A lot of people travel for the same reasons: fun, new experiences, a boost to self-esteem, and to develop personally. To be honest, this article isn’t really about traveling, it’s more about having an open mind. My goal is to encourage you to stay green, get off your butt and see what your local area has to offer. Mind traveling What is mind traveling? It’s your mind exploring new places and new people. It’s green and carbon-free. Your body doesn’t travel, only your mind does. Reading memoirs is a way of mind traveling. You get a chance to see things from someone else’s perspective and be awar ..read more

This book helps you make better life decisions How would you like to live your 2021? This book, Predictably Irrational, will give you new perspectives to make better decisions. We’re rational enough to make good decisions when we’re calm. But we’re often irrational and forget everything that makes sense when we’re emotionally unstable. For example, I tend to eat junk food when I’m hungry, tired, or moody. I feel hungry writing this. Try not to make critical decisions when you’re emotional The author Dan Ariely did some psychology experiments to show that we’re prone to making the wrong decisio ..read more

Books about UX writing that’ll make everyone’s life happier What is UX? User experience (UX) is something we encounter every day. For example, when I want to watch something on Netflix but I can’t choose anything after browsing for a while. It’s not Netflix, it’s me. Isn’t it? But recently, the Netflix website adds a table of categories and I find it easier to pick one to watch. It’s not me, it’s UX! When you’re browsing my blog, it’s also a user experience. So you get the idea. I would like to know your user experience while visiting my blog. I crave your feedback—positive or negative. How ab ..read more

HOW TO HAVE A HAPPY GUT? What have you been eating while staying at home? When eating at home and working from home during Covid-19, colorful meals seem a happy gut choice. As the saying goes, we’re what we eat. So, why not eat healthy food that makes us happy. From the book, Happy Gut, what makes our gut happy is sugar-free and gluten-free whole foods. Meanwhile, yoga and meditation are a big plus to get a stress-free gut. Simply put, HAPPY GUT = HAPPY MEALS + YOGA! That’s how I sum up the key ideas from the book. The first part of the book talks about the science and biology of how the gut w ..read more

Do you read for fun? I do sometimes. When I wanna read something lighter for laughs, I open books from David Sedaris who is a Humor Essayist. His writing is funny. Some of his humor essays generate laughter on a deeper level, touching readers’ hearts. All topics are around his daily life. It’s like reading his story-like diary or journal. And it’s a fucking funny one. I first read David Sedaris’s book Me Talk Pretty One Day and find him hilarious. And this month I read his latest book Calypso and find it both funny and sentimental. He writes about his family, his boyfriend, and laughs at himse ..read more

EGO IS THE JOY KILLER We tend to be unhappy when we’re egoistic. Ego is not only the enemy, but also the joy killer. Ryan Holiday, author of the book Ego is the Enemy, defines the dead time as moments that we’re controlled by ego. He even has a tattoo EGO IS THE ENEMY on his forearms to remind himself to let go of the ego to stay alive. That makes me wanna get a tattoo on my forehead: GO AWAY EGO! I highly suspect that it’s ego hinders me from getting healthy relationships to grow. Also, ego stops me from getting to know and loving other people without sorrow. Oh no, I hate ego breaking my flo ..read more

I’m loving a slow life as time is running away like a lunatic. Slow living offers us more time to enjoy the life we have. Gentle Living by Monocle is a nice book to remind us how to live and take it easy. It suggests 50 ways on how to live a gentler life. We deserve to enjoy more, worry less, and be happy in a slow fashion. Let’s choose the ways you love to live your life fully. I pick my favorite ways to savor life as follows: BE OPTIMISTIC I learn to be optimistic using the ABCDE model. I’m struggling to be an optimist as my thinking is negative by default. ABCDE is a simple tool that helps ..read more

When I read some books about meditation or mindfulness earlier. I often come across a key word – awareness. I’m curious to know what exactly awareness is. Does awareness mean knowing what I’m doing or how I feel at the moment? Is awareness a state that only guru like Yoda can get there? Am I ever aware for a nanosecond? I find a simple answer from the book Awareness by Anthony de Mello. In Anthony’s spiritual point of view, awareness is suddenly you get another perspective on life. Wow, that sounds effortless and all of a sudden. My follow up question is: how to get there SUDDENLY? Anthony’s 4 ..read more

HOW TO GIVE FEEDBACK We’re living in an ocean of feedback. Sometimes I feel drown by negative feedbacks. Sometimes I feel confused without any feedback. And I’m clueless how to give a proper feedback. Richard William is an internationally recognized business consultant specializing in leadership development. From his book Tell me how I’m doing, he advises readers how to give feedback in an effective way. I did the experiment myself. The results were profound, out of control and surprising. Positive feedback I seldom give appreciation to others or myself. Richard suggests giving positive feedba ..read more

I’m hooked by many things. Now, I have a better idea of why I’m hooked after reading the book Hooked. The hooked model gives me the explanations of why I’m hooked by Netflix and Apple tv+. And why I’m hooked blogging here. The Hooked Model When I feel bored or uninspired, I turn to Netflix or Apple tv+. My desire for entertainment and inspiration is the internal trigger that causes me to watch endless videos. My friend’s recommendation on what to watch is the external trigger that makes me watch even more. My action of watching streaming videos gives me various rewards like getting inspired b ..read more