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.

3 levels of prosperity

I am looking forward to 16th May 2017.

"Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons."
-- Woody Allen

To become more prosperous, we need to change on at least two levels. 

First, we must ensure our financial affairs are in order. 

We need an income that at least covers our expenses. 

And we need a foundation of habits, tools and skills so we achieve some financial stability in our day-to-day experience.

Second, we must become aware of the beliefs we hold around money and prosperity. 

If we unconsciously believe we are lacking in some way, then no matter what we do, we will unconsciously sabotage our own efforts to improve our finances.

And third, it's helpful to understand the spiritual principles that govern our level of abundance. 

Once we know those principles, we can work effectively within them to attract abundance to us.

"If you're prosperous in soul, you'll be prosperous in whole."
-- Mark Victor Hansen

You think you have a problem?

Everyone has problems.

Different ones.

Everyday.

People complain that they have work problems. All the time.

I tell them, the company or boss pays your salary? For WHAT?

This is exactly why we pay for something. 

There is a price to solve a problem. 

We are willingly paying a lot of money to solve our problems, as long as it is affordable, convenient and solved. 

We always pay for solutions –

• We pay banks interest to finance our home purchase so that we have a place to stay
• We pay the mechanics to make our car running again
• We pay the doctors to prescribe our illnesses so that we can recover and back on our feet again

This is so obvious. But yet many people ignore the fact.
You want to have a pay raise but you don’t want more problems to solve in your current job.
Your company can’t grow because when you face a problem, you get back to your comfort zone.
Remember this, opportunity is everywhere. Identify a problem, and offer your solution to it. Then others will be happy to pay you over and over again. So that you will be happy too.

Tell me, what problem can you solve now?

A letter to my kids

Hello kids,

Today I’m writing to you because I want you to know how much I love and care for you, and how I want the best that this life can offer for you – physically, emotionally and yes, spiritually. 

I have seen too much heartache in this short amount of time that I have been on this earth and I hope and pray that you will not be a victim to it.

Today I wish to bestow a bit of wisdom and knowledge towards you – wisdom and knowledge I wish I knew when I was growing up. 

There is a wise saying that points out that you have to be the person you needed when you were younger and today I want to be that person for you. 

A strong, independent, confident and yes, worthy human being. I am worthy. It took me a long time to come to this conclusion and I really hope that it doesn’t take you that long. We are worthy.

Don’t let society make your decisions.

Dear kids, 

I find myself in a society in which women – despite their so-called equality and independence – are dictated on what to wear, what to look like and what to act like. When you are part of the crowd, you don’t notice your minion-like behavior in order to receive acceptance. However, once the scales fall off of your eyes, you see not only the frustration of keeping up to this social standard, but also the pain and the torment each girl or woman goes through while pretending to be something she is not.

For who and for what? A man who’s attention spam on you lasts no longer than a few minutes, until the next sexier, more willing girl comes along? Forcing you to make a decision: Do I walk away or do I throw myself further down this dark pit of a dictated standard?

The pain I see in girls no older than 13 scare me, because I know that one day you will be faced with the same kind of pressure they are faced with, and how can I possibly prepare you for those pressures? The pressures are everywhere from magazines, to kids television channels, to schools and every other system you can possibly think of out there.

The best I can do is to tell you each and every day that you are worthy. You are worthy of true love and affection, you are worthy of acceptance for the beautiful person that you are – the world is quick to say they accept you for your individuality, but we see so many people succumb to the ideal picture society compels us to be, with no thought as to how this ruins our identity and eventually our feelings of worth in this life.

You are perfect in your individuality.

I want you to know that there is absolutely nothing wrong or ‘faulty’ with who you are and what you look like – you are fearfully and wonderfully made with an impenetrable light inside you. That light is your individuality and that is your invincible strength – don’t allow any one, no man nor woman to kill that light.

Allow that light to become a blazing fire igniting all those who are blessed to be in your company. 

Without a thought to it, give others permission to be themselves. 

It is in this freedom that you and those around you will be able to experience a peace and stillness this world is chasing but has no idea where to find.

Go live your life and live it authentically – only then will you find true happiness. 

Be careful not to judge those who submit to pressure, but be the guiding light that helps them out of that pain and confusion. 

The world can be a nasty place that brings a lot of pain and torment, but it can also be a beautiful place that brings a lot of healing and love – it all depends on how you choose to look at it.

I believe Denzel Washington said it best: “At the end of the day it is not about what you have or even what you’ve accomplished…It’s about who you’ve lifted up, who you’ve made better. It’s about what you’ve given back.”

The society I find myself in is very self-involved and perhaps that is one of the reasons we so easily fall victim to all the ugly onslaughts of this world. 

We don’t know that we are worth more than that slap on our butt, worth more than those desperate touches and yes, worth more than those tainted tears we cry every time we are abandoned or rejected. 

It is time to remember that we all are stars born from the universe, human beings with a light and a purpose – it is time to live it!

I love you, all of you.

Your zany Daddy,

Bobby K.H. Ong

15 things to give up, Part 2

3 years ago, I wrote about 15 things to give up.
Here's the revised version 2016.

1. Doubting yourself
Seems everyone has self doubt, but the ones who overcome this are the successful people.

2. Thinking negatively.
If you think something's going to end up badly, then it probably will.  Call it Murphy's law or whatever, but better believe it, your subconscious thoughts are the true thoughts.

3. Fear of Failure
Everyone is afraid, but you HAVE TO FAIL before you succeed.
Those who don't, will not be able to rebound back if anything bad happens.

4. Destructive relationships
Could be a friend, a partner or even a spouse. But they are anvils pulling you down.
See them for what they see you as. And break it off.

5. Gossiping
Another human failure. People will always talk bad about someone else, even if they don't hate that person.
It's a waste of time. And energy.

6. Criticising yourself.
Stop it. You're better than this.

7. Anger.
My ex boss once taught us that anger resolves nothing.
Does it allow you to think clearly? No.
Does it help others? No.

8. Comfort eating.
I used to crave chocolate or sweets to help myself over situations.
Damn near got diabetes for nothing.

9. Laziness
For sure, there's only rewards if you work for it. No other way.

10. Negative speech.
Use more active phrases. Don't use passive words.
You'll see the improvement once you start changing the way you write and talk.

11. Procrastination
Another normal human trait.
START MOVING.
Inertia kills people. Really.

12. Fear of Success
Sounds strange, but I know some people who are actually clueless about what to do when they "make" it.
One day at a time.

13. Excess
Too much of a good thing is a bad thing, heard that before?

14. People pleasing
At the age of 40, I really stopped caring what people thought anymore.
When you're young, you feel like you have to please people.
Wrong. That's the surefire way of ensuring you will fail.

15. Putting people's wants before your own needs
It's good to help once in a while, but you need your own time and space too.

Do more

Just like what Jack Ma said: DO

Do more than belong: participate. 

Do more than care: help. 

Do more than believe: practice. 

Do more than be fair: be kind. 

Do more than forgive: forget. 

Do more than dream: work

The victimised mindset

We focus on the negatives, losing ourselves in the 'problem.' 

We point to our unhappy circumstances to rationalize our negative feelings. 

This is the easy way out. 

It takes, after all, very little effort to feel victimized.

Nothing and no one can make us a victim. 

We do it to ourselves when we allow external circumstances to hold power over us.

Although we have no control over what happens to us, we ALWAYS have a choice in how we respond. 

We hold our power when we accept complete responsibility for our thoughts, feelings and actions.

A man may fall many times but he won't be a failure until he says someone pushed him.

The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed