words smoosh concepts smoosh memories
(original thread) there’s something interesting that happens when you void the warranty on your received indoctrination
lessons from reflections
2006 sigh im back, may 07 the thoughts that inspired \(n_n)/, Oct ’07 What makes a show? Oct 07 performer’s insecurity, no
Annual Checkups
Jan 1 2010: Inflated sense of self-worth Nov 18 2010: Resolutions for 2011 Jan 1 2011:Â Mandatory New Year Post July 5 2011: W
Tweets from 2010
run was totally worth it. body is a furnace. ear drums are pounding. fresh night air tastes so good. cut 2 minutes off my 3.6k
My Answers To Mark Manson’s Life Purpose Questions
http://markmanson.net/life-purpose 1: What is your favorite flavor of shit sandwich and does it come with an olive? (What pain
Why should we blog?
It’s always been self-evident to me, but let me try to spell it out. A blog is the intersection of conversations and boo
A year of content marketing.
I started work at ReferralCandy in February 2013. It’s easily been the most interesting, exciting and challenging year o
The Mundanity of Excellence, by Daniel Chambliss
(Visa: Full text available here. I edited this one a little for readability. Left out the footnotes.) “Olympic sports an
“thinking about future”, february 2007
“My father is now bugging me to get a scholarship with the RSAF. It does not interest me at all. I have no interest in t
Stuff I wrote down while watching A Conversation With Elon Musk (and Salman Khan)
I wrote this while watching Salman Khan having a conversation with Elon Musk, this is what stood out to me. Thought I’d
How to survive NS
Here is something I’ve wanted to write for a long long time but have been procrastinating on because I visualized someth
self-development is self-destruction, by xavier koh
“There’s a particular self-development paradox I’ve consistently encountered, but haven’t managed to g
how you find yourself ah
that time you in NS. coz you say after you ORD you lost how you find yourself ah go back to the basics and make sure to keep
career guidance
Ever considered teaching writing skills? Or even being a consultant for social media / training? PR is a possibility but you m
education, woodshedding
though if i take things in perspective i am being nitpicky and missing the larger point of education what is the larger point
conversating about conversation
Dear Visakan, On your Quora profile and in your blog I read that you are interested in conversations. I’m curious about
just another cockanathan
XK Just want to muse with you have you ever felt VV your cock? no XK that as you attain more experience it’s almost as i
NS Memories
I remember my enlistment day, April 19th 2010. It was over 15 months ago. (Now over 2 years ago!) I remember going to Pasir Ri
October 2012
I have many thoughts on my mind, and sometimes they immobilize me. So I should start by writing them down. 1: I’d like t
Contemplating the Universe
One of the most amazing things that the human mind is able to do is to contemplate the Universe. Now, few of us are really ab
on recurring dreams, guilt and free will
I woke up today feeling fresh and recharged and ready to take on the world- which I will, in a short while, but I want to get
Dear Guitar: You matter to me
This isn’t to any particular guitar. I’ve had a few guitars over the years. Interestingly, I’ve never actual
Productivity: Set aside sacred time for Work
2024 update: the interesting thing about this post is that it’s an unintentionally great representation of my worldview
Vision: To contribute to human welfare by diminishing ignorance
I want to contribute to human knowledge and welfare. How does one do that? There’s a central structure at the root of it
Get off social media for a month and you realize how little it matters.
I went to bed at 1030pm or so, and I woke up at about 1230 am, presumably because I needed to pee. (It wasn’t a strong u
Meeting Dr. Bruce Hood
I had the wonderful honour of having an “interview” with Dr. Bruce Hood today, courtesy of Campus Magazine. (It wa
My Goals as a Tutor
I intend to be a tutor and mentor to Singaporean teenagers once I’m done re-taking my A-levels. There are many tutors ou
The Impossible List
Inspired by Joel and Steve. What’s on this list? Stuff you want to do with your life. Stuff you want to do, but have told y
Sleeping during BMT and Signals
I haven’t been feeling too good these past few days. My mouth is dry, my eyes are burning (slightly). I went to bed at a
7 Important Things I’ve Learnt
During my 2 years of National Service, I began what I called the 90 Week Project. I had heard many horror stories from men wis
How do you know yourself?
Start by realizing and accepting that it’s okay not to “know yourself.” Knowing yourself is a process and a
Conversations
Conversations should be constructive. It should be about exploration, mutual respect. It should be fun, and reasonably challen
Work for me seems to happen in short intense sessions
Updated A Little Bit In October 2014 It’s good to spend loads of time on our craft. But for me, long periods of time de
Productivity: I vomited words with a pen faster than I transcribed them online
Doing beats talking I’ve always paid lip-service to productivity- it’s mostly an attempt to convince myself to be
Language Is Beautifully Flawed
Language is a beautiful creature, full of redundancies and flaws. Every word of every language carries with it thousands of ye
On entrepreneurship, and who I write for.
