VVM The Visakanv Megaweb The Visakanv Megaweb

Welcome to theVisakanv Megaweb

Since 2008, Visa has been thinking out loud on the internet, sharing his ideas with the world. The result: a quarter-million tweets, more than a thousand essays and blog posts, and hundreds of videos. The Visakanv Megaweb collects all of it, plus the books and media Visa keeps recommending, into one archive, organized so you can find your way through. Pick a place to start.

262K
tweets
1,251
essays & blogs
459
videos

An archive of Twitter postsby Visakan Veerasamy

Visakan Veerasamy (@visakanv) has been posting on X (formerly Twitter) since 2008, racking up more than a quarter-million posts across dozens of topics. The Visakanv Megaweb organizes them into a single archive you can browse without friction. Explore Visa’s most popular posts, favorite themes, and online network via curated lists. Looking for something specific, or want to browse the archive your way? It’s all here: filters for date, length, and more, plus search across text and handles.

262K
tweets
26K+
threads
36
themes
01↗

Best Tweets

A list of his 1,000 most-liked posts and thread-openers. The place to start.
02↗

Best Threads

Visa's most-loved threads: the 1,000 best by likes. Start here, then page through to the full archive.
03↗

Longest Threads

Visa's biggest megathreads, ranked by length: his longest unbroken sequences, up to 200+ posts.
04↗

All Tweets

The complete archive of every tweet from @visakanv’s X/Twitter account. Filter by type (replies, quote-tweets, originals), theme, date, and popularity, with full-text search to locate any post.
05↗

All Threads

All of Visa’s X/Twitter threads in one place: 26,000+ since 2008. Sort by likes, length, or date, and search for specific posts.
06↗

Themes

The 36 themes that recur throughout @visakanv’s posts. Open one to explore its most popular tweets and search within the category.
07↗

Recurring Posts

The top 1,000 posts Visa quotes and reshares himself. Enter to explore the ideas and themes he keeps coming back to.
08↗

Visa’s Network

The accounts Visa engages with most, measured by quote-tweets and replies. Dive in to see the extended Visakan Veerasamy online universe and follow their conversations.
09↗

Retweets

Every post and account Visa has amplified: 10,711 retweets since 2010, self-retweets aside. A map of who and what he points his audience toward.
10↗

Stats

The shape of @visakanv’s 262K+ tweets: replies, quotes, posts and retweets, volume by year, the themes he returns to, and the all-time records.
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Wander

Land on a random tweet from the archive, pulled from Best Tweets and the top posts in each theme.

One Million Words

A million words of raw, stream-of-consciousness writing. (869 pieces, 1.04M words)

