Happy 2025!

 I'm in near disbelief, because the past 365 days has probably been the craziest roller coaster of my life yet.

2024 started with dread, worry and fear. Getting me a few white hairs in that first 3 months. 

Then magic happened in April. And it just became better and better there.

Then the year ended so beautifully good. I've never been more grateful and totally immersed in gratitude.

I believe in the power of attracting what you truly desire and it worked so well. 

Here's to an even better year in 2025:

1. Wake up early. There’s a different kind of peace in those hours that belong just to you.

2. Find your version of prayer. Sometimes talking to something bigger than your worries helps them feel smaller.

3. Move your body when your mind gets too loud. Your body knows the way back to peace.

4. Write down your thoughts. They’re trying to tell you something important.

5. Take five deep breaths when things feel heavy. Your breath has been keeping you alive this whole time — it knows what it’s doing.

6. Sit with yourself, even on the messy days. Especially on the messy days.

7. Keep a list of people who light up different parts of you.

8. Notice what makes you jealous — it’s usually pointing to something your heart wants to explore.

9. Pay attention to what draws you to certain friends. They’re often reflecting back parts of you that are ready to grow.

10. Rest like it matters. Everything’s harder when you’re running on empty.

11. Start a morning ritual. Create a container for the day that feels like yours.

12. Do one thing daily that builds trust with yourself. (I’m doing 100 push-ups — find your own thing.)

13. Talk to your parents about things that matter. The hard conversations are usually the ones worth having.

14. Keep asking yourself better questions. The answers grow as you do.

15. Let go of grudges. They’re heavy, and your heart needs the space for better things.

16. Host simple gatherings. Real connections happen when we stop trying to make everything perfect.

17. Read books that make you feel less alone. Sometimes the right words find you when you need them.

18. Take notes on things that light you up. Your enthusiasm is trying to show you your path.

19. Write to understand yourself. Not to sound smart, just to sound true.

20. Walk without a destination sometimes. Some thoughts only find you when you’re moving.

21. Take long showers when you need to reset. Some clarity only comes with hot water and quiet.

22. Live more in today. Tomorrow’s worries can wait; this moment has gifts too.

23. Focus on one thing at a time. Presence is a practice.

24. Create something, anything. Expression is medicine for soul.

25. Dress in ways that feel like you. Your body deserves to feel at home in what it wears.

26. Reply to messages mindfully. Clear inbox, clearer mind.

27. Take responsibility for the energy you bring. Some days that means being gentle with yourself.

28. Lead with kindness. Notice how kindness changes things. Everyone’s carrying something we can’t see.

29. Spend time in nature. Trees don’t care about your to-do list.

30. Listen like you might miss something beautiful. You probably will.

31. Write notes of appreciation. Tell people what they mean to you while you can.

32. Work from new places sometimes. Different spaces wake up different parts of you.

33. Try new restaurants. Small adventures count too.

34. Learn something with your hands. Digital wisdom is great, but your hands have their own kind of knowing.

35. Make playlists for different parts of yourself. Let music say what words can’t.

36. Keep your bedroom a sanctuary. You need somewhere to land when the world gets too loud.

37. Find your signature scent. Let your presence be a subtle kind of poetry.

38. Have different walking routes for different moods. Some paths help you think, others help you forget.

39. Save things that make you genuinely laugh. Joy deserves documentation too.

40. Learn one thing deeply. Become someone people call when they need that specific light.

41. Track what you’ve done, not just what needs ot be done. You’re probably growing more than you realize.

42. Build a small emergency fund. Peace of mind creates space for bigger dreams.

43. Learn to cook one thing that feels like home. Food has a way of grounding us when nothing else can.

44. Keep a digital scrapbook of what moves you. Memory is a form of self-love.

45. Practice saying no when things don’t feel right. Boundaries are how you honor your yes.

46. Express gratitude for the small things. The ordinary moments are where life really lives.

47. Give yourself permission to change your mind.

48. Get comfortable with not knowing. Mystery is part of the journey.

49. Define success on your own terms. Your path doesn’t need to look like anyone else’s.

50. Trust the timing of your growth. Some flowers bloom late, and they’re no less beautiful for it.

5 steps to self actualisation

As we pay ongoing attention to our motives, we can see how both our conscious and unconscious attitudes are changing.

Here are some ways that our motives can shift with rising consciousness:

• I desire
• I want to collect things
• I want to know
• I want to serve
• I want to be

What are your motives as you participate in life?

"There are three kinds of people and three kinds of richness:

• people who want to have, to collect
• people who want action, work and labor
• people who want to be

The process is clear. 

First 'know yourself' - your personality and direction in life. 

Then 'create a plan'. 

Next 'heal yourself and what holds you back. 

Then you can expand and 'grow yourself'

Showing leadership

 A great leader sits on the floor. 

