💡 Wake up
Check in with how I am feeling
Grab my book and cash, head down to the coffee shop opposite my house
Read for 15-20min
Check in with my head to see if it links to anything I’ve learnt and read previously
Head home
Reflect for 5-10min (written)
Start my day

Run with the sunset or workout
Check in with how I’m feeling
Sleep and rest the soul for the day

You know how we always caution ourselves with change, because it does not happen a random day, when you wake up and you’ve changed? Well, it happens to me quite often. Some mornings, I wake up and simply change. It’s fascinating and I love mornings like these.

New Routine

This recent change is a new routine. For the longest time, I’ve been wanting to do the whole “get up at 4am” routine. I’ve done the necessary preparation — watched TED talks on it, read about people’s experiences, talked to many people about it. But I never got my ass to wake up at 4am.

Then this week, I did it. Sure, it is not 4am every single day, but it gets better. I wake up between 4.30am-6am, depending on the night I had before. And I’m proud of this new change.

Make The Change

Perhaps the lesson lies in that we only make the change when we act directly to the activity, and not indirectly. Nothing speaks about change louder than me making the conscious decision to wake up at 4.30am, actually get out of bed when the alarm rings and bring my ass to the chair to start the day.

It beats the endless hours of passive activity like thinking about doing it, foreseeing the possible obstacles through reading about other people’s experiences, fantasising about waking up at 4am but never going about it.

Think about a business management degree and see any similarities? Many wannapreneurs spend hours *thinking *****and fantasising about the ideal business plan, read about success stories, plan contingencies even before anything happens. Whereas entrepreneurs get their ass to it, learn from mistakes, stand up when they have fallen.

Want something? Get you ass to do it. Stop mopping around thinking about doing it, see all the possible challenges and give up before starting.

Change is easy. The only thing you should be concerned with is where to land on the next step. Baby steps, always.

Love,

L

Life is Magical

Anyway, life is magical. For the longest time (pretty much all my life), I always had the feeling that I am at the right place where I need to be right now. It was so strong when I was 15. And again when I was 17-20. And when I lived in Hong Kong. Living in Singapore and meeting a bunch of friends. Moving to Netherlands and Vietnam. Tipping point in London. And deciding to move back to Singapore. It’s crazy. It is!! Because I had the strangest and strongest feeling that I am exactly where I need to be.

I’m in love with everything. Life is magical. It’s a miracle. I marvel at the beauty of life. Often, I’d take a step back to take in everything at once. because life is that beautiful and magical.

Probably a tipping point to this was when I realised you either see an experience as the first time you’d experience it or last time ever. I think that shifted my perspectives quite a bit. Anyway, here I am. Obsessed with life.

Everything is Magical

Anyway, the point is that everything is magical. Everything is right exactly where it’s supposed to be. Hence, I might be fearful at times, but I also know that the best things take time. So I’m patient. I know that when something does not work out now, it means that it is not the right time now and it will work out when the time is right.

So back to evidence that everything is magical. Since everyone keeps telling me to rest, well I figured I need to rest more. Went to libby to find a book and guess what! A book called Rest is in there. Elliott has been reading it, so it’s the latest book in the stack. That’s crazy magical!

Opened the book and read it. Been reading little bits every other day. Helped me a lot so far and it’s been magical. It’s not anything *too *****new, but timely reminders. Like, remember to rest and sleep, bc our brain works best then.

Brain is Magical

Which brings me to my final point. The brain is magical. It really is. it’s beautiful and wonderful. It’s crazy magical!

During the day, I get exposed to many things. And it can get confusing. Which is a good thing, to be honest. We are confused when the brain synapses are trying to make connections with each other. I am both more confused and much clearer my entire life.

I have faith in my brain. I have faith that the synapses will work themselves out. And that everything will be clearer soon. So I go to sleep confused. And during the night, the brain, like magic, works itself out. It’s crazy magical! I’m in love with my brain.

And the day after, I have the uttermost clarity with the things that happened the day before. It’s magical. There is no other reason. What a wonderful time to be alive.

Here’s to more breaks, rests and downtime. Then we accelerate forward again!

Love,

L

I came across the Big T by one of my professors in university and realised that I have been applying it anyway. He just formalised my methodology and it’s amazing.

What’s The Big T?

Look at the letter T. It shows the shape in which one should hone one’s skillsets. Learn everything you can like - and specialise in 1 specific skillset like I.

It’s that simple!

My Big T

My Big T is to be both a generalist and specialist. Following the research by Lazear (2004, 2005), to be a generalist and specialist requires different skillsets and cost to invest in specific skills. It also determines one’s probability of becoming a good entrepreneur.

My broad - includes both making the line longer and thicker. Anything that interests me is added to the thick long broad -. That could be anything and everything random, from Chinese calligraphy art to single malts or financial market to meditation. My - keep getting more exciting as I uncover and learn more about life.

To define my I, I took a long time to think about it. I have always been a generalist, because it is second nature to me and it is something I do with ease. Yet, I always felt a lacking in my specialisation. I experimented with various specialised skillsets following my -, but they never felt right. Until I figured out about combining economics, policy, human behaviour and technology into one: the economics of tokenisation. Call it whatever you want, but to me, it’s everything I have always dreamt of!

General x Specialise

This field is everything that I want. It combined general skillsets that I have been honing: corporate governance, governing policies, financial engineering, complex dynamic evolution, behavioural economics, human psychology, emerging technology. Yet, it is specialised in a specific way: virtual digital economies with rules and representation of value in a form.

You can only imagine my pure happiness when I figured my current from of T. I’m grateful to have figured it out thanks to years of cultivating my interests and passion and being curious to explore the various skillsets.

Now, I fatten my I with complementary skillsets, while spending the weekends diving into -.

I live a life I need no longer to dream.

Love,

L

2021 is about discomfort and energy management. I want to be intentional with how I approach all things in life. Most entries are written as a reflection piece to connect the dots of what I’ve done. As I approach this new stage, I want to continue with some forward looking pieces. It changes the style a bit, but it’s useful when I reflect in the next period.

Plan then Execute

Everything is about planning and then execution. I enjoy planning because I’ve seen how it has helped me for 12 years now (wow, time flies). Planning is about being intentional with how time will be spent. I plan in chunks and refine them as I go along. Nothing is right or wrong, we just keep adjusting to suit the current situation.

