Leonard Ng

  • Blog
  • Poetry
    • This Mortal World
    • Changes and Chances
  • Translation
    • Tao Te Ching
    • The Complete Poems of Yu Xuanji
    • Rhapsody on Literature (Wen Fu)
    • The Art of War
    • The Song of Songs
  • Writing
  • Tutoring
  • Contact

What Kind of Goals Are You Setting?

10.01.2017 by leonard ng // Leave a Comment

Sunrise road
Image by Karsten Würth.

It’s the start of a new year now, when many of us lay out our personal goals and aspirations for our planet’s next revolution around the sun. This is the season when we make our resolutions: statements of purpose for the changes we want to bring about in our lives.

Some goals, however, will make a much bigger difference to your life than others. So today I’m going to talk about the kinds of resolutions that will allow you to hold your head high by the time the year is done.

Let’s get to it.

Two Kinds of Goals

The goals people set themselves tend to fall into two categories: consumption-based goals and achievement-based goals.

The two differ in what they require from you. The first chiefly requires money. The second chiefly requires effort.

Let’s look at them both in greater detail.

[Read more…]

Categories // A meaningful life, Peak performance, The art of living well Tags // beginnings, focus, goals, growth, learning, priorities

Don’t Force Things, Flow with Them (Part 2)

01.11.2016 by leonard ng // Leave a Comment

Polyphemos
Image by Aaron Wolpert.
Reading Ancient Greek: A Case Study

This year I set myself the task of reading all 24 books of Homer’s massive epic poem The Odyssey in Ancient Greek. This has been on my bucket list for a long time, and I’m glad to finally be doing it.

I’m now 20 books in, with four more to go — well on the way to completing what I set out to do. And I have full confidence that I will finish on time, because I’ve aligned myself with the principles of growth deadlines.

To recap, growth deadlines:

  • Make you better than you were before
  • Involve doing difficult things
  • Are based on sound knowledge and experience
  • Are flexible and resilient enough to withstand chaos

Let’s see how those points apply in this case.

[Read more…]

Categories // Peak performance, Productivity, The art of living well Tags // clarity, concentration, deadlines, experience, focus, fulfillment, Greek, growth, language, learning, priorities, productivity, work

The Five Elements: A Systematic Approach to Holistic Living

22.09.2016 by leonard ng // Leave a Comment

coloured journals
Image by Liz Weston.
A Comprehensive Approach to Personal Growth

Modern life is a pretty complicated bagful of kittens.

On the one hand, we’ve come to believe that there’s more to life than making money, having fun, raising a family, and staying out of trouble (or getting into trouble, if that’s what you prefer).

But on the other hand, there’s so much going on in life that we hardly know where to begin.

We might want to get every part of our lives running happily along and playing nicely together… but there just seems to be so much to consider. We have noble dreams of balance and fulfilment and harmony, but how can we keep track of it all?

That’s where five-element theory comes in. It’s a system I use to ensure that my days are meaningfully spent, and it works, too.

Basically, this is an old concept which uses the five classical elements as shorthand for the various aspects of life: Earth, Water, Air, Fire, and Void (or as I prefer to call it, Whitespace). Put together, these five cover just about every aspect of human growth and personal development.

If you’re anything like me, this approach will give you a framework that can help you shape your life more wisely and effectively than you ever thought possible.

Let’s get to it.

[Read more…]

Categories // The art of living well Tags // creativity, emotions, fitness, friendship, fulfillment, growth, health, holistic living, learning, love, meditation, vision, work

Leonard Ng

Leonard Ng is fascinated with the practice of both the active and contemplative modes of life.

He is the founder of the copywriting agency Text/ure Collective, and is the author of two collections of poetry: This Mortal World and Changes and Chances.

Find out more about Leonard, or get in touch.

Connect

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

Newsletter

Sign up to receive email updates and to hear what's new with me.

Recent Posts

  • Horror: The Ultimate Procrastination Inducer
  • Why You Fall Sick the Minute Your Vacation Begins
  • How to Be Mindful When You Don’t Have Time
  • What to Do Before You Burn Out
  • The Levers of Optimism: How to Become More Optimistic

Search

© 2016 Leonard Ng.