One thing I have learned the hard way over the past two years is that your environment, including your room, your social circle, your workplace, and even the content you consume, impacts you way more than you think. There is an old Chinese saying that goes:

Living with nice people is like entering a room full of flowers. Over time, you stop smelling the scent of the flowers. This is because you have adapted to the room.

If there is only one advice I can give, it will be this: gatekeep your environment, from your social circle to the content you consume. Cut off people who drag you down. Stop consuming content that reinforce negative thoughts. Don’t engage in meaningless social media arguments. Cultivate an environment that is positive, supportive, and inspirational.

I used to surround myself with people who played video games all day and were involved in drama all the time. During that period, I would spend most of my time playing video games with them, and I would get myself involved in the dramas as well, because I used to think as a “friend” I should be responsible for their emotions as well. Worse, I caught feelings for people I should not have. What ended up happening was that I lost motivation, lost track of my life, and became depressed. I would consume all kinds of sad content that reinforced my emotions. Working out consistently did not help at all.

The turning point was when I started interacting with people on x dot com. I was inspired by people doing cool things and pushing the boundary of technology. That inspiration became my motivation to pick myself back up - to upskill myself so that I am no longer standing on the shoulder of giant, but instead becoming part of the giant. I started cutting my video game consumption. I stopped listening to sad music. I stopped watching sad “motivational” videos. I met many cool people on x. I started building things. I even made this blog to document my journey. I have learned so much in 2024 that I felt like a completely different person.

Do I still feel down sometimes? Of course, but I see happiness as contentment. Contentment breeds complacency. I have only one short life to do great things. There is no time to be complacent. The only time I will be truly happy is when I will be on my death bed feeling satisfied of what I will have achieved.