If I had to review 2017 with a single word, that word would be “Quest”. We started the year dealing with aftermath of launching Mindvalley Quests 1.0 at the end of 2016. It was put together hastily on our existing learning platform built on Ruby on Rails.
At the same time, we also started working on the next version of the Quest. It was time for us to move beyond Rails and we placed our bet on Elixir. The journey wasn’t easy as we had to learn, unlearn and relearn a lot of things.
In a few days, we will be saying goodbye to 2017 and whether we are ready for it or not, 2018 is here. This means it’s that time of the year where we set goals and resolutions hoping that this time, we will keep them, only to have things revert back to come February.
Most of us have a long list of things we hope to achieve but the list just keeps growing longer and longer every year. It’s so bad that a lot of us gave up making new resolutions because it just doesn’t seem to pan out.
No matter how motivated and driven we were about our resolutions when we set them, we just don’t have the same enthusiasm to follow through with them. It just seems futile to even bother with new year resolutions.
Urban planners know the importance of infrastructure and the role they play in the growth and development of a city. Transportation and telecommunications networks along with basic services like water and electricity are vital for cities.
Infrastructure is also an crucial component in the growth and scalability of companies. Apple is not only great at making products but also extremely good at getting them to their customers’ hand. It’s no easy feat to manufacture and deliver millions of iPhones to people around the world.
We live in a very competitive society. Businesses compete for market share while athletes train tirelessly to push the limit of human performance. Everywhere you look, there are winners, with a lot more losers behind them.
Since young, we are ingrained by the education system to compete with each other. The best will be rewarded with scholarships and endorsements while the rest will have to fight for what’s left. And if you can’t compete academically, well you can work on your competitive spirit in sports instead.
When I meet someone during lunch, instead of being asked if I have eaten like a typical Malaysian, they ask if I’m on holiday. Then they will have this puzzled look after I tell them I’m actually working and I get to wear my t-shirts and shorts at the office.
My workplace, like many in the tech industry, adopt a more accommodating dress code for their employees. Instead of Casual Fridays, it’s Casual Everyday for us. This is a godsend as I can’t stand wearing slacks and long sleeves in this weather.
If you are building a product, you will undoubtedly had to fight the temptation of adding more features with the risk of delaying it from being shipped on time. I know I had to and quite often, we tend to launch products with more features than we needed.
Logically, the more features our product offers, the more potential customers for it. But when you are launching something new, your biggest hurdle is in marketing and discoverability.
I worked on my first startup idea many many years ago. Back then, I got tired of working at a software consulting firm and decided I wanted to try it out on my own.
The desire to build a product and a business of my own was so strong that I even convinced my long time friend to quit his job and join me.
Our first attempt as a 2-man team was to solve the age old of problem faced by every Malaysian. What to eat for lunch? This was way before Yelp and age of smartphones.
Is the glass half full or half empty? This is a common analogy to describe an optimist and a pessimist.
I think it doesn’t go far enough. An optimist is someone who don’t just think the glass is half full but also hopeful that maybe one day it will be filled to the brim.
Where as a pessimist would worry not just because it’s only half full but maybe the glass may some day break, losing everything.
What does it take to turn a usually calm and collected person to an annoyed and agitated beast? A phone call. Well to be exact, an unanswered phone call.
When we were younger, my parents ran their business from our home. My sister and I were given very specific instructions on what to do when the phone rings. Within the third ring, we must answer it and tell the person on the other end of the line to hold while we get our parents.
Earlier this year I made a decision that I thought was rational and logical. After carefully considering my options, I made the call to sell my current car and buy a bigger one.
But after a few months, that same decision appeared to be somewhat reckless and uncharacteristic. How did a decision that seemed rational and logical before become one that don’t make much sense later?
