Published in Mind Cafe·PinnedMember-only9 Tips From a Samurai to Help You Live a Winner’s Life“Do nothing that is of no use.” — “Study strategy over the years and achieve the spirit of the warrior. Today is victory over yourself of yesterday; tomorrow is your victory over lesser men.” — Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of Five Rings I’ve been writing about a samurai named Miyamoto Musashi a lot recently, but I can’t seem…Self Improvement12 min read
Published in Mind Cafe·PinnedMember-onlyHow The Eastern Concept of “Emptiness” Can Help You Live a Fuller LifeFind peace in nothingness. — In the West, feeling empty is viewed as a negative condition. Emptiness is often associated with dark terms like depression, apatheia, or nihilism. In Asia though, things are a little different. The Chinese word for emptiness is kōng (空); devoid, the void, the space between breaths, between lines, between lives…Self Improvement8 min read
Published in Ascent Publication·PinnedMember-onlyThe 2 Types Of “Friends” You Should Cut All Ties WithNot all friends are created equal. — It’s a longstanding tradition among the Chinese to have steamboat for dinner on the first day of the Lunar New Year — and an even longer-standing tradition to trade stories, gossip, and bond over the simmering communal stew. 2020 was no different — except this was the first time in…Relationships8 min read
Published in Ascent Publication·PinnedMember-onlyThere Are Only 3 Ways to Make Money as a WriterAnd the third — creating a library of content — is ultimately superior. — “So, how do you actually make money off this writing thing?” In my experience, this is the most common question an aspiring writer has. I know this because my mind was burning with the very same question when I first started my writing journey a little over a year ago. …Money9 min read
Published in The Affirmations Of Alvin Ang·Aug 10Member-onlyNo, Tim Denning Isn’t a Terrible Writer — You AreCalling out big-name writers to make a quick buck isn’t cool. — Can I just draw a line in the sand here real quick? Publicly calling out big-name writers just to draw in some views and make a quick buck isn’t cool. Over the past two weeks, I’ve seen a handful of articles with headlines along the lines of: “Why Tim Denning is Rich & Successful Even If He Can’t Write for Sh*t.” One of them even went viral.Writing7 min read
Published in The Affirmations Of Alvin Ang·Aug 9Member-only5 Easy Fixes Medium Can Implement — That Will Make The Site Better For EveryoneThese fixes will help readers and writers alike. — I recently wrote about how excited I was that Medium has a new CEO. In that article, I wrote about why I think Tony Stubblebine is a great candidate to replace Ev. …Writing7 min read
Published in The Affirmations Of Alvin Ang·Aug 3Member-onlyI Just Finished My Second Novel — And I’m Back on Medium, Baby!How I wrote 50,000 words in five weeks. — Earlier in June, I wrote about how I was taking a break on Medium to write my second novel. And I’m done. I’m finally done. My second novel took me only five weeks to write. This speed is mainly due to three reasons: I wrote like the devil himself was…Writing5 min read
Published in The Affirmations Of Alvin Ang·Jul 16Member-onlyMedium Has a New CEO — And I’m Super ExcitedDoes this mean that the much-lambasted algorithm will finally be fixed? — I know, I know. I’m supposed to be on a break from Medium to write my second novel — and for anyone who’s interested, my second novel is coming along well. I’m more than 30k words in and due to complete it this month. However, the recent news made me…Writing5 min read
Published in The Affirmations Of Alvin Ang·Jun 14Member-onlyI Am Taking a Two Month Break from Medium to Write My Second NovelSee you in August, folks! — Eagle-eyed readers will notice that I haven’t posted anything here since the middle of May. My inactivity is due to three things: I was busy running Lion City Championship, my MMA event. It was a huge success, and if any of you, my Dear Readers, are into this sort of thing, you can check out a highlight video of my…Writing3 min read
Published in Mind Cafe·May 15Member-only9 Lessons On Success I Learned From Starring In “The Apprentice”Success, paradoxically, comes from daring to fail. — Success Comes From Daring To Fail If you’re reading this, it means that I’ve already been fired. The beginning of the end came when I applied to be a contestant for the latest season of The Apprentice. …Self Improvement13 min read