People who attend entrepreneurship workshops, I feel, are probably from a very specific subset of people. Singapore needs more
Waking Early + It’s okay to be incompetent
Day before yesterday, I took a long walk with my girlfriend and went to bed (relatively) early, at about 11pm. I was aware of
Memories of jamming with many different musicians
On hindsight, when I sit down and think about it, I’ve jammed with many, many different bands over the years, many of wh
Letter I wrote to myself (June 2010)
It’s think-out-loud time. Balance, effectively, the right-now and the big pictures. Ignore neither, and do justice to bo
on turning 22
So I’m 22 years old now. 264 months. 1144 weeks. I estimate that I’ll live to be 80, assuming I don’t do any
My fitness routines/progress over the years
My pushups routine has been working fantastically for me these few weeks, so I’ve decided to up my game and make more th
greatness requires faith
Wherever you see Greatness, somebody took risks and embodied Faith. (previous title) Greatness is relative. No matter how grea
Junior College sucked for me.
It occurs to me that there are quite a few JC students who read my blog. Someone linked to one my articles, writing “I w
W5D2: Stand-up Comedy
Today I did something for the first time- I performed stand up comedy. I was terrified. I mean, I’ve been on stage many
W5D1: A Beautiful Morning
This morning is beautiful, not because of anything intrinsic about the day itself, but because of the way I have begun it. And
What I Learnt From 90 Weeks Of Self-Quantification
In 2010 I enlisted into the Singapore Armed Forces as part of my National Service. 102 weeks of service, to be precise. About
My MBTI Journey
MBTI: I remember when I first encountered MBTI. It was introduced to me over beer, by a friend of a friend. He was a self-prof
Games from my childhood
2016: What’s the first video game you ever played? I’m not entirely sure. I recall watching my brothers play games on thei
starting plans
Yesterday I met my mentor-figure who helped to get me all fired up. I got home, tried to do some work, ended up getting distra
The Love Of Reading
My most memorable reading happened on my bed in my parent’s room- I had a little table lamp of sorts that I’d put
Consciousness and The Art Of Surrender
We can’t help but look at attractive people. I don’t mean that figuratively- I mean really, we can’t. They c
The day suicide finally made sense to me.
It came to me as I was writing about the breakdown of a relationship. I was thinking about how some of us struggle to realize
What I’ve Learnt (so far!) From Starting My Own Business
I used to doodle ideas for t-shirt slogans on my notebooks. I thought I started doing it last year, but when I was clearing ou
do what you hate
(switchy-switchy here is that you only have strong feelings about thigns that matter to you) I used to play in a band called A
What I Learnt From Having Completed A Half Marathon Without Training
I was in the shower earlier today and I checked out my the big toenail on my right foot. It’s almost completely healed n
What I Learnt From Having My Wisdom Teeth Extracted
(This isn’t my x-ray, but it’s pretty similar. Check out the teeth at the far right of the picture- the left side
Nobody Actually Wants You To Be Yourself
Some of my friends describe me as a megalomaniac. I can’t refute that, because it’s a valid assessment that I ough
When you smell the curry…
The other day, me and a group of friends met for coffee and conversations. These meet-ups are spontaneous rather than schedule
My bank balance from Oct 2010 to Feb 2011
The last time I talked about money was back in May 2011. The story goes on, and here’s how it’s looked like since
Habits Through Connections
I have been paying lip service to this for the longest time but it’s finally about time- better late then never- that I
How would you live?
I think a great question to ask is- what sort of life would you (or do you!) envision for yourself if money weren’t an i
Money
I don’t think we talk enough about money. It’s kind of a sensitive topic- it’s not nice to talk about how mu
Running is a break from the neurological rat race
TLDR: Don’t think so much, just run. The reward is a break from the neurological rat race. So today was a normal day. I
dissatisfaction: a source of beauty
It’s not quite politically correct to say it. I mean, we live in a world where there’s multi-billion dollar indust
no chain, no gain
(Original title: Gamification, the power of chains and combos) Chains and combos are strings of actions or events that flow sm
SS01: Defining ‘Education’
The meaning of schools and education has changed over time. We tend to think of education in a limited sense- go to an academi
Things To Do [2012]
This is it. No more hiding, no more cowering in fear. This is the post- or the series of posts, the system and the philosophy
Gamifying Education + Can We Make People Care?
