It’s been 1 year and 3 months since I quit my job.

This past 15 months have been a roller coaster ride. I’ve enjoyed life in ways I’ve never imagined. Getting an annual pass for a water theme park and going there frequently with my wife and son on weekday afternoons when there is the least crowd, is the best part.

On the flip side, there’s also the uphill struggle of entrepreneurship.

The stress and workload on an entrepreneur is heavy. Not just heavy, but VERY heavy! There are no annual leave or sick leave. I did deliveries while recovering from illness. I did sales while running a 38 degree fever. I sleep 3–6 hours almost every night. Sometimes less, rarely more.

In fact, just last Saturday, I slept at 4am and woke up at 7.30am to do a delivery on a freaking Saturday morning.

It’s all worth it.

What I enjoyed the most as an entrepreneur is the feeling of being in control.

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I was jolted awake by the loud ringtone on my phone and fumbled to silence it before it wakes up my baby boy who was also sleeping in the room. It was from a client and I knew what he wanted. I picked up the call reluctantly… And the number of unhappy clients pile up.

I was really stressed up over the number of unhappy clients. Orders are not coming in, and all my big plans doesn’t look like it is happening.

There I was, scratching my head in despair when my wife, a teacher, couldn’t stand it anymore and shouted at me, “Why are you pulling your hair and staring blankly at the screen? You are not doing anything!”

It woke me up like the phone in the morning. Only this time, there was no morning fog.

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Our lives are shaped by the countless decision we make every day. Every action we take is a decision to not take another. Every single decision we made before this very moment shaped our life up till now. Right now, the decision to read this or not will shape your thinking one way or the other.

Last night I had to make a decision between attending a workshop where I will meet interesting people vs staying at home to finish up all the work that piled up while I was sick the past few days. It was not an easy choice. My wife will have to take care of our little boy (9.5 months old) alone while I’m away. It’s a 4-5 hours commitment including traveling time. I decided to go anyway..

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I think you would agree with me that social networking platforms has changed A LOT since the days of Friendster and Myspace.

Photo by socialautomotive

It used to be more about me. It’s often about asking for testimonials about ME, creating MY personal customised space, etc..

Today, not only do we have more platforms, there are also a lot of different ways of using it. Ranging from professional networking with LinkedIn, photo-centric Instagram, short and sweet Twitter, Security/Privacy focused Snapchat, the almighty Facebook, and narrowly niched ones like social networking sites for the affluent.

So, what’s the purpose of social media?

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What if someone offered you a chance to win $500 if you go off alcohol and masturbation for an entire month? Would you take up the offer?

Apparently, it’s a great offer and more than 5000 people responded. The mastermind of this? Tim Ferriss. The gathering place: Lift. The name of the challenge: NOBNOM (No Booze, No Masturbation).

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How many times have you complained about something only to reminisce about it after you’ve been through it?

Think school times. We complained about stupid teachers, boring homework, stressful exams, and idiotic bullies right? How many times have you said that you miss school ever since? Or if you have not left school, how many times have you heard someone said something to this tune?

Think National Service* (NS). EVERYONE complains about how tough or how meaningless or even how they suffered in NS. But when you see a bunch of guys get started on a topic about NS, you know they are about to go on and on and on (me included) and they always laugh about it rather than sulk.

*National Service refers to the compulsory military service required of all male citizens. 

Think parenting. “Taking care of the baby is a breeze. It’s so easy and does not disrupt my life” said no parent ever.

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Photo by Omer Wazir

Since I’m neither a celebrity nor a pretty girl with sexy photos, the number of views I get on my Facebook profile on a normal day is probably zero. But once a year, I get lots of friends posting on my wall.

Yup, on my birthday. That one day I actually get noticed and stand out for a few short hours. I’m not going to lie, it’s really nice to get friends and families to shower you with attention even if it’s just 3 words: “Happy Birthday”.

Oh.. that’s only 2 words.

I used to have this policy where I reply with a personalised message to each of these birthday wishes. It took me hours to go through each of them and writing back something unique and relevant to them. I loved the process as it rekindles some of these friendship that I have lost touch with, especially those that I don’t see regularly.

Then, I got busier and it’s no longer possible to do those unique responses without neglecting other important things. So last year, instead of a unique response each, I thanked everyone in one long Facebook post.

This year, I really want to make it different. I want to do something that is not about ME.

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