Planning helps me to be intentional with the time I have on hand. What I want to include in 2021 is to be mindful about my energy too. There, I can be intentional about how my time and energy are divided so I can intentionally work on them.

Start Big

Start with the overview in mind. Then work to divide them into manageable chunks. That helps a lot with being 1% closer every day. It also helps a lot when I see myself procrastinating. Instead of fighting it, I mitigate it and shift the task to something intentional.

Be Realistic

If I could say something to myself 12 years ago, it would be “be realistic”. Don’t forget that you enjoy life, you enjoy going out, you enjoy partying, friends are important, quality family time is key, you have your hobbies to have fun with. I want to be intentional about making time and energy for these things too.

It’s easy to get caught up with work, busyness (bad) or whatever bubble we are in. So, intentionally make time for other things, otherwise we can lose track of the other things too easily.

2021 So Far

• Read or reply to texts when on the train

• Delete apps that are time/energy drainers

• Catch myself when I’m in a bad spiral — E.g. some YouTube leads to really negative energy that drains your soul. I dislike that.

Love,

L

If you’re trying to break a habit, don’t say ‘this is the last time I’m doing it’ to yourself. Instead, say ‘this is the first time I’m not doing it’.

Someone asked me recently on how do I know and track my progress over the years. There is no empirical test, just me reflecting every day, seeing what good habits I made and what bad habits I kicked.

I have never thought about killing myself because life sucks, but I’ve read a quote somewhere about if you want to kill yourself, just kill the bad part of yourself. It resonated very well with me, because there are some parts of Lisa that I really do not like. And I realised I don’t have to live with that part of Lisa. For example, the Lisa that doesn’t love anyone. She’s long gone. I killed her and brought a brand new Lisa who is very much in love with everyone and everything she sees!

Some habits are hard to kick. I know that because I am spending 10+ years kicking the bad habits and start better ones.

• Sometimes, it helps by rationally deciding to do the right thing instead

• Or it helps by saying out loud what I am going to do, then hear it in my head and realised that is silly

• Now, I’m going to add this “this is the first time I’m not doing it”

This will be very applicable to wanting to snack at night or to stop a bad habit. Let’s try! And see if this new method works.

Love,

L

I have 576 principles.

I know. Weird. I document everything — values, stories, categories, cross-references. A full personal operating system built over years. And every day, one principle surfaces on my home page like a prompt. (It’s called POTD, principle of the day in case I needed an external reminder.)

Today’s was this one.

The life I have today is 100% chosen. Every decision — small, daily, incremental — led here. I didn’t drift into this. I built it. Looking back 10 years, I can say that honestly. This is the life I wanted. I got it. Not by luck. By direction.

So the question I’ve been sitting with for the last year is: what does the next 10 years look like?

I didn’t have the answer for a while. That was uncomfortable — being someone who runs on clarity, suddenly not having a clear image of the next version. But I have it now.

Here’s what the principle is not about:

It’s not a vision board. It’s not a “manifest your best life” softness. It’s not even about the destination. That is cheap. It does not last.

The thing that is easy to do. Also easy to not do. That gap — that tiny friction — is where your future is actually decided. Taking three extra minutes to dress intentionally instead of grabbing whatever is closest.

Choosing the harder conversation now instead of avoiding it. Writing the idea down instead of letting it dissolve. Moving the body. Reading the thing. Saying the true answer. Easy to do. Easy to skip. (Btw this is from the book Slight Edge. My annual read.)

Compounded over 3,650 days, that’s not small anymore. That’s a life — chosen or defaulted. Time is going to pass anyway. Might as well move it towards the right thing.

The framework is simple:

1. Name the life you want in 10 years. Be specific. Be honest.

2. Work backwards to today.

3. Identify the small decisions that, compounded, move you toward it — or away from it.

4. Make the right small decision. Repeat.

That’s it. Just directional consistency at the micro level. Towards the chosen life.

The principle isn’t a reminder to dream bigger. It’s a reminder that accountability lives in the ordinary. In what you wore today. In what you said yes and no to. In how you showed up when no one was watching and the stakes felt low. Low-stakes moments are just high-stakes moments in disguise.

Ten years from now, I will look back at today.

I want to say: yes. I chose this.

Not: I’m not sure how I got here.

The difference between those two sentences is made right now. In this decision. This small, easy-to-skip, easy-to-make decision.

Choose.

Love,

L

Firstly, I am human. I am not always 100% productive. I get lazy. Some days are shitty.

Everyone has been super kind with their words and I am so appreciate of that. I accept these compliments, but also always want to keep it real — some days are shit. You just don’t see it.

I manage to get shit done because I Pavlov-ed myself.

Secondly, here’s the thing about compliments. Accept it but don’t drink the kool-aid.

I understand that people mean well. And I 100% accept it. The dark side is that sometimes, these words do inflate my ego. That’s not a good thing. So I’m learning to accept then let it go. This is why I’m not a fan of compliments. I think they do more bad than good. Ego sucks.

I do worry compliments become a weird Pavlov thing. So I always let it go and move on with life.

Thirdly, here’s how I use Pavlov to my advantage.

As much as people keep thinking that I’m always 100% super insanely productive, I actually manage to Pavlov myself into being productive. It’s a lesson learnt and I’ve been testing it out for months. It actually works, so time to share it.

Like tech, everything is a tool. Learn to use it wisely. And use it to your advantage, to become a better person.

Pavlov-ing Productivity

TLDR: Pavlov + Routine = Sustainable Growth

1. Decide what good habits or routine you want

2. Do one small thing that triggers this habit or routine

3. Keep doing it before you start the habit or routine

4. ???

5. Profit

My Small Thing: I keep a timer to time my work done — Toggl.

My Habit: I want to start work upon the timer starting. This works because I hate lies. And I’m not going to lie to myself. So when the timer is ticking, I want to be true to the timer by starting work immediately. So this method works for me.

Experience

I start the timer before I reflect daily. I also start the timer before I start on any project. Thus, I accidentally Pavlov-ed myself into getting work done. All I need to do is to literally start the timer. It’s insane how easy it is. The procrastination lies in me starting the timer, because I know that means work. Some days, I am a lazy fucker. So it takes a while to press the button. (It’s weird, I know) But once the timer is clicked, my brain also clicks and I get on to work.