  • 0896: the tiny shower — Habits · 2026 · 1.1k words. Using the adaptation to a tiny shower as a metaphor, I reflect on how I've gone on autopilot with bad habits like Twitter and why I need to consciously build new ones, like daily longform writing.
  • 0894 + 0895: what you do is what you do — Mindset & Motivation · 2026 · 2.2k words. A personal reckoning with avoidance leads to the mantra 'what you do is what you do', intentions don't count, only actions. Visa resolves to wake early for his son and stop making excuses, because the only way to change is to do.
  • 0882: blog architecture update — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2025 · 1k words. Updated blog categories into proto-books, then deleted them for branching paths. Now he's building Substack essays and revisiting old vomits in pursuit of an artful, inviting body of work. The process is worth trusting.
  • 0885: plan to digress — Writing · 2025 · 1.1k words. Visa describes his struggle to write essays amid fragmented time and attention, and proposes a method: ramble chaotically until a digression strikes, then use that as the essay's core.
  • 0884: optimal starting theorem — Writing · 2025 · 1k words. Rediscovering the feel of longer-form writing after years of tweets. Word vomits serve as a warm-up to find deeper, more thoughtful pieces that become Substack notes or essays. The key is starting with something noted, then rambling until a natural digression reveals a deeper intention to expand.
  • 0886 + 0887: keep noticing — Life & Meaning · 2025 · 2k words. After the death of his cat Sierra, Visa revisits his old thoughts on mortality and meaning. He reflects on loss, regret, and the importance of joy; what matters, he concludes, is noticing and living deliberately.
  • 0889 + 0890: gradatim ferociter — Psychology & Emotions · 2025 · 2k words. Feeling stuck and frustrated about stalled progress in fitness, music, and writing. Through introspection, reminds himself to start with baby steps (gradatim ferociter), honor agreements, and focus on what feels alive, even if it's just breathing and finishing this post.
  • 0893: pacing — Writing · 2025 · 1.4k words. Pacing his new house, he reflects on memory, time, and space as tools. He renews his commitment to writing imperfect work and to moving past ego and fear, with earnest attempts and undiminished enthusiasm.
  • 0888: against notesprawl 2 — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2025 · 1.1k words. A stream-of-consciousness wrestling with notesprawl, whether to pare down old material or freestyle new work. The real decision hinges on feelings, not logic; he sets an intention to make a dent tomorrow.
  • 0883: chess — Games · 2025 · 1.1k words. Chess as a lifelong companion, from childhood borrowing library books to playing on his phone today. The real lesson: stop blundering and let the win take care of itself. Joy over mastery.
  • 0892: navigating by feeling — Psychology & Emotions · 2025 · 1k words. Routines fall apart, everything does. The real challenge is emotional, finding joy, humor, presence to sustain the work. Navigating by feeling, not discipline, determines the quality of anything you make.
  • 0891: turning 35 — Self-Knowledge · 2025 · 1k words. Turning 35, feeling low and tired after years of parenting and health issues, until re-reading his blog rekindled interest. Now planning to consolidate his 'desire paths' writings into a finite, finishable project, instead of chasing new territory.
  • 0857: against notesprawl — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2024 · 1k words. Against notesprawl. The cognitive overhead of too many notes mirrors urban sprawl; the fix is to merge, delete, and let interestingness guide writing instead of accumulating more intentions.
  • 0852 + 0853: reinvigorate, and retvrn to beauty — Writing · 2024 · 2k words. Visa feels due for a shakeup, his routine disrupted by a baby, and wants to write essays again. He is working through the emotional knots that block him, with sketches and low-pressure practice to carry him until the million-word project is done.
  • 0860 + 0861: talk to your friends about your work — Writing · 2024 · 2k words. Director's commentary deepens appreciation of movies, same goes for his own work. Talking about his writing with friends clarifies his thinking, and avoiding that is a mistake Visa is finally calling himself on.
  • 0858: describe very specific things — Writing · 2024 · 1k words. Visa has been publishing essays fast and wants to keep writing; he treats notes as sketches and trusts the flow. He aims to teach by demonstrating real-time questioning rather than listing answers.
  • 0863: dialogue on essays — Writing · 2024 · 1.1k words. In a dialogue between his essayist and tweeter selves, Visa compares the ease of tweeting to the weight of writing essays and explores the perfectionism and shifting interests that stall his long-form work.
  • 0859: review to cultivate taste and feeling — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2024 · 1.1k words. Visa revisits his past wordvomits, feeling overwhelmed by the volume but wanting to cultivate taste and feeling. He reflects on the clutter of intentions and the need to enjoy the incompleteness of the process.
  • 0854, 0855, 0856: essays — Writing · 2024 · 3.1k words. A writer reflects on wanting to transition from tweeting to writing essays, grappling with the fear of failure, the need for bravery, and the messy practice of starting and finishing longer pieces. He commits to writing through the anxiety.
  • 0867: parenting — Romance, Parenting & Family · 2024 · 1k words. Reflections on parenting, watching a baby grow, wondering where personality comes from, and the tricky balance between self-sacrifice and not neglecting your own inner child.
  • 0862: may2024 status update — Writing · 2024 · 1.2k words. Parenthood is joyfully relentless; moving house is slow; writing ambition battles perfectionism; fitness goals aim to carry my son and pass the army test. Everything is a project at the edge of my ability.
  • 0866: retvrn to fundamentals — Habits · 2024 · 1.1k words. Visa wants to return to fundamentals: daily writing, exercise, reading, and note-keeping. He reflects on the importance of baby steps, humility, and recovering from broken streaks, and faces the reality that he needs to re-establish basic routines to rebuild momentum and self-trust.
  • 0864: iOS notes cleanup — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2024 · 1k words. Cleaning out iOS notes from 1000+ to under 400, merging into Google Docs, and trimming folders. The process feels profound: it works through old intentions and emotional baggage to clear the way for writing. He's also adjusting his physical space for comfort.
  • 0870: what is my writing bottleneck? — Writing · 2024 · 1k words. Visa applies Goldratt's bottleneck theory to his writing practice, identifying that he needs fresh inputs and better process focus to increase his wordvomit throughput and finish his 1000/1000 project.
  • 0868: jul2024 status update pt1 — Psychology & Emotions · 2024 · 1.2k words. In his first status update in a while, Visa reflects on leaving his job six years ago, his evolving relationship with accomplishments, and his journey from neurotic social engagement to accepting being misunderstood. He explores the psychology of drive and the utility of clarity.
  • 0874: being useful to myself — Productivity · 2024 · 1.2k words. Staying up late on Twitter instead of writing leaves him frustrated. He realizes he needs to be honest about his social needs and restart his evening with a wordvomit to reclaim his time and energy.
  • 0869: simcity — Self-Knowledge · 2024 · 1k words. Realizes he's been deceiving himself about working at night when he really just wants to socialize. Uses SimCity 2000 as a metaphor for how he approaches his body of work, stop trying to flatten everything and build incrementally instead.
  • 0875: flourishings — Sociocultural Commentary · 2024 · 1.2k words. Why aren't we flourishing more? Taboos that protect society from bad actors also constrain positive variance. The answer is small, committed groups creating culturally deregulated spaces where deviants can thrive without causing harm.
  • 0879: sticky chewy chocolate — Art & Creativity · 2024 · 1.1k words. Using a sticky chewy chocolate sundae as a metaphor for textural richness in creative work, he reflects on circulation, continuity, and the challenge of maintaining creative states across varied outputs.
  • 0877 + 0878: on “finish what you started” — Mindset & Motivation · 2024 · 2.7k words. Finishing what you start isn't always the right move, especially in creative work where stale inspiration leads to frustration. Better to find a sense of direction and cumulative progress than to force completion for its own sake.
  • 0876: silly lil guy — Mindset & Motivation · 2024 · 1k words. Introspection is a free money glitch I barely use because I keep making it a huge deal. The solution: stay a silly lil guy messing around, and important things get done almost by accident.
  • 0873: preamble to ‘on critics’ — Psychology & Emotions · 2024 · 1.1k words. A tired, fragmented dad reflects on adapting to life with a 1-year-old, grapples with frustration and self-forgiveness, and pivots to a planned piece about critics.
  • 0881: aliveness! in the spreadsheet — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2024 · 1.2k words. Revisiting old vomits and tagging schemes, Visa realizes he wants his corpus to feel alive, not a deadzone. He swaps 'procrastination' for 'copes' and dreams of narrative categories that make the space fun to explore.
  • 0865: vividness — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2024 · 1k words. Using bullet lists to practice micro-essays. Cleaning up old notes that aren't vivid, need courage to recreate fresh aliveness instead of clinging to past fragments.
  • 0872: re-spec your character when necessary — Personal Growth & Self-Improvement · 2024 · 1k words. Visa realizes he's been playing too small and coasting on autopilot. Using video game 're-speccing' as a metaphor, he commits to updating his strategies, goals, and process for publishing excellent writing.
  • 0880: a city is a collection of stories — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2024 · 1k words. Trying to make my body of work feel more like a living city than a junkyard. Looking at how towns become cities, charters, infrastructure, stories, to figure out how to link and navigate my own stuff better.
  • 0871: bottleneck2: notesprawl — Writing · 2024 · 1k words. Reflecting on his writing bottlenecks and notesprawl, he realizes he needs to revisit past ideas, weave together existing blog posts, and focus on small stories to get into a win_loop with his essays. Afraid of mid work, he commits to threading his notes into a denser tapestry.
  • 0822: restart the engine — Writing · 2023 · 1.1k words. After writing a great essay, he feels stuck and realizes he needs to practice writing daily again. He's restarting wordvomits to build momentum and produce better essays.
  • 0826 + 0827: creative finesse — Art & Creativity · 2023 · 2.2k words. He's sleep-deprived and creatively stuck, wanting finesse with his own process. He describes the inner battle between ego and the need to publish, and the joy and sanity that come from just making things.
  • 0825: inventory management — Writing · 2023 · 1k words. Stuck for months trying to produce publishable writing, he reflects on the tension between the goal of good writing and the paralysis of perfectionism. He realizes he needs to take inventory of his material and accept imperfection to break free.
  • 0823: resentments pt1 — Psychology & Emotions · 2023 · 1.5k words. Visaka admits he's bottled up anger and resentment playing the Friendly King persona. Now he's puking it all out, mad he's not more successful, mad at people who won't read: a hard look at the emotional knots that keep him stuck instead of writing.
  • 0828: what’s my substack for? — Writing · 2023 · 1.8k words. Thinking about what his Substack should be, autobiographical, insightful, encouraging, and reflecting on his shift from word vomits to Twitter threads and back to longer essays, driven by a need for playful lightness and deeper self-expression.
  • 0824: less gnashing / now what — Writing · 2023 · 1.3k words. Stuck in overthinking, he revisits what he truly wants to write and why. He realizes the act of writing itself relieves the knot, and that writing for relief is valid. He commits to publishing something, anything, to break the numbness.
  • 0832: devastating losses for an infovore — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2023 · 1.5k words. Visa reflects on the pain of losing old blog posts and journals, devastating for someone who treats all of life as research. The sprawling archive is a project management problem, and he must carve out manageable chunks instead of trying to tackle it all at once.
  • 0831: escritoire — Writing · 2023 · 1.1k words. Searching for an angle to write something interesting, Visa grapples with referencing past work vs freestyling. He clears tabs, organizes notes, and reflects on sounding like himself, Zusha's question, 'Why weren't you Visa?'
  • 0834 + 0835: symptoms, diseases and creative funks — Psychology & Emotions · 2023 · 2.2k words. Visits his own creative funk, realizing too many things is a symptom not the disease; the real lack is clarity about purpose. He reconnects with the simple joy of writing and finds relief in the process even without answers.
  • 0841, 0842: write your thinking, take the scenic route — Writing · 2023 · 2k words. Tired of tweeting, Visa returns to wordvomits to write his thinking instead of thinking his writing. He wants depth over breadth, to take the scenic route through his notes and bookmarks without pressure, in search of subtle posture shifts and true freedom.
  • 0833: jul2023 status update — Mindset & Motivation · 2023 · 1k words. Scattered across projects and agonizing over a perfect Substack, Visa realizes he needs space to ramble without direction. The real work is lovingly investigating emotional knots and believing change is possible.
  • 0836: explore vs exploit — Writing · 2023 · 1k words. Visa has been stuck between exploring new territory and exploiting what he's already done. Writing long and trusting the process is the way through, go fast, make a mess, the sense of momentum is what he's been hungry for.
  • 0829 + 0830: snippets and drafts — Writing · 2023 · 2.3k words. A compilation of unfinished drafts reveals Visa's ongoing struggle with writing, productivity, and self-criticism. He examines envy, frustration, and the pressure to ship in raw meta-commentary on his creative process.
  • 0845: identifying as a professional author — Writing · 2023 · 1.1k words. Visak processes becoming a published author, letting himself dream of a studio and library. He wants to re-enchant his life, grieve past goals, and get clearer on what each writing project is for.
  • 0847: gonna be a dad — Romance, Parenting & Family · 2023 · 1.1k words. Visa is becoming a dad this month. He is excited and nervous, his senses sharpening. He reflects on rising to the challenge, not overdoing it, and keeping levity. He wants to be more decisive and make each moment count.
  • 0837: broken telephone — Writing · 2023 · 1.1k words. Visa reflects on status and self-consciousness, but the heart is about writing: decontainerizing from twitter threads to essays, with trust that the exploratory vomit process will yield good material.
  • 0843: take care — Psychology & Emotions · 2023 · 1.1k words. Visa is feeling unfulfilled and too hard on himself, thinking about old friends and how relationships are the hard part. He is trying to discern what matters, manage his own process, and take care so he can keep going.
  • 0846: essays are for gestalt — Writing · 2023 · 1.1k words. Visa rethinks his writing domains, essays should paint the big picture, not get stuck on specifics. He wants to let go of perfection, write more precisely, and convey the gestalt rather than repeat himself.
  • 0838, 0839, 0840: twitter and other cursed artifacts — Internet Culture · 2023 · 3.1k words. A rant about Twitter as a cursed artifact: its containerized tweet shapes expectations and thinking, making authentic communication hard. It’s a global parlor of hallucinations that demands more wisdom than ever to navigate.
  • 0844: new macbook — Mindset & Motivation · 2023 · 1.1k words. Visa bought a new MacBook as a symbol of abundance, breaking old scarcity habits. He reflects on gear acquisition, deleting blog posts, wanting clarity and a fresh start. He is trying to be gentler with himself.
  • 0848 + 0849: prolificacy-induced logjam puzzle — Writing · 2023 · 2.1k words. Visa reflects on his writing logjam: he can write copiously but fears clogging his system with junk, so he writes less. He needs to separate the writer from the manager and learn to discard bad drafts.
  • 0851: return to freestyling — Writing · 2023 · 1k words. Visa is returning to freestyling wordvomits after his son was born. He wants to write things that move people, surprise himself, and give himself permission to explore without obligations, just trust himself and write.
