an execution problem
– The emotional connection with my vision, my compelling reason
– Doing things consistently – on a daily and weekly basis
– Measuring effectively – measuring both the execution and the results. We tend to measure just the results and get discouraged. By measuring execution, we can determine if our execution is providing the results we want. This was what really struck me – measuring execution.
– Accountability is not consequences, but taking ownership of our choices

After using this 12 Week Year for 12 weeks, I found that the idea is good, but my implementation was flawed. Without an accountability partner for the Weekly Accountability Meeting, I was not measuring effectively. Measurement drives the process and without it, I was not achieving my results.

I also realize that I needed to take control of my time – to spend time intentionally, to be mindful of how I spend my time. My biggest time-waster is social media, where I can scroll through them for hours. It is also my biggest distraction to be checking my WhatsApp – even while typing this sentence!!!

Bottomline: this is a very good book and awesome concept. I need to implement it in a way that works for me, and I need an accountability partner.

Find your voice simply by activating it

It has been six months since I wrote my last post. I have been feeling quite restless, and lacking motivation. It is like looking at a closet full of clothes, and saying, ‘I have nothing to wear’..! I think a few ladies can relate to that! Haha!

So why have I resumed writing? I just completed Brendon Burchard’s book, The Millionaire Messenger. He shared a story of very shy girl in his class, who requested to make her speech after she missed a few important class, and was not expected to give that speech. We find our voice simply by activating our voices. That was the important message I got. Each one of us have a story to share, insights to enlighten others, struggles that others can relate to, and a heart longing to connect and reach out to others. Hence, I can find my voice simply by activating it – through my writing and sharing with others.

A few years back, I learnt from Live Your Legend about the 3Cs – Consume, Connect and Create. I consume by reading voraciously, and I plan to share a few books that I have read recently. In terms of connection, I have started to reach out and connect with people intentionally. Hence, this blog is my creation. Not just my creation – it is my creation to have an impact and to influence others. It is also a journey that I would like to share with my readers…!

Learning as Your Superpower

I recently shared at a book club on Jim Kwik’s book Limitless, how he changed his mindset from the boy with a broken brain to a mind expert with a limitless mindset. We don’t always get to control the circumstances in our lives, but we always have a choice how we view the circumstances in our lives. That’s why our mindset is so important.

Our mindset is the one that will help us view our circumstances as hopeless, or, hopeful. With a Limitless mindset, we can open our minds to new possibilities and adventures for our future. Learn as much as you can – about yourself, your hopes and dreams, your strengths and weaknesses. Learn about the opportunities around you and how you can add value to people and/or situation around you. Learn something new, something that you have always wanted to learn, especially those who find themselves stuck at home during this Covid lockdown. Have a mindset of Continuous Learning to open your eyes and widen your perspective of life. As as Jim Kwik would say: Learning is your Superpower. It’s time to activate your Learning Superpower and make an positive impact on people around you!

 

We are all Influencers in our own space

Last week, I attended the online InfluencerSummit, hosted by Brendon Burchard. It was an amazing online event with many of the top notch speakers ranging from Jay Shetty, to Jenna Kutcher, to two of BossBabes’ founders, Natalie Ellis and Danielle Canty.

Let me share the lesson I learnt from Jenna Kutcher, who helped me realize that I am an influencer in my own space, be it my family, friends or workers. Her mission: Being Enough – Own Your Enoughness and Help Others Feel Less Alone – speaks volume to me, as I struggle to feel good enough in my different roles, even writing in my own blog. This feeling of not “being enough” can isolate us as we don’t even feel worthy enough to seek help. This belief that we are indeed enough, is essential as we live out our different roles and follow where our dreams take us.

She encouraged us to find our Super Power, as she said, “We are way too close to our own genius”. What I find to do so easily and naturally, can be a challenging task to another person, and we say, “That’s not a Super Power!!”.  We are all geniuses in our own rights – it is a matter of recognizing and acknowledging our genius. The way to find out is to ask people close to us or who work and/or interact with us regularly. Another way to figure out is ask this question: what are you the go-to person for?

I suggest you remove the limited definition of an “influencer” as defined by social media and marketing industry – and be intentional as an influencer in your own space, knowing the value you can add to your community and creating an impact for positive change in the world.

5-Second Brain Hack Rule

Perhaps you have heard of the 3-second rule where you drop you food and you can still pick it up and eat it if it is within 3 seconds. Recently, I heard of the most interesting 5-Second Rule by Mel Robbins. It is a brain hack where you count down 5-4-3-2-1 to interrupt your habit loops and prompts you into action. Instead of hitting the alarm clock snooze button, you count down 5-4-3-2-1 and get out of bed! 

Basically, it is a fact that we are never going to feel like doing the things we should do (e.g. exercise), hence we need to stop waiting to feel like doing it. We need to determine what we want, and practically force ourselves to do it. Just like how our parents used to force us to our homework and do house chores, now we need to “parent”, or force, ourselves to do it. 

When you want to do something or have an interesting idea, act upon it within 5 seconds, before your brain hijacks you and talks you out of it. When you see someone interesting and want to talk to him/her, go over and say ‘Hi!’. If you think longer about it, you will most likely “chicken out”. When you think of exercising, quickly put on your proper gear and walk out, before you change your mind. When the alarm clock rings in the morning, count down 5-4-3-2-1 and get out of bed. Overcome your inertia or procrastination by this simple 5-second rule! Your daily battles come down to this 5-second decisions you make every day! You need to determine what you want, then do what you need to do to get what you want! Try this 5-Second Rule!!!

The time is now. Stop hitting the snooze button on your life.
– Mel Robbins –