ronwritings

Hands down THE most relatable content I think anyone can read.

Ron Lim started @ronwritings on Instagram, documenting his thoughts and life experiences, as he travels across the globe. Here are some thoughts by Ron I’ve picked out:

• Don't overthink it

  You don’t know what the right answer is. but you have an intuition.
  you don’t know if your intuition is right. but it’s the best shot you got. take your best shot.
  maybe it will work. maybe it wouldn’t.
  it doesn’t matter. your focus isn’t in your outcome.
  it is in your process.
  your outcome is a one-time thing. your process is forever.
  get your process right.
  then you can do it over and over again.
  some will work, and some won’t.
  but you will end up having more outcomes than if you simply chased after a one-time thing.

• Solo cafe time

  there is something about sitting in a cafe on your own. reading a book or working on a laptop or writing in your notebook. you look at other people sitting on their own doing the same things and there is an unspoken understanding. it’s like we are all here to vibe alone, together. you try to focus on what’s ahead of you, but every now and then, your mind drifts off to the table in front of you and you catch a snippet of the conversation they are having. you try not to eavesdrop but your mind gets stuck on it. you pull yourself back. focus. you look at the person sitting alone across you and she turns up to look at you at the same time. you smile and quickly turn your head back to what’s ahead of you. focus. before you know it, a few hours have passed and you’ve made some progress on what you were working on. it was time well spent and you look forward to the next time you come back.

• Stop explaining yourself

  it doesn't matter. just do things. you don’t need to convince anyone else but yourself. you don’t need to justify any of your choices as long as they make sense to you. the person living the consequences of your actions is you. it doesn't matter what others say or think. you need to be okay with your decisions. this life is yours and you choose your own life. what we choose is what we get. it’s better this way. the alternative is you living a life that isn’t yours. you give in to opinions you don’t agree with and you get a life that you don’t want. it’s better that way.

• Truths learnt the hard way

  when in doubt, the answer is no.
  stop wasting your time on people who don’t value you. the right people will not make you feel s**t.
  you can’t hope for people to change. they have to want the change for themselves.
  what is right for you, doesn't have to be right for other people.
  the less you focus on the outside, the better the inside gets.
  stop trying to predict problems before it happens. it doesn't change anything that takes away your enjoyment.

• 20% at a time

  make your life 20% happier at a time. instead of trying to make it 100% all the time. I think the mistake people make when they try to pursue happiness is that they see it as this end goal. I don’t think happiness is a destination. I think it is a process. I don’t agree with the saying “go out and live your best life every day.”
  happiness is not a competition. I think it’s impossible to try living your best life every day. you just end up over depleting yourself and resent yourself for not being able to keep up.
  happiness should be a long-term process. not a milestone you hit in your life. and this process should be sustainable. it has to be relatively easy for you to keep up because you are going to b doing this for the rest of your life.
  make your life 20% happier at a time. and 20% is just figurative. do what it takes to make it a teeny bit better. you don’t have to do it all at once.

Ron’s book is available to buy:
UK/Europe
US/Canada