  • 0850: just describe stuff bro — Self-Knowledge · 2023 · 1.3k words. Visa navigates his conflicting desires around updating his books, writing essays, and working on his blog. By describing each impulse like a character, he aims to understand and reconcile them instead of forcing progress.
  • 0810: turning 32 — Self-Knowledge · 2022 · 1k words. Turning 32 and having published Introspect, Visa quits smoking and grapples with the emotional void it leaves. He reexamines old patterns, depression, and the loneliness of breaking rituals, realizing he must redistribute the loads his cope once bore.
  • 0808: untangle competing interests (pt 1?) — Psychology & Emotions · 2022 · 1k words. Feeling frustrated and stuck by competing interests, Visa reflects on his emotional block, the unfinished wordvomit project, and the need to reclaim his vigor. He decides to stop being reasonable and just start writing again.
  • 0811 + 0812: scaffolding for my substack — Writing · 2022 · 2.1k words. Visa reflects on organizing his massive archive of word-vomits to scaffold his Substack, wrestling with the desire for vision and the internal critic, and discovering he can cluster pieces rather than sort them individually.
  • 0815: untangling writerly goals — Writing · 2022 · 1.1k words. Old note says writing makes me happy. Feeling lost and want to get back to writing beautiful things, but I'm torn between training and adventure aesthetics. Need to touch my notes and figure out my next move.
  • 0816: figuring out next steps, oct 2022 — Productivity · 2022 · 1.1k words. Grouchy about limited time and energy. Realizes the bottleneck is project management: breaking big things into smaller tasks. Decides to be his own consultant, focus on writing essays, and share fragments for feedback.
  • 0818: touch all notes — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2022 · 1k words. Feeling stuck on Twitter and avoiding writing, he decides to process his backlog of 1075 notes by touching them all, working through the mental clutter to find his way back to good writing.
  • 0817: journalling again — Psychology & Emotions · 2022 · 1k words. Haven't journaled in a while because of a backlog of unread entries. Realizing the psychic cost of indecision and unaddressed obligations. Need to unclench, renegotiate tasks, and stop treating everything as homework.
  • 0821: some self-help + triangulation — Writing · 2022 · 1.3k words. Visa has been strangling his own writing by forcing 'important work' instead of having fun. Time to get loose, do silly things like an essay on 2006, and triangulate to the right small steps.
  • 0819 + 820: make yourself comfortable / dream of elegance — Writing · 2022 · 2k words. Visa examines his lack of relaxation around writing and publishing, committing to more wordvomits to unblock essays, preferring elegance over force.
  • 0809: may 2022 status update — Writing · 2022 · 1.1k words. Visa reflects on slowing his wordvomits, shipping two ebooks (FAN and Introspect), quitting smoking after writing, and feeling scattered now that the book is done. He contemplates what to focus on next.
  • 0813: aug22 status update — Writing · 2022 · 1.9k words. Returning to essay writing after years of tweets and books. Missing his own voice, he reflects on past audiences and plans to write for people like him; he critiques instrumental thinking and looks for purpose in small things.
  • 0814: getting better at being me — Psychology & Emotions · 2022 · 1k words. Feeling scattered and uncertain, he explores the role of wordvomits, the difference between writing and video, and the simple act of moving the needle. He's learning to get better at being himself.
  • 0787: leadership and responsibility — Personal Growth & Self-Improvement · 2021 · 1k words. Visa reflects on his aversion to leadership, stepping up despite it, and the responsibilities that come with influence. He advocates for leading by doing, listening, and earning trust.
  • 0790: enjoy your life without bullshitting yourself — Writing · 2021 · 1k words. Visa struggles with the second ebook INTROSPECT, wrestling with perfectionism and the impossibility of saying everything. The core directive emerges: enjoy your life without bullshitting yourself. Accept imperfection, ship the book, keep going.
  • 0788: vacation from twitter — Writing · 2021 · 1.3k words. Visa takes a break from Twitter to return to long-form writing. He reflects on his journey, the repetitive nature of word vomits, and his desire to complete ambitious projects while grappling with the emotional weight of writing.
  • 0791: renegotiating my relationship with rest — Habits · 2021 · 1.1k words. Visa re-examines his lifelong struggle to sleep when he feels he hasn't made the day count. He argues that rest even after a bad day is essential to avoid fatigue spirals, and that changing this frame requires practice and self-compassion.
  • 0796: writing is what I do — Writing · 2021 · 1k words. Reconnecting with the joy of typing on a blank page, Visa reaffirms that writing is his lifelong practice, a 20-year habit he'll keep until he's dead. He'll switch mediums as needed to stay in love with the process.
  • 0794: “my book is killing me” — Writing · 2021 · 1k words. The book is killing him: it's the ultimate hassle. But Visa refuses to quit. He needs a ritual to face the pain of creative work, because the most important things in life are a hassle and he loves that.
  • 0793: checking in with the inner newsfeed — Psychology & Emotions · 2021 · 1.2k words. The inner newsfeed of your own thoughts vanishes once you check Twitter. Tending to it first thing, before the world's noise, helps reclaim attention and energy, and starting pomodoros builds project momentum.
  • 0792: starting pomodoros again — Writing · 2021 · 1.1k words. Visa is restarting pomodoros to write daily word vomits and finish this project before turning 32. Systems need to be simple and sketchy; arbitrary rituals work if you suspend disbelief.
  • 0795: my relationship with twitter — Internet Culture · 2021 · 1.1k words. Visa traces his 15-year relationship with Twitter from fangirling to building a thoughtful audience, and realizes it's time to shift towards deeper work like his book and blog.
  • 0797: be playful — Mindset & Motivation · 2021 · 1.1k words. Playfulness isn't trivial: it's a way to relate to life as free and open to surprise. Dismantle the prison-like thinking, allow the universe to surprise you, and reconnect with the imaginative spirit you had as a child.
  • 0789: the invitation: stop fussing — Mindset & Motivation · 2021 · 1.1k words. Stop fussing over what you can't control. Focus on nourishing yourself, loved ones, and community. Great things start small. Service to others brings genuine fulfillment. An invitation to live boldly and let go of inherited bullshit.
  • 0799: be honest — Self-Knowledge · 2021 · 1.1k words. Visa used to lie a lot as a kid, but learning to be honest with himself has been the foundational move for growth. When you stop lying to yourself, you can finally face reality and address what's actually going on.
  • 0798: be kind — Psychology & Emotions · 2021 · 1.1k words. Kindness is treating others as kin, but it's more than that: it's gentle but firm, sparing shame, and a practice that starts with self-kindness. True kindness is beyond utilitarian calculus, a gift we give ourselves and others.
  • 0802: introspect: content page notes — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2021 · 1.1k words. A live planning session for his book *introspect*: Visa walks through the table of contents, cutting and rearranging sections with the single goal of finally shipping, while weaving in self-inquiry about why he holds back.
  • 0805: confront the minotaur pt1 — Psychology & Emotions · 2021 · 1.3k words. A word vomit about confronting the inner minotaur. Visa reflects on his teenage self-criticism and argues that real behavior change comes from compassionate curiosity, not anger. He advocates reparenting your inner child by listening to your own desires.
  • 0803: introspect: what does your heart want? — Self-Knowledge · 2021 · 1.1k words. Visa realized the core of 'Introspect' is the heart: listening to what you actually want, not managing your mind. The book came alive when he stopped intellectualizing and let his heart lead.
  • 0800: cultivate courage — Mindset & Motivation · 2021 · 1.1k words. Celebrating his 800th wordvomit, Visa reviews past milestones and argues that courage is about facing your fears, being brave for others, and relentlessly creating something wonderful in your limited time.
  • 0807: don’t expect too much from babbling fools — Self-Knowledge · 2021 · 1k words. Some truths are known deeper than words can carry. My job is just to babble and point; yours is to find your own resonance. The magic isn't in the telling, it's in what you already know.
  • 0806: confront the minotaur pt2 — Psychology & Emotions · 2021 · 1.1k words. The inner authoritarian-tyrant you inherited as a child must be confronted. Writing this book about it is terrifying, but you can't wait to be ready, live as though the day were here.
  • 0801: introspect: deliver on the promises — Writing · 2021 · 1.1k words. Visa is stuck writing his book INTROSPECT and realizes he needs to define clearer outcomes and deliver on the promises he's made. He commits to a series of wordvomits to expand on the book's promises.
  • 0804: introspect: overview — Self-Knowledge · 2021 · 1.2k words. Visa outlines his book INTROSPECT as a hero's journey: leaving home, facing oneself in the labyrinth, and returning transformed. The thread is storytelling and continuity. He wrestles with fear, project management, and the tedium of growth.
  • 0781: making 100 youtube videos — Art & Creativity · 2020 · 1k words. Visa kicks off 2020 by committing to make 100 YouTube videos, beginning with book reviews and Twitter-thread vlogs. He acknowledges his nervousness about imperfect work but decides to publish daily for himself: process over polish.
  • 0784: embody the chaos school of art — Art & Creativity · 2020 · 1.2k words. Visa is teaching himself to draw by embracing a 'chaos school' of fast, sloppy attempts, the same philosophy behind his 1000-word vomits and chaotic Twitter threads. Make mistakes cheaply and often; early work is supposed to be bad.
  • 0782: the difference between video and text — Art & Creativity · 2020 · 1.2k words. Visa reflects on the differences between making videos and writing text, exploring the trade-offs in bandwidth, pacing, and polish. He commits to producing large volumes in both mediums to improve at freestyling across them.
  • 0783: cultivate a sense of occasion — Mindset & Motivation · 2020 · 1.1k words. A reflection on cultivating a deliberate 'sense of occasion' in life, inspired by David Ogilvy. Visa examines his upbringing without such rituals, and commits to making life meaningful through intentional celebration and writing.
  • 0785 - don’t linger too long in your comfort zone — Mindset & Motivation · 2020 · 1k words. After months away from writing, Visa confronts the fear of a second book not matching the first. Staying in comfort zone is safe but boring; you have to risk bombing or fail by default. Time to restart the engine.
  • 0786: put on your old gi and get back in the arena — Habits · 2020 · 1.1k words. Watching Cobra Kai reminds Visa to put on his old gi and get back to writing, even when tired and stuck. The battle must be fought daily; avoiding the pain only tightens the mind.
  • 0769: I’m not here for accolades; I’m here to write — Writing · 2019 · 1k words. Returning to longform after a Twitter binge, I feel the old anxiety, am I still able to write? Yes, but I had forgotten that not every piece needs to be a success. The only point is the writing itself.
  • 0757: each day a project, each day a game — Productivity · 2019 · 996 words. After revisiting his past New Year's day vomits, Visa decides to finally do the regular reviews he always talked about. His frame for 2019: each day is both a project to manage and a game to play, all connected by consistent returns.
  • 0758: tap the bricks to find the secret passageway — Self-Knowledge · 2019 · 1.1k words. We want self-knowledge, inspiration, and community. Tap the bricks: question assumptions to find hidden passages. Passion waxes and wanes; learn to resurrect it.
  • 0760: life can be easy, but getting there takes a lot of work — Mindset & Motivation · 2019 · 1.3k words. Life can become easy once you do the hard work of unlearning harmful expectations and becoming flexible with outcomes. Visa reflects on moving from stress to lightness through self-examination and letting go.
  • 0759: make friends (pt 1) — Friendship & Community · 2019 · 1.1k words. Making friends is the most important thing in life, especially online. Drawing from his experience as an outsider, Visa argues that building genuine relationships beats chasing attention.
  • 0761: perhaps allow the Tao to describe itself — Mindset & Motivation · 2019 · 1k words. Stop trying to sell your insights; let them speak for themselves. Develop taste by exposing yourself to the best, then bring it into your work. Relax, have fun, and allow the Tao to reveal itself.
  • 0763: memoir planning — Writing · 2019 · 1k words. Planning a memoir called 'Naughty Boy,' Visa sketches the essays he wants to write about Singapore life, activism, and growing up gifted. He is writing for naughty kids like he was, and will draft the pieces as wordvomits first.
  • 0762: going to San Francisco — Travel & Place · 2019 · 1.1k words. Visa is flying to San Francisco for the first time, alone, across the Pacific. He's excited and nervous, eager to meet internet friends and see what he learns about himself in a new place.
  • 0767: neediness — Psychology & Emotions · 2019 · 1.3k words. Neediness is attachment to outcomes and people, rooted in fear. It kills playfulness and pushes others away. Overcoming it requires facing fears in small doses.
  • 0766: turning 29 — Personal Growth & Self-Improvement · 2019 · 1.1k words. Turning 29 feels different. Past birthday updates were full of self-flagellation; now Visa feels confident, ready to explore, and no longer needs to dwell on how he got here. It is time to step on the landmine called him and explode into color and light.
  • 0764: identify the valuable squares on your life’s chessboard — Mindset & Motivation · 2019 · 1.1k words. After a transformative SF trip, Visa realizes he hasn't updated his life priorities since age 20. He wants to step back, identify the most valuable "squares" on his chessboard, and focus his energy on what truly matters.
  • 0770: the surfer must be one with the ocean — Writing · 2019 · 1.1k words. A meditation on the inconsistency of showing up to write, the damage that broken promises do to self-trust, and the realization that the point is to keep making stuff and surf the wave of the present moment.
  • 0771: cleanup is never done if you don’t know what the cleanup is for — Psychology & Emotions · 2019 · 1k words. You can't clean up your notes or your life without knowing what it's all for. The perfectionist itch to engineer perfect outcomes is a bug that keeps you from actually moving toward what matters.
  • 0768: nightmares as a bottleneck — Psychology & Emotions · 2019 · 1k words. Visa has found that sleep is his biggest bottleneck, and nightmares are the hidden reason he doesn't sleep well. He has been avoiding sleep to avoid nightmares, so now he is going to face them head-on and see what happens.
  • 0773 - transform into who you are (let go of who you used to be) — Mindset & Motivation · 2019 · 1.1k words. Transform into who you are by letting go of old selves. Clothes, marriage, and orientation all evolve; you calibrate as you go, learning to trust your changing sense of self.
  • 0774: accelerating hypermedia, pt 1 — Internet Culture · 2019 · 1.1k words. Social media could be for making friends, not outrage. Visa explores hypermedia, publishing enmeshed with others' work, and helping thoughtful people find each other across platforms.
  • 0775: accelerating hypermedia, pt 2: nerdposting — Art & Creativity · 2019 · 1.2k words. To accelerate hypermedia we need more nerdposting: sharing what we genuinely love. It’s about cultivating a creative, collaborative mindset and finding the others who care deeply too.
  • 0779: revisit your purpose (why are we doing this?) — Writing · 2019 · 1.1k words. Visa revisits his word vomit project after 800 pieces: goals met for practice and self-knowledge, now wanting to thread and repurpose for others without getting paralyzed. Plain talk about finishing meaningful work.
  • 0777: journaling for myself again — Writing · 2019 · 1.2k words. After years of public word vomits, Visa rediscovers the value of private journaling, writing for no one but himself. The communion with his past self reminds him that he is his own most important reader, and that private thoughts feed public work.
  • 0778: share your work — Writing · 2019 · 1.1k words. Tidying his blogposts reveals fear about sharing old, dated work. Visa realizes he should share anyway, talk to people, and let his writing be useful.
  • 0776: accelerating hypermedia, pt 3: the courage to collaborate — Friendship & Community · 2019 · 1.2k words. Collaboration is light play with others, but we're conditioned to be solitary. To collaborate more, start working publicly, read others' proposals, and practice reply game. Belief in payoff, not effort, is the real bottleneck.
