In 1922, a journalist named Walter Lippmann wrote about how we actually don’t see the world for what it is, we only see an interpretation of it.

He called it the pseudo-environment. The world is too large and too complex for any person to experience directly, so we all navigate through a picture of the world that someone else built for us.

“For the most part we do not first see, and then define, we define first and then see.”
― Walter Lippmann, Public Opinion

He wrote this in the era of newspapers. This was before television, before the algorithm learned your hesitations.

There has always been a filter between you and the world, and it has been moving in the same direction: closer, faster, more personal, more invisible.

📰 Papers

Print, whether as books or newspapers, gave a shared picture. You read the same newspaper as your neighbor. The editor had a perspective, the paper had owners, and the frame was visible enough that you could hold it at arm’s length. You knew you were looking at a picture. The world was still somewhere else.

📺 Broadcast

When broadcast was introduced, a generation went to bed with almost the same version of the day. The filter got more centralized.

Something quieter happened in broadcast, though. Accessing information used to require real effort. You traveled. You prepared your questions, because the cost of getting there made you take them seriously. You arrived as a participant. The distance created a kind of gravity around the question.

Broadcast started closing that distance. The information can now arrive in real-time.

📱Algorithmic

Then the internet arrived.

This was not only real-time information, but personalized information. From search results to feed, the algorithm learned your patterns, your hesitations, the things that kept you scrolling past midnight. It didn’t show you a perspective anymore. It showed you your perspective, refined and reflected back.

The frame also became more invisible, it got too good at agreeing with you to notice.

Somewhere in the scrolling, you could read someone else’s thoughts then share it, and it would feel like productive thinking because the words felt yours and the information was real.

The friction of thinking about what you saw (i.e. the place where something original had a chance to form) got easy to skip.

🤖 Generative

And now a picture of the world doesn’t just get served to you. It generates itself around you.

The AI doesn’t present a perspective or even your perspective. It constructs a response shaped by everything it’s learned, including what kind of answer you’re likely to find satisfying. The filter is still there. It just sounds, increasingly, like the inside of your own head.

Access to information has never been easier. The pseudo-environment doesn’t feel like a pseudo-environment when it’s this well-fitted.

🧠 What’s been closing the whole time

There’s a pattern across all of it.

Papers removed the effort of seeking. Broadcast removed the friction of distance. Algorithms removed the shared frame. And now, the generative layer starts to form an answer before you get to think of the right question.

Each shift made the gap between you and the picture harder to see.

Original thought was never about finding something no one had found before. It was about arriving with a question that actually unsettled you, one you’d been living with long enough to matter. The distance, the effort, the cost of getting there, were conditions that made thinking AND expertise possible.

🗓️ So what comes next?

The filter shift is accelerating. The picture will be more personal, more invisible. And the people who learn to ask the right questions are going to think differently than everyone else.

Which leads me to highlight the inevitable… AI.

In the age of AI where a lot of knowledge work can be displaced, critical thinking becomes much more important. We talk a lot about how taste is the new moat now. All of that is true. One key thing I would highlight is that although taste can only be acquired if you are willing to put in the work of thinking, of having strong opinions.

Everyone can access any type of information now.

The access gap has been closing, but the thinking gap is getting wider.

I’ve been having a version of the same conversation with people in tech. We are all in varying levels of excitement, exhaustion, or both at the same time.

For the past years, the big conversation around AI was mostly about other industries. Which jobs would disappear. Which sectors will be disrupted.

Then the conversation moved inside the tech industry… every table turned. Anthropic published research that put numbers on what that looked like.

A lot of people who are in catch-up mode in AI are feeling like it’s not getting easier.

I assumed that would change. That’s how it had always worked… with email, spreadsheets, any new tech. You’re unfamiliar, you lean to the uncomfortable and learn it, then it disappears into the background. Fluency sticks and you move on. We call this the learning curve.

That hasn’t happened (yet?) with AI, and it has been years. You learn something and before it even settles, it updates. The workload hasn’t gone down the more familiar you’ve gotten. It’s gone up. Not because AI failed to deliver its promise (contrary to what others would say) but because the pace keeps resetting before the you can benefit from the returns.

The curve never resolves because the ground keeps moving.

The analogy most of us are thinking is a hill. You climb, you get somewhere, eventually you stop because you’re at the top. The workload is front-loaded. The return compounds with a view of the summit.

But we’re not a hill… we’re on a treadmill.

When you are thinking this is a hill, not seeing the summit does not only feel exhausting. It feels unproductive, and you start asking, “what is the point?”

When you expect a summit, being on a treadmill feels like failure.

I’ve watched people respond to this differently.

There are people in full catch-up mode, spending more time learning tools than actually using them.

Others have stepped off entirely, waiting for things to stabilize. In most tech cycles, this is where most people are. This is also what most people do when they’re not seeing the payoff of trying to keep up.

When you start treating it like you’re in a treadmill, you stop trying to master whatever’s current and start building the capacity to absorb whatever’s next. Those are different goals. The first one is about asking “where is the finish line?” This one is “how do I get better at running?”

There is a time and place to ask different types of questions. And during a time where the learning curve is not a curve, it is important to sustain your energy by having better frame of mind.

When you shift from mastery to capacity, it changes what you’re measuring yourself against. Not the current state of the tools. Your own adaptability. It doesn’t make the treadmill stop. But it changes how it feels as you keep going. You stop chasing a summit that doesn’t exist (yet?) and start building endurance. That’s not a consolation prize.

That’s the whole game.

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks."
— Christopher Hitchens

🗞️ Context is king

Growing up, I saw Philippians 4:13 everywhere.

On tarpaulins at graduation. On wristbands. On basketball jerseys. On classroom walls.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

It was the verse of champions. Achievement verse. The verse you quote before a big game or a big exam. I can do all things... dream big, aim high, push harder.

Later, I actually read the verses around it.

"I have learned, in whatever situation I am, to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need."
— Philippians 4:11-12

Paul was writing from prison. He wasn't talking about winning. He was talking about being at peace with having nothing. The "all things" wasn't about achieving, it was about enduring.

The verse still hits, but differently in context.

One of the things I picked up early is that context is king (...although fake news has built an entire empire on taking things completely out of context lol). When you're trying to actually understand something (a quote, a person, a decision, or even tools & systems), context changes everything.

One of my favorite lines from a poem is:

Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

It shows up the same way Philippians 4:13 used to before: in graduation speeches, on Instagram, in motivational reels. Dream big. Do something extraordinary with your life.

But the lines right before it say:

I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

The question at the end isn't a rally cry. It's almost gentle: given that everything dies too soon, maybe the answer is just this. Being here. Paying attention.

Same pattern. A famous line used for ambition. The full context is about stillness.

📓 Devotions

The line I quoted above is from the poem called The Summer Day, and it's from a collection called Devotions – the selected poems of Mary Oliver.

I read it on Kindle while traveling last October-November 2025. It's not the kind of book you read front to back in one sitting. You open it wherever and whenever.

I've been noticing that this idea – paying attention, being present – feels more urgent now. At Symph, we've been doing a lot with AI, and I'm genuinely excited about it. Ironically, in the age of AI, thinking in context is way more important now.

