ThunderStorm

日行一善，功德无量。 Doing a good deed a day brings boundless merit. "But the grass ain't always greener on the other side. It's green where you water it." - Justin Bieber 💚🌿 I was wondering where this quote came from until I found the source. Colour me surprised. Here's to the days when tackling your chores seem too tough.

Dear Readers, Welcome to mid 2026! In our day-to-day rush, it is easy to neglect our own health. (See Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.) Quick check: have you been utilising your annual leaves and other staff benefits? In addition, to help us support our children together, I want to share a wonderful resource from the Social Worker’s Toolbox: the Unmet Children's Needs Checklist . By offering a listening ear and emotional support before we jump to correction, we help ourselves and others navigate big emotions safely. Remember: Be gentle with yourself. Your time to bloom will come. "Imagine if you loved yourself as much as you love your pet." — Anonymous Warmest regards, ThunderStorm

In this keynote speech, titled "Building a ‘Second Brain’: Opportunities, Risks, and Implications for AI Adoption in Singapore," Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan, shares his personal experience as a tech enthusiast ("geek and tinkerer") who built his own AI assistant to handle the intense cognitive overload of his diplomatic work. Here is a summary of the core themes, his technical setup, and his takeaways for AI adoption: 💡 The 3 Key Core Messages Accountability Cannot Be Outsourced: While you can delegate and outsource calculations, memory, and information synthesis to AI, you cannot outsource personal understanding or accountability [ 01:37 ]. Value is Created at the Ground Level: Real economic and societal value isn't created by top-down macro rules or just building giant models. It happens workflow-by-workflow, when ordinary professionals (teachers, lawyers, doctors, or ministers) use available AI tools to re-enginee...

https://hbsp.harvard.edu/inspiring-minds/ https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resource-guides/ https://pz.harvard.edu/thinking-routines

You can't have the best of all worlds. Everything has trade-offs. The four burners - family, health, friends, and work - demand time and effort. David Sedaris' Four Burners Theory says that “in order to be successful you have to cut off one of your burners. And in order to be really successful you have to cut off two.” Credit:  https://jamesclear.com/four-burners-theory

https://youtu.be/p3F-1QyvHnY?si=b-qX3dMrVM_PTalq 0:39 1 : Trap yourself     ~ Don't give yourself plan B     ~ Force yourself by:     ✓  Public Commitment       ✓ Financial Stakes      ✓ Cut the access (remove temptations)      ✓ Time Box  3:48 2 : Stop relying on willpower    ~ Willpower is limited    ~ Willpower consumes energy   ~ Lock three variables:        ✓ Time        ✓ Place        ✓ Trigger Note: For more benefit    - Decrease resistance    - Don't think, just do it   - Make it interesting   - Don't hurry 7:07 3 : Craft your mental algorithm ✓ Don't commit  ✓ Set conditional plans (if x, then y) ✓ Just run the algorithm   9:09 4 : Outsource decisions    ~ Mistakes are human   ~ Make lists:  ✓ To do list --> Execution   ✓ To...

In this TED talk, Jennifer Parlamis shares that activities which reduce your physiological arousal can help reduce anger. These include things like meditation, deep breathing, and yoga ( 11:48 ). Conversely, physiologically arousing activities, such as verbal venting, or even running, working out, or screaming into a pillow, do not decrease anger ( 11:14 , 11:31 ).

Re:  The Odysseus Trap by Sahil Bloom The underrated skill that most highly successful and wealthy people will not tell you is the amount of all-nighters they pulled to build their lofty, ambitious dreams until they could finally take a step back and let their systems run on autopilot. As the saying goes, "There are no shortcuts to success." As I look back on my life, while there were periods of painful striving, I probably wouldn't have attained the mastery as soon as I did had I not ground in the hours and tried and failed miserably. And 10 years feels like a considerably long waste of time to learn the life lessons that youngsters these days learn at even younger and younger ages, thanks to access to quality education. I'm a late bloomer, as you can tell. Had I known about personal finance and productivity tips earlier, I would have taken a shorter time to get here. Welp, too late to turn back time. 

When Michelin Stars Don’t Pay the Bills – Singapore’s F&B Reality Check - 8days https://share.google/nH5oygByHgzYUGgo6 Here are the key points from the text: Restaurants Need to Be Businesses 📈  * Business Success Over Awards: Winning awards like a Michelin star doesn't guarantee business success 🌟. Recent restaurant closures underscore this need.  * Chefs as Entrepreneurs : Many chefs aren't trained entrepreneurs, making business fundamentals like marketing, branding, customer fit , and having a business plan crucial. 🧑‍🍳➡️💼 The Recipe for Success: The "Trifecta" and Beyond 💡  * The "Trifecta": Long-term success involves a focus on three key areas:    * Product: Differentiation and quality in offerings. 🍽️    * Finances: Handling finances well. 💰    * Marketing: Effective marketing. 📣  * Customer Focus Leads to Innovation: Adapting to customer preferences, like launching a " dim sum style " brunch trolley after noticing gu...

https://simonsinek.com/stories/is-it-wrong-to-be-friends-with-your-coworkers-a-therapist-weighs-in/ Simon Sinek, what an inspiration. Encountering his videos many years ago changed my perspective on leadership, work, and life, and challenged me to reconsider my life path and take a leap of faith away from my previous job. There are more alternative pathways to success and fulfilment in life today. However, it requires courage, wit, humility, and grit to reach that dream destination. For an average person like me, it took close to a decade of God's mercy and inner work before I could find peace in my heart. It has been an honour and privilege to have found many friends in my workplace past and present. You all have a special place in my heart, and I am grateful for your friendship all these donkey years. 💖💝 I wish you good success and opportunity in your life, my friends.

With the recent news of appalling layoffs, someone's grandfather's service road, non-CDC merchants' woes, I can't help but think that Singaporeans with deep pockets, and good handshakes live in the land of scott-free, adept at jumping through loopholes. The best we can do is make our cents count and place them in better hands. Boy, it's time to cott bad business practices.

In this season, I have learnt to enjoy the little moments and things. I don't crave going out as much, and I'm fine with that. Rest is good. Finding peace in my circumstances and rest in Christ is even better. ⚓️✝️