You believe work, and life can be more than just meh.

We do too. We share how to practically live a life that makes you come alive.

And no, it's not about going to Japan.

You've wondered:

Is there more to life than grinding this 9 to 5?

Yes, yes, and yes!

Know your strength, and what excites you

To first fly, you need to know what you have inside you that allows you to fly. That's your strength.

But you also need to learn what keeps you excited.

Work hard at a crazy career, that pushes you

Nah, don't just take any job. The state of flow comes when your work comes at a level of difficulty that's just right.

Not too easy, not too hard.

Do projects that feed your soul

Then there are the projects you start, and drop.

Here's how to keep sustaining them, so you do work that also feeds your soul.

How we help, what we do, and how we make money

Yes, I know you wanted that money part.

We write articles based on our own personal experiences.

Yes, we base this advice on the books we read, but we also implement the ideas and see what works in a Singaporean context, and wider Asian culture.

We sell books that you can buy to learn about your work and emotions.

Yes, we still believe in the power of the written word. That's why you might want to read our book. And no, they are not selling well. That's why you should buy them.

We run an agency, a publishing business, and a training business to pay the bills.

Yes, it sounds like we do a lot. I know. But Singapore's expensive. Paupers can't live here. We're (still) trying not to live off tuna cans.

But wait... who's this dude?

Hi,

I'm John Lim.

This site shouldn't have existed. In 2016, I was sacked from Google. In 2021, I was served a Performance Improvement Plan (or a get better or get sacked plan). I quite quitted. Said no more than 10 words each day in the office.

Then I left my job in October 2021.

I wanted desperately to revitalise my career. But nothing changed. 306 job applications, 41 interviews, 0 offers.

I didn't know what to do.

And you might never land up like me (please don't), but you may still want to grow your career. Get a less dreary life.

But before that, here's why you're stuck.

Why you don't get where you want to (yet)

And what you can do differently with us.

Most content you read is designed for engagement, not for excelling.

Got that 30-second TikTok reel that tells you how to get that promotion in 3 easy steps? Yeah, we know we will thumb through quickly. And even if we listen, it's probably not going to be something you apply.

That's why the intent of our content has always been to help you understand in-depth just exactly what's happening.

Most content is based off desktop research, and little practical experience.

With ChatGPT, anyone, including my grandmother who doesn't speak English, can write an article.

Read that article and you would realise that a lot of it is based off the Internet.

Nothing wrong with AI, but it may not yield the practical and pragmatic advice you want to see and implement.

Most content helps you feel good, not discomforted.

We know that change comes when there's discomfort. If you're comfortable, why would you need to change anything?

Here's why our content works. Because we share things that provoke a response for you - like a foot up your butt, to get you moving.

Here's our best guess at what could work.

Understand yourself

The Chinese say, 知己知彼百战百胜 (if you know yourself, you will win every battle you face.) The problem is, school teaches us how to fight, but it doesn't even teach us what we are fighting with. The brain you use. The skill you have. The strength that's unique to you.

Finding new career mid 20s: How I went from social work to starting a company at 26

Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life – why that’s not always true

Dealing with a quarter-life crisis at age 25? Here’s what to do

20 lessons for getting ahead in your early 20s

Face your problems at work

Nah, don't put your head in the sand. That's not going to solve things. It's when you confidently overcome them that you can grow. Here's the most common problems we have seen amongst the clients we worked with.

Feeling stuck in a job

A cruel or ruthless supervisor – what do I do?

Dealing with personal problems at work? Here’s how.

I don’t feel passionate about anything… what do I do?

Be a better career professional

If you want to grow as a professional, you need to grow two things. Your skill ceiling (or how great your skills can be). And your skill floor, which is how good you are when you're having a bad day. Grow your skills, and you will be untouchable.

What does it mean to manage up? Here’s why it’s the most important skill.

How do you make yourself indispensable to a company?

How to become the next CEO

How to lead from the bottom at work

Run projects that grow your skills

You might not always get to do work that feeds your soul. So if you want to grow, you might have to run some projects on your own.

I spent $28k on projects… Here’s how to just start doing something

How many years to get promoted, and how to make that faster

How to improve enthusiasm at work

Read our latest articles

We focus on writing articles that help you think, do, and feel differently. And no, it's not written by ChatGPT. It's written with our own personal experiences. Blood, sweat, tears, and lots of pain experiencing these growth experiences, and we want to help you have those growth experiences too.

January 14, 2025

Our infinite cause (or what keeps us fighting)

This sounds crazy. But we believe:

You, as a human, have unlimited potential. But somehow along the way, society and school has taught you that the best way to survive is not to rock the boat. And we are here to show you that if you rock the boat in the right way, you can make the world a better place.
You can do anything that you set out in your mind to do. Contrary to what people think, winners don't change the world. Losers do. It's only those who dare to lose, over and over again, and who probably lose, that end up defining what the world looks like next.
If we get you to explore and put your crazy plan into action, we would have succeeded. We believe that you have an idea you've always wanted to explore. We are here to encourage that. And to tell you to go for it, no matter what everyone says.

If you tried to change the world as a result of one of our articles, books, or newsletters, we would have succeeded.

Your greatest failure isn't that you tried and failed.

It's that you failed to try.

We're here to encourage you to start change, make change stick, and have fun along the way.

Life's too short to chew gum. It's more fun to blow it up and see what new bubble you can build.

Read our own journey going poor, and learning how to build better things

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Get first dips on the chilli peppers we put out. Kidding.

We don't grow chilli peppers. We only grow sausages.

That's a joke too...

Chill!