  • 0765: what do I want? pt 1 — Life & Meaning · 2019 · 1k words. Visa asks what he wants and answers: health, strong relationships with good people, travel to see them. The SF trip clarified that real connection needs in-person time, not just text.
  • 0772: let your paint dance freely, and revisit any point as required — Art & Creativity · 2019 · 1.1k words. Revisiting media isn't about forgetting; it's returning as a different self. Like Pollock's paint, the creative path dances freely across familiar points, trusting the flow, not covering everything new. The real work is discerning your own intentions without overthinking.
  • 0780: troubleshooting nightmares + revisiting my relationship with authority — Psychology & Emotions · 2019 · 1k words. Recurring nightmares about authority led Visa to see that his relationship with authority is dysfunctional, and that spills into how he treats himself. He is going to rehabilitate it through small acts of self-leadership; the first is a daily review.
  • 0698: get back in the game, reorient, keep moving — Psychology & Emotions · 2018 · 1k words. After a break from word vomits, Visa examines his Twitter addiction, displacement behavior, and the fear that keeps him from changing. He wants to prioritize his inner life and rebuild better habits.
  • 0700: accept where you are — Mindset & Motivation · 2018 · 1.1k words. Visa is 27, turning 28, and full of regret. But he is learning to accept where he is, forgive himself, and start again. His regrets won't outnumber his dreams.
  • 0701: what i’ve learned being away from here — Writing · 2018 · 1.2k words. Visa reflects on stepping away from word vomits, experimenting with other mediums, and returning with higher standards for depth and quality. He wants to focus on essays and a public portfolio while finishing the remaining 298 vomits.
  • 0703: keep producing output, the followers will come — Psychology & Emotions · 2018 · 1k words. Visa wants more followers but wants to earn them honestly. He wrestles with narcissism, self-interest without harming others, and realizes his output engine stalls because he defers. He must keep producing to attract the right audience.
  • 0704: honor your sadness — Psychology & Emotions · 2018 · 1k words. Visa sits with sadness over human cruelty, accepts it without cynicism, and tries to turn grief into a force for kindness, inspired by Mr. Rogers. Life is sad; we must try anyway.
  • 0707: revisit your life story to figure out a new frame — Mindset & Motivation · 2018 · 1k words. Framing is perspective: you can see life as an ordeal or an adventure. Visa is revisiting his inherited stories and biases to consciously pick the adventure frame and stop living on default.
  • 0705: expand your imagination as a free agent — Work & Ambition · 2018 · 1k words. Leaving a steady job after 5 years, Visa reflects on the numbing effect of routine and salary, and embraces the sharpening clarity of being a free agent. He grapples with identity, emotional expansion, and the pressure to produce.
  • 0710: meet good people and have conversations that inspire you to act — Friendship & Community · 2018 · 1k words. A nourishing lunch conversation inspires writing and reflection on intimacy, acting instead of waiting, and bootstrapping new habits. The point is to act.
  • 0709: execute the jailbreak — Mindset & Motivation · 2018 · 1k words. Break out of your mental jail by experimenting with new patterns. Wake early, travel, talk to people, and let go of stale to-dos to shake up your life.
  • 0699: consider your childhood fearscape — Psychology & Emotions · 2018 · 1.1k words. Visa visits his childhood fearscape after his father's heart attack, tracing his avoidant patterns back to a noisy, scary home. He calls for courage to stop living in fear.
  • 0702: find out where you come from — Self-Knowledge · 2018 · 1k words. Visa wants to learn history to understand himself, his Indian, Tamil, and outsider identity. Motivated by anxiety and a desire to know where he belongs, he's turning curiosity inward to map his origins.
  • 0711: evaluate your freedom accurately and expand it by acting upon it — Mindset & Motivation · 2018 · 1k words. Visa has more freedom than ever but keeps acting like a kid, staying up late, avoiding schedules. He needs to honestly evaluate that freedom and use it by breaking big visions into concrete next steps.
  • 0712: review everything with love, and be decisive about what you’re trying to do — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2018 · 1k words. Visa is systematically reviewing every movie, game, note, and social media post he's ever consumed to sharpen his taste and fuel creative output, while wrestling with anxiety and procrastination to stay decisive.
  • 0706: Clarify your goals, expect effort-shock, take concrete steps every day — Writing · 2018 · 1k words. Clarify your goals, expect effort-shock, take concrete steps every day. Viscera explores his writer's block as a free agent, decides to write about his emotional landscape to understand himself better.
  • 0708: a walk through the life — Self-Knowledge · 2018 · 1.1k words. A walk through my life from childhood to now, family, race, the GEP, finding home in the internet. Trying to see how I've framed things so I can jailbreak the psychological prison and take radical steps toward something real.
  • 0721: write book proposals — Writing · 2018 · 1k words. Status update on writing goals. Feeling scattered but recommitting to daily writing. Brainstorms book ideas, wants to turn outward and ship his work. A mix of motivation, prioritization, and grit.
  • 0714: consider the speedrunners — Productivity · 2018 · 1.2k words. Watching a Diablo 2 speedrunner shows how to optimize life by buying potions, knowing map patterns, and focusing on high-value targets. The lesson: get clear on desired end-states and work from first principles instead of slow tinkering.
  • 0716: make sense of your tags — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2018 · 1.2k words. Visa mines his tag system across 1000 vomits, reviewing 45 tags to find patterns in his thinking and behavior. He identifies clusters around procrastination, writing, and behavior design, and plans to turn them into standalone blog posts for deeper self-understanding.
  • 0722: introspect: you can’t get everything you want — Mindset & Motivation · 2018 · 1.1k words. You can't get everything you want, and getting what you want might not make you happy. Prioritize strategically, accept costs, and remember deathbed regrets: live true to yourself, not just accumulate.
  • 0718: start a spreadsheet and fill it out (4 hours a day) — Productivity · 2018 · 1k words. After 88 days without a job, he's feeling sloppy and worried about veering off course. His fix: pick a spreadsheet, track daily work for 4 hours, catalog his tweets, and make real progress on his word vomit project and book.
  • 0715: experiment with using volume over intensity — Writing · 2018 · 1.1k words. He's borrowing Firas Zahabi's 'volume over intensity' principle from exercise to rethink his daily writing practice, commit to one brief vomit a day instead of chasing max output. Build sustainability, drop the macho intensity story.
  • 0717: do short sprints that optimize for excitement — Productivity · 2018 · 1.1k words. A free agent shares his new strategy: short, exciting sprints, literal runs and focused work bursts, to build momentum and beat procrastination. He reflects on writing structure, guilt, and the value of indulging his weirdness.
  • 0719 + 0720: reconceptualizing my audience — Writing · 2018 · 2.2k words. Reflecting on his writing journey, Visa realizes his audience has shifted from local to global. He must now define who he writes for, balancing personal expression with making a living.
  • 0726: in pursuit of social capital (and considering status as a currency) — Status & Social Dynamics · 2018 · 1.1k words. Status is a kind of currency in the human graph. You can improve your position not by forcing yourself onto others, but by taking up the space that is yours, adjusting posture, breath, and pace.
  • 0723: introspect: is it bad to want things? — Psychology & Emotions · 2018 · 1k words. Reflects on whether wanting things is bad: it's not, but be honest about why. Warns against prestige-seeking and mimetic desire, drawing on Paul Graham and Rory Sutherland to distinguish stated wants from actual ones.
  • 0729: the $50 bet — Productivity · 2018 · 1k words. Visa bet a colleague $50 daily to complete tasks, which kept him focused. Now in a slump, he considers using the same trick to jumpstart writing and other goals.
  • 0713: gear up (august2018 status update) — Habits · 2018 · 1k words. First month after leaving the job was for decompression. Now it's time to rebuild habits: write daily, lift, sleep early, and be the parent to himself he never had.
  • 0730: the world is burning, invest in your relationships — Friendship & Community · 2018 · 1k words. The world’s big problems, politics, climate collapse, feel abstract and out of reach. What actually works is leaning on people you trust and taking care of each other; that’s how you survive anything.
  • 0731: hating on NPCs is a shitty way to make friends — Friendship & Community · 2018 · 1k words. The NPC meme makes you see others as less-than-human, but that attitude is a dead end for making real friends. Better to play your own game and connect with people based on shared interests, not shared disdain.
  • 0727 + 0728: answering some Oprah FAQs — Philosophy · 2018 · 2.3k words. Visa answers a set of Oprah-style life questions, exploring his inner voice, intention, gratitude, truth, and calling. He argues that self-respect is the core game and urges us to pursue what we find gratifying.
  • 0734: face your tasks and schedules, with love — Productivity · 2018 · 1.1k words. A late-night walk through his todo list reveals the familiar pattern of avoiding tasks, making excuses, and feeling guilty. The remedy: face tasks daily with curiosity rather than shame, and properly calibrate expectations about what an hour can hold.
  • 0724: introspect: work backwards from what you don’t want — Self-Knowledge · 2018 · 1k words. Work backwards from what you don't want using deathbed regrets and Bezos' minimization framework. Don't let the world tell you what to want; introspect to find your true path and avoid the regret of not living authentically.
  • 0732: tweeting in search of kinship — Friendship & Community · 2018 · 1k words. Visa reflects on his year on Twitter, admitting the friction and criticism that come with building an audience. He's after genuine kinship, connecting with kind, thoughtful minds worldwide, not fame.
  • 0738: playfulness as a discipline/practice — Art & Creativity · 2018 · 1.2k words. Playfulness is a serious discipline: a way to engage deeply with reality by staying curious, indifferent to outcomes, and willing to improvise. Visa distinguishes shallow noodling from deep play with stakes, and argues that humor and naughtiness are sources of real creativity.
  • 0735: tulpas and roles — Philosophy · 2018 · 1.4k words. Visa explores tulpas and roles as different ways we inhabit multiple selves, questioning identity, autonomy, and control, and suggesting we can play life's game with lightness.
  • 0741: “living intentionally vs living in the stream of continuous reactions to outside inputs” — Mindset & Motivation · 2018 · 1.4k words. Living intentionally means creating space for your own intentions before reacting to outside inputs. It's a balance: you can be intentional while surfing the stream. Understanding your fears helps, as does committing to a clear direction.
  • 0736: reconsidering the trauma narrative — Psychology & Emotions · 2018 · 1.1k words. Reconsidering the trauma narrative: how culture shapes whether we feel victimized and how that frames our suffering. Visa's own experiences as a tall, brown Tamil Singaporean make him question simplistic takes and lean into humility about understanding himself.
  • 0740: framing one’s life as a set of projects — Mindset & Motivation · 2018 · 1.3k words. Framing your life as a set of projects driven by desire, not corporate efficiency. Start with yearning for the sea, then build the ship. Project management is narrative management; video games show how to sustain long-term goals.
  • 0739: how to live in a manufactured reality — Philosophy · 2018 · 1.2k words. Reality is manufactured and arbitrary, but that doesn't change the fundamentals: be good, spend time with great friends, laugh at the absurdity, and don't beat yourself up about enjoying artificial things.
  • 0742: navigating unhappiness — Psychology & Emotions · 2018 · 1.2k words. Unhappiness isn't something to chase away; it's a signal to sit with and make sense of. Happiness is realized, not pursued, and constant happiness is an undesirable denial of reality.
  • 0745 - encourage weirdos, discourage assholes — Status & Social Dynamics · 2018 · 1.3k words. Weirdness isn't inherently good or bad; it's orthogonal to morality. Visa argues for encouraging weirdos because they drive interestingness and innovation, while discouraging assholes. He reflects on his own weirdness and the fraught dynamics between normies and weirdos.
  • 0747: how I make new friends on the internet — Friendship & Community · 2018 · 1.3k words. Visa explores tulpas and roles as different ways we inhabit multiple selves. He questions identity, autonomy, and control, and suggests we can play life's game with lightness.
  • 0744: we stress to communicate that we’re serious — Psychology & Emotions · 2018 · 1.2k words. We stress to show we're serious: it's a performance learned from school and family. Breathing, changing beliefs, and letting go help. Stress is holding your breath; deciding not to is rebellious.
  • 0750: accelerating the final quarter [75% complete!] — Writing · 2018 · 1k words. Visa is three-quarters done with the 1000-word vomit project, celebrating progress while planning the final push. He reflects on how the arbitrary undertaking has made him a better writer, and commits to finishing strong by reviewing past work and writing with more focus.
  • 0748 + 0749: pursue interestingness — Mindset & Motivation · 2018 · 2.1k words. Pursuing interestingness as a life philosophy: seek surprise, follow curiosity, connect ideas. Use notes and threads to capture and build upon what fascinates you. The goal is to make life interesting, not just productive.
  • 0737: start interfacing with others — Writing · 2018 · 1k words. After four months as a feral free agent, Visa assesses his Twitter growth and word-vomit output, then plots how to write 260,000 more words by year-end: diversify projects, ask for prompts, and take his writing style for a public test drive.
  • 0746: explore the spaces in between — Mindset & Motivation · 2018 · 1.2k words. Don't just follow the crowd when exploring ideas or places. First know your own curiosities, then briefly sample popular stuff, then delve into the spaces others skip. Do your thing, trust your nose.
  • 0751 + 0752: introspect: navigating authentic wants vs manufactured wants — Self-Knowledge · 2018 · 2.1k words. List all your wants without judgment, then interrogate each with kind curiosity to distinguish what's truly yours from what's manufactured. Authenticity isn't about origin: it's about sincerity to yourself.
  • 0733: use your taste + insight to shape your concepts of your public-facing projects — Writing · 2018 · 1.1k words. Visa is making deliberate decisions about his writing projects, using taste and insight to shape public-facing work. He decides to revisit and summarize old vomits instead of rambling the same things again.
  • 0753: beware the tyranny of coherence — Writing · 2018 · 1.3k words. The quest for coherence can become a trap. To keep writing alive, sometimes you need to get a little incoherent: return to raw noticing, break the mold, and explore new ground.
  • 0755: learning music, learning everything (pt 1) — Education & Learning · 2018 · 1.1k words. Learning music is like learning anything: start simple. Visa breaks down intervals, scales, and chords into bite-sized pieces, showing how a few patterns unlock most songs.
  • 0756: 2018dec31 status update — Personal Growth & Self-Improvement · 2018 · 1.1k words. A year-end personal review covering Twitter growth, writing projects, internet friendships, leaving a job, creative experiments, and unresolved goals. Visa reflects on what went well and what he'd like to improve in 2019.
  • 0725: living as a blasphemy — Politics, Culture & Identity · 2018 · 1k words. Reading about a caste murder in India, Visa realizes his own parents share the same caste makeup as the victims, he is the blasphemous child they warned about. He finds a personal struggle worth fighting for, rocket fuel for the work ahead.
  • 0743: seeing through the mundane — Life & Meaning · 2018 · 1k words. The mundane isn't dull, it's the ground of being. Seeing the sublime in everyday life is a choice of context, not a change of scene.
  • 0754: how ask good questions? (pt 1) — Philosophy · 2018 · 1.2k words. A good question is energizing and surprising. To ask one, you need to know what's already been asked, then point at something interesting. It's a team effort, redirecting toward the most compelling bit.