I can’t believe this is something I took so long to learn. And I’m glad I’ve learnt and figured this out! It’s still not all rainbows and butterflies. Some days, my timer does not clock in so much work. And that is okay. Because it’s good to balance “productive working” and “relax to sharpen the saw”.

Love,

L

Practice choosing discomfort.

One focus in 2021 is discomfort. I want to be better at being comfortable with discomfort. That includes new heights, new challenges, new necessary evils. Once we get comfortable with discomfort, life is much more fun.

Procrastination

Yeah, everyone has a problem with procrastination and the addictive feeling of allowing the dopamine hit you like tsunami waves. That includes browsing memes, watching netflix or meaningless time online. It’s a strange comfort — being in the comfort zone and allowing the easy dopamine hit to take place.

But this is not what 2021 is built for.

Discomfort is the way to go. And to start, it’s procrastination.

1. Realise procrastination is to delay discomfort. If I’m delaying something, the returns better be pretty damn good. It turns out, procrastination has a negative return effect. I’m not delaying discomfort. I want it now.

2. That uncomfortable thing to do? The part where my brain says “uh no please”. Yeah, brain dumb dumb. Action no dumb dumb. The more uncomfortable my brain feels, the more I want to do it. And that also builds up the brain — it’s a muscle after all. So let’s do it.

3. So much work, so little time? List them down. Label the tasks. Label what I am feeling. Understand my discomfort, realise it is what I want, go do it.

With my pavlov system in place, discomfort turns out to be easier to manage. So let’s get to the element and return to the routines.

I’m grateful that every year, it’s to continue growth of the previous year. But sometimes, I get caught up with the returns of the harvest, I forget to sow the seeds and do the weeding and watering. Now that I have realised it, it’s back to work!

Excited for Q1’s growth.

Love,

L

Life is long if you know how to use it. — Seneca.

As much as I’d like to live till 120, I’m fine with living till 90. Not because I’m done living, but because I would have done most of the things I’ve had wanted to do by then. You see, life is not short if you know how to use it right. Learning about all the great people who have lived like economists, philosophers, physicists or biologists. They didn’t need to live 120 years to make a difference. Life is what you make of it. So, I’m ok with that.

Last week, I wasn’t feeling superb. And I realised that’s because I am not channelling the energy and time to the right places. I was allowing the situation to dictate how I am using my energy and time, which is very un-Lisa-like, I must admit. There was a problem, I came up with a solution.

That wednesday, I took time off and spend the first half of the day at home doing laundry and cleaning the house. Then I came to the office to figure a solution out. In the end, it was simple. Ridiculously simple. There’s a template online with your life in weeks printed out.

If I live for 90 years, I am almost 1/3 done with life. That also puts into perspective the amount of time I have left. It is not what I call a lot. So, it helped me to refocus and be intentional about how I will spend my time and energy.

Read Wait by why

Since then, I did 2 things:

1. delete some people and only focus on people that matters

2. choose 2 things I want to focus on. 1 mainly because it’s what I am doing quite okay at, the other is what I am building towards. Everything else does not matter

And wow, that makes a huge difference! I wake up looking at my timeline. Well, I am not 100% back to my productive state, but I am more conscious about how I want to spend my time. It also helps me to prioritise where I will spend my energy, and that I did.

Slowly getting back to the good Lisa again. Ebbs and flows. Hardworking and chill a little. It’s the convergence and divergence that helps me to be me. So I’m not mad at those distractions, for I have learnt a lot. But now, I want to focus. Yes, those business ideas are good, they are good distractions. They are not the real focus, and we can always go back to them later. For now, I am intentional about where I focus my time and energy.

Those years were the divergent years. Now, it’s the convergence period. Then we diverge again. It’s all normal. It’s all okay.

So there. A life doesn’t have to be long to be well-lived. If you use it right, we truly have all the abundance we need. And this is how I am living it right. And use this life right!

Love,

L

Why do this?

As Confucius said, by three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.

Life ultimately is about gaining as many experiences as possible (to me), so as to gain wisdom. It is what I personally strive for. I even have my own documentation of Experiences Badges that’s just for me. The only thing I’m certain about life is death. We will all die, no matter who we are, where we live in, how we exist. We will die. So as I travel along my journey towards death, I’m all about collecting experiences, like some Pokemon game catching all the Pokemon. I’d like to live 5 lifetimes in my 1 single lifetime.

Reverse thought process (thinking like an economist): if my goal is to collect experiences, ideally I just want to experience the best version of it. That means in my limited time (only constraint), I want to find way to experience the best experience (objective function). That means in my input, I have to gather as much useful details as possible to use my limited time to achieve the best experience. The variables will therefore be education and exposure.

Thus, this new system I have created.

Education

The first step is education. I enjoy going into deep into new topics. Continuous hobbies (may I classify them this way) that I dive in and out of includes (and keeps growing each year), and each year gets more subdivided because I have so much more knowledge of them:

1. World history

   1. European history (specifically western europe)

   2. Chinese history

   3. Ancient history

   4. Egyptian history

   5. Caliphate history (I’ve started to dive deeper last summer)

2. Second best collection (Second Best)

   1. Gold / gemstones / jewellery / diamonds

   2. Fashion and styling

   3. Natural fabric

   4. Stitching methods and cuts

   5. Leathers, leather types and tanneries

3. Art

   1. Impressionist art

   2. General oil on canvas

   3. Watercolour painting

   4. Sculptures

4. Best version of oneself

   1. Ballet

   2. Posture

5. Fine Tableware

   1. Bone china, fine porcelain

   2. Flatware / tea-ware

   3. Crystalware

6. Hardwood

   1. Rosewood

   2. Teak

   3. Ebony

7. Strength training

8. Body care

   1. Skincare

   2. Haircare

   3. Face care

9. Cooking / food / recipes / ingredients / cooking gadgets

10. Personal development

11. Gardening

I need to stop at 11 major categories. There are too many systems in my life that I can’t show them all in 1 post here. The point here is to identify topics I am very interested and rather passionate about then take time to learn about them. I am someone who enjoys doing such research so that if I make a mistake, I have a better way to debug and learn from it.

To learn, these are the channels:

• Videos on youtube: history, second best collection, ballet, cooking, strength training

• Online forums and blogs: reddit is quite good but I’m switching over to substack (fashion), purse forum

• Wikipedia: especially for topics that no one writes too much about (e.g. wood)

• Books: world history, art, personal development

• Speaking with an expert on the topic in museums or shops or craftsmen making the piece

• Museums or exhibitions

• Theatre (ballet)

• Dinner parties / chats with friends

The more I learn, the more I learn what I don’t know hence the list keeps growing. Nonetheless, it’s always so fascinating and fun!