Games People Play It’s interesting to listen to what people talk about: girls talking about fashion, boys talking about
BMT Recourse
There was an interesting thing that happened when I was supposed to go for BMT recourse. I didn’t have all the items I n
Didn’t make it to leadership school? Build your own!
I had a class reunion the other day and I got to talk to one of my classmates who completed his national service as a commissi
What is your specialization?
If only managing our own lives was as visually appealing! I have a good friend who shares a lot of my ideas about things, but
Are you too smart for your own good?
My dad used to say something like that to me- that the problem with me was that I thought I was too smart to have to deal with
Why you should never “confess your love” to anyone
My humble advice to anybody who starts to fall for your friends-Â Never, EVER “confess your love” to them.It’
conversations with alfian saat, 1
(Edited slightly for readability) Hey Alfian! Up so late ah? Ya lah what to do. Nightbird yo. Hahaha. Eh, I’ve been toy
Week 72? Building Routines.
Or is it 73? I admit, I lost track! I lost my notebook, and then I got a bit depressed and kind of lost track of things. Anywa
Hacking The 7 Deadly Sins: Gluttony
(image courtesy of blackeri) Gluttony is the untempered drive to consume. Gluttony is to consumption as lust is to conques
“What to do after ORD?” A conversation about purpose and intent.
What do you mean when you say that University education has limited value? Do you have any plans to work around that fact? Ok
tit-for-tat
A friend told me the other day that one of the secrets to a successful relationship is as follows: When having an argument to
Best Decision Ever.
What’s your best decision ever? Some things we don’t really decide for ourselves- reading extensively as a child w
Action and Reflection
I’ve always considered myself a fairly unsystematic person, random and chaotic. After a while though, I began to realize
20 Weeks Left: What I’m going to do when it’s over!
There was a disruption in my 90 Week Project, and I haven’t been updating the blog aspect of it since about week 53. BMT
Pragmatism or Idealism? Help people physically, or protest for a cause?
At the most basic level, I value people who get off their ass and DO something more than people who aren’t doing anythin
do you doubt yourself, and if so, why do anything?
I delayed starting my blog, I often left thoughts unexplored and unwritten because I felt like there couldn’t possibly b
Idiot Tax: How much do you pay?
Idiot Tax! That’s what they call the lottery- the tax you pay for being an idiot, because the odds are so heavily agains
Hacking Delayed Gratification: The Tomorrow-Self
I was never one to deny myself pleasure. I’d eat McDonald’s whenever I could. I was a binger. I’d finish ent
Hacking Serendipitous Conversations (and Facebook), Like An (Elitist) Boss
Originally title ‘Meditations On Staying Awake.’ (Amusingly, I’m translating this from ink to pixels at 3:28
3 Phases: Accumulation, Reflection, Creation
I feel like I could reasonably split my life into three phases (so far). The first phase is the phase of accumulation. We̵
What I Learnt From Basic Military Training.
BMT was a fun, interesting and rather meaningful experience for me. Unlike most soldiers, I only experienced it after already
Transcending the limitations that we impose on ourselves: Our Identities.
Who are you? What are you like? What do you like? What do you do? Simple questions to ask, but complex ones to answer. There a
Is it okay for guys to cry?
The word “cry” is like the word “love” or the word “friend”. What does it mean? Different
How important is consistency and sustainability?
I was unfollowing people on Tumblr yesterday- specifically, people who haven’t posted in 8 months or more, and people wh
how good are you at making maps?
I like to think of communication as drawing a map, or giving directions. I’m not suggesting that you need to spell out e
sudden BMT
Up until the morning of August 3rd when I was to go for my Basic Military Training (BMT), I was pretty sure that I was going t
Applying fitness wisdom to writing: Why Good is better than Perfect
I’ve experimented quite a bit over the years with my fitness habits. Well, it might not be fair to say “over a few
Hacking The 7 Deadly Sins: Wrath
(image courtesy of blackeri) What is Wrath? Dante described vengeance as “love of justice perverted to revenge and spite
Week 52. (One Year!)
And we come to the end of an entire year of life-tracking. Wow. This a huge milestone for me- it represents the most amount of
homophobic remarks, 2009
If a friend or relative makes a racist or homophobic remark, do you tend to confront them or let it slide? Are you more likely
dealing with siren songs
In Greek mythology, the Sirens were three dangerous bird-women, portrayed as seductresses who lured nearby sailors with
Your frustration is valid, but your response isn’t helping you.
Visakan Veerasamy’s answer to: If you could write a 10 note to your younger self, what would you say? Your frustration i