  • addiction threadpost — Psychology & Emotions · 2018 · 3.1k words. A reflection on addiction, social media, cigarettes, games, and the realization that quitting requires changing your identity, not just stopping a behavior. Addiction is an equilibrium state, and breaking it is like leaving an abusive relationship.
  • adulthood threadpost — Psychology & Emotions · 2018 · 3.8k words. Growing up means parenting yourself, balancing discipline with listening to your inner child. Adulthood is hard, and nobody talks about it enough; you have to make time for what matters and manage your own psychology.
  • ‘review your stuff’ threadpost — Productivity · 2018 · 8.8k words. A threadpost compiling vomits on the practice of regular reviews, principles, calendars, notes, progress. Visa argues consistent review is essential for productivity and self-understanding, offering concrete examples from his ongoing project.
  • sleep threadpost — Health, Fitness & Body · 2018 · 5.4k words. Multiple posts on the struggle to sleep early and the benefits of waking well-rested. Visa argues that sleep is a first principle for better decisions, clarity, and a better life.
  • 0621: hello 2017 — Mindset & Motivation · 2017 · 1k words. A new year's resolution post about breaking free from old patterns, committing to daily meditation, exercise, writing, decluttering, and investing in relationships. Visa aims to grow stronger and more focused in 2017.
  • 0622: everything is incredibly fragmented and broken — Sociocultural Commentary · 2017 · 1.1k words. Modern life is fragmented: families, culture, LGBT rights, global suffering, all broken and messy. The only response is to formulate a new view of self and world, a personal project toward coherence.
  • 0623: “asshole grandpa” — Psychology & Emotions · 2017 · 1k words. Family gatherings mask deeper pain until late-night confessions reveal the asshole grandpa's legacy and how each generation carries the wounds. The only way out is to see the cycle, forgive nothing and understand everything, then try to move forward.
  • 0628: review your stuff hyper-regularly and do a little bit every day — Productivity · 2017 · 1k words. Revisit your stuff hyper-regularly so it stays fresh and you can pick up where you left off. Break everything into bite-sized daily components, and use workout-like rituals to actually start doing the work.
  • 0627: comment your code (to convey intent, context, next steps) — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2017 · 1k words. Comment your notes like you'd comment code: write context and intent so your future self knows what you meant. Tag everything, be precise, break vague thoughts into actions. Your future self will thank you.
  • 0625: consolidate your thoughts — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2017 · 1k words. Visa wants to consolidate thoughts into a system: digest books into notes, eliminate clutter, and write something that adds up. He sticks to one topic per vomit and leaves waypoints for future self.
  • 0626: be mindful of history and time — Life & Meaning · 2017 · 999 words. Get out of the home-commute-work cycle and start being intentional about creating experiences that'll stay with you. A good life needs memories to look back on, not just routines to survive.
  • 0629: remember to go upstream — Self-Knowledge · 2017 · 1.1k words. Rewatching Tony Robbins prompts a self-interview about why he feels blocked. Visa traces his weak frame back to his relationship with his father and the need to be a trophy kid, and realizes he must internalize responsibility to earn his freedom.
  • 0632: most people want quiet, not justice for others — Sociocultural Commentary · 2017 · 1.1k words. Most people want quiet, not justice. Visa explains why people resent being reminded of racism: they seek comforting lies and want problems to disappear. A reflection on privilege, suffering, and the difficulty of truly caring about others' pain.
  • 0630: step into your ugh fields bit by bit — Habits · 2017 · 1k words. Visa examines why he procrastinates on writing and sleeping, naming the 'ugh fields' he avoids. He resolves to walk into them: make habits precise, write early, sleep on time, and anchor discipline to pride.
  • 0633: slow down when responding to people (ugh fields) — Habits · 2017 · 1k words. Visa identifies 'ugh fields' where he behaves impulsively, especially panicking when responding to people. He wants to slow down, be warm, and systematically confront these patterns like he did with cooking and squats.
  • 0635: consider your contribution as a writer — Writing · 2017 · 1k words. Visa maps out his writing projects: main site, Singapore section, marketing blog, secret domain, and prioritizes the vomit project. He wants to contribute heavily, to simplify his online presence and use systems to stay focused.
  • 0634: strive to be sensitive, smart and strong — Self-Knowledge · 2017 · 1k words. Visa has been thinking about the triad of sensitivity, smartness, and strength. He wants to be more sensitive to reality, and he is using daily writing and self-reviews to get there.
  • 0631: optimize for years, not days; improve skills by learning specific new things — Productivity · 2017 · 1.1k words. Productivity isn’t about optimizing each day; it’s about investing in skills that compound over years. Learning new things is painful at first but expands your abilities and makes life more fulfilling.
  • 0637: YOLO — Life & Meaning · 2017 · 1.1k words. Visa reflects on 'live as if you might die tomorrow' and suggests taking slow walks, holding hands with loved ones, and treating each month as a small death. He prioritizes writing daily over perfection, because time is limited.
  • 0636: the human game, pt 1 — Philosophy · 2017 · 1.1k words. Inspired by Alan Watts, this essay traces human history from the Paleolithic to civilization, viewing life as a series of games we take too seriously. It reflects on how the rules have changed and what that means for us now.
  • 0638: seek a vision greater than your imagination can hold — Mindset & Motivation · 2017 · 1.1k words. The reason Visa is not living urgently is a failure of imagination. He wants a vision bigger than he can conceive, to do work that matters and help others, a vision that would turn his life from ordeal to adventure.
  • 0640 + 0641: Calliope — Writing · 2017 · 2.2k words. Visa pivots from personal essays to fiction, using a vomit to brainstorm a sci-fi/fantasy world and character named Calliope. He sketches conflict, setting, and relationships, his focus simply on writing to catch something.
  • 0644: be mindful of time and the little things — Psychology & Emotions · 2017 · 1k words. Time slips through Visa's fingers and he is time-blind, caught between wanting to be productive and a saboteur part of him that resists. He needs a real break and to fix the little repeating things, not just power through lethargy.
  • 0645: manage your psychology — Mindset & Motivation · 2017 · 1.1k words. The hardest thing is managing your own psychology: your limited focus and energy aren't waiting to be unlocked. Stop lying to yourself, build a central engine that keeps you on track, and take the next step.
  • 0650: if you’re not beating a fear, you’re hiding from it — Psychology & Emotions · 2017 · 1.1k words. Fear is the real thing holding us back: not tiredness, money, or commitments. The only way forward is to face it head-on, name it, and beat it decisively.
  • 0642: callie’s world — Art & Creativity · 2017 · 1k words. Visa brainstorms a fictional world called 'Callie's World', sketching characters, setting, and conflict while drawing on influences from games and literature. He decides to start with short stories rather than a grand novel and let the narrative grow organically.
  • 0647: empty your cup and be free — Psychology & Emotions · 2017 · 1k words. Visa finds joy in NASA's exoplanet discovery and Radiohead's new recording, and reflects on letting go of stress, being present, and the need for catharsis and self-compassion. Empty your cup to be free.
  • 0643: greet death at the door — Life & Meaning · 2017 · 1.1k words. A friend's father passes away. The news comes while laughing with colleagues, jarring. Visa reflects on how we sanitize death, that this is not a practice life, and that only love matters. He urges us to live harder before our time runs out.
  • 0651: in search of lost time — Life & Meaning · 2017 · 1k words. Visa reflects on turning 27, the passage of time, and the lives not led. He wonders if he's on the right path, contemplates memory, parenthood, and deliberately living with intention.
  • 0649: beware scope creep — Writing · 2017 · 1.1k words. Reflecting on his tendency to let project scopes balloon, Visa realizes he needs to limit his blog posts and deliver what he initially promises. He commits to writing daily and being ruthless about abbreviation.
  • 0654: do reviews regularly so you can have more fun — Habits · 2017 · 1k words. A sprawling to-do list and unrealized writing/exercise goals trace back to a missing regular review habit. Reviews help track progress, avoid stagnation, and build the discipline needed for more fun in life.
  • 0653: get back in the game and reorient yourself — Writing · 2017 · 1k words. Visa returns to writing after a 17-day break, reflecting on the need to get back into the game. He plans to clean his house, hit the gym, and reorient himself toward his writing and career goals, one small step at a time.
  • 0655: cross one threshold at a time — Writing · 2017 · 1k words. Visa writes three word vomits in a row, confronting perfectionism and the excuse of 'no time' to prioritize his writing habit. Progress is incremental, cross one threshold at a time.
  • 0639: beware articulate misdiagnoses and the illusion of knowledge — Psychology & Emotions · 2017 · 1.2k words. We tend to overestimate our knowledge of domains we haven't operated in. Visa warns against articulate but misguided opinions, using HN commentary on Snap's $2B cloud deal as a case in point.
  • 0659: make commitments to yourself and keep them — Habits · 2017 · 1.2k words. Making a commitment to write first thing means turning off wifi and avoiding social media distraction. A reflection on how small choices shape whether you build a body of work or let time slip away.
  • 0652: write on your commutes — Productivity · 2017 · 1.1k words. Use your commute to write instead of scrolling social media. Break tasks into small steps, stop waiting for the perfect moment, and ship imperfect work. Visa builds on earlier vomits about time and habit.
  • 0657 + 0658: identify your principles by examining your behavior patterns — Self-Knowledge · 2017 · 2k words. Your repeated behavior patterns reveal your real principles better than your stated ones. Examine your trade-offs and habits to discover what you truly prioritize, then decide if that matches who you want to be.
  • 0648: work through the discomfort — Writing · 2017 · 1.1k words. A status update on feeling overwhelmed, writing mini-essays on Facebook, and learning to work through discomfort. Visa reflects on fear of asking and commits to focused work for the next three years.
  • 0624: create spaces to nurture others — Friendship & Community · 2017 · 1.1k words. Reflecting on teenage spaces and the local music scene, Visa argues that people need nurturing environments to grow. He connects this to the lack of historical continuity in media and music, and considers how to prepare for raising children by creating spaces for them.
  • 0661: make books a part of your life again — Habits · 2017 · 1.2k words. Visa reclaims reading by building a simple routine: write three vomits first thing, then read before bed. He reflects on owning tons of unread books and the urge to lose yourself in physical books again.
  • 0662: safe spaces are for nurturing, not coddling — Sociocultural Commentary · 2017 · 1.1k words. Nurturing, not coddling. Open spaces without rules get overrun by bullies, driving away good people. We need environments where people feel safe to be vulnerable and share honestly, that's what makes us stronger.
  • 0666: consider the economics of pricelessness pt 1 — Sociocultural Commentary · 2017 · 1.2k words. Visa explores the uncomfortable tension between transactional and priceless views of human life. He uses Venkat's 'economics of pricelessness' and economic examples to question how we value people and relationships, and how the middle class avoids these hard calculations.
  • 0664: tidy up after yourself — Psychology & Emotions · 2017 · 1.1k words. Feeling background shitty for weeks, Visa finally cleaned out his todo lists and blogs, and it helped. He realized he clings to familiar suffering out of fear of the next threshold. He needs to let go.
  • 0656: define concrete next steps on your radar — Productivity · 2017 · 1.1k words. Visa defines concrete steps to advance his writing: publishing, editing, measuring progress, and fixing sleep habits. The piece advocates for daily practice, clear goals, and trusting internal rhythms to become a more deliberate writer.
  • 0665: keep going, do reviews and improve yourself — Habits · 2017 · 1k words. Reflecting on two-thirds of the vomit project, Visa recognizes the need to incorporate daily reviews and overcome plateau fears. He commits to steady writing and regular reviews as a habit for self-improvement.
  • 0669: consider the nature of deliberate practice — Productivity · 2017 · 1k words. Making a rough first video shows him how deliberate practice works across all skills: focus on weaknesses, do the painful reps, and accept there is no finish line, only the daily sense of progress.
  • 0668: consider: tempo and time-scales of writing — Writing · 2017 · 1k words. Visa notices a gap between instant and book-length writing: the missing tempo of weekly/monthly work. To fill it, he plans to schedule longer essays and videos, breaking them into structured subtasks.
  • 0667: revisit, review and re-reference your work [Final Third!] — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2017 · 1.1k words. Visa is going to finish the last third of his word vomit project. He'll review, edit, and consolidate all 666 posts, find the patterns, merge the clusters, and turn a pile of dots into a coherent network of ideas.
  • 0660: acknowledge the monkey-mind — Psychology & Emotions · 2017 · 1k words. Acknowledging the monkey mind that jumps to extremes but committing to small daily actions, like writing three word vomits each morning, builds trust with yourself. The adult mind knows big things come bit by bit.
  • 0672: turning 27 — Mindset & Motivation · 2017 · 1.1k words. Turning 27, Visa reflects on choosing truth and interestingness over comfortable delusions. He wants to make better daily decisions, let go of perfectionism, and make small progress each day, not for reward, but for the process itself.
  • 0676: exploit the witching hours (?!) — Writing · 2017 · 1k words. Writing at 3:30am, awake and reflective, he considers the witching hour a precious time for creative work. He lists ideas for future writing, including short stories, and resolves to stop making excuses.
  • 0670: train your inner ear — Mindset & Motivation · 2017 · 1.1k words. Reflecting on past growth but feeling stuck. Need to train inner ear to find own direction; look ahead while acknowledging past. Trust yourself and keep going.
  • 0673: if the Earth weren’t a safe space we’d all be dead — Psychology & Emotions · 2017 · 1.2k words. The piece argues that true strength means creating safe spaces (like a gym, not a bubble) where fragile things can grow. Kindness is not weakness; it makes life more interesting by enabling honest, challenging conversations instead of boring insults.
  • 0674: commit to good sleep and good weekends — Habits · 2017 · 1k words. Sleep is the bottleneck. If I sleep well, I make better decisions. Weekends should be for effectiveness, rest, goals, or people, not aimless dawdling. Stop winging it. Commit to early bed, early morning, and a simple schedule.
  • 0646: excite yourself and spill paint everywhere, bitch — Mindset & Motivation · 2017 · 1.1k words. The everyday self is a shell; real life is in the excitement of doing and building. Stop talking big and start acting, spill paint everywhere, get things done one at a time, measure worth by the work you ship.
  • 0675: being smart vs being kind — Mindset & Motivation · 2017 · 1.2k words. Visa reflects on shifting from chasing smartness, winning arguments and social approval, to aspiring to kindness, arguing that intelligence is enriched by kindness because it lets people trust you and share their hidden knowledge.
  • 0678: take responsibility for getting unstuck — Writing · 2017 · 1k words. Haven't published in 11 days and it's driving me mad. Taking responsibility for getting unstuck: stop fearing failure, satisficing to move forward, and just write. The love of the work is what matters.
  • 0677: start over again, repeatedly — Writing · 2017 · 1k words. Visa has been starting over as a writer for fifteen years, losing archives, changing platforms, cringing at past attempts. This time he's committing to publish daily again, building on all those word vomits.