Exposure

I said in my 10 Rules for Jewellery that I will view jewellery and see them with my own eyes to learn about them personally.

This could mean travelling to ancient cities and marvel at them, going to museums to learn more about a topic or sign up for a workshop / class to learn about a specific topic. I find it so wonderful to go into a shop that specialises in something and end up talking to the craftsman about his craft for an hour. That happened so often to me and I feel so grateful that they give me time of their day to just share their knowledge. It’s not only a privilege to learn from them, but it is such a delight to watch their eyes light up as they speak about their work. I also enjoy going to museums and speaking to the docents.

(Window) shopping is also another great way to get exposure. I enjoy just taking a stroll into shops and looking at their collection. It’s funny that the sales associates like to ask “what occasion are we shopping for today?”. It has NEVER occurred to me to shop for an occasion. I shop because I love collecting beautiful things. I also have many beautiful things that I will absolutely NOT shop for an occasion, lest someone has the same piece as me. Looking at the pieces or items and comparing them is such a useful method to build up intrinsic knowledge. I’m learning to identify embroidery by hand and machine embroidery.

Experience

And Leonardo Da Vinci said wisdom is the daughter of experience.

After doing the homework with education and exposure, it’s time to actually experience. That means buying the piece or doing the thing. After watching ballet and admiring people who do ballet, I finally started my ballet journey. After learning about porcelain, I went to the porcelain city and learn more + bought a few more pieces. I am now very cautious when buying clothes and leather goods because I check for so many aspects and provenance of material. I can also better critique my previous experiences / purchases to as to make better decisions next time. E.g. my mistakes in making oxtail stew pasta helped me make better stew the next few times.

I believe very much in high quality low quantity. So this EEE method works for me. It’s not a linear work, it’s a continuous educational process as through experience, you learn more knowledge that you lack and you keep honing it.

Here’s to more beautiful things.

Love,

L

With everything, it’s about education, then exposure in real life then experiencing it. That is my learning process, which I will write some day.

Educate

In jewellery, I educate myself in many ways, mainly by watching YouTube videos of people talking about the item. For example, there was a time I was into diamonds. I wen tot a diamond workshop, spent lots of time on GIA websites and other website learning about diamonds, then watching videos on various types of diamonds. For example, auction sites like Christie’s are good sources of information as they share and tell stories of pieces they are auctioning off. That is a good way to learn about some of the top echelons of diamonds. Some Diamond/Gemstone YouTube: Christie’s, GIA, House of Gems. I would also watch some YouTube videos of really wealthy youtube personalities sharing their massive jewellery haul. Some people definitely seem more knowledgable about their pieces and share the reason for purchase, while others simply purchase for collection purposes. Big fan of Cassie Thrope. Also, any brand that is sponsored, I ignore.

Exposure

I believe in being offline. And that means seeing pieces in real life. That includes going to museums, going to shops, touching, holding and seeing how the pieces look on your skin. I prefer fine jewellery to costume jewellery. Chanel usually has fine jewellery exhibitions and they are a great way to be exposed to beautiful things. Vintage shops and consignment shops are also great. The general jewellery shops are also amazing. I always wanted a crown (or tiara) and went into a shop to try on a 1kg solid 24k gold phoenix crown. Did I consider buying it, yes since gold is a good investment anyway. But it looked way too loud and I have no idea when I’d wear it. Whatever it is, being exposed to these actual pieces help me to build up my interest and preference to beautiful things.

Experience

All these homework leads to collecting beautiful pieces and adding to one’s collection. So with the knowledge acquired, go out and experience the pieces then add them to your collection. I use “experiences” not “collection” because there will be mistakes. I have made mistakes with certain pieces and they no longer exist in my collection. So experiences — both good and bad — are necessary in the process of collecting beautiful things.

10 Rules

When I’m not raiding my mum’s closet for beautiful things, I have rules to follow when collecting these pieces. Many from after making mistakes.

1. Gold: I only buy 22k and 24k full gold. Never gold plated. This was a mistake because I got a gold plated on copper bracelet in Vienna and the gold came off after wearing it everyday for 2 summers. Only buy full gold. I’m also asian so we love our 22k and 24k gold. I know other countries do 9k, 10k and 14k gold. I don’t understand the point of that. To buy gold, calculate it as (weight of gold x price of gold + workmanship). There is no other way. Gold is both an investment and a beautiful piece on me. I’m getting my money’s worth. Workmanship is what you can negotiate. Price of gold, not. And check the price of gold that day when buying. I can’t imagine other ways to buy gold jewellery. Maybe vintage shops. That is also good. They don’t calculate by weight. Just keep hunting.

2. Silver, Platinum, White gold: only buy these materials when looking for silver colour. 925 silver is very common and 999 silver is also possible. Platinum is so hard and strong, I love it. My gold x platinum bracelet that I wear every single day is a work horse. And the platinum clearly looks like a much better condition than silver. I love yellow gold so I do not have white gold pieces. Fun fact, although silver, platinum and white gold (and stainless steel) are all silvery colours, they are actually vastly different shades of silver! I like silver as it is.

3. Diamonds: I was really into diamonds at one phase. I won 3 diamonds at an auction and went them for checks. Spoke to the uncle who certifies diamonds and we had a great chat. I wanted to make my own jewellery so I wanted loose diamond pieces that I can customise. Anyway, long story short, if I am buying more diamonds in the future, top grade man made diamonds are my choice. It’s just much better quality and it sparkles better. I am not a fan of low grade quality diamond (salt and pepper diamond) while paying diamond prices. It just seems so silly to me. The carat size is also very important to how the piece will be worn. A giant diamond on a finger might be too much but a giant diamond as a tiara or headpiece is a classic.