One of the things I keep observing is how much is being produced online. More writing, more images, more content than at any point in history. And a lot of it is good. But a lot of it is untethered from the thing that makes it land.

One of the best things I've seen on the internet recently is a reel from @blakeoftoday. Someone tweeted asking if being an artist is still a safe career with AI. His response? AI can turn out points all day. But only people can yearn. Only people can love. Only people can play.

It reminded me that creating & doing any kind of work (even beyond craftsmanship) was never about safety or the security. It was always about the making which in itself is a privilege.

In a world where anything can be generated in the speed of light, the most valuable thing might just be what's lived. What's felt. What's actually in context. I've been figuring out my own systems for that: how to create more from what I actually experience, and be more intentional about what I let in.

“Our lives are the sum of our memories. How much are we willing to lose from our already short lives by … not paying attention?”
― Joshua Foer

🎬 Being 100% present

I once heard that instead of asking "Do I want to do this?"

Ask "Is this an experience I want to have?"

That’s what I found myself asking a lot this past year.
It led me to hike mountains I never thought I would, from Fansipan to Rinjani.
Each moment felt like something my younger self only dreamt about.

It reminded me why The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2014) has always been one of my favorite films, as it's making rounds in my social media feed again. People often see it as a story of escapism, leaving the mundane behind. But I’ve always viewed it differently.

Walter Mitty isn't about escaping to life nor is it about escaping from work.
It’s about being fully present in all of it.

Walter’s quiet dedication to his work carries the same presence he brings into the world when he finally steps out. He doesn't compartmentalize his life. He just shows up fully, wherever he is.

It seems to me that Ben Stiller understood this so well that in Severance, he shows us the horror of the opposite: what happens when we try to split ourselves, when we literally sever work from life. The result isn't freedom. It's fragmentation.

I've been reminded about this because time keeps moving. Some day, I won’t have the same chances I have now: to go on adventures with friends, to build memories with family, to use the energy I have for the work I care about.

Windows close quietly while we’re looking elsewhere.

“the key takeaway... is to strike the right balance between spending on the present (and only on what you value) and saving smartly for the future.”
― Bill Perkins

📘 Die with Zero

I have heard about Bill Perkins' Die with Zero for years now. But I only picked it up recently, mostly because I felt like I needed some nudge. I was hoping I could pick up something that would help me live a little more intentionally.

I was surprised to find a concept I'd been practicing since college: time buckets. Back then, I intuitively started mapping out which experiences belonged in which life periods. The book gave this instinct some structure.

He talked about the idea of memory dividends: A trip at 25 creates stories and meaning that compound over decades. The same trip at 65 won’t return as much, not just because of health or energy, but because there’s less time left for that memory to shape you.

It challenges the default script:
Save hard. Retire late. Hope you’re still healthy enough to enjoy it all.

Instead, the book asks:
What if you optimized for life experiences when they matter most?

Not about spending recklessly; just spending intentionally.
Not just money, but time. Energy. Attention.

He outlines “time buckets” by stages:

• Before 35: The physically demanding adventures. The late nights with friends. The career risks that feel less risky when you have time to recover.

• 35–45: Experiences with aging parents. Adventures with young kids if you have them. The perfect balance of energy and resources.

• 45–55: Deeper travels. Mentoring. Projects that require wisdom more than stamina.

• Beyond: Experiences that improve with age, patience, and perspective.

Of course, these aren’t fixed timelines.
Taking care of your body earlier gives you more time to stretch the active years.

It’s also where he brings in giving. The most meaningful time to give, whether to loved ones or causes, is often not at the end of your life. Giving earlier, while people (and you) can experience the impact, creates its own kind of dividend.

Perkins recommends creating 5-year buckets. In each one, ask:

• What’s my physical capacity likely to be?

• Who’s around me, and for how long?

• What can I afford?

• What experiences are right for this version of me?

Some windows are open now that won’t be later.
Some people are here now who won’t always be.
And some versions of ourselves only exist for a while.

It’s not about spending everything.
It’s about not missing what you were meant to experience, and give, while it still matters.

“Chase memorable life experiences, give money to your kids when they can best use it, donate money to charity while you’re still alive... Remember: In the end, the business of life is the acquisition of memories.”
― Bill Perkins

🔖 Things i saved

• I enjoyed this read which seems to be a good insight inside how OpenAI seem to still operate like a lean organization.

  Reflections on OpenAI

• A nice reminder to just do it, even if you might look dumb.

  Useful Fictions

  Learn to love the Moat of Low Status

  This post is an excerpt from my forthcoming book (and builds on a couple paragraphs in my original post on agency). I’ll be running a few excerpts here in the next couple months, in hopes of getting feedback on the kinds of content people are excited to see in the book (which is a signal about what to expand or scale ba…

  Read more

  10 months ago · 751 likes · 70 comments · Cate Hall

“You may think that in everyday life, the things you see and hear influence what you feel, but it’s mostly the other way around: What you feel alters your sight and hearing.”
— Lisa Feldman Barrett

☁️ life seasons

I have barely sat down to write anything this year. I’ve been meaning to, but life’s been full. Not in a bad nor good way. Just full. In motion.

Lately, I’ve been noticing how people in my life seem to be in such different seasons. I talk to someone I haven’t seen in a while and realize they’re navigating something I didn’t expect. And then I look at my own life and realize, I’m also in a different chapter too than we last talked.

Some friends are rebuilding. Some are caregiving. Some are chasing dreams. Some are resting. Some are in love. Some are in between.

Somewhere in all of that, I'm starting to notice a growing desire: I want to be someone who shows up. Not just for myself, but for others.

I’ve never really considered that as one of my primary drivers.

I used to think my driving question was only:
Would I look back to this moment and be happy with the choices I made?

And I still ask myself that like it's a routine.

But now I also ask:
Am I showing up well for the people in my life?

I think one of the holiest thing we can do in this God-given life is to be present, with where we are and with where others are. To go through each season fully—not rush it, not skip ahead.

Ten years ago, I would’ve been overwhelmed by how fast life is changing for people around me. But somehow, I’m not. Maybe because I’m not trying to keep up nor holding on to moments tightly.

I’m just trying to be here.
To be present.
For myself.
For the people I love.
For whatever chapter this is.

🧠 How to Know a Person

I didn't know what to read at the start of the year.

While searching, I came across Bill Gates' recommended reading list which included "How to Know a Person" by David Brooks. The book explores the art of understanding others and forming deeper connections.

There’s a part where the book talks about how we all go through different life tasks, and the key to really knowing someone is noticing which task they’re in now—not which one we assume they’re in, or wish they were in.

“...if you want to understand someone well, you have to understand what life task they are in the middle of and how their mind has evolved to complete this task.”
— David Brooks

The book shares some of the life tasks we might find ourselves in:

• Imperial Task – establishing a sense of agency and competence

• Interpersonal Task – focusing on social identity and intimacy

• Career Consolidation – striving for mastery and self-control in one's vocation

• Generative Task – contributing to the next generation and society

• Integrity vs. Despair – reflecting on life with a sense of fulfillment or regret

What makes this framework valuable is understanding that people in different tasks have different needs.