  • 0679: be mindful of the effect that people have on you — Psychology & Emotions · 2017 · 1.2k words. Even well-intentioned people can be toxic in groups. The saddest realization is that you must curate who you let into your life, being mindful of their effect on you rather than trusting everyone.
  • 0680: write what you feel like writing about — Writing · 2017 · 1.1k words. After years of internal monologue, Visa is ready to write about the world again. A new group chat with high-achieving friends is making him think about group dynamics, status, and what he observes in people.
  • 0671: honor your taste — Art & Creativity · 2017 · 1k words. Your taste is precious and fragile. Don't let others stamp it out. Living in service of it is the real prize, not achievements. Listen for the whisper that tells you what you want to see in the world and follow it.
  • 0682: manage interruptions like you’re cooking — Psychology & Emotions · 2017 · 1.1k words. Visa has been starting over as a writer for fifteen years, losing archives, changing platforms, cringing at past attempts. This time he's committing to publish daily again, built on all those word vomits.
  • 0687: write to gratify yourself — Writing · 2017 · 1.1k words. Writing for yourself, not for external validation, is the root of good art. Deep self-gratification drives meaningful work, and the act of writing itself gives life and clarity.
  • 0684: Dear Visa — Psychology & Emotions · 2017 · 1k words. A letter to his 27-year-old self, offering reassurance to rest, let go of fears, and embrace life's transience. Visa acknowledges his growth, lingering trauma, and the inner strength to keep going.
  • 0681: John The Rockstar — Writing · 2017 · 1.1k words. Visa wants to write fiction but can't seem to start. He explores the craft by imagining John, a Singaporean kid who dreams of being a rockstar, using it to think about character, conflict, and what makes a story compelling.
  • 0686: to figure out your categories, clarify your intent — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2017 · 1k words. Figuring out the right tags and categories for your blog is really about clarifying your intent. Categories shape what you write, and it's okay for them to evolve as your project changes.
  • 0690: john 2 — Writing · 2017 · 1k words. Visa is using his vomits to draft a novel about a Singaporean boy who wants to be a rock star, exploring the struggle of pursuing passion versus expectation.
  • 0691: contemplate your personality traits — Self-Knowledge · 2017 · 1.1k words. Visa reflects on his own personality traits, scatterbrained, connector, educator at heart, and what contexts they're most valuable in, moving beyond social agreeableness toward deeper self-understanding.
  • 0692: dream bigger, recalibrate your life and walk into the dark — Mindset & Motivation · 2017 · 1.1k words. On holiday in Krabi, Visa reflects on how his thinking has become provincial under life's constraints. He resolves to dream bigger, schedule breaks, and spend most of his time on creative output rather than social media: a walk into the dark to find his keys.
  • 0685: optimize for an interesting, emotional life — Psychology & Emotions · 2017 · 1.1k words. At 27, Visa resolves to stop waiting and start optimizing for an interesting, emotional life. He realizes emotion is the core of experience and vows to lead with feelings in his writing, in search of more moments of genuine creative joy.
  • 0693: avoid burnout by scheduling your breaks, uncompromisingly — Productivity · 2017 · 1k words. Burnout comes from fear, not just lack of internal motivation. The solution is scheduling breaks uncompromisingly, because there's never a good time to rest. Taking proper breaks leads to better work and prevents the spiral of guilt and inefficiency.
  • 0663: start over again (and pay attention) — Mindset & Motivation · 2017 · 1.1k words. Visa reflects on the relentless repetition of daily tasks and the need to reframe obligations as privileges. He emphasizes mindfulness, noticing, and balancing pragmatism with idealism to embrace reality without losing hope.
  • 0695: facebook strippers and filter bubbles — Sociocultural Commentary · 2017 · 1k words. A Facebook post about strippers reveals how our social bubbles create blind spots. We assume our experience is typical, but people don't share sensitive truths with those who seem judgmental, so we systematically miss reality.
  • 0694 - don’t argue with idiots; pick your battles and contexts — Mindset & Motivation · 2017 · 1.1k words. Arguing with idiots is a bullshit distraction. Instead, write essays from the friction and schedule commitments. Focus on long-term work, not short-term reactions. That's how you win.
  • 0683: if writing is important to you, write. — Writing · 2017 · 1.1k words. Visa reflects on why he doesn't prioritize writing despite claiming it's important, linking it to broader struggles with discipline and procrastination. He resolves to write more and review plans daily.
  • 0697: become a man of your word — Productivity · 2017 · 1k words. Visa reflects on wanting to become a man of his word and realizes the real goal is trusting his own promises. He examines his daily failures, late nights, unfinished tasks, and commits to small, consistent improvements instead of grand resolutions.
  • 0688: contemplate ‘endless’ nature of life and carefree school days — Life & Meaning · 2017 · 1k words. Life’s endlessness is a paradox, it feels endless but is fleeting. Visa reflects on school days and remembers them as both carefree and socially consuming, and notes we choose the stories that propel us forward.
  • 0689: do reviews to measure your progress against the ceaseless sands of time — Habits · 2017 · 1.1k words. Time slips by unnoticed. Monthly reviews help measure progress and stay purposeful. Visa reflects on old videos, cringes at his past self, but sees growth. He wants to keep being a work in progress.
  • 0696 - have some changes planned — Habits · 2017 · 1.2k words. Holiday clarity: internet loitering is wrecking his sleep and writing. New rules: 10pm shower, morning writing, daily pushups. 30-day test of hard stops.
  • 0516: hello 2016: mindset (zero to one + pursue responsibility) — Mindset & Motivation · 2016 · 1.2k words. He’s made the zero-to-one transition and now needs a new mindset: stop shirking responsibility and start actively prioritizing. The real shift is wanting to be accountable, not avoiding it.
  • 0517: writing for a richer experience of reality — Writing · 2016 · 1.2k words. Visa writes to experience reality more richly, to make sense of chaos, and to share new ways of seeing, even without recognition.
  • 0515: hello 2016: goals — Habits · 2016 · 1.2k words. New year goals: write every day, read the first chapter of every book I own, hit fitness targets, and shift to an early schedule for deep work. Track everything with daily reviews.
  • 0518: refactoring my personal library — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2016 · 1.1k words. Going through every book on his shelves to figure out which ones are worth his limited reading time, prioritizing great books over good ones, and finally freeing himself to buy new books without guilt.
  • 0522: strive to do more than ‘get by’ — Mindset & Motivation · 2016 · 1k words. Reflecting on his transition from teenage idealism to adult survival, Visa decides that 'getting by' isn't enough, he wants to thrive. He plans to reshape his mornings, routines, and priorities to build a better, more intentional life.
  • 0521: next steps for writing and work — Productivity · 2016 · 1.1k words. Deciding how to live: keep writing the million-word project, experiment with fiction and ideas, and do 4 focused work hours a day to earn the time for reading and writing without guilt.
  • 0523: prioritize developing your work ethic — Habits · 2016 · 1.1k words. Visa explores what work ethic means, consistency, reliability, speed, and measures himself against it. He realizes the value of daily practice and stability, and admits he still needs to figure out what he truly wants.
  • 0525: strive to transition from ordeal to adventure — Life & Meaning · 2016 · 1.2k words. We're told life should be a grand adventure, but it often feels like an ordeal. The trick is transitioning, finding the move from being trapped in predictability to expanding your box.
  • 0520: know what you want and go get it — Mindset & Motivation · 2016 · 1k words. Watching the sunrise makes me confront the gap between what I say I want and what I actually do. To bridge it, I need to get clear on my real wants, writing, peace, fitness, and earn my own respect through effort and heart.
  • 0524: acknowledge the silly “big-minded man” game — Psychology & Emotions · 2016 · 629 words. Visa has been playing a game where he pretends to care about big ideas to feel superior, but now he sees it's exhausting. Time to revisit why he does what he does and what he actually wants.
  • 0527: next steps for main blog — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2016 · 1.1k words. Visa is planning to restructure his main blog as a public notebook with modular, referenceable posts: summarizing books, creating a 'want' page and a learning page to anchor his growth and make his knowledge navigable.
  • 0528: break things down — Productivity · 2016 · 1k words. Visa procrastinates because he doesn't break scary tasks into small steps. The fix is to track triggers, build cues, and do the reps. Break things down, do it again. That's how everything gets done.
  • 0529: gently calibrate your expectations — Life & Meaning · 2016 · 1k words. Accepting that grand achievements grow less likely, yet finding meaning in persisting with commitments like this word vomit; a meditation on recalibrating expectations and earning self-respect through follow-through.
  • 0519: obliterate your subconscious taskmasters — Psychology & Emotions · 2016 · 1k words. Missing a day of writing makes it easier to miss another; the real cost is falling off the wagon. Subconscious taskmasters drive his patterns. To break them, he needs to exit often and start fresh.
  • 0530: first monthly review — Personal Growth & Self-Improvement · 2016 · 1k words. First monthly review of 2016. Visa reflects on progress in habits, productivity, and mindset. He considers the need for incremental improvement, focusing energy on what matters, and maintaining discipline without fetishizing it.
  • 0532: guilt as a signalling mechanism — Psychology & Emotions · 2016 · 1.2k words. Guilt is a signalling mechanism that tells you you've failed a duty. You can renegotiate what your duty is once you're in a position of strength, and guilt should not cripple you.
  • 0537: what is going on? — Life & Meaning · 2016 · 1k words. An existential zoom from cosmic scale to daily life, asking what we are and what to do. Two extremes: unconditional love or contempt for incompetence. Best path: solve what you can, then be a gangster.
  • 0533: the next steps of my writing journey — Writing · 2016 · 1k words. Visa is thinking about making a living as a writer. He reflects on his current vomit project and wants to write what he believes in, planning a rewrite series to move toward his dream.
  • 0536: Lemmy (This is not a practice life) — Life & Meaning · 2016 · 1k words. A reflection on Lemmy's death that becomes a call to live deliberately. Life is not a rehearsal; face your excuses and build the life you want before it's too late.
  • 0541: forgotten gods — Sociocultural Commentary · 2016 · 1k words. Our gods are shaped by the attention and technology of their time: ancient villages worshipped sun and moon; we now pray to WiFi and battery. Belief evolves with context, and forgotten gods remind us what we pay attention to.
  • 0538: evaluate (and do not tolerate) your problems — Mindset & Motivation · 2016 · 1.1k words. The core challenge: knowing your problems and what to do about them, yet not doing it. The gap comes down to tiredness, weakness, fear, and ignorance. Exercise, rest, writing down worst cases, and using Google are the blunt tools for bridging it.
  • 0531: do things for placebo purposes — Mindset & Motivation · 2016 · 1.1k words. Invest in placebo actions to rewrite your self-narrative. Pay the fine, buy the app, track the reps: small symbols that change how you see yourself and keep you moving.
  • 0539: end 2015 — Mindset & Motivation · 2016 · 1k words. End-of-year reflection on 2015, the best year yet, but still feeling unsatisfied. Visa wants to spend less time in the dark playground, worry less about others, get to know himself, and make 2016 the new best year through reflection and shipping.
  • 0543: writing as joyful self-correspondence — Writing · 2016 · 1k words. Writing keeps me sane; it's a cleansing survival habit I keep forgetting. I need to drop the expectations and write daily, like walking, build trust with myself by showing up for Future Visa.
  • 0534: becoming a man means accepting responsibility — Life & Meaning · 2016 · 997 words. Becoming a man means accepting responsibility, for yourself, your emotional state, and those around you. Modern luxury obscures older necessities, but the core is taking care of business and creating structure.
  • 0544: a man lives in a box — Life & Meaning · 2016 · 1.1k words. This guy lives in a box, his apartment, his office, the train tubes between them. Zooming out to cosmic scale doesn't break the spell; he still wakes up and does it again. The real challenge is finding joy inside the repetition.
  • 0545: find humor in your dark times — Mindset & Motivation · 2016 · 1k words. Life is an ordeal, but we can choose to see it as play. The trick is to find humor in the dark times, like flipping a plastic log with friends. Camus said imagine Sisyphus happy, we must supply our own light.
  • 0535: 2015 in review [DUPLICATE OF 0513] — Personal Growth & Self-Improvement · 2016 · 1k words. Reflecting on 2015, Visa notes physical strength gains, a new GTD system, and regrets over not spending enough time with friends. He resolves to balance work and social life better, learning that work done, not hours, matters.
  • 0546: the future of my words — Writing · 2016 · 1k words. This piece is about my relationship with words and writing, the ease of some writing versus the paralysis of self-consciousness. I want to write more freely and discover the stories lurking beneath, to dash off work without overthinking.
  • 0548: go running every week for mental clarity — Health, Fitness & Body · 2016 · 1k words. Running clears his mind and he wants to build a consistent habit despite past failures. He plans to schedule weekly runs, start walking with his wife, and overcome the limiting belief that he's deficient at cardio.
  • 0542: more good than bad, please — Psychology & Emotions · 2016 · 1k words. A late-night pep talk to himself: feeling sick and demoralized, but choosing to keep going, rediscover joy, and aim for more good than bad in life.
  • 0540: strive to break out of your box — Mindset & Motivation · 2016 · 1k words. Reflection on a not-so-productive weekend, letting go of hoping and designing better. Recalibrating expectations, choosing present happiness over legacy, and committing to daily writing practice.
  • 0549: write true sentences — Writing · 2016 · 1.1k words. Struggling to start fiction? Visa works through his own block by reminding himself to write true sentences, stop overthinking, and let a character's conflict drive the story.
  • 0547: “if everyone were zombies” — Psychology & Emotions · 2016 · 1k words. A thought experiment: if you were the only conscious person in a world of automatons, you'd still face consequences and feel lonely. The real takeaway is to be mindful, stop caring about sheep opinions, and pursue what's interesting.
  • 0550: a life of quiet desperation — Psychology & Emotions · 2016 · 1.1k words. A stark portrait of a man stuck in the grind of dead-end work, long commutes, sick wife, and crushing debt. He yearns for meaning and escape but is too tired and hopeless to change. A bleak look at quiet desperation from the inside.
  • 0557: heal yourself by helping others — Psychology & Emotions · 2016 · 1k words. Helping others with your old wounds shows how much healing has already happened. The past loosens its grip when you navigate around it artfully, then calmly persist into who you're becoming.
  • 0553: self-regulate pt 1 — Psychology & Emotions · 2016 · 1k words. Vague tasks stay undone because the mind is loss-averse. Precision forces action. I keep revisiting self-regulation, time management, and fear of failure, writing about it won't solve it, but repeating helps internalize.
  • 0552: shed your past selves — Self-Knowledge · 2016 · 1k words. He's been quitting smoking on and off, but the real work is shedding past selves and becoming who he wants to be. The key is letting go of non-essentials and trusting that what matters will return.
  • 0551: any issues? — Psychology & Emotions · 2016 · 1.2k words. A dialogue between two selves about having 'issues', the struggle with bitterness, existential dread, and the difficulty of changing inner narratives. Ends with a resolve to try different lenses through fiction.
  • 0554 + 0555 + 0556: ‘My Education Journey’ — Education & Learning · 2016 · 3.3k words. Visa tells his education story, GEP kid who hated homework, underachieved, got slapped for low PSLE scores, flunked JC, then found his way through blogging. The lesson: pursue real interests, don't force the system's path.
