I’m not writing for a living or as a side-hustle.

So what motivated me initially?

Practicality

I want to improve my writing skills. Writing was never my strong suit back in school and I always found myself in an uncomfortable and unfamiliar situation when tasked to write. However, I see the practicality in writing. Writing improves thinking and communication which are two critical factors that help you advance in life. Writing helps you to organise your thoughts better and express better. It helps you craft better speeches and proposals, enabling you to win arguments and secure deals.

Mother Tongue

Looking back at my education journey, I realised that I have been gradually specialising in a subject. Back when I was in secondary school, I was learning a wide variety of subjects: math, language, art, cooking, project learning, biology, chemistry, physics, geography, history, and even Chinese culture. However, when I entered high school, my subjects narrowed down to just math, language, project learning, physics, geography and chemistry. The number of subjects I was exposed went from 11 to 7 subjects.

And in university, it will be narrowed to just one: Computer Science.

I am not against specialisation as I do…

Getting a Project

During last year’s lockdown, I decided to pick up a new skill during my free time. This led me to register for Angela Yu’s Udemy Course: The Complete 2020 Web Development Bootcamp as website building seems like a useful skill that can be easily applied.

Perhaps I was too idealistic.

Having attended a couple of hours of lectures, scraping the surface of HTML and CSS, I want to find a project to apply what I learnt. As Scott Young wrote in his Ultralearning book:

“Project-based learning cuts the fat from typical approaches, teaching you only what you need to know.”

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I have always wanted to start YouTube. It has been something that I am interested in and I love the idea of sharing your experiences and lessons with others on a free platform.

However, the fear of being judged had prevented me from starting.

This is known as The Spotlight Effect. The feeling that everyone is noticing your every movement and judging whatever you are doing.

All eyes are on you.

The feeling that your mistakes are being highlighted for the world to see when in fact no one really cares about you. It’s a self-constructed notion that exists in…

We matter too.

Student Council. House Committee. Basketball Teams. Symphonic Bands.

These are the big names of Singapore schools’ Co-Curriculum Activities (CCAs), often heard and often desired by many. They are viewed as prestigious CCAs that receive most of the school’s funding.

CCAs like Environmental Club and Community Service Club are often forgotten and sometimes even brushed aside by others.

New year New Goals! I am going to start my side project in 2021. I am going to start exercising daily in 2021. I am going to smoke less in 2021.

But why? Why should we wait for the new year before starting?

This realisation struck me as I was watching Ryan Serhant (one of America’s top real estate broker) latest vlog: You’re WASTING Your Time. In his introduction, he said: “Why wait? It makes no f**king sense.”

He then goes on and talks about the importance of seizing the present and putting in the work consistently for your dreams.

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