These aren’t steps. They don’t go in order. Some people loop. Some skip. But it helped me look at people with a little more softness. A little more curiosity.

“The quality of your life depends quite a bit on the quality of attention you project out onto the world.”
— David Brooks

🗞️ listening & reading

Here are some warm articles to read + captivating episodes to listen to that stood out to me the past months:

• where a lot of the idea of "community requires inconvenience" seem to come from: A case for inconveniencing your friends

• a nice reminder: It's Later Than You Think

• listening to this episode felt like watching a movie while i was driving: Inside the Hunt for Putin's Sleeper Agents

• this amazes me and puzzles me at the same time: She Fell in Love with ChatGPT. Like, Actual Love. With Sex.

• one of my favorite C.S. Lewis quotes about friendship, delivered as an instagram reel.

"My life is knitted together by the most exquisite human beings."
– Elizabeth Gilbert

⛓️‍💥 Rediscovering connection

Growing up as an introverted kid, I dreaded gatherings. I was not only introverted; I was shy. The Philippines, having a very communal culture, did not help. The idea of working on myself, being introspective, and achieving success through individual effort appealed to me. It also aligned with the individualistic, me-first narrative often promoted in social media.

But life has a way of gently nudging us towards growth.

During a trip to San Vicente, Palawan, our tuk-tuk got stuck in the road when a river overflowed. For over an hour, we waited, chatting with the residents as the water slowly receded. Although we had conversations about how the local government needs to do something about it (which is a separate story in itself), I also got to witness their collective spirit.

As the water became shallow, locals spontaneously came together to help carry motorcycles and push tuk-tuks through the still-flowing stream. What struck me most was their genuine enthusiasm for helping each other–they declined any offers of payment, their faces lit with the simple joy of helping others.

It was community in action. A modern-day bayanihan, if you will. Instead of carrying houses, it was a sight of carrying vehicles.

This experience took me back to my childhood, where such acts of communal support were commonplace. Living in a world emphasizing individualism and self-reliance, I felt like I had almost forgotten the warmth of collective care. It was a reminder of how beautiful it is to assume the best in people and to help without expecting anything in return.

📒 Unreasonable Hospitality

These experiences led me to read Will Guidara's book Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect. In this book, Guidara reveals how going above and beyond in hospitality can transform businesses and human connections alike.

Some people or cultures tend to be described as hospitable. My understanding of the word deepened when the book differentiated service and hospitality.

“Service is black and white; hospitality is color. 'Black and white' means you’re doing your job with competence and efficiency; 'color' means you make people feel great about the job you’re doing for them.”
– Will Guidara

Two key lessons from the book apply to life and business:

1 - Create meaningful moments 🚎

"Most important, we have an opportunity—a responsibility—to make magic in a world that desperately needs more of it."
– Will Guidara

There is an online trend sharing what it is like to work in the hospitality business. When one works in hospitality, one witnesses the highs and lows of customers, revealing how magical and honorable service work is.

If there's anything to learn, it's to look for opportunities to go beyond the expected. Whether remembering a customer's preference or surprising a friend with a snack, these small gestures can transform ordinary interactions into memorable experiences.

Being on the receiving end of others' hospitality is something I'm deeply grateful for a few weeks ago. As I boarded a bus from Denpasar to Malang, I realized my friend and I were the only ones unable to communicate in Bahasa Indonesian. I tried speaking to other passengers, but most couldn't understand English.

As the bus conductor approached me mid-trip, he realized I couldn't speak Indonesian. He looked confused, unable to speak English himself. I reached for my phone, hoping for a signal to use Google Translate. That's when the person across from me spoke English. Thank God I was seated near an English teacher! I was relieved. She communicated with the bus conductor for us throughout the trip. (Yes, I know, I should learn more of the local language next time haha)

I've always preferred to be the giver and make people feel welcome. It was interesting to be on the receiving side of this hospitality. I feel very indebted, and the conversations I had with English-speaking locals, sharing a slice of their lives, enriched my experience immeasurably.

2 - Empower your team (or yourself) to be generous 👋

“My favorite was 'Make the charitable assumption,' a reminder to assume the best of people, even when (or perhaps especially when) they weren’t behaving particularly well.”
– Will Guidara

Foster a culture where going the extra mile is encouraged. In life, this might mean permitting yourself to be unexpectedly kind to others, even when not required. It's about choosing to see the best in people and situations, opening doors for positive interactions.

While staying in East Java, Indonesia, my friend & I got to talk with an insightful guy staying in the same accommodation. Later that night, he mentioned he talked to us because we were the only ones who smiled back. No one smiled back the entire day. It was a funny realization. We were staying at an accommodation filled with tourists like ourselves. I didn’t notice no one really smiled back until it was pointed out. We just assumed people were just tired from the tours they do.

It reminded me of advice I'd once read about greeting "hi" or smiling at people as you walk by. It helps with rejection insensitivity since a lot of people won't respond and if they do, it's often worth it.

These experiences have shown me that hospitality—whether from strangers pushing a tuk-tuk through a river or a simple hello—creates a ripple effect. It amplifies the sense of community, benefiting both the receiver and the giver, opening us all to unexpected connections and moments of joy.

Growing up introspective, I knew introspection had its merits. What I've begun to realize is that there's much to learn from outrospection as well—from observing and engaging with the world and people around me. This journey of looking outward would teach me lessons that self-reflection alone couldn't provide.

📚 More on community and hospitality

• The Secret Ingredients of Great Hospitality: Will Guidara's TED talk, expanding on the ideas from his book "Unreasonable Hospitality."

• The Filipino Story: A beautiful encapsulation of Filipino culture that I thoroughly enjoyed watching.

• Having worked remotely around the Philippines since last year, my friend & I have started logging our favorite spots through work+wander.

Clear is kind; unclear is unkind.
— Brené Brown

🕶️ Be more chill?

At the start of the year, I struggled with a realization: being "chill" isn't always the best approach. In specific contexts, it can even be unkind. And I am, more often than not, very chill.

By being chill, I mean allowing things to happen naturally without interference. This can lead to good things and sometimes spontaneous fun. Keeping your hands open and letting go of things when they are beyond your control is also necessary.

However, I had to learn that being "chill" is not ideal when you're leading any social interactions (e.g. meetings, events, dinners).

Growing up, I thought this would be the epitome of kindness and hospitality – letting people be. But being too laid-back can result in a lack of direction and purpose. This can cause any event to feel uneventful... and feel like another routine.

"Chill" is selfishness disguised as kindness
— Priya Parker

Over the past few months, I've observed and learned from various hosts—from the accommodations where I'm staying, from dinners organized by a host, and from skilled tour guides. I am deeply grateful to have these resources to witness and learn from.

I realize that the best interactions and gatherings I have experienced were the ones where I didn't have to read between the lines. They are clear and purposeful. They don't leave things open-ended.

🤲 The Art of Gathering

Aside from learning from people around me, I am glad to have found Priya Parker's The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters.

