This is what self-doubt sounds like in our heads: “What if I fail?” “Am I good enough to do this?” “What if I’m just wasting my time?” Over and over in your mind, these questions pop up like mosquitoes buzzing ‘round your ear, taunting you, keeping you up at night, …

Emi’s story Emi is a good friend of mine even back in my uni days. I remember she told me once that she had always dreamt of owning a cozy coffee shop in downtown Osaka with lines and lines of people stretching around the block. When we graduated we all …

 “Fire your boss. Quit your 9-5. Follow your dreams.” That’s what I see almost every day when I’m on X (formerly Twitter). You’re often bombarded with these messages telling you that quitting your 9–5 is the key to achieving your dreams. I’ll tell you what I think about this but …

I’ve been chasing my dreams for quite some time now and I think I know now the main reasons why I’ve failed and lost in some of my endeavours while I’ve achieved substantial results in others. It took me years to understand key factors for life success, but I’ll give …

It’s 7 pm. You’re seated on your favorite couch with your phone in hand. Just one quick glance at your social media, right? Fast forward to 10 pm, and you’re still scrolling, watching videos, reading comments, and somehow, three hours have vanished. Sound familiar? It’s distraction in its many forms. …

Facing the fear of failure with Ikigai as your guiding light The sweet aroma of my morning coffee wafts through the room, but the mug sits untouched for hours. In front of me lies a blank page, cursor blinking, waiting for my keyboard strokes. It’s past 6AM, there’s no one …

Have you ever thought about why you’re unhappy? I’ve thought about this for quite some time, but it’s only lately that I wrote my thoughts about it. We can be unhappy for all sorts of reasons but usually, it’s because we (or our mind) think there is a gap between …

25 years ago, I was a broke teenage boy with no future. Today, I’m a tech director at an IT firm in Tokyo. This is how I broke the cycle of poverty through a combination of luck, clear purpose, and an unwavering determination to never give up. A Childhood Realization …

(From one newbie writer to another) So you’ve decided to become a writer eh? That’s good, you’re in good company. I’m a writer myself, still in the beginning stage just like you, but a writer nonetheless. If you want writing advice from the pros, you can go with the likes …

I know what you’re thinking. “What’s the point of putting myself out there if there’s no way I can get what I want anyway?” So what do you do instead? You slack off. You tuck your tails behind your legs and you declare “surrender.” Then you hate and curse the …