Tag: mental health

The best exercise I found to improve how I talk to my inner critic (it will take 10 minutes)

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There are 3 parts to it.

On a piece of paper, write down

  1. What is the inner critic conversation you are having about yourself? What does it say?
  2. What is the immediate response you give?
  3. What is the ignored wisdom that you should be listening to instead?

The last part is the magic. 

For example,

  1. Inner critic: I really suck at drawing. If I can’t draw, then I’m worthless.
  2. Immediate response:I should just quit like how my parents tell me to. Just focus on my real job.
  3. Ignored wisdom: the only way to improve at anything is to keep practicing. If I want to get better at drawing, then I am required to draw more. Drawing poorly is also part of the process.

Keep doing this every day and you’ll learn to rethink the way you talk with your inner critic. 

Dealing With The World’s Biggest Critic

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The world’s biggest critic is always following me around. In fact, she’s with me right now. I am my biggest critic. 

There’s no pleasing her, but there’s another way to deal with her criticism.

For me, the trick is simple. 

I ask myself 2 questions.

  1. What is the goal?
  2. Who is it for?

That’s it.

When I have the answers to those 2 questions, everything else is irrelevant. 

You can’t please your biggest critic, but you sure can learn to ignore her when she’s not being helpful.

You Don’t Need A Fancy Title To Do Important Things

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Important things include but are not limited to:

  • Reaching out and connecting with people in your life
  • Working on your soft skills
  • Sending a life-changing email/DM
  • Starting a charity, startup, business
  • Making other people feel heard

Turns out, there aren’t any prerequisites to do any of these things. 

You simply have to do them. 

One of the hardest things about creative work is getting over your own imposter

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My imposter runs rampant. In fact, she’s here with me right now as I write this post. 

She doesn’t think I’m qualified to share this.

She doesn’t believe I have the credentials or the audience to be successful.

Time and time again, I have my moments of doubt.

I don’t know everything, but I do have a hunch and it’s this—when we create, we cannot give into the imposter. 

We can acknowledge that the imposter is there, but we can’t give into what they preach.

Reading Isn’t Fun

Anna Peng1 Comment

Reading isn’t fun.

I don’t like books.

These were 2 lies I told myself years after high school finished.

The only reason why I thought I didn’t like reading and books was because I was forced to read things I didn’t enjoy through the school curriculum. 

I equated the action of reading with dread. 

It wasn’t until my 3rd year of post-secondary where I found my love for reading again. 

Moral of the story? Don’t let other people ruin your fun.

For every person who has a job while pursuing creative endeavours on the side

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Your creative endeavours do not have to fund your life (in fact it might be better this way). 

Instead, it’s your job’s job to fund your life. 

You can have both a job and a creative project going on the side.

P.S. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not mandatory for you to love your job so long as it pays the bills. 

To Those Who Are In Need of Self Care

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And no I do not mean bubble baths, aromatherapy, or taking yourself out on a coffee date.

When I refer to self care, I mean it in the sense where you take care of yourself.

I mean that nobody can take care of you better than yourself. 

Or moreso that nobody will take care of you better than yourself. 

You are in control of your own well being. 

Dear Pandemic Graduates,

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2020: graduated with a bachelors in design

2021: learned the ropes of our family restaurant business

2022: using everything I’ve experienced so far to build the most interesting businesses I can 

A pandemic can throw you “off track”, but your experiences and know-how don’t go away. 

Keep going.