The way we gather matters. Gatherings consume our days and help determine the kind of world we live in, in both our intimate and public realms.

In the book, Parker shares anecdotes and advice on designing gatherings that are meaningful and transformative by focusing on purposeful, intentional, and thoughtful hosting.

Hosting is not democratic, just like design isn’t. Structure helps good parties, like restrictions help good design.

1 - Define purpose 🤍

Defining the purpose of a gathering, regardless if it's a business meeting, a wedding, or a dinner with friends, helps make it more meaningful and transformative.

... But here's the great paradox of gathering. There are so many good reasons for coming together that often we don't know precisely why we're doing so.

2 - Intentional invitations ✉️

Defining who should be in a gathering often gets neglected because excluding people can seem rude. However, inviting the right people is crucial for aligning with the gathering's purpose.

The author illustrates the importance of this through an example of their group of friends who met regularly.

When one friend brought an additional person, some friends felt uncomfortable, not because they were rude, but because it didn't align with their perceived purpose of the gathering. This highlights the significance of the "who" in any gathering, regardless of its formality or size.

Excluding well and purposefully is reframing who and what you are being generous to—your guests and your purpose.

3 - Thoughtful opening & closing 📢

A good opening allows people to enter the gathering with their authentic selves. Simple changes, like introducing people with a unique story instead of their occupation, can make a gathering unique and meaningful.

At the end of a gathering, re-affirm the purpose and share takeaways to make interactions memorable.

How you gather matters. How you start and how you finish matter. They are the bookends that hold the stories on the shelf.

By being more intentional and less chill, we can create meaningful experiences that strengthen our connections and enrich our lives.

"Never be ashamed of trying. Effortlessness is a myth."
— Taylor Swift

"Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going. No feeling is final."
― Rainer Maria Rilke

🍂 Making peace with contradictions

Every year-end, I reflect on contradictions within myself and try to make sense of them. While scanning old notes, I saw I wrote this 10 years ago:

Slowly fading yet still growing,
Days are passing, and times are changing,
The soul is breaking but still glowing,
A paradox— I am freely becoming

I intentionally contemplate about conflicts and contradictions within myself, often recalling one of Danielle Bennett's spoken poetry pieces:

"I am not forcing resolve, because I'm not sure that's the way life folds. But I am reconciling every version of myself, because I want them to meet one day and have a good laugh at how right we swore we were."

Recently, I contemplated two personal contradictions: Planning and Spontaneity.

If you have met me in the past 5 years, you'd know I plan a lot. Some people would have a hard time picturing me as spontaneous. My calendar is my personal assistant.

However, I never liked using Planners; I use them as journals instead. I'm too spontaneous for Planners.

Despite its convenience, I realized I didn't like Planners because of the permanence that comes with physically writing something down, and I have to cross them out if plans change.

It was not until the last few weeks of 2023 that I started enjoying the idea of writing in a planner by changing my mindset: I no longer think of what I should do; I write what I am looking forward to on a specific day. And yes, it can change. And changing what you are going to look forward to can be joyful.

If something better comes along, I don't need to get stuck on the plan that I once wrote. No writing is final.

📓 Letters to a young poet

The last book I finished in 2023 is short but full of insight. It compiles 10 letters from Rainer Maria Rilke to a young poet seeking advice.

The beauty of reading essays from poets is they don't shy away from talking about overwhelming emotions, or the beauty of the mundane.

Two of my favorite takeaways:

Let everything happen to you: Face the sadness and challenges with courage and resilience. Let them wash you new and allow these challenges to unfold into something beautiful.

“Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.”

Most importantly, live the questions: Don't get too hung up on the uncertainties in life. Live in the present. Experience life.

"And what matters is to live everything. Live the questions for now. Perhaps then you will gradually, without noticing it, live your way into the answer, one distant day in the future.”

I have a growing love for Rilke's poetry, and it's a good companion during days when you need to reflect and slow down.

May we all find comfort in our inner paradoxes, for they are the tapestry of our lives.

📑 More quick reads

Below are some articles I recently read that made life a bit more meaningful:

MediumBrian Chesky

Turning Towards LifeJustin Wise

The On Being ProjectRainer Maria Rilke

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“I have discovered that all the unhappiness of men arises from one single fact, that they cannot stay quietly in their own chamber.”
— Blaise Pascal

🚗 Wandering around

For most of my life, I have always stayed in one place. Same neighborhood, same school. Nothing in my life changed so much.

With much of my life constant, I learned to see majesty out of the mundane.

Concurrently, I was always seeking something out of life. My mind was always wandering. I always felt the need to be doing something. Why? I was unsure.

One thing I was sure of is that I knew what Jean-Paul Sartre meant when he said,

"If you are lonely when you're alone, you are in bad company."

I had to learn how to be still. To enjoy solitude. To do sabbath. To be a being.

This year, I got to physically move around a lot. With movement, I knew I needed slow days.

I wondered how I came to have this belief. It is definitely a combination of various lessons I had to learn. Most of it was fueled by Pico Iyer.

🍃 The Art of Stillness

During college, I followed Pico Iyer's work. He is known as a travel writer. I watched his talks, and I listened to podcasts that had him as a guest.

I gained insights from him as he talked & wrote about the importance of stillness over the years. Despite that, it's not until this year that I read his TED book, The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere.

There are three key lessons from Pico Iyer that I carry with me:

Solitude: Freedom from distraction ⛰️

"Going nowhere…isn’t about turning your back on the world; it’s about stepping away now and then so that you can see the world more clearly and love it more deeply."

I enjoy solitude. I feel like I get to be my truest self when I have enough quiet time alone, without the influence of other people. This might not be for everyone. Nonetheless, I always recommend learning how to be alone.

Moses received the Torah from Mount Sinai. Jesus went to the wilderness the night before choosing his disciples. Who knows what revelation presents itself when you're alone and free of distractions?

Reflection: Changing perspective 💭

“So much of our lives takes place in our heads – in memory or imagination, in speculation or interpretation – that sometimes I feel that I can change my life by changing the way I look at it.”

Being still allows me to look at things differently. When I don't like how things are going, I pause. Examine each thought. Examine each emotion.

As William James would say, "The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another."

Recollection: Creating lasting memories 📷

"Every time I take a trip, the experience acquires meaning and grows deeper only after I get back home and, sitting still, begin to convert the sights I’ve seen into lasting insights."

My frequency of recollecting experiences has varied greatly over the past few years. One thing has remained consistent–life becomes more meaningful only when I look back at it.

Building into Iyer's thought, a trip for me will have three levels of joy: planning it, experiencing it, and recollecting it. In other words, I take joy from the anticipation, movement, and stillness.

And in stillness, there's meaning.

“Movement makes richest sense when set within a frame of stillness.” – Pico Iyer

💡 Other insights

As reading the book took me back to college, here are other insights that I feel had a lasting impact on me over the past decade:

• This article on why need to slow down our lives is when I discovered Pico Iyer.

• Susan Cain has a TED talk on a closely related topic.

• One perspective I see life with is from the ancient practice of memento mori. For me, it's synonymous with this too shall pass and seize the day.

