Lisa is Weird
I am weird. I will be the first person to admit that. In fact, I will even go to the extent of saying that I am one of the strangest and weirdest person you’ll meet.
And there is nothing wrong with being weird. I live life by my rules and my game plan. Society is nothing but a construct of aggregated ideas. It is normalised, but since I am weird, this normalisation does not resonate with me.
At the end of the day, I am just picking up learning pieces and constructing my life, the way I want to live it.
15 Years Old
It started when I was young, where I realise I see the world differently. But that didn’t matter, because I don’t know how to act on it. As I reached my teams, I learnt 7 habits of highly effective people. Knowing that I love efficiency and change, that made me really interested in this field of efficiency.
Ps: I love efficiency because of math. Math is easy (in general), because it’s all logic and patterns. It got boring, but I soon challenged myself to be proficient in speed and accuracy in math. And I am sure that became one of my traits as a person today. What a wonderful thing to hone!
So since I was 15 years old, I saw the power of efficiency with all these lessons. Whilst I still struggle to apply all the lessons, they sat at the back of my mind, building my guiding principles and life choices. Moving forward, I started to collect these lessons and applied them when I can. A decade later, I am the product of lots of trial and error, failures, learnings and lessons learnt.
5 Things I Do Now
This whole “New Year Resolution” thing is bullshit. At least to me. So this is what I do instead: I plan. I plan a lot. Many of my friends hate it, because it can be limiting. But I always have 2-3 “safety plans”, and flexibility for spontaneity.
Because of planning and constant reflections of my mistakes and learning how to improve, I am able to build the discipline and achieve everything I want to achieve (that are within my control).
I have learnt that some things are not within my control. And I am learning to let them be as it is, while placing my focus on things that I can control.
- A theme for the year, in which if I forget about my focus and purpose, I am reminded of it.
- Quarterly goals. Planning 12 months ahead is a challenge to follow through. So I have a general focus in each quarter, followed by specific tasks to accomplish in each quarter.
- We grow when we look back and compare. Reflections at the end of every quarter to understand my struggles, celebrate success, list down lessons learnt and edit my plans of next quarter.
- Reflect daily. You don’t see how grass grows daily, but leave it to be for 4 weeks and suddenly it is so tall. Just like humans, we don’t see the minuscule change daily. So we can overlook the small daily steps. I reflect daily, so when I do my quarterly reflections, I can observe and analyse my small daily steps.
- I imagine myself in the future to look back at the present. There, I will write letters to myself, or notes, or just bask in the moment. Whatever it is, it helps me to build the right path forward, from now to the future me.
So here it is, my note on 1 Jan 2020. I imagined 2020 Lisa, writing a note to 2019 Lisa, when I was 2019 Lisa. I’ll add ✔️ where I have accomplished these things.
A Letter from Lisa 2020
It’s Lisa from Jan 2020. I’m turning 26, and now looking back at what you have done when you’re 25.
2019 was a wonderful year isn’t it? Turning a quarter of the century yet accomplishing so much in just 365 days! I can’t believe that you worked so hard and achieved your dream of defining token economics ✔️ and helping projects to create sound token economics ✔️. 2019 was the year of growth and defining yourself. You have turned into a beautiful butterfly.
2019 started off mellow and nice. Unsure of path to take, you finally doubled down on Plan C: creating your company ✔️ to do research ✔️ AND help projects to succeed. Now, you have 5 projects under your name ✔️, propelled by the soundness of economics. It is true that economics can change the world. And here you are, using it to change the projection of our future. And lo and behold, Plan C worked.
The year is full of ups and downs. The excitement of speaking on stage in various countries ✔️, meeting all sorts of people ✔️ and the people recognizing you for who you are ✔️. It is a fun and thrilling journey. There are also downs of dealing with some shitty people ✔️, negotiations not going as hoped ✔️ and isolation by others ✔️ as you accomplished your dreams. But that is all part of life and this journey. You continued to reflect and learn from your setbacks ✔️, and that is how you grew to who you are today.
Keep adding value to everything you do and everyone you meet ✔️. Surround yourself with people that you want to associate with ✔️, and delete everything else ✔️. Good job at striving for higher goals and placing yourself in physical and digital communities ✔️ that only brings you to new heights. Those people you left behind while you grew? Goodbye and thanks for the lessons. Not everyone is going to be with you on your journey through life. Some people are only there for a few stations.
How is it like living in Singapore and having a place on your own? Finally renting a place and getting out of the parent’s place ✔️, while being close enough to visit often. It was a struggle to convince the family, but it is the right thing to do. Now, you have the privacy and freedom to be who you want to be, in a country called Singapore. Plus, you’re constantly traveling to meet clients and speak at events. Thankfully, you did not forget about Trevellers continue to update it weekly ✔️.
This is what adulting is like, isn’t it. Before 25, it was all about experiencing life and deciding what is out there and then defining what you want to make of this life. 25 is a defining year. It is the start of the next journey: becoming who you truly are meant to be. No more playing victim, no more being subjected to the environment, no more being just a facade. (Aka no more “entrepreneur” but a real solid “builder of the future”.)
You transformed in 2019. You took control of life/environment, you leveraged on resources to propel you forward, you are always adding value and prove that you are more than just a pretty face. Chapter 25 was the new beginning and I am glad you handled it well!
Keep adding value, keep speaking at conferences and keep changing the world.
Incredibly proud of who you are and what you have become. Here’s to Lisa Chapter 26!
May it be a blast.
Proud of Lisa 25,
Lisa 26