4. Gemstones: Gemstones was introduced to me by a friend. I wanted to get into gemstones (hence the diamond above) and we spent about 3h just talking about gemstones. I bought 4 pieces from her. I still have not created custom pieces from the loose gemstones from her oops. But I love coloured gemstones. I also don’t mind man made gemstones. I love sapphire and ruby (they are the same gemstone). But, buying gemstone can be a big challenge because there are so many low grade ones. Hence, getting exposure is very important, by allowing your eyes to see plenty of gems before buying. I also highly recommend buying them (if you’re into collecting) in places where they originate. E.g. Myanmar for ruby and sapphire. Pakistan for gemstones in general. Tanzania for tanzanite. China for jade. Australia for opal. There is more competition and you can get better prices AND you can compare across various shops.

   1. Bonus on pearl: I’m not at the age to wear pearls yet so I don’t know anything about pearls. But my mum is waiting for me to be into pearls so she can gift me her pearl pieces lol

5. Never buy brand names: I like being uNiQuE anyway, so I do not like buying big brand names nor buy fakes/dupes of these brand names like the Cartier love, Cartier JUC or any VCA items. Firstly, you’re just buying the brand name. Again, when it comes to gold, silver and platinum, you buy by weight + workmanship. The gold is not even 22k and the stones used by VCA is not that precious. It’s just silly to me. Secondly, I really dislike it when someone else has the same thing as me. Go and discover your own style, do not copy mine. That’s also silly. Lastly, I want unique pieces, especially when it’s handmade, hand crafted by a master that specialises in a specific skillset all his life. Just like you have patrons of the art, be a patron of beautiful jewellery artists. On bonus forth item reason, I hate it when someone looks at me and can read me like a magazine. No, I do NOT want you to know where I got my items. Yes, I want to be a mysterious woman. Thank you.

6. Buy in person: Online seems like a limitless wonderful land but with photoshop and AI now, I do not buy online. I always buy in person. I’m also fortunate enough to travel around and I get to shop globally, see the pieces and try them on. Big fan of buying in person.

7. Have a personal/family jeweller: I am not at this phase in life yet, but this is definitely something I’ve been thinking about for 2 years now. I don’t need one now because I simply don’t need new pieces. I have more pieces that my mum can’t wait to gift me and I’m barely keeping up with my current collection to make sure they are worn. It makes perfect sense to have custom pieces and made by a master you know. Similar to #5, never buy brand names.

8. Buy the craftsmanship: I am a BIG fan of mastery. So I haven’t been buying gold and silver lately simply because I have too many pieces. It is enough. But I was in the city of porcelain (景德镇) and I met so many porcelain masters there. You know I needed to get it. I bought 5 pieces of fine porcelain earrings, hand shaped and hand painted by this porcelain master. Each flower petal is just so unique and although they are pairs, they do not look identical. What a privilege to be able to purchase such crafts and wear it on me. I feel so lucky.

9. Fine every day jewellery: I prefer fine jewellery to loud pieces. I do not want my pieces to speak on my behalf. When I purchase pieces, I also consider how often I’d wear them. For example, I have 6 bracelets on my hand every single day and 3 necklaces. I never take them off unless I’m travelling to certain places. I don’t buy costume jewellery.

10. No plated: oh wow I can’t believe I didn’t write this as rule 1. I made 2 mistakes of plated jewellery. The gold plated on copper and also 24k gold plate on sterling silver. The one on copper has faded bc I keep wearing it at one point (it has now broken). The gold on sterling is still working but when I wear it with my 24k gold, the yellowness is just different. 24k yellow is just a much better yellow. I could have done without.

These are my personal rules from the mistakes I have made. I haven’t bought pieces in a while and more often than not, I’d only buy new pieces for its craftsmanship (#8). Otherwise, I truly have enough for my lifestyle. Unless I become someone that goes to fancy events every week and I need a huge collection, I highly doubt I will get new pieces any time soon.

Keep collecting beautiful jewellery. And then WEAR THEM.

Love,

L

You see, I was never intentional in searching for a specific art piece to see. I simply chanced upon The Last Supper, The Birth of Venus or Les Demoiselles d’Avignon simply because I was there. Sometimes life is just about showing up. To visit the world, to expand one’s horizon, to feast one’s eyes on beautiful things. I learnt about art simply by seeing and experiencing. As a matter of fact, I was never one who appreciated art when I was younger — for I think life was better when it’s practical and efficient. I soon learnt the errors in my ways and appreciate things that make you feel where words fail.

It has to be a tragedy for one to not indulge one’s eyes in art at least once a month.

Thus, I began a journey to See Art, Make Art, Own Art, Be Art.

It started with seeing art, as discussed. Then you realised art is a medium where none else works, you begin in making art — watercolour, flower arrangement, designing my home space. Owning art is next in line where one owns beautiful tableware, art that speaks beyond words, the craft of a master in material form. Owning art that speaks about or to oneself beyond language. That is what fine porcelain does for me. And lastly, it is to be art. Art is the highest form of beauty. And to be art is to be a form where beauty transcends words and moves towards emotions. Vibes, perhaps, a better term for the younger generation.

That looks like the way one shows up in outfit, how one moves, what one uses in daily meals, the little things like the smell of fresh flowers in the morning or the flickering of candlelight by the table. It is all good.

Very lucky.

Love,

L

• We were in someone’s hometown villa in the middle of Portugal. It was summer. The sun was slowly setting as the sky turned into soft hues of orange and yellow. Someone was playing the guitar. A few people were singing. Some were chatting and laughter was all around. We were simply just being. I took a mental snapshot in my mind.

• I was in Rome for the second time. This time, I was alone. It was yet another summer. It was a gruelling journey. I walked to the bridge where I could see the Roman Forum and stood there. It’s not my first time seeing the Roman Forum in person but to see it again, to immerse in her beauty, to hear her stories of the millenniums, to simply be so lucky to bless my eyes with her again, I cried a little. It was and still is my favourite place in Rome.

• It was afternoon in USA in mid autumn and my friend said she’s going to take me around the neighbourhood. We got a little apple pie and went down the river stream in the woods. We sat down, listened to the water rushing, all wrapped up in our little boots and coats. Sat by the stream and ate our apple pie. It was lovely.

• In Giverny one summer, we were doing a road trip and camping as we travelled. Monet’s garden was too full so we checked out the neighbourhood instead. I saw a piece of impressionist art and was entranced by it. Like a witch casted a spell. You know art is suppose to make you feel? I felt this sense of calm and belonging. It was beautiful.

• There are countless hiking trips in Hong Kong, where I was simply in love with life. As you reach the peak, you look over the edge and see the dense little tall buildings and imagine the lives of people below. It’s akin to sitting by Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris and watching the world in existence. It’s lovely.

These are all free. All beautiful. They are the best things. I collect them.

Yet the second best

Oh boy, that is a another world. The second best is so expensive. The first best, I think, requires one’s own effort and intention. Whereas the second best is to purchase a material good that gives you that feeling. Example of second best because they are also beautiful and I, too, collect them:

• Hand crafted, double glazed, 3-piece fine porcelain cup made using 100 labour hours.

• 1.23ct pear shape fancy vivid blue diamond that sparkles like nobody’s business.

• 60s double glazed hand crafted bone china embossed ermine Wedgwood dining set with silver trim.

Perhaps I can explain first best as experiences and second best as material things, now that I’m writing these out.

I see second best as pieces of items I own that help me elevate my daily life. I live my daily life like it’s the best day every day. I don’t wait for special event to use my china. I don’t wait for a birthday to use my bags. I don’t wait for a festival to wear my jewellery. I use them every day. Even if I’m doing an errand, you best bet I will be wearing my jewellery and perfume to go to the post office.

Leveraging my second best to create first best experiences (which are free) is what I do now. I live life in an elevated artistic way. Most days, I feel like my life is straight out of a french film.

I start my day when the sun rises. Then I have great tea (pu’er is my favourite) in my beautiful teawares and bouquets of fresh flowers around the house. It’s coming a ritual to take time in my morning and just be present with my tea and teaware. Then I begin my work, calls and tasks. When I dine, I use my vintage bone china or hand painted fine porcelain pieces with my silverware. I’d take my bicycle out to do my sports. In the evening, I’d paint (have yet to do this now that I’m back and not travelling) or learn something new on the internet. I’d read during the day too and before sleeping.

Life is as simple and elevated as we want it to be. And this is how I choose to live my life. I’m re-arranging my home yet again, to create a reading lounge corner. I’m excited for this. I think I’d like to add either an entry way table on the side below my framed scarf, or perhaps add a table / chair to drink tea and paint.

Life is as good as you want it to be. It might also help that I am primarily consuming long-form content and a very offline individual. Not comparing, not mindlessly scrolling. Simply being.

Love,

L

But beauty—
it doesn’t ask for anything.
Not your words.
Not your witness.
Not even your understanding.

It simply is.

The vase on the shelf,
the curve of a brushstroke,
the light through a window at 7am —
they exist complete.
Whole before you arrived.
Whole after you leave.

Praise changes nothing.

You can speak of beauty,
catalogue it,
frame it in language—
but the thing itself remains untouched.
What it was, it still is.

And people—

I think we are like this too.

Living as art.
Not performance art,
but the quiet kind.
The kind that exists whether anyone notices it or not.

I don’t exist for applause.
I don’t exist to be understood.

I exist to be present.
To share that presence.
To let others bask, if they choose,
in what is already here.

This is enough.

Beauty is beautiful in itself.

I am enough, just by being.

And that— that is everything.

— Lisa T., Collector of beautiful things

This video was made in Oct 2025. Whilst this post is written in Dec 2025.

Past

For the longest time, I’ve been known as a “Type A” person. Someone who’s a go-getter, someone who’s very strong in energy and someone with a large presence. I now learn that that’s called masculine energy. To be fair, my childhood is very masculine. My cousins are mainly males. I studied economics, and there were a lot of males. I work in technology-finance-economics which is even more dominated by males. So it became natural for me to operate like a male in a male-dominated space. That was the only way I knew how to work.

For context, I think masculine energy is:

• Being super structured. Like having systems all around your life. At one point, my life was so systemised I thought I was autistic and asked people around me if I was. I am not lol

• Very assertive. I have a goal, I achieve it. That is the only way I know how.

• Extremely logical. I remember having argument with girls when the girls want to rant and complain, when all I want to do is to break their problems down to a logic flow and figure out how to solve it. Turns out, that’s not what a good friend is. I know better now. Being logical is second nature to me while I had to learn to be more emotional.

In general, masculine energy is rational, stable, focused. And I operate in this world.

What changed.

Lots of things changed at once and long story short, I got to learn about feminine energy. It was something I HAD to learn. It was not natural to me. This coincided with the time I was learning all the weaknesses of me. For example, because I’m too structured, I’m not adaptable enough. Sure I can adapt and I do, but it takes a much longer time to adapt and pivot that I would like. I had a large goal, and despite a company not finding product market fit, I was still adamant to go ahead by pivoting new customer segments. In reality, I should have assessed the company’s business model and pivot the whole model instead. (E.g. move away from providing analytics to providing insights or advice)

Learning how to be more adaptable took a long time. Gosh. It took 1 whole year, and that’s why I didn’t write many entries in 2025. I was busy experimenting, learning, trying, pivoting. I can only now sit down and reflect on my journey and lessons because I have experimented. It may feel like a costly activity in terms of opportunity cost, but I think this 12-15 months of experimentation is very beneficial for my next 1 billion seconds.

This is what feminine energy is to me:

Of course, the lesson here is that you need both types of energy, I’m just trying feminine energy in its full form first then figure out how to integrate both

• Being flexible. I stopped my structure and focus on feeling, being, and feeling intuition instead of relying on structure. It was UNCOMFORTABLE initially! I felt quite lost without structure. But I’ve learnt enough now to know how to integrate both structure and flexibility.

• Embracing the nurturing, receptive and fluid side of me. The time I felt nurturing was when I have calls and mentorship sessions with my team. I feel like a mother sometimes lol but otherwise, I’m usually just logical and quite “cold”. I’ve since learnt to be softer (?) and warmer. I used to be proactive bc I think it reflects being prepared. But reactivity is also good, as it IS being adaptable. So I’m learning now that being reactive is sometimes good and that is being fluid. For example, I definitely move in a much softer way now. I think ballet helped.

• Vulnerability. I talk about vulnerability so often because I think I’m still horrible at showing it. In the last 12 months, I actively showed vulnerability and asked for help. It feels uncomfortable to be to show weakness. It feels embarrassing that one is not enough and one needs external help. Asking for favours is also another very challenging task but I’m learning to show my vulnerable side. This is really great because I found various mentors and build closer deeper friendships this way.

And of course, I also started to embrace my feminine side physically. I am styling better, I am wearing more feminine cuts like dresses and skirts. I take more care about my skin and highlight my feminine side. I’m learning to be my feminine self in a male-dominated space. I think THIS is how I can encourage more women to come into the space. Competing on being masculine with men is just not fair game. I like playing a different game with my own rules.