• This insight about how personal projects can fill your well of reserves is one reason I started writing again.

"We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are."
– ANAÏS NIN

📝 Growing opinions

I realized I don't always have opinions about particular things.

More than half of the time.

It's a good thing and a bad thing.

...or maybe neither?

I briefly struggled with this awareness.

Initially, I thought of it as a good thing, especially when interacting with people. I don't have judgment for a person because everyone is a blank page for me. I don't always have a first impression.

(If I took MBTI tests seriously, another way of saying this is that I am giving off a strong INFP energy.)

At the same time, seeing everything as a blank page will not necessarily move the world forward. Often when I look at a new artwork or I hear the news, I don't have thoughts about it. In moments like these, I question... is it indifference or openness? How can I make sure it's the latter?

🤷‍♂️

I noticed opinions generally fall into any of these three categories: background, action, output.

What I concluded from my brief musing is I tend to see each category as a prerequisite to the other:

• I don't have thoughts about a specific output or outcome until I know how it came to be.

• I don't have thoughts about how something came to be until I know the intent or motive behind it.

But in reality, I don't always have the luxury of knowing the background of a person or a thing. I am re-learning to exercise the muscle of creating assumptions while still being able to affirm, deny, or suspend them.

I am trying to do more activities that widen my perspective to help create better assumptions. Some of these are traveling, meeting new people, and reading books.

A book that I revisit to expand my perspective is Erin Meyer's The Culture Map.

🗺️ The Culture Map

This book decodes "how people think, lead, and get things done across cultures" by outlining how culture operates differently in a system of 8 scales. The 3 scales that I found the most fascinating are Communicating, Scheduling, and Persuading.

Communicating 💬

Different cultures have different tendencies when it comes to communication. A person tends to be either more low-context or high-context.

• Low-context - They would define good communication as saying what you mean. Communicate as literally & explicitly possible. Be clear and simple.

• High-context - They would define good communication as being able to communicate a message between the lines. It is critical to be able to read the air. To an extent, being direct can be seen as rude or unintelligent.

"One of the biggest mistakes lower-context managers make is assuming that the other individual is purposely omitting information or unable to communicate explicitly."
– Erin Meyer

In a business setting, especially with different cultures involved, it is recommended for everyone to do low-context communication. This would lessen misunderstanding.

Scheduling 🕓

This is a scale on how fluid (or rigid) different cultures are to schedules.

• Linear-time - schedules are more sequential, focused, one thing at a time, and promptness is important.

• Flexible-time - schedules are fluid, there can be many things going on, and interruptions are not a bad thing. Adaptability to changing schedules/priorities is important.

I would assume this explains "Filipino Time" (Filipinos arriving around an hour late to the scheduled time).

One insight I got from this is that cultures on the left side of the scale have their environment more stable (i.e. weather, events/holidays, or social/political/economic landscape) relative to those on the right.

This also means those on the right find flexibility more valuable, while those on the left put more value in following a schedule.

On a personal level, the moment I get to plan something 6 months in advance is when I also pause and be grateful that things around me are stable enough to think that far ahead.

"Perhaps the most interesting about the Scheduling scale is that those from each side of the scale see those from the other side as inefficient and imagine they must lead lives that are terribly difficult and stressful"
– Erin Meyer

Persuading 🪞

When it comes to persuading, some people tend to put focus on the How (Appliations-first), while some focus on the Why (Principles-first).

This also dictates the teaching styles across different cultures. In a math class, principles-first culture would tend to explain or prove the general principle first, while applications-first would start with applying the formula.

What I found the most fascinating though is leaving Asian cultures out of the scale. Meyer explained this is because Asians tend to have holistic thinking contrary to Westerners who have a specific approach.

Meyer shared this insight:

"A common tenet of Western philosophies and religions is that you can remove an item from its environment and analyze it separately... Aristotle emphasized focusing attention on a salient object.

Chinese religions and philosophies, by contrast, have traditionally emphasized interdependencies and interconnectedness... The terms yin and yang describe how seemingly contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent."
– Erin Meyer

In an experiment of looking at photos and taking photos, Asians would tend to put a great deal of importance on the background, while Americans focus on individual figures separate from their environment.

This made me wonder, how much of the Asian culture did I actually grow accustomed to?

Is it why I am writing about my yearning to know about the backgrounds (literally or figuratively) of people or things?

I hope this was eye-opening for you, too.

"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do."
– Steve Jobs

💭 Just a thought

In April of 2022, I created a note called "The Future of Work" where I dumped my thoughts on what, I think, the future of work will look like. It was born out of two things:

1. With the pandemic possibly ending soon, there were a lot of debates about what the future of work will look like in the new normal—back to the office, fully remote, hybrid?

2. And honestly, I just finished watching WeCrashed from Apple TV 😂 (a miniseries dramatizing the rise and fall of WeWork). WeWork wanted to build the future of work. A rush of ideas came flooding into my head.

In my notes, I wrote about how I think the future of work will be shaped by 3 principles: Optimization, Impact, and Connection. Since then, these became my guiding principles, especially in the work I do at Symph.

Optimization 📉

I define optimization as eliminating unnecessary work. I believe the future of work will make use of our hearts & minds. A work that makes us feel human, not one that makes us feel like a cog in a machine.

Last year, I thought optimization will be primarily attained by automating – automating unnecessary & repetitive work.

In November of 2022, OpenAI introduced ChatGPT which expanded what I have in my head as optimizing work. There are now stories where people don't have to hire a new employee because they have tools with Artificial Intelligence (AI) that can do the work. This sounds scary for most, initially. In the long term – I'd like to think that we, as people, can develop to fill a new need.

Impact 🚀

We don't optimize for the sake of itself. The reason for optimizing is to create the most impact possible. A business exists because it fills a need for various people. A business ceases to exist if it doesn't create an impact.

A meaningful business is one that creates an impact. Impact paves the way for meaningful work.

Connection 🤝

I believe the future of work keeps people connected. I think there is work that cannot be replaced by automation, or at least it shouldn't be. Most of the digital innovations in the 21st century exist with the mission to connect people — connect the world (Facebook), without boundaries (Twitter), belong anywhere (Airbnb).

Life & work is meaningful because of connection.

To put in other words, meaningful work is possible when it fosters connection. Connection is fostered in a work that creates an impact. Impact grows by optimizing.

💬 Closing thought

I see the future of work keeping these three principles:

• eliminate unnecessary work

• make the most impact possible

• keep people connected

For some of us in the tech space, we are re-discovering the possibilities of AI. One of the discussions I liked on AI is from Reid Hoffman's podcast, Possible. They discussed how using AI to clone yourself does not sound like the best way to capture its potential. You will just have more of you and what you can do.

The better way of using AI is when it allows you to grow and think differently, like a digital coach. This allows us to be more productive, and be better humans. I see the future of work aligning with this.

In this new wave of digital innovations, my positive outlook on it lies in the hope that more of us will get to do more of the things that give us life.

📣 Things I'm excited about

At Symph,

• We just wrapped up building 30 AI Apps until April 30. You can check out all the tools & use cases here: https://symph.ai/ (yes, there are more than 30).

• We're building Friendlist and it's launching soon. With the rise of AI tools powered by large language models, I see a world where we access the internet through conversations.

On AI,

• There's this tweet that blew up: 90% of My Skills Are Now Worth $0.

• I discovered Reid Hoffman's new podcast, Possible, just yesterday. Hence, the reference above. It also happens to explore the topic of what the future of work looks like across different professions.

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"Boundaries are the distance at which I can love you and me simultaneously"
– Prentis Hemphill

〰️ Setting boundaries

As the first quarter of 2023 is about to end, I have been highly aware that I have been traveling more this year than any other year. I have seen myself very fortunate to get to live my life going around & do productive work remotely.

One of the nice things about traveling is the self-discovery that comes along with it. You get to observe yourself in different environments. For the first time this month, I tried staying in a hostel. Since then, I learned what things I am okay compromising on when traveling & what I would not.

This easily reminded me of the multiple conversations I have had with people about Boundaries. Instead of changing the environment or saying no, some people would go with the flow. They will say yes to anything but are filled with resentment doing so.

In reality, boundaries are not walls to push people out. They are the lines of knowing for yourself what is okay and what is not okay.

An author I would reference directly after having a conversation about boundaries is Brené Brown. She has talked a lot about vulnerability, shame, and the importance of boundaries. About boundaries, Brown wrote:

"We often think of boundaries as walls that separate us from others, but in reality, boundaries are bridges that allow us to connect more deeply with the people we love."

📕 Atlas of the Heart

Brené Brown's latest book is about being able to define your emotions. It is a classic coffee-table book that feels like a big dictionary, except this is a dictionary of human emotions.

One of the things that stuck with me since I finished this book a year ago is how she defined stress & overwhelmed. She compared it to the two terms used when she was working as a waitress—in the weeds & being blown.

In the weeds

"In the weeds" refers to a server who is dealing with a lot of tasks and demands, but is still able to handle them individually. In this scenario, you can be asked what you need so things can be delegated/offloaded/re-assigned.

Being blown

On the other hand, "being blown" refers to a server who is completely overwhelmed and unable to comprehend or communicate the specifics of the situation. In this scenario, no one would talk to you, you can step out and take 10 minutes to get some space and regain composure. This reminds me so much of a classic line from a TV show, How I met your mother: "Sometimes three deep breaths can change everything."

Reading the book made me more self-aware. It has helped in making sure I am not controlled by my emotions alone. At the same time, reading about the various emotions in the book has helped me sit down with other people when they share how they feel.

"By setting and communicating clear boundaries, we can protect ourselves from overwhelm and build more fulfilling lives."
– Brené Brown

Ultimately, a good reminder is that we are not defined by our emotions. It is what it is. They are not meant to be numbed down nor used as a master.

"We are not our thoughts or our feelings; we are the observer of them." – Jerry Colonna

🎥 Sharing links

• When talking about Brené Brown, I usually share this video from The Work of the People with my friends for the past 5 years.

• At Symph, we have talked about connecting with people. This OnBeing article on listening is something I have revisited. The author's book "Walking to Listen" is on my reading list.

• I have recently fallen in love with the podcast Masters of Scale. My go-to podcast when I feel like listening to one.

• I have bookmarked this link, in case it ever comes in handy: https://www.sleepinginairports.net/

“Ordinary people think merely of spending time, great people think of using it.”
– Arthur Schopenhauer

💡 Eisenhower Matrix

When talking about productivity or self-management, it will eventually discuss the Eisenhower Matrix. The framework has been used in managing workload & priorities, and it has helped a lot of people.

The idea is to categorize your tasks and activities into Urgent/Not Urgent, Important/Not Important. Ultimately, it will fall into the following quadrants:

I don't always have the matrix on top of my mind, but I realized it's already embedded in the way I operate.

Below, I will share the way I handle each work that lands on my plate. I noticed it is basically the Eisenhower Matrix, but as a system.

A personal system of prioritization ⚙️

Personally, I will never put important tasks on a To-do list. Important tasks go directly into my Calendar. I will talk about it more in each section.

DO - Schedule within the day

As soon as I have something urgent & important - I reschedule my day to build around that new thing. This means I will put some things off until later in the week & I will have to cancel or reschedule some meetings.

Time management is never about sticking to a schedule. It is about managing the tasks to do, the resources (time) you have, and keeping both in harmony.

DECIDE - Schedule for later

Anything that falls under this quadrant, I will decide when I would do it. Often, I block the next available space in my calendar to do the new task.

To-do lists only indicate when a task should be done, not when I will do it. If something is important, I will directly block it in my calendar. This way, I will always remember to do it, even at a later time.

DELEGATE - Put on a visible to-do list

Sometimes you don't have someone to delegate work to. This is where To-do lists come in. To-do lists help me remember what my future self needs to do. It almost feels like delegating.

Instead of scheduling it in the calendar, tasks that fall under this quadrant are things I do as soon as I’m idle (because they are still urgent). However, they wouldn't be as important as the ones I scheduled.

Ideally, in some of your tasks, personal or work, you will have teammates. This way, work can be shared & delegated. Our definition of “important” may even vary from one person to another, depending on your scope of work.

Still, having a To-do list helps in noting down tasks I offloaded or asked for help from. This way, I get to be reminded about following it up or checking on it.

DELETE - Put on a hidden to-do list

Work that isn't important or urgent should be eliminated. It can be easily done by saying no and not thinking about it anymore.

Writing is one of the best ways I can get it off the top of my mind. This means that even if I already decided a task is deprioritized, I would still log them to my To-do lists. However, I would usually put them at the bottom of my to-do list, or write them down in a notebook I won’t open so much.

One thing to note: tasks won't always stay in one quadrant. Tasks not urgent by now may be urgent later. Not important tasks can be important all of a sudden, and vice versa. This is why some of my tasks may move out of my to-do lists and into my calendar.

📙 High Output Management

The moment you are not just doing work assigned to you, but also managing it–effectiveness becomes an important consideration.

An idea that will complement what I shared above is from Andrew S. Grove's High Output Management. Grove talked a lot about becoming more effective, which incredibly helped me out when I was starting out as a manager.

"What is the medium of a manager's forecast? It is something very simple: his calendar."
– Andrew S. Grove

Grove shared multiple production principles that managers across different fields can use to be more effective.

One principle he talked about is using your calendar as a "production" planning tool. There are two responsibilities that managers should accept to make this happen:

1. Use your calendar actively

For most people, the calendar is only a repository of time-sensitive events. Sometimes, it is a list of requests from other people on how your time should be spent. To use the calendar only as a space for calendar invites is passivity.

Active use of the calendar means filling the space in the calendar with non-urgent but necessary work to do. It means knowing what is important and allocating time accordingly.

2. As early as possible, say "no" to work beyond your capacity

In relation to the topic above, these would be tasks under delegate or delete.

Every time we say yes & commit to something, we are also saying no to future opportunities. The sooner we decide to delegate or eliminate something, the less time & brainpower will be lost to it.