  • 0559: hire a competent CEO for Me, Inc — Productivity · 2016 · 1.2k words. Visa needs to fire the old CEO of Me, Inc. and take control by executing on sleep, doubling down on what works, and killing distractions. The turnaround metaphor guides personal improvement.
  • 0560: figure out what you care about — Productivity · 2016 · 1k words. Visa struggles with wanting to do everything and ends up doing nothing. He needs to measure his capacity, schedule recreation, and prioritize daily, accepting that change is uncomfortable but necessary.
  • 0561: Just Ship It — Writing · 2016 · 1.1k words. A dialogue between two selves about the writer's block that comes from fearing you'll produce bad work. The conclusion: stop overthinking and just ship something, anything, to break the inertia.
  • 0562: modern civilization, pt 1 — Sociocultural Commentary · 2016 · 1.1k words. Civilization is both privilege and absurdity, safer and longer-lived than ever, yet still steeped in hidden violence and suffering. We've come far, but life's preciousness demands we keep pushing.
  • 0566: one must imagine Sisyphus LOL-ing — Philosophy · 2016 · 1.1k words. One must imagine Sisyphus laughing, not happy. Camus's prescription for happiness is wishful; the sustainable response to absurdity is humor, not forced contentment. Happiness is a byproduct; excitement and laughter carry us through the meaningless circus of modern life.
  • 0558: change your story change your frame — Mindset & Motivation · 2016 · 1.3k words. Kill the old story and the demon inside. You are the king of your own mind; rewrite your frame, seize the moment, and live alive.
  • 0564: modern civilization pt 3 — Sociocultural Commentary · 2016 · 1k words. Reflection on modern civilization as invisible water, bureaucracy, bullshit, and the loss of embodied living. Visa wants to understand how we got here and carve out a tolerable space in the circus.
  • 0526: revise and refine your personal algorithms (they’ll set you free) — Habits · 2016 · 1.1k words. Video games teach us progression: you sell old weapons and move to harder areas. In life we cling to old habits and patterns. Build new personal algorithms, repeatable routines that handle the present, so you can face each challenge fresh and free.
  • 0567: Till the ground for the Demon-God — Art & Creativity · 2016 · 1.1k words. Visa dreams of a Demon-God representing his best creative self; his job is to handle the boring administrative work so the inspiration can flow. He resolves to be more industrious and write daily.
  • 0569: if I ever got a tattoo — Art & Creativity · 2016 · 1k words. Visa explores what tattoo he'd get, balancing meaning, endurance, and visual coherence, seeing the body as a landscape for a creative project that reflects ideals and links to his writing practice.
  • 0568: tripping through time on the information superhighway — Internet Culture · 2016 · 1.2k words. Facebook's recorded past forces us to confront inconvenient truths about who we were; the information superhighway has become a trippy journey not to destinations but to ourselves.
  • 0572: how social media affects people’s engagement — Internet Culture · 2016 · 1k words. Social media has made the internet both more passive and more active. Massive content enables easy consumption, but low barriers to creation enable anyone to participate. Good design can nudge people toward thoughtful engagement.
  • 0577: make stuff you like — Art & Creativity · 2016 · 1.1k words. Taste is the most powerful tool for makers, develop it by being honest about what you like and why. Ship work based on your taste, even if imperfect; follow your interest, don't let obligations weigh you down.
  • 0570: a sketchy outline of childhood — Romance, Parenting & Family · 2016 · 1k words. A friend's prompt sends him digging into childhood memories of errands with his mother and school rides with his father. Years later, he reinterprets their love as a quiet removal of burdens, and wonders how different he'd be as a parent.
  • 0571: why I ask for questions — Writing · 2016 · 1k words. Visa explains why he asks for questions: he's written so much introspectively that he's overwhelmed himself, and he likes having a gift for a specific person. Writing for others helps him re-enter the world after a period of intentional isolation.
  • 0576: consider time wasted — Psychology & Emotions · 2016 · 1.1k words. Waking up at 12:30am, I scroll my phone for three hours and feel guilty. But beating myself up doesn't work, underneath it is a deeper desire for status and validation from childhood. I'm trying to understand my real priorities.
  • 0565: ignore the ego’s whining, the point is to act — Psychology & Emotions · 2016 · 1.8k words. 拖延源于自我欺骗和拒绝面对现实；自责是一种同样自恋的陷阱。唯一解法是依据证据而非感觉行动，接受痛苦并持续输出。
  • 0579: have something to live for — Psychology & Emotions · 2016 · 1.3k words. He's wrestling with depression, self-loathing and existential bleakness, not by seeking diagnosis or escape but by facing the dark voice head-on. The answer he finds isn't grand ideals but good peers, their respect earned, and the choice to contribute little by little.
  • 0578: develop confidence — Mindset & Motivation · 2016 · 1k words. Visa responds to a question on confidence and charisma, distinguishing them, exploring the body-mind connection, risk, and his own journey from overconfident youth to grounded confidence through online arguing and self-awareness.
  • 0582: think strategicially about writing projects — Writing · 2016 · 1k words. Visa wants to write something that satisfies his own taste, so he'll publish lots of little experiments to get him closer. He needs to develop a narrator's voice and describe tangible things, the vision steady while the details adapt.
  • 0580: skip the potholes — Habits · 2016 · 1.2k words. Visa reflects on potholes he fell into as a teen, diet, sleep, exercise, discipline, social skills, and offers practical advice to his younger self for building better habits and executing small plans.
  • 0563: modern civilization, pt 2 — Philosophy · 2016 · 1.1k words. Reflecting on Hobbes' Leviathan and French Revolution history to understand why modern civilization is so bureaucratic and bullshit-laden. Seeking to inoculate himself against needless complexity while appreciating civilization's gifts.
  • 0586: Onwards to SG100 — Sociocultural Commentary · 2016 · 1.2k words. Singapore's survival isn't guaranteed; we must take active citizenship seriously. The country is fragile yet special, and we need to build social capital, stay focused, and defend it collectively rather than leaving everything to the government.
  • 0583: be clear and honest about desired end-states — Work & Ambition · 2016 · 1.1k words. You have to be honest about what you really want and not get stuck helping others cross rivers you've already crossed. I want to be a writer, so I'm narrowing my focus and aligning my life toward that end-state in my mid-30s.
  • 0584: Get more out of your hours — Productivity · 2016 · 1.1k words. You feel like you waste your time? Me too. There's no magic answer, just clarify focus, do one thing at a time, lean into discomfort. Plan ahead, commit to starting, and face the fear that's keeping you stuck.
  • 0587: begin the day with a review, not social media — Sociocultural Commentary · 2016 · 1.1k words. We scroll social media in the morning because it's our modern village square, not just for information. Better to review your goals instead of letting the feed prime you.
  • 0575: reduce large, ambiguous problems into small, simple ones — Mindset & Motivation · 2016 · 1.1k words. Stop trying to save the world and just wash one dish. The big ambitions paralyze you, so start with yourself, then your friends. Kill the idealized version of you and do the next small thing.
  • 0585: birthday reflections (turning 26 pt2) — Writing · 2016 · 1.1k words. Turning 26, I realize more than ever that I want to be a writer. I need to ramp up volume, fight the Resistance, and build a daily writing habit to go pro.
  • 0588: the domestication of humans — Sociocultural Commentary · 2016 · 1k words. Observing a train full of people escaping their commute into phones, this piece maps how modern systems, time, food, schooling, advertising, have quietly domesticated humans. It asks what it means to navigate 2016 without an enemy, just trying to find some peace of mind.
  • 0574: turning 26 — Mindset & Motivation · 2016 · 1k words. Turning 26 reflection: leaving boyhood behind, gaining weight intentionally, setting ambitious physical and professional goals. Visa is determined to shed old beliefs, focus harder, and become the 'fireball' he envisions, driven by taste and self-respect, not ego.
  • 0591: dream a little bigger, darling — Mindset & Motivation · 2016 · 1.1k words. Visa has been running in circles with his vomits and needs to dream bigger. Time to thank his past self, set higher bars, and finish the project by lighting a fire under his ass.
  • 0573: what would your younger self think of you? — Self-Knowledge · 2016 · 1k words. Visa compares his 25-year-old self to who he was at 18, weighing accomplishments against unfulfilled passions like music and strong opinions, and senses a pendulum swinging back toward active engagement with the world.
  • 0593: learn from your experience — Mindset & Motivation · 2016 · 1.2k words. Experience teaches you to temper enthusiasm, recalibrate expectations, and face effort shock. The real work is choosing to push through anyway, with focus and consistent reviews to make progress.
  • 0589: keep on writing — Writing · 2016 · 1k words. Culture lags behind technology, but the real work is personal, keep writing every day, embrace the process, and stop fearing the outcome.
  • 0594: seek out the difficult conversations — Psychology & Emotions · 2016 · 1.1k words. We hide the things that need discussing most, out of fear of judgment or hurting others. Real growth demands uncomfortable conversations, especially with yourself. Don't hold your breath; dive in.
  • 0590: continuing to grapple with adulthood — Psychology & Emotions · 2016 · 1k words. Growing up is hard. Time flies and adulthood feels like a constant struggle between being kind to yourself and pushing yourself, nobody talks about it, but we're all figuring it out as we go.
  • 0596: cherish your friends — Friendship & Community · 2016 · 1.1k words. Visa reflects on childhood friendships, lost connections, and the friends yet to meet. A meditation on how relationships shape us, the inevitability of drifting apart, and the openness needed to welcome new soulmates into life's grand adventure.
  • 0595: tentative thoughts about gender — Politics, Culture & Identity · 2016 · 1.2k words. Visa thinks out loud about manhood, masculinity, and gender roles, acknowledging both the valid progress on gender complexity and the stubborn persistence of biological and social differences. A tentative, honest preamble to a more developed position.
  • 0597 + 0598: religion — Religion · 2016 · 2.1k words. Visa traces his shift from a smug atheist teen to an agnostic who views religion as a human expression of desire for comfort, community, and transcendence. He now values the rituals and mystery without needing to fight about it.
  • 0602: let go of your stress — Psychology & Emotions · 2016 · 1.2k words. Visa reflects on what stresses him, obligations, guilt, shame, and realizes the stress itself is counterproductive. He resolves to unlearn these inherited patterns, let go of small stuff, and take action calmly instead of feeling upset.
  • 0603: the trouble is you think you have time — Mindset & Motivation · 2016 · 1k words. Visa realizes he's running out of time to build the life and career he wants. He commits to shedding distractions, measuring his effectiveness, and becoming a disciplined, focused version of himself, effective immediately.
  • 0606: schedule and prioritize me-time (then everything else) — Productivity · 2016 · 1k words. You need to schedule me-time first, then work. The urge to procrastinate comes from not trusting you'll get play. Prioritize the most important task, use the Eisenhower Matrix, and review your execution like practice tapes.
  • 0592: value your own time — Productivity · 2016 · 1k words. Visa realizes he doesn't value his own time after a colleague's comment. He discusses GTD and weekly reviews, and resolves to overcome fear and prioritize his writing project.
  • 0599 + 0600: learn to be violent — Psychology & Emotions · 2016 · 2k words. Nature and men are fundamentally violent; we need to learn to carve space, set ideals, and discharge strength. The piece ends with a personal resolution to operate lean and focus on one thing at a time.
  • 0601: consider the writer’s end-game — Writing · 2016 · 1.1k words. Breaking down a writer's career into three components, body of work, pool of readers, and monetization, and thinking through what to write, who reads it, and how to get paid. The simplest first step is charging a nominal amount for an ebook.
  • 0604: what are you afraid of? — Psychology & Emotions · 2016 · 1.1k words. Visa is afraid of getting caught for not doing what he promised, but that fear freezes him instead of motivating him. To break out of prey-mode, Visa needs to start small, change habits, and own that present-me is the one who has to do it.
  • 0605: watch good documentaries and think — Sociocultural Commentary · 2016 · 1.1k words. Watching documentaries on corporate PR and black American history leads to reflections on systemic injustice, personal responsibility, and the shadows of colonialism. Visa also contemplates modern loneliness, self-education, and moving past youthful idealism.
  • 0581: July 2016 — Personal Growth & Self-Improvement · 2016 · 1k words. Visa hasn't written in a month. He has been reading, watching GoT, fixing sleep with a fitbit, chasing fitness goals, and finally hanging his guitar rack. Floodgates opened, onwards.
  • 0607: be sensitive to context — Psychology & Emotions · 2016 · 1.1k words. Arguments and in-groups trap you in a narrow context, blinding you to the bigger picture. The only way out is to avoid labels, suspend judgment, and recognize that your perspective is always just one context among many.
  • 0608: commit to reviewing your calendar — Productivity · 2016 · 1k words. Visa commits to daily calendar review to take time seriously. He prioritizes word vomits and fitness, shedding old ways as he confronts how fast life passes.
  • 0612: consider how the world works — Philosophy · 2016 · 1.4k words. A reflection on how little we actually understand about the world, from civilization's intricate collaboration to the mismatch between our ancient brains and modern life. Ends with a nudge to spend more time with people instead of writing alone.
  • 0611: face your fears — Mindset & Motivation · 2016 · 1k words. Lists fears, mistakes, decisions, accomplishments, productivity, and counters each with reality: small steps, new skills, a reframe of perspective, action taken anyway. Face fear by doing.
  • 0615: measure your time — Productivity · 2016 · 1k words. Waking up and struggling to start writing, Visa realizes he needs better decisions and time estimates. The key is breaking equilibrium, focusing on each boring brick, and re-evaluating daily to become more free.
  • 0610: disregard current affairs, focus on priorities — Productivity · 2016 · 1.1k words. Watching the Trump news cycle is a distraction. Stop virtue-signaling on social media and focus on your own top priority: work hard on it for four hours daily, then do what you want. Status games are real, so choose one you respect.
  • 0616: micromanage your time — Productivity · 2016 · 997 words. Visa is realizing he needs to micromanage his time, especially during commutes, to write more word vomits. He reflects on how he hasn't made progress and commits to paying closer attention to how he uses every minute.
  • 0614: consider Kissinger Before Sunrise — Philosophy · 2016 · 1k words. Philosophy isn't just for college professors or idealistic filmmakers, it's the deep heart of every human system, from diplomacy to business. Your values and the stories you tell yourself are the axioms everything else rests on.
  • 0618: examples of magic adulting powers — Productivity · 2016 · 1.4k words. The magic adulting powers are monotasking, prioritizing, saying no, and putting yourself first. Train your focus, decide what matters, cut distractions, and listen to your body to get the right things done.
  • 0619: focus on troubleshooting yourself — Psychology & Emotions · 2016 · 1k words. Visa notices a pattern of wasting time on internet arguments when bored, wants to troubleshoot himself instead. He decides to break tasks into small steps and revisit old vomits daily.
  • 0620: consider Aleppo — Psychology & Emotions · 2016 · 1k words. Visa reflects on the suffering in Aleppo and the helplessness of distant privilege. He grapples with guilt, self-soothing, and whether focusing on self-improvement is a way to eventually make a difference. He ends with a resolve to get back to daily discipline.
  • 0613: make 2017 the best year yet — Habits · 2016 · 1.1k words. Visa reflects on recurring goals and the frustration of slow progress; he resolves to focus on tiny daily wins, one day at a time, to finally build momentum and make 2017 the year of change.