Present

The first 1 billion seconds of life had been great. My heart is full. I’m filled with joy, great memories and some scars. I have made tons of mistakes and I have made good decisions. I’m ready to conclude the lessons of the last 12-15 months and carry the lessons on with me to my next billion seconds.

These are going to sound rather obnoxious but they hold true to me after my experiments.

6 Lessons

1. An intelligence, beautiful and independent person is extremely powerful. And honestly, being a woman is a bonus.

   Honestly, keep that mind filled with knowledge to add value to the world. Everyone loves beautiful things, especially beautiful people. And being financially independent or comfortable at least is really powerful. Beauty sounds so superficial, but when you have value share from your brains, the external beauty does help as a medium to carry that message far and wide. Unfortunately I’ve seen intelligent people on panels but people ignore them because they simply show up rather poorly.

2. Feminine energy and masculine energy work hand in hand.

   This yin-yang logic makes more and more sense each day. One cannot simply just rely on a single energy. Being all focused without fluidity or flexibility is a huge weakness. Being all soft and vulnerable without a focus or structure to achieve one’s goal is a waste of time. Both is good. Both in integration and unity. Some days you need one more than the other. And that is okay. Both makes one unstoppable.

3. Create home wherever you are.

   This might be my feminine energy speaking. My spaces used to be practical. A bed, a wardrobe, a mirror. But that is what a hotel room is. There is no character, no cosiness, no homey feeling. That is no longer a space I want for myself, no matter how short-term I am in there. Perhaps it is in my feminine energy phase where I finally learnt to make my place like home. The furniture, the artwork, the layout. The speak of who I am in a place that is mine. I love coming home and being home.

4. It is okay to pause, assess and experiment.

   I’m lucky or unlucky that things were planned and went my way in my first one billion seconds. Go to school, love what I studied, studied what I loved, scholarships, lots of travel, worked abroad. Whatever I wanted, I got it. But that means I never really had much experience with failure and pivoting. It isn’t even failure if it’s a pivot. It’s just assessing and experiment. And yes, it takes time. But this is all sharpening the saw. You need time to do so and you will be much swifter later. I’m excited for the next 1 billion seconds.

5. One thing at a time.

   I excel when I’m doing one thing at a time. The duo-company set up did not work and will not work, at least for me. I simply suck at doing more than one thing at a time. Of course this can go very macro. For example, I was specialising in token economics before and everything I did surrounded that. Now, I’m doing the same with economics being the system design and structure, while the main focus is agentic fintech. And all the clients I’m working with are in this field. That can be quite broad in terms of agentic technology, fintech systems, cross border regulations, etc. But it’s still 1 focus, all coordinated. That makes more sense. As opposed to previously, it was consultancy and advisory compared to tech build. It was a very different domain knowledge and from a fundamental level, they did not cross.

6. I know who I am. Stop trying to change that for the sake of changing.

   Maybe it’s less of a lesson to take away but an affirmation of who I am. I spent all my life reflecting and improving, like a master painter constantly adding touches to that masterpiece. And after experimenting with these various potential variations of me, I’ve come to conclude that I AM living my ideal life and I want to keep living it this way. Nothing wrong with changing, nothing wrong with wanting to change. But I wanted to change for the SAKE OF CHANGE thinking it’s time. Like some caterpillar having to change to a butterfly. I am already changing and that big mission, after going in circles, comes back to the same big mission. That is me, I’ll conclude. And I love her and the big mission.

Future

So what’s next? Proper integration.

Balance is a lie. There is no such thing as balance. Life is constant entropy. Instead, integration is the word.

1. Back to my systems. 5min daily reflection. Quarterly reflections. This is where I have my masculine structure instead of my feminine intuition. Good to feel, good to also have structure.

2. Focus on the new direction. I was exploring the various directions, now I have focus. Keep doing what I’ve been doing before and now have an eye out for design of content (e.g. slides, videos).

3. Continue to show the soft sides of me whilst still being the knowledgable me. (e.g. I started painting again, I’m going to upgrade my gardening skills, my wardrobe is curated)

Pretty easy. I have done them before, and now I’m combining and doing them again. I’m excited!

Here’s to the next 1 billion seconds.

Love,

L

I like the fact that perfection does not exist. Because that only translates to a possibility that you can always get better, improve, innovate.

Life is Art

I believe art is the highest order of anything. And life is a work-in-progress masterpiece.

We exist as a canvas sheet, and the journey in life is to fill this canvas to create the best version of the masterpiece. Each adventure is a stroke, each person is a splash of colour, each personal growth is a new perspective on the canvas.

Perfection though, what about perfection? In art, perfection can be known as the golden ratio or some basic 1/3 math formula that Da Vinci figured out. It is the ratio that is the most soothing to our eyes, hence we deem it “perfect”. Yet, most of my favourite pieces are not about math formula or perfection. It is perfect just as it is. (Starry starry night, Pietro sculpture, my favourite piece of art that I found in the museum near Givenny, France)

Yet unlike art, life is a continuous canvas that is being improved and worked on. It only stops at our last breathe, where we have completed the canvas.

Perfection Doesn’t Exist

Since life is a work of art, and perfection in art is just as it is, I think it is a continuous effort to hone and shape life to be the way we want it to be.

It’s a strange paradox — to accept and understand that good is good enough, yet knowing that you can always find ways to be better and keep improving.

Perfection does not exist. It is a balance between acceptance and continuous work. It is an art form, to live life this way. This art form can be perfected, but the art itself (life) has no perfect state.

And that is why I hate it when people associate me with perfection. How could you be a state that does not exist? It also limits ones mindset to thinking that there is nothing left to be worked on. How obnoxious is that. I’m a deeply flawed person, and I accept that. At the same time, I’m continuously editing and improving my canvas to be the best version it can be.

Life is a work of art. Edit it frequently and ruthlessly. There is no reason to conform to someone else’s rules on the canvas, for that is his canvas and his to work on. Perfection does not exist, and that translates to improvement exists.

Love, L

Here’s the thing about compliments. Accept it but don’t drink the kool-aid.

