It was the toughest period in my career, and I got out of it… — Living paycheck to paycheck is an apt way to describe the financial state of many young professionals. When I started at my first job, it took me only a few months to accumulate $5,000 in credit card debt. It took me a couple of years to repay the amount. After…

It sounds simple, but you won’t get it right the first time… — Having a full-time job while making side hustles work is not easy. Working at a 9 to 5 is already exhausting for many out there. Even with higher-than-average willpower and grit, going beyond the regular hours to build a second income stream or pursue a dream can get stressful. Time Blocking: Promise vs. Reality I…

It’s time to let them go. Otherwise, you’ll never write anything — I am always looking for novel ways to help me become a better writer. This constant pursuit of growth and trying to become better is healthy until I started using what I don’t have as excuses for not publishing my work. “Why haven’t you written a single word today?” “What’s…

Now I’m addicted. — Saving money wasn’t easy when I was at my first job. Even after the first two years of working full time at an audit firm, my savings account was still hovering around the minimum balance of 20 Malaysian Ringgits (about USD5) required to keep it open. I was a college…

Coming up with a morning routine is easy. Sticking to it is a whole new ball game. — There are almost 20,000 searches each month for the phrase “morning routine”. Do a search for the keyword. In the results, you’ll find many blog posts and videos offering recommendations for habits you should include in your morning routine. The interest in the subject is not surprising because a bulletproof…

And let’s show the extroverts how it’s done… — I am an introvert. It’s rare for me to speak up. As a kid, I was taught to always let others speak because they probably know more than me. I get very awkward if you put me into a conversation with people I’m not familiar with or people I’ve never…

It used to be the last thing I cared about. Today, it is my first health & fitness priority… — “To get ahead, have as little sleep as possible to work more hours than everybody else.” That was the mantra for most parts of my 20s. The idea of productivity equals putting in more hours was stuck with me. I didn’t know the effects of not having enough sleep. …

Every day, we get bombarded by information. Rows after rows of notifications on our phone greet us in the morning. Throughout the day, we consume more information. News apps keep us on our toes with what’s happening. Social media platforms dish out a variety of bite-sized content to stop our…

Which skill should I be learning? What is the most effective path to master it? And finally, how to continuously make progress without doing a half-baked job or dropping out midway? As you might guess from the title, having a personal learning plan is a way to go. I am…