10 Life Lessons I'd Teach My Younger Self

Throughout my existence in this world, I gained wisdom and knowledge that helped me overcome different challenges in life.

If I could go back in time, and talk to my younger self, I'll gently share with him these ten life lessons:

1. You will fail a lot of times. But know that failure is part of the process. Fail fast, fail often, and fail forward.

2. Document everything, especially your time with your family and friends. When you’re on your own, you will surely miss them.

3. Always take care of your relationships. Connect with people and stay in contact.

4. Take some time to tell someone how much you appreciate and value them. Do not take anything for granted.

5. Travel more and immerse in other cultures.

6. Respect other people's opinions.

7. Look for great mentors in all aspects of your life.

8. Invest in yourself early.

9. Always remember what matters to you in life.

10. Do not let any opportunity pass by because the same opportunity might not pass by again.

How about you? If you can share ONE piece of advice with your younger self, what would it be?

Love. Jerom

The Habit that Changed my Life...

One habit that helped me in my journey is...

Be grateful every day.

You might be hearing this all the time.

And yes, I also got curious about its effect on my life.

One morning, out of curiosity I asked myself: "What will happen if I do this every day?"

For the past 180 days, I've been doing deliberate gratitude practice by writing ten things that I am grateful for every day.

Yes, I have to do it consistently to build the habit of a gratitude attitude.

And I was astonished at its effect on my life.

During my younger years, I lack awareness & connection with my thoughts, words, emotions, and actions.

I always blame others for my problems, and I easily get mad.

Through this habit, I've learned so many things.

One of them is to not take things for granted. It trained my mind to appreciate small things and see the goodness in everything around me.

Like my warm tea every morning...

My breakfast...

Warm sunlight...

The opportunity to visit nature...

And my daily progress in life.

It also trained my awareness to see the positive effect of a situation, rather than looking at the negative lens of life.

It gave me more positive emotions like joy, appreciation, love, and fulfillment which is very significant to reach our peak performance every day.

It also helped me become more tranquil and forgiving of other people's mistakes and flaws.

Where is your focus most of the time?

Is it more on drama, negative situations, anger, and judgment?

Or is it more about being thankful for all the lessons, people, and opportunities in your life?

If it's more on the first one...

Maybe it's also time for you to incorporate this habit into your system.

Or you can also start by sharing below what is the ONE thing that you are grateful for today?

Life will always have the good and bad but with a grateful attitude, we can choose to focus on all the good things which make life so worthwhile and meaningful.

Understand: You don't have to wait for a great life to be grateful. You have to be grateful to have a great life.

Love. Jerom

Just Do It...

We always hear the word "JUST DO IT!”

​​​From Nike's commercial...

From motivational videos...​

And from our friend's advice.​

But why is this line too famous?

When I was a kid, I was taught to conform.

And "just do it" is the opposite of conformity.​

I was trained to wait and follow the crowd.

And waiting is one of the biggest dream killers.

As I grew up, I realized that your personal experience is the best teacher.

Ideas and courses will always be around.

But what makes that simple idea a powerful tool for your success?

It's how you put that idea into action.

It's how you reflect and use them as your reference experience to improve.

You can plan and follow/read all the advice you want.

But nothing is going to happen unless you act.

Are you thinking of learning a new skill? Just do it.

Are you thinking of reading a book? Just do it.

Are you thinking of working out? Just do it.

And calibrate after the fact.

We humans learn by doing.

You will learn more about the things that happen to you in real life.

And the truest form of education comes with the real-life experience.

There are no easy answers.

Make the most of the moment, and as stereotype as it may sound: "JUST DO IT!"

Love. Jerom

Who Moved my Cheese?

Sounds familiar?
​​
I had the chance to re-read this book today...
​​
It's incredible that every time I re-read this simple parable, a new curtain and realization unfolds.
​​
If you haven't read this book, I encourage you to read it.
​​
This short story is well written and only takes up one hour of your life but may just give you a knowledge of a lifetime.
​​
I make sure that I read this book once in a while to remind me how I should handle changes in life.
​​
"What would you do if you weren't afraid?"
​​
Just imagine what would happen...
​​
As human beings, it's natural for us to view change as a threat or be afraid of change.
​​
Afraid of accepting the truth.
​​
Afraid of acknowledging that change is happening.
​​
Afraid of moving towards an unexplored belief.
​​
And the harder for us to accept change in life, the longer time it will take for us to grow and improve.
​​
But how do we have to handle these life changes?
​​
"Life moves on, and so should we." - Spencer Johnson
​​
Accept that there is nothing permanent in this world except change.
​​
​​​​​​​​​​Change happens to all of us.
​​
It is inevitable.
​​
Always remind yourself that you are not a special snowflake.
​​
Even the emotion that you're feeling right now is temporary.
​​
It will all change.
​​
Everything changes, and we have to learn how to adapt quickly.
​​
I know that feeling...
​​
And it's challenging to let go of attachments and the past.
​​
Sometimes, we're so focused on what we're leaving behind, that we don't realize what we're looking for is already in front of us.
​​
Always remember that change could lead to some exciting and better opportunities.
​​
Embrace it.
​​
And it all depends on what you choose to believe.

Love. Jerom

The Story of Two Monks and a Woman...

Two monks were strolling by a stream on their way home to the monastery. 

They were startled by the sound of a young woman in a bridal gown, sitting by the stream, crying softly.

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she gazed across the water. She needed to cross to get to her wedding, but she was fearful that doing so might ruin her beautiful handmade gown.

In this particular sect, monks were prohibited from touching women.

But one monk was filled with compassion for the bride. Ignoring the sanction, he hoisted the woman on his shoulders and carried her across the stream - assisting her journey and saving her gown.

She smiled and bowed with gratitude as the monk splashed his way back across the stream to rejoin his companion.

The second monk was furious. "How could you do that?!" he scolded.

"You know we are forbidden to touch a woman, much less carry her around!"

The offending monk listened in silence to a stern lecture that lasted all the way back to the monastery.

His mind wandered as he felt the warm sunshine and listened to the singing birds.

After returning to the monastery, he fell asleep for a few hours.

And then he was awakened in the middle of the night by his fellow monk.

"How could you carry that woman?!" his agitated friend cried out.

"Someone else could have helped her across the stream. You were a bad monk!"

"What woman?" the sleepy monk said.

"Don't you even remember? That woman you carried across the stream." His colleague snapped.

"Oh! Her..." laughed the sleepy monk.

"I only carried her across the stream. You carried her all the way back to the monastery."

The lesson here is simple: When it comes to our flawed past, always leave it at the stream.

How are you feeling today? Or in the past months?

Have you fully let go of the pain or anger that you felt?

Is it affecting your daily life?

We cannot change the past, but we can always change the future. 

We cannot change the situation, but we can always change our reaction towards that situation.

I know a lot of crazy things happened in the past months. 

All we can do is accept, learn from it, and move on.

Do not let a negative emotion affect your day or even your whole life.

Let's continuously raise awareness and check on ourselves. 

Love. Jerom