In spite of all the talk about effectiveness & productivity, Grove followed this principle with another one: allow slack–a bit of looseness in your scheduling.

Hope this helps.

📑 Some useful input

• I briefly talked about achieving Always Be Done (ABD) in my notes from the book The Art of Less Doing.

• A related read: The magic of doing $10,000 per hour work

• An interesting insight on AI is this writing on Superhistory, not Superintelligence

• I recently got back from a 12-day trip. Meeting Rev. Joseph Nguyen has been one of the highlights of my trip.

"I am not what happened to me. I am who I choose to become."
– Carl Jung

🧠 The power of the mind

Everyone knows that the mind is powerful. I didn’t fully realize how powerful it is until I have seen the Mind Field episode on The Power of Suggestion. Since then, I have been careful about the stories I tell myself.

In my journey to growth, I adopted different mindsets to tackle different aspects of my life. There are multiple concepts I carry with me, and three of them are below.

Identity-based habits 👤

In Atomic Habits, James Clear talks about creating an identity to build lasting habits. It was affirming when I learned about it.

Growing up, I did not read a lot of books. When I wanted to read at least 20 books in a year, I didn’t create a list of books to check. I pictured the person I wanted to become from it & start acting like it was normal for me. When I had a hard time focusing to read, I was careful not to say “I’m just not a bookworm” (which I knew). To expand my knowledge, I had to act like a bookworm. Since then, reading became easier for me.

I don't look in the mirror and tell myself what I am. I don't take a deep breath and manifest what I will achieve. However, what I do isn't so different—I create an identity and start acting it out.

Fake confidence 📣

I was the stereotypical shy kid on the corner. When people ask how I gained confidence, I always get puzzled. I don't know how.

There is a new Netflix series "Live to Lead" where Jacinda Ardern (former NZ PM) said something I highly resonate with:

"I actually don't think there was some big moment where I suddenly found confidence. I found responsibility instead. And that, actually, has been a bigger motivation for me, more than anything else, that sense of duty."

My journey to gaining confidence can be encapsulated as "fake confidence until it becomes real." Amy Cuddy's TED Talk on Your body language may shape who you are is something I had to learn the hard way. By the time I discovered that talk, I realized I was no longer faking my confidence. If I had found that video sooner, my journey would have been easier.

Creative genius ✏️

There is another TED Talk from Elizabeth Gilbert, Your elusive creative genius, which is a classic.

The gist is to see yourself as a vessel for ideas. Ideas don’t come from you, they pass through you from a source outside yourself. If your creative work is terrible, you don't have to blame yourself. If your work is great, you don’t exalt yourself.

Great ideas stem from consistency. You continue to show up, and do the work.

📒 The Alter Ego Effect

Just this week, I finished Todd Herman's The Alter Ego Effect: The Power of Secret Identities to Transform Your Life. What fascinated me is how it's related to the topics I mentioned above.

The alter ego 👤

5 years ago, I would find the idea of creating an alter ego very inauthentic. I am a firm believer in always staying genuine. It turns out, the suggestion from the book is not so different from building identity-based habits.

The basic premise of the book is that your best self is already within you. Creating an alter ego will make it easier to access your best self.

Like identity-based habits, you create an identity separate from yourself. Then, you let that identity take over... like how Spiderman would become Peter Parker, or Peter Parker would become Spiderman. This is called an alter ego, and you can create different alter-egos for different aspects of your life.

Unlocking skills 📣

The book emphasized that having an alter-ego, or a different persona, is not about being fake or playing pretend.

It isn't about pretending to be a doctor when you don't have the skills for it. It’s unlocking the skill or personality already inside of you, and bringing it to the time and place you need.

This is why “fake confidence until it becomes real” would usually work. Most people are already confident in specific circumstances (i.e. alone, with family, or with a specific group of friends). It is now about bringing that confidence into the field of play.

The other self ✏️

Lastly, using an alter-ego creates an identity separate from another. Like the idea of a creative genius, you won't fall into the trap of self-loathing or self-glorifying. If you didn't do well, it can mean the identity you used wasn’t the right fit.

You can even create an alter-ego for your destructive thoughts & emotions. Unlike Moon Knight, you get to be conscious of this alter-ego, and you can deal with it healthier. All these make up the entire you.

Ultimately, knowing you’re not tied to one identity would make learning a new skill, or performing a specific work, easier. You can be the best person at any time you choose. And when the best version of yourself finally takes over, you may not need an alter-ego anymore.

"I pretended to be somebody I wanted to be until finally I became that person. Or he became me."
—Cary Grant

🔖 My bookmarks

Few things I discovered & rediscovered this month:

• One mantra I really like is Amazon's Always Day One.

• You can't just cancel 76,500 hours of meetings – why async work experiments fail.

• Since the start of the year, I have been using 1SE & Punkt every single day. Takes less than a minute to document my every day.

• I started the year reminding myself why solitude is something I don't have to be guilty of, with Susan Cain's No Solitude, No Revelation:

"When he was a child, the Seer of Lublin... used to go off into the woods by himself. When his father, worried, asked him why, he said ‘I go there to find God.’ His father said to him, ‘But my son, don’t you know that God is the same everywhere?’ ‘God is’ said the boy, ‘but I’m not.’"

"It's not important to get things done, it's important to get the right things done."
– Peter Drucker

🧠 Know Thy Life

At year-end, I spend hours reviewing the past 12 months. The end of a calendar year is a good excuse to slow down.

During a hectic schedule in the middle of the year, I ask myself “where did my time go?” — mostly rhetorically. I ask the same question at the end of the year, but no longer rhetorically.

While preparing to wrap up the year, I had a recent realization.

Years ago, when my friends ask for suggestions on how they can better manage time, I used to respond with ideas they can try. If I am asked now, I no longer respond with ideas. I respond with the same question: “Do you know where your time goes?”

There can be different reasons we have a hard time managing time or finances. Sometimes, it is a matter of habit or discipline. More often than not, I realize it is a matter of auditing.

📘 The Effective Executive

One book I revisited when I got reminded of this thought is Peter Ducker’s The Effective Executive.

He shared that this three-step process is the foundation of executive effectiveness:

1. Recording time. Know where your time goes. When you point to a certain time of day, do you know what you were doing? Do you know how much time you spent on a certain task? Log your time.

2. Managing time. Now that you know where your time is going, you manage it. Remove or reduce the time you spend on items you don’t think are worth it.

3. Consolidating time. This is about optimizing. Allocate a focus time to do important & urgent tasks, undisturbed. You can achieve more within 2 hours of continuous work than15 minute chunks split across the day.

I started journaling late in high school. To an extent, I used my Planners & Google Calendar as a journal. I only got into the habit of “planning” during my last year in college. I would think this is probably why I find managing time relatively easy — I have been trying to log my time coincidentally.

From time to time, I have a hard time managing my finances. The book made me realize I need to apply the same technique — know where my finances go before trying to manage them.

At the end of the day, managing time isn't checking a hundred tasks within 24 hours. You need to know how much time you have in a day, know what you want to prioritize, and allocate time according to priorities.

This concept applies to managing anything, not just time.

Put simply:

you cannot manage something you cannot see.