Ego is a terrible thing. Because it makes you think that you are better than what you can do. I will admit that some periods, ego exists in my head like a bad plague in the bible. And the scary thing is once we peg our self-worth to ego, letting it go is difficult. Because it feels like you lost yourself. After all, ego means "I". So it's about balancing the ego, to both love the "I" but not be too consumed by it.

So here is how I deal with it. I'm still learning and documenting my processes as I go along.

Humility

Luckily for me, the word humility came to me when I was 10. In primary school, classes were named after various bible words (Faith, Grace, Hope, Humility, Patience, Joy, etc.). My class is called Humility. I didn't know what it was, and went to search it up.

I have to be honest, I was terrible at humility growing up. Thankfully, I was very fortunate to explore the world, travel around the globe and meet people from all walks of life. In the process, I learnt my shortcomings, I was humbled by people and climbing mountains is the most humbling experience.

Embarrassing to admit, it took me years to finally understand what humility means and then to embrace it. To know where I stand, yet to also understand and remember that I only take up a very small and insignificant tiny little part of the world. That helps me to reflect on this exaggerated ego I have in my head. And slowly burst the bubble and come back to reality.

Be the dumbest in the room

The best method I've found is to be the dumbest in the room. And I'm so fortunate to be incredibly dumb in the room. My friends are walking encyclopedias and super google brains. They give me new insights, perspectives and advice that would take me years to get to.

There a real comfort in being dumb in the room. It is also truly humbling (point #1) to remember the gazillion things that I don't yet know. It helps me to reevaluate and remember where I stand. It's truly a fortunate thing, to be the dumbest in the room.

Be Real & Reflect

And the real solidifying activity is to be real with yourself and reflect. Realise that there is a ton that I still don't know. To reflect that I only know a small thing relatively well. And be comfortable with that position.

I have learnt to be very comfortable and enjoy that state. The state of knowing you know a bit, and realising you don't know a lot.

What I'm Still Learning

At the same time, I realise I'm losing patience with some types of people. So I have to reflect and deal with my ego in that aspect. This happens when I realise I'm not the dumbest in the room. This is something I am beginning to realise. And I do not enjoy my responses nor my experience in such rooms. The solution I'm trying out is "respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment". I'm finding it challenging, and I'm 99% sure it's due to the ego in my head.

So in the next 6 months, I'm going to learn to deal with my ego from that perspective.

May I become a better person in 6 months' time.

Love,

L

Feel shitty because I don't know so many things. Learn what I don't know. Be confused about the new information. Digest the information. Level up in knowledge and have a little more clarity.

That's it. That is the learning cycle.

Here's the catch. It's easy to get demotivated and caught up in feeling shitty or feeling confused. When I catch myself feeling that way, I reflect upon what stage of the cycle I am at. It is almost always the confusion stage.

Be Confused

I have a love-hate relationship with being confused. Confusion is a state where out brain neurons are mixed up and trying to figure out what synapses to create and make a connection. I think of a huge bowl of macaroni jumbled in a mess, trying to figure out how to best align themselves to make sense.

Thus, I love the confusion state because I know it is the last stage before clarity. I hate the confusion state for making me feel really dumb and frustrated. When you know that there is a solution to this mess but still figuring a way out, it makes me frustrated.

Embrace

Instead, I learnt to embrace the state. Either to sleep and let me neurons do the work while I rest, or absorb myself in another activity. I realised that learning something else while the brain is confused helps to provide some clarity after.

Another solution is also to go through the confusion mess and make sense of it. People think I know a lot or am smart, but I am secretly really dumb. In my confusion state, I treat myself like a 5 year old and explain the mess to myself. It helps with creating the structure of making sense of the mess.

When I explain the mess to myself like a child, it helps so much in getting to clarity faster. I guess they are right in saying that if you can explain something easily, you understand the topic well enough.

So be confused, embrace confusion, always seek clarity.

Love,

L

There is a song lyrics in Chinese that talks about water. 水能载舟,亦能煮粥. Water can hold up a ship and it can be used to cook congee. It was then, when I realised how amazing water is. It has all the attributes of life.

• Adapt to situations.

• Be soft and penetrate through the hardest obstacle. (Don't allow cynicism to make you hard.)

• Patience, for everything takes time.

Adapting

Water does not resist. Water flows. When you plunge your hand into it, all you feel is a caress. Water is not a solid wall, it will not stop you. But water always goes where it wants to go, and nothing in the end can stand against it. Water is patient. Dripping water wears away a stone. Remember that, my child. Remember you are half water. If you can’t go through an obstacle, go around it. Water does. Be water.

Darwin said that the genes that survives is not the strongest in merit, but the one that adapts the most. Water does that. Water flows and water continues to go in its path. It adapts to the changing terrains, it adapts to the obstacles, it adapts to the changing climate. But water flows, and water adapts.

Softness

Water is the softest thing, yet it can penetrate mountains and earth. This shows clearly the principle of softness overcoming hardness. — Lao Tzu

I must admit that once a while, cynicism gets over me. I become hard, close my heart and stop believing again. Yet water shows that softness overcomes hardness. With softness, you can get to the outcome you want. It takes time, but remember to be soft, flexible and malleable. Everything is possible.

Patience

Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.

It is in human's nature to rush towards somewhere. Yet time is a construct created by man. Birds have no place to rush to. Fish have no destination to get to. Nature is in its own path to get to the place. Patience is such an important virtue in times of instant gratification. Most things in life take time. And we will definitely get there someday. Just focus on the now and we will get there.

Be like water. Water adapts, water is soft, water is in no hurry.

Love,

L

“Anyone who lives in her own world is crazy. Like schizophrenics, psychopaths, maniacs. I mean people who are different from others.”

Crazy, the single most interesting word that only means the extreme ends. Either a lunatic in the mental hospital or a genius (Einstein) thinking about something no one has ever though. It's funny because Crazy is does not mean any state of mind, it just means people who are different from others. Yet people are kept away behind bars or ostracized from society until they succeed in someone and is deem to be a genius.

The society is made up of a spectrum of people and what is deemed as "normal" is basically what is the most common thing done in the society. There's no such thing as normal, only what most people do.

I take people calling me crazy as a compliment. Because only those who are crazy enough are able to change the world. I enjoy being different, I live to stand out and I love being weird. Just because you are different and have another perception of things from what society deem is right, does not make it wrong. They call you crazy at first, but when you succeed they call you a genius.

Keep that craziness going. Rule the world with it. Just because you're different only makes you even more special.