In relationships, we work as a team for collective happiness.

A trap that we fall into is to withhold information because we don’t want to hurt the other person. Deep down, we do that to avoid the pain of confronting and making change.

When we start withholding, it leads to withdrawal from the relationship. We start to project and assume what others think.

Revealing is risky. We risk not being understood, an angry interaction and uncertainty.

It’s risking for the sake of closeness, better teamwork and our long-term happiness.

Revealing is a skill. Listening is a skill.

A book is a good place to start. Practice, commitment and recommitment get you there.

Here’s a collection of thoughts regarding the ‘definition of leadership’ that resonated.

I will add more as I find them.

“A leader is somebody who is taking radical responsibility for the influence they are having in the world. Don’t blame people, circumstance and experience.” — Jim Dethmer

A leader point to a destination. A new opportunity, a new way of doing things better.

Adam Grant generously contributed “languishing” to the cultural vocabulary. It’s the feeling of “Blah” or “Meh”. More on his TED talk and ideas to feel better. Hint: Look out for the 3Ms.

Having the right term to describe the right issue gets us moving in the right direction.

Thank you for the thought leadership, Adam.

Without pain, we won’t realize mistakes.

One day, our health will worsen. Our loved ones will die. We will make mistakes. We will fail.

When that happens, it’s painful.

1. We can deny (and avoid) the pain.
2. We can learn from it.

Once you understand the cause of pain and devise a way to work with, or through it, the quicker you can stand back on your feet. I observe this is true for me.

Journaling, therapy, or seeking out people who experience similar experiences to gain understanding.

The good news is the faster we learn from pain, the faster we can get through it.

Pain + reflections = progress.

And that might be the breakthrough that many can benefit from.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn.

Last year, feels like a great year. A turn of events and everything came crashing.

There’s a meaningful project that I’m working towards.

I feel more connected to myself. Being more open and sensitive.

Along with that, I made a commitment to improve my family relationship.

Then late Dec, my grandma passed away. I flew back, took a break and felt misaligned since.

General lesson

• It sucks right now, and you need to rest.
• Rest till I reach cold boredom (feeling great without needing to achieve anything).
• Diagnose issue before solving.
• Face up to the brutal fact and emotions.
• Release emotions from the body, and come back to see if there are lesson to learn.
• Meditate and back to the body.
• Separate what’s in my control vs not.
• Accept what’s not in my control.
• Call friends and ask for help. You are not alone.
• Feeling alive comes from feeling great in peace.

Storytelling (NPR-style) is hard

I underestimated the level of effort needed to create NPR-style content. I was enamored with Start Up and Millennium podcasts. As one of my story producers grew busier, I was left with expectations that my resource could not meet.

• Find another story producer.
• Find an easier content format that can hit the same goal.

Content > learning

As I ceased the content production, I lost motivation to study coaching. Initially, I thought it was due to the funeral. Or maybe the coaching takes too much out of me. Finally, I think it’s because I enjoy creation more than learning. Learning was support for creation.

• Diagnose the issue before finding solution.
• Find a coach to help me unpack.

Doing too much

Learning + creating + working + traveling = intense.

As I travelled from UK to France, there was the language barrier to contend with + weekly traveling + winter, add layers of difficulty and caused decision fatigue.

On top of learning about coaching, I was also learning about story-telling. I generally enjoy learning, but there’s a point of “too-much.”

• Travel slower. A city a month.
• Find another story producer.
• Pause.

Grief well

After coming back to Singapore, I had 2 weeks break from the podcast and coaching. Not realizing I was running on the past week’s momentum.

I had a cognitive expectation of doing and achieving. I did not adjust my expectation, then I grew anxious when I did not do those expectations.

• Journal to unpack.
• Rest till rested. From hot boredom to cold boredom.
• Allocate a “no schedules plan” for 2 weeks, till cold boredom.
• 15min of awareness meditation daily.

Failing sucks. I hope I will look back at this article when I face another failure.

And I hope there’ll be more failures.