🔗 Links I saved

I encountered this interesting article on How Kindle novelists are using ChatGPT.

Targeting to expand my mind as much as I can, I have started to learn a new language for fun.

At the end of every year, I dedicate time to clean up my photos. I rewatch Johnny Harris' video on How to Remember Your Life to remind myself it's worth it.

“To enjoy life, you don't need fancy nonsense, but you do need to control your time and realize that most things just aren't as serious as you make them out to be.”
– Tim Ferriss

💪The hustle

At the start of the pandemic, concerns about being worn out and burnt out were rising. Understandably so. Over the past 2 years, we have faced increasing uncertainty.

A year into the pandemic, I encountered a lot of content on how to stay productive & ways to maximize time. Nice to see people back on their feet!

Consequently, this was followed by the rise of anti-hustle on one corner of the internet. There were multiple criticisms thrown at the hustle culture and on multiple productivity content.

None of these concepts are new, but the cycle was... interesting.

Given this pattern is from the lens of my phone screen, I am aware that my internet feed differs from most people. I confirmed others have also seen the trend after discovering this year-old article from Knowable (it's a good read).

This had me thinking—is it a spectrum of productivity on one end & rest on the other? I don't think it is. It got me confused.

"Anti-self-help" books are ultimately, still, self-help books. Both advice on "staying productive" & "allocating time to do nothing" are not mutually exclusive.

As Kim Scott would put it, "Recreation is essential for creation."

📙 The Art of Less Doing

While pondering about this the past week, it reminded me of a book I read this year: The Art of Less Doing. The author, Ari Meisel, has been on a mission to make entrepreneurs replaceable.

The book encapsulates its main point in three words: Optimize, Outsource, and Automate.

Optimize

We all have an hour or two of peak productivity in a day. It is a time when it's easiest for us to enter a flow state. The time differs per person–some during the day, some at night.

This book has pushed me to block a focus time late in the morning. Building my day around my hours of peak productivity is one of the challenging things I had to figure out. I've always built my day around my meetings.

Another idea I most resonated with is to strive to "Always Be Done" (ABD). It's why I have been a zero-inbox person since I started using email. For the things you have to do, you can achieve ABD by deciding to Deal (including delegate), Delete, or Defer.

Outsource

It feels good to check a lot of tasks, but we don't have all the time in the world. This means we have to learn how to delegate & outsource.

Delegating is easy in theory, but harder in practice. It only becomes easier when the delegation muscle is exercised regularly. When I was starting out as a project manager, one thing I had to hear early on was: "You cannot build a hundred-person company by doing everything yourself."

Another route is paying an individual or a team to get a task done. This makes the most sense when your time is better spent doing higher-impact work or work you already know best.

Outsourcing usually means paying someone else to do work for you. We can take it a step further by automating.

Automate

Automating work has been something I gravitate towards. For me, it is a means of doing meaningful work.

Meaningful work is only possible when we eliminate work that doesn't make use of human skills (thinking or feeling). I have also built systems in place to minimize my time doing mundane or repetitive tasks and it makes a lot of difference. From tasks as small as turning on my phone's Wi-Fi as soon as I arrive at the house to work processes like onboarding a new employee, I have been striving to eliminate nonessential work.

Productivity looks and feels different among various people. It feels good to wake up at 5 am and have a morning routine. It feels good to check off 10 items on the to-do list. As for me, I know I have reached peak productivity when the only work I need to do is necessary (and meaningful) work.

🍯 Insightful takes

I linked the article Why We’re Obsessed With Productivity above.

I've sent Adam Grant's Mario Kart theory of peak flow to a few friends recently.

Related to the topic above is The magic of doing $10,000 per hour work.

CodePen co-founders shared their top 10 lessons from running CodePen the past 10 years.

Are there too many people in tech? Is there still a huge gap to fill for tech roles? I like this take on Kindness, Tech Staffing and Resource Allocation.

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"Olé to you nonetheless, just for having the sheer human love & stubbornness to keep on showing up."
– Elizabeth Gilbert

😶 Putting myself out there

Around early 2010s, I was watching TV. I forgot what I was watching, but I will never forget the TV station’s poetic commercial that caught my attention. It attempted to be motivational and... it did just that to the younger me.

I picked up a notebook and started writing words that stood out to me:
"Go out there, you’ll be just fine."

It was one of those moments where I had to vow to myself that my character development phase was over, and it was time for character progression. A recurring cliché during my teenage years.

Cheesy as it may sound, this kick-started my series of “you might be scared, but do it scared” moments.

• It is how I came to appreciate the privilege of leading, although I grew up as a quiet kid.

• It is how I got used to being uncomfortable and taking on opportunities beyond my comfort zone.

• It is how I got to meet people that I constantly learn from.

Although I was putting myself into opportunities, I don’t share nor talk about it often. If I do, it's only in small group conversations.

📘 Show Your Work

In Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, he wrote this line as part of a dialogue:
“The commonest thing is delightful if one only hides it. When I leave town now I never tell my people where I am going. If I did, I would lose all my pleasure. It is a silly habit, I dare say...”

I don’t always agree with Oscar Wilde’s hedonistic perspective, although I like his works. Yet somehow, I shared the same sentiment with the line above. I keep things for myself, as there is some sort of romance that comes with it. This practice extended even to my learnings & insights, I almost only share them with a few people.

I am, borderline, a hoarder.

There are other various reasons that can keep me from sharing:

• I don't think I'm an expert on things I’m interested in.

• I have nothing “interesting” to talk about.

• I am always a work in progress. I’ll have something more valuable to share years from now.

Austin Kleon's Show Your Work countered the thoughts I had:

• You don’t have to be a genius. You can find your voice by using it.

• Open up your cabinet of curiosities. There’s not a big difference between collecting & creating.

• Think process, not product. Become a documentarian of what you do.

Before I read Show Your Work last month, what started the reshaping of my perspective is Seth Godin’s This Is Marketing. He wrote:

“If you hesitate to market your offering properly, it’s not that you’re being shy. It’s not that you’re being circumspect. It’s that you’re stealing, because there’s someone who needs to learn from you, engage with you, or buy from you.”

My new perspective got cemented when I read a quotation in Show Your Work:

"The impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes."
– Annie Dillard

So, I created this space to share things I have learned, and share things I will learn. In this part of the interweb, I will share perspectives I am taking to keep my life & work meaningful + purposeful.

🔗 Sharing my links

Some links I saved recently:

• Symph is growing to almost a team of 100, and this is one of the insightful takes I read on scaling as a team: Why is scaling past 50 employees so hard?

• This Twitter thread on the preventable problem paradox is something I’ve repeatedly come back to over the past few weeks.

Some works I found fascinating:

• While browsing Substack, I stumbled upon Good Book/Good Bread. It (irrationally) made me want to learn to bake bread so I can pair it with my books.

• I discovered Jonny Sun’s A small list of knowable things and it’s beautifully personal.

Lastly, Josh Radnor’s museletters started my habit of reading newsletters. I can’t get enough of it. I also found Joel Gascoigne’s articles personally helpful. Both made me decide to document my journey.