Lowering his or her status. Lowering his or her shield. 

And then others follow suit. 

A great leader takes all arrows before they are shot. 

Accepting all responsibility, accepting all failure. 

And the results are counterintuitive. 

And in a twist of irony, as the leader sits low, her status is raised. 

And in a twist of irony, as the leader takes on the arrows of the group…

He is saved from any harm

Malaysia is probably still the best country in the world

Robert Kennedy said: 

What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love, and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black. ... let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world. Let us dedicate ourselves to that, and say a prayer for our country and for our people.”

This is a good saying for Malaysia.

I still know that it is the greatest country in the world.

There iss no question in my mind.

That’s the beauty of the Malaysia I know.  Even in our darkest times, we find a way to see the light, no matter how distant it may be.

We believe that Malaysia will always find a way to be better because for nearly 50 years, even with horrible injustices, tragedies, and scandals, the arc of this country has moved upward. Don’t get me wrong: we have gone backwards, over and over again, but we’ve always found a way to get moving forward again. We are never perfect, but we always have a reason to be optimistic. We always find a way to move toward the light.

Today, too many of our fellow Malaysians have given in to darkness.  I see people choosing pessimism and hate every day.

We can blame the social media companies that created algorithms to amplify negativity. We can blame the foreign governments who make every effort to divide us.

But that’s the easy way out. I always tell you that the path to progress requires discomfort.

We need to look in the mirror.

This search needs to happen in our own hearts and minds.

The big social media companies and our adversaries can only drive wedges between us because we’ve chosen to see each other as enemies, instead of as fellow Malaysians who have different ideas about the best policies to move the country forward.

This is our choice. We hold the power. We will be the ones who cast the die.

Today, I want all of you to reflect on the Bobby Kennedy quote I shared.

Sit with it. Think about whether you’ve lived up to it. If you haven’t, commit to rejecting that savageness that is inside every single one of us and choosing the path of love, wisdom, and compassion for your fellow men and women.

That is the choice each of us has to make. We can choose to turn toward the light once again.

This is up to all of us. This is our choice. We have the power to choose the better angels of our nature. Don’t wait for anyone else to make the first move. Be better, today.

Transitions and truths

 Whether we like it or not, things change. Life moves, and it's dynamic in such a way that it's complexities keep the wheels of time turning. And just as we get oh so comfy in our seat at the table the sand starts to shift. 

We seek stable ground. 

But sometimes that keeps us holding onto what we've got even though it's expiring. The tighter we hold the more sand starts to slip through our grasp and...

There's always another patch of earth to stand on, but still, we delay. 

We're too comfortable where we're at and too scared to let go. 

Because who will we be on the other side? 

The brave ones, they make the leap early and often. 

Others make the leap begrudgingly, somewhere along the way.

And some hold on to the bitter end. 

But here's what we know, and we know this from past experiences...

Everything that was bad at some point turns good. The rough start at work, the challenge speaking on stage, the difficulty of starting a daily writing habit...

All of the good stuff comes after a transition: We fear the decision, we fear after we make the decision, and then we look back and say, "I'm so grateful that happened" – for all the growth and all the learning, and being on the edge.

Suddenly when we're somewhere new, we're someone new, and everything is alive. Like when we travel, a life with new experiences is rich with scenery, presence, and new learning. 

It takes courage to jump on cue, but maybe not?

Maybe it just takes looking back, and seeing how when we delayed, we delayed the inevitable. 

And why delay, when life has more transitions for you ahead if you just get through this one?

Going through as many transitions as you can.

Isn't that the point?

Rhythm of life

 Enjoy this moment. Somewhere something you’re doing is going well.  

The bed you lay down in is warm and comfy.  

Your tea is perfect.  

You step outside and feel the sun.

At this moment things are good.

Exhale...

A problem or obstacle is coming. Of this I’m sure.  

We can simultaneously see what’s good, and expect the next challenge.

This bed is comfy but you must get out of it.

This tea will soon be cold.  

Today’s win is the moment before tomorrow’s loss.

This is the rhythm of your life.

Obstacle, and Achievement.

Comfort, and Discomfort.  

It’s easy to be swept into this like a tide, caught off guard with each new wave that comes, good or bad.  

Happy when times are good.

Shocked when times are tough.

But that would be a mistake in not seeing this game for what it is.  

Having awareness of this rhythm, we can come to understand it.  

To savor the good moments while knowing it’s temporary.  

To expect the obstacles to come, and laugh at their arrival.  

It's like your problems are knocking at your door, and you can try and hold the door shut.

Or you choose to let them in.  

Because both are the same coin.  

The error is in your perception of duality.  

In seeing them as separate.  

In getting hit by waves you aren't expecting. 

Instead of recognizing that this...