Self | Personal Growth
How to *realistically* chase your dreams against all odds.
We’ve heard the cliches:
“Dreams don’t work unless you take action.”
“The surest way to make your dreams come true is to live them.”
“Don’t let your dreams be dreams.”
These are all words of wisdom. But all the pondering about dreams, goals, and happiness in general often leads me to one big question: Why?
I’m genuinely asking, why does it matter? Why should I chase my dreams? What if I don’t want to?
After a series of deep contemplations, I’ve figured out the answer is: I shouldn’t. Neither should you. Nobody should.
“Should” is an active form of self-criticism…
The Art of Persuasion
Follow this ancient advice and master the art of persuasion — in writing, life, and beyond.
It’s amazing how some things in life can remain universal. Aristotle’s ancient wisdom of rhetoric is one of them.
The word “rhetoric” comes from Greek which means “speaker.” If you go over the dictionary, you’ll find the definition of rhetoric as “language that is used to inform, persuade, or motivate audiences.”
Basically, rhetoric is the art of persuasion. But it’s much more than just being persuasive. In writing, especially, it’s about conveying imaginative thinking delivered in a rational framework. It’s about combining creativity with logic.
We often think of creativity and logic at the other end of the spectrum, but…
Marketing | Management
Debunking the Pareto Principle in marketing — and our everyday lives
“I grew up with the 80/20 rule and kind of accepted it for a long time with little thinking. Who could argue with a famous economist?” — Jan-Benedict Steenkamp, Professor of Marketing
When I was in college, our professors had a habitual modus operandi of giving us more homework and assignments each day than one could possibly get done in one evening.
I found some of my friends abandoned a few tasks, at last — for the sake of their mental health and to avoid going crazy. Luckily, it didn’t happen to me, but I’d be lying if all the…
Self Improvement
#1: Seek discomfort and get comfortable with discomfort.
We all heard about the comfort zone. Most self-help articles or self-improvement gurus on the internet will most likely tell you this: growth occurs when you decide to leave your comfort zone.
Sure, they might be right (and they are).
But have you ever thought to yourself, “Why would I leave my comfort zone if I’m already comfortable with myself? Isn’t that the end goal, to reach comfort and stability so I can treat myself to a manicure and pedicure in Paris without worrying about not being able to pay the bills?”
I don’t know about you, but I’ve thought…
Writing Tips
Four honest tips to step up your writing game.
The first few weeks I joined this platform, I wrote several dead articles. What I mean by “dead” is, reading them again now, got me thinking like,
“This isn’t real. It has no feeling, no distinctiveness, no single ounce of writing spark. Good lord! I’m the only person in the world who would willingly read this. Will I be able to read more than three paragraphs of this boring crap without cringing my eyes out?”
You got the point. My articles were dull. Unexciting. Uninteresting. Nope.
If you’re an online writer, I’m sure you have experienced it too. …
Authenticity is a slippery thing. Here’s why you still need to pay the high price to be yourself.
In one of his interviews in Dubai, Elon Musk was asked what advice he would give to young people who aspire to be like him.
Musk glanced at the floor as if it would reflect his answer back on the polished ivory stage he was standing on. Then, with a somewhat confused look, he replied,
“I think probably people shouldn’t want to be me. I think it sounds better than it is. It’s not as much fun being me, as you’d think.”
Giving the interviewer a chance to absorb what he just said, he took a concluding note,
“I’m not…
How to embrace the new world of marketing in an era of “weirdness“
“In a world that’s changing fast, the biggest rewards go to people who are taking initiative, as opposed to waiting for something to happen to them.” — Seth Godin
Most people think marketing is a task. Not a science or an art — but a task.
It’s a task where someone gives you an average product for average people and your job is to hype it, spin it, and promote it so the masses will buy.
But nobody buys that anymore. Not me. Not you. And definitely not Seth Godin.
Welcome to the New Era of Marketing
In his book “We Are All Weird: The Myth of…
Heavy load, long journey — here’s my story of embracing my writing dream.
“You must go on a long journey before you can really find out how wonderful home is.” — Tove Jansson
Some people have the desire to do something and say, “That’s just what I love to do.” For me, it was writing.
Since the age of 11, I knew I wanted to be a writer. But before we go there, let me tell you a little background.
I was born and raised in one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world; Indonesia. …
When you’re feeling stuck, dust yourself off and remember this.
Feeling trapped is a scary feeling.
I’ve been working from home during this pandemic. Some days, I feel like being the most energetic person in the world because I can do everything at home and enjoy my introverted nature. But other days, I just want to curl up in a ball and drown out all my worries and tensions.
In my country, the latest variant of Covid-19 has spread rapidly in the last couple of weeks. Some of my friends got infected and even a few passed away.
I’m fortunate that my family and I are still safe to this…
It’s time to unsubscribe to the “always be positive” ideology and just let yourself be human.
Imagine a scenario.
You lose your job, your partner cheats on you, your business fails and you lose everything. Then, your friend comes up to you and says, “Don’t worry, it’ll all be fine!” and asks you to cheer up and stay positive.
Doesn’t that make you want to scream?
Happiness is now the default
We all want to be happy. I’m pretty positive nobody wakes up in the morning whispering mantra to themselves, “Be sad, cry, and feel miserable today.”
The concept of happiness has been a very fascinating topic since 2500 years ago. From Buddha to Aristotle, many brilliant thinkers have tried to…
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