No short cuts

So it occurred to me that, if I want to get good at something, there really are no short cuts - you sort of have to put in the hard yards.

For example, if I want to learn Mandarin better, I'm going to have to be disciplined and actually feed myself 1) new vocabulary and/or 2) new sentence patterns every night. At the very least new vocab, or practise existing vocab.

Being too tired after work is obviously a legitimate reason, but I guess I just have to ask myself: how much do I want this?

Similarly, if I really have intentions to maintain a healthier lifestyle, it means saying no to a lot of junk food, not going to the supermarket to buy sweets (or at least refraining from impulse buying when there), choosing better lunch options, doing more exercise etc - these require implementing small incremental decisions that add up along the way.

Small daily changes lead to big overall changes, in theory - but the key is to actually do it. Even a minuscule change adopted daily is powerful.

Finally, as an overarching general theme, I think if something is worth fighting for, you really do need to fight.

Whether it be in love, a relationship, family, a friendship, overcoming a bad habit, being more proactive, teaching yourself a new positive trait (the list goes on)...you cannot be lazy; you have to put in the effort to show you really do mean it!

Andre Lim