“The Story of the Chinese Farmer” by Alan Watts

Alan Watts was an influential philosopher who gave lectures at universities across the United States. We’re lucky most of these lectures can be found on YouTube — one of these is “The Story of the Chinese Farmer,” which is my favorite. I read somewhere it’s originally a Chinese fable. But I think it doesn’t really … Continue Reading →

 

100 Insights on Living a Good Life

1. Ideas without execution are worthless. 2. Find that one thing that makes you excited. Pursue even if there’s no money in it. 3. Don’t learn everything. Instead, learn intentionally the things relevant to your goals. 4. Improvise but learn when to stop. 5. Let your actions speak for yourself, not your words. 6. To master one thing, give … Continue Reading →

 

You Become What You Consume

To become the person you want to be, consume the right information. For example, you want to become a jazz musician. By all means, study everything about jazz music — songwriting, theory, techniques, melodies, jazz music icons, and so on. Or if you want to be an actor, study everything about acting — the fundamentals of … Continue Reading →

 

Your Standards Are Making You Miserable

“What does it mean to be a Christian?” I asked them. They hesitated. One of my bandmates tried to answer with bomb-carpeting definitions. Dissatisfied, I asked again, “No. I mean what’s the simplest definition of being a Christian?” He hesitated, “It means follower of Christ.” “So what’s wrong if we just let our audience decide whether … Continue Reading →

 

22 Books and 350 Blogs Read in 2018

Last 2018, I opened 22 books and finished reading 14 of them. (Twenty eBooks and two audiobooks; a variety of fiction and non-fiction — philosophy, psychology, art, business, self-improvement, and guides). I’m still shuffling the other 7. Yes I would like to finish reading them hopefully. But I don’t feel the pressure anymore. If the … Continue Reading →