  • 0609: political consciousness pt 1 — Politics, Culture & Identity · 2016 · 1.2k words. Visa traces his evolving political consciousness from childhood in Singapore, mixing personal memories, 9-11, school flags, his father's skepticism, with world events to show how awareness crystallizes.
  • 0617: systematically, deliberately improve your golf swing — Habits · 2016 · 1.1k words. Visa takes time off to clean out his brain-closet and tackle his biggest bottleneck: sleep. He needs to systematically build habits like monotasking, closing tabs, and keeping his word so he can earn his own respect and live a good life.
  • 0209: repeatedly revisit what you know — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.3k words. Visa realizes he needs more sleep, deeper breaths, and daily practice to access his potential. Revisiting old wisdom and fixing mundane habits helps him overcome the anxiety and stress that keep him stuck.
  • 0208: earn your keep — Habits · 2015 · 1.1k words. The daily practice of writing is a promise to self, breaking the cycle of shame from broken promises. Build habits, manage time, and earn your keep by facing resistance every day.
  • 0210: after the unfriending — Self-Knowledge · 2015 · 1.1k words. After unfriending everyone, Visa faces the quiet and loneliness, and uses the space to understand himself. He seeks real peers and resolves to keep a daily discipline at the page.
  • 0206: fuck it just do it — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.1k words. New year, new resolve: drop the perfectionism, ship good-enough, fix sleep, and just do it. The paralysis is worse than the doing: time to stop talking and start shipping.
  • 0207: a restful day + somewhere new now — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.1k words. After a restful day, Visa reflects on the feeling of being 'somewhere new' through voluntary choices. Breaking autopilot with small habits reduces anxiety. The real shift: shipping version 1s instead of fixating on version 999.
  • 0211: reflecting on why — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.4k words. Visa reflects on why he does word vomits: to grow, prove he can finish something, and find purpose. He examines his loneliness, anxiety, and guilt, and means to overcome them and be useful at scale.
  • 0213: freedom requires violence — Philosophy · 2015 · 1.1k words. 自由需要暴力的思辨：从词源到内心挣扎，论证获得自由需要摧毁部分自我，如同在线社区必须删除破坏者。创造与破坏并存。
  • 0215: why do I not sleep better? — Health, Fitness & Body · 2015 · 1.1k words. Sleep is the first principle Visa's been underestimating. He needs to prioritize it, break the late-sleep habit, and create a wind-down ritual to improve his decisions and wellbeing.
  • 0214: destroy the boxes — Personal Growth & Self-Improvement · 2015 · 1k words. Inspired by Tobias Lutke's talk on 'boxes', self-contained worlds, Visa reflects on his own complacency and the need to keep breaking out. He commits to growth through better habits and relentless effort, and to helping others do the same.
  • 0217: frustration and writing — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.1k words. A reflection on frustration and its role in writing. Visa lists types of frustration, uses writing to uncover hidden ones, and realizes he wants a more fluid, deliberate way of living, with attention on work that feels important rather than surface interactions.
  • 0218: a break from being so goddamn public facing all the time — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1k words. Visa decides to step back from public-facing engagement to focus on deep work and self-management, tired of superficial likes and shares. He turns inward to do what he actually wants, certain that real authority comes from doing difficult work rather than gaming attention.
  • 0219: letter to a young smoker — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.1k words. A letter to the younger self who smoked, exploring the reasons behind starting, curiosity, social pressure, the illusion of control, and the meaning found in smoking moments. Ultimately, the act is less important than the underlying need for accomplishment and clarity.
  • 0216: find a reason to be (smartly) mad — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.3k words. Life should be lived with passion and intensity. Find something to be mad about, not blindly, but with cool, calculated focus, to fuel persistence and prove wrong those who called you lazy.
  • 0224: win the person, not the argument — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.2k words. After a nasty internet exchange, Visa realized winning arguments loses people. Better to win the person with compassion. Mirror neurons show we're wired to empathize; life's too short for hate.
  • 0220: strive for the company of immortals — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.1k words. Stop comparing yourself to contemporaries and start aiming for the company of immortals. Most chatter about ideas is a distraction; focus on doing the actual work.
  • 0223: identify your workflow processes — Productivity · 2015 · 1k words. Visa confronts his time blindness and poor workflow by mapping processes, urgent/important matrix, eating the frog, partitioning the day. He needs structure and accountability to stop avoidance and start doing the meaty work.
  • 0212: Bullshit breaks down at the boundaries — Philosophy · 2015 · 1k words. Bullshit is comforting but breaks down at boundaries. To avoid self-deception, test all beliefs by pushing them to extremes, like writing 10 word vomits in a day. Reality reveals itself under pressure.
  • 0228: getting back into the groove of Heavy Reading — Self-Knowledge · 2015 · 1.1k words. Struggling to get back into heavy reading, Visa realizes he hasn't been reading his own work. He decides to postpone other books and systematically review his own writing and old feeds instead.
  • 0227: ethical self-focus, a declaration — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1k words. Visa declares a worldview of ethical self-focus: stop worrying about what you can't control, strip down to essentials (health, work, reading, writing, marriage), and attack mundane problems with intensity. A deliberate narrowing of attention to better oneself.
  • 0222: Never be mean — Sociocultural Commentary · 2015 · 1.1k words. 反思网络上的刻薄现象及其不安全感根源，强调友善与脆弱的价值。刻薄惩罚我们自己，阻碍真正交流。生命短暂，应努力理解彼此、放下防御。
  • 0225: auditing myself + what to read next — Self-Knowledge · 2015 · 883 words. Visa wants to audit himself: his reading, his desires, his delays. He realizes he should start with small, chewable pieces rather than the whole, and plans to organize old photos to better understand his patterns.
  • 0226: re-reading landsburg: consider the value of useful thought experiments — Philosophy · 2015 · 1k words. Re-reading Landsburg's thought experiments, Visa finds them useful but limited: they force you to see assumptions but miss the mess of perception and context. The real insight: no single book captures reality, and growing as a writer means learning to hold multiple frames at once.
  • 0233: improving my environment — Productivity · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa reflects on why he hasn't improved his living and work spaces, then brainstorms specific changes to each area, bedroom, kitchen, office, to build better habits and productivity.
  • 0231: don’t be an eagle in a cage — Art & Creativity · 2015 · 1.1k words. A meditation on creative horizons: the circus bassist and cabaret musician as models for holistic experience, the caged eagle as a metaphor for feeling bound by your own concepts. Visa explores how his vomits project became its own cage, and why new constraints might set him free.
  • 0234: answering questions that arise — Self-Knowledge · 2015 · 1.2k words. Reflecting on his early vomits, Visa answers questions about his habits, limitations, and mindset. He explores why he thinks big, how to change behavior, and what drives him nuts, concluding with small, sticky changes and deeper self-awareness.
  • 0236: Identify when you’re vague and be precise instead — Productivity · 2015 · 1.2k words. Visa reflects on his productivity struggles and the need for small, concrete actions to rebuild self-trust. His epiphany: physical task tracking (impaling completed tasks) is more satisfying than digital apps, and it's becoming a sustainable habit.
  • 0235: questions that arise pt 2 — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.2k words. Visa asks himself a series of questions about success, cognitive resources, motivation, and identity. He reflects on small feedback loops, his background brain, and why he isn't doing the work, seeking to understand his own patterns.
  • 0232: use stories as a thinking tool — Writing · 2015 · 1.1k words. Reflecting on Robert McKee's insights about story, Visa considers his own writing practice: repetition, craft, and the search for something worth saying. Story becomes a thinking tool for navigating his creative journey and inner conflicts.
  • 0229: regular sync-ups, and the bleeding over of best practices — Productivity · 2015 · 1.2k words. Visa asks himself a series of questions about success, cognitive resources, motivation, and identity. He reflects on small feedback loops, his background brain, and why he isn't doing the work, in search of his own patterns.
  • 0238: Strive to be resourceful — Productivity · 2015 · 1k words. We all lack resources, especially time. Become resourceful by auditing what you have, focusing on high-leverage activities, and taking small brave steps. Stop circling the same ground.
  • 0240: destroy your limiting beliefs about food — Health, Fitness & Body · 2015 · 1.1k words. Breakfast and the limiting beliefs that kept Visa from eating well. Realizing his food issues stem from unfamiliarity and mental hangups; the solution is to make the unfamiliar familiar and teach himself to cook. A simple, practical shift that could improve quality of life faster than lofty philosophy.
  • 0221: chip away at the boulder on your shoulder — Habits · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa wrestles with writer's block and the boulder of self-doubt. The fix: small consistent habits, tracked by impaling finished to-do notes on a spike. Chip away at the boulder.
  • 0230: clearly articulate your mistakes and successes to accelerate jailbreak — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa reflects on why he keeps returning to familiar scripts and avoids mundanity, explores his boredom with his own patterns, and wonders how to break free. This vomit is itself a possible leap into absurdity.
  • 0243: unwell — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.2k words. Feeling unwell, Visa reflects on how illness shifts perspective and the necessity of daily writing as a safeguard. He explores lifelong alienation from family, school, and social scenes, and wonders if writing keeps him sane.
  • 0241: Revisiting “on purpose”, from 2009 — Life & Meaning · 2015 · 1.8k words. Revisiting a decade-old existential crisis, Visa finds that life has no inherent purpose, but that's freeing. The point is joy, love, and letting go of the self. You get to decide what counts, so enjoy yourself.
  • 0244: reminder that writing is therapy — Writing · 2015 · 1k words. Writing as therapy: when sick and edgy, the act of writing alleviates pain. Let go of planning, seize inspiration immediately, and trust the process. Focus on joy, not obligation.
  • 0239: keep working on your EQ — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.1k words. Emotional intelligence is a crucial skill nobody formally teaches. The work of improving it, managing conflict, balancing honesty with kindness, and assuming you have lower EQ, is a lifelong task.
  • 0246: reminder to focus on fundamentals after the feels — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.1k words. After the emotional rush of the last post, a reminder to ground yourself in fundamentals: work, writing, and life improvements come from deep signals, not cheap dopamine. Build reliability through disciplined action.
  • 0250: two hundred and fifty thousand — Writing · 2015 · 1.2k words. A milestone reflection on writing 250,000 words of freeform vomits. The project has made him a better writer, revealed his fear of criticism and perfectionism, and taught him to value speed and imperfection over polish.
  • 0245: reminder that greatness is goddamn hard — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.1k words. Progress feels like not-progress. Quitting smoking and starting running were painful slogs that felt pointless at first. Greatness requires a goddamn ugly painful slog that nobody tells you about. The key is to embrace the suffering and keep going.
  • 0249: take slow walks — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1k words. After a week of sickness, Visa took a slow walk home and realized walking slowly changes everything, it's not about getting somewhere but being present. He wants to walk more like a dancer, not rushing through moments.
  • 0247: reminder to confront limiting beliefs — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.2k words. Visa confronts limiting beliefs about reliability and discipline. Stop running away from commitments, weed out the inner voice that says you're a failure, and keep trying. Become someone you can rely on.
  • 0237: Correct Misperceptions + Asymmetrical Warfare — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.1k words. Two old notebook ideas: correcting misperceptions (reality is a map, not territory) and asymmetrical warfare (choose your battlefield). Best way to help others is to first become someone they admire. Play dirty, question assumptions.
  • 0252: mood music and limiting beliefs — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.1k words. On limiting beliefs, the psychological boundaries we accept that aren't real. How to recognize them, focus on what you can change, and prepare with faith in a compounding future.
  • 0251: practice meditation regularly — Habits · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa has always been skeptical of meditation but he is finally coming around, it tunes your mind like you'd tune a guitar. Just sitting there is better than chasing cheap hits, so he is going to do it more.
  • 0254: old friends, denying and embracing the now — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.2k words. Visa reflects on meeting an old friend and the solitude that helped him see himself. He grapples with nostalgia, past failures, and the need to forgive and embrace the now rather than deny it.
  • 0256: commit to personal daily sitdowns — Habits · 2015 · 1k words. A daily sitdown with yourself, like the one that works at work, might be the missing piece. Perfectionism blocks starting, so tie it to an existing routine and just do it, small, tonight.
  • 0248: develop productive rituals — Habits · 2015 · 1k words. Visa is sick and low-energy, reflecting on the need for productive rituals and regular touchpoints with important people. He recognizes the gap between his intentions and actions, and decides to focus on small steps and recovery.
  • 0261: Solve For Adoption (Consider Esperanto) — Marketing & Branding · 2015 · 1k words. Getting something adopted is as hard as inventing it. A better mousetrap means nothing if people are happy with their current one. Solve for adoption by understanding messy, tired customers and their existing behaviors, not just perfecting the product.
  • 0242: all conversations are plagued by silent evidence and underrepresentation — Philosophy · 2015 · 1.2k words. Every conversation is framed and limited, poisoned by silent evidence and underrepresentation. To learn, drop your stance, ask innocent questions, and be fully present, or exit politely.
  • 0253: repeat yourself as much as you have to; just keep moving — Habits · 2015 · 1k words. Tired and overwhelmed, Visa fights blind hope by committing to action: write the vomit, go for a run, repeat. He accepts that change is slow and he'll repeat himself, but the writing practice keeps him moving.
  • 0257: books, trains and people — Habits · 2015 · 1.1k words. Reading on the commute beats scrolling or writing unfinished vomits. Observing the crowds makes him curious about others and want to connect more with friends.
  • 0259: beware of insight porn — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1k words. Visa warns against 'insight porn', insights that feel profound but don't change behavior, and reflects on his own tendency to consume them. He yearns for a more grounded, embodied fulfillment beyond intellectual stimulation.
  • 0260: moments out of time — Life & Meaning · 2015 · 1.1k words. A reflection on 'moments out of time', unplanned, meditative experiences that make life feel worthwhile. Visa urges creating such moments intentionally rather than waiting for chance.
  • 0258: entirely within my control — Habits · 2015 · 1k words. Realizing that sleeping early and doing a daily review are entirely within his control, Visa commits to starting tonight. He examines why he avoids responsibility and resolves to live fully, present, and attentive.
  • 0262: Megaman X and how we teach ourselves — Habits · 2015 · 1.2k words. Megaman X's design teaches skills incrementally with clear feedback. We can apply the same to our lives: track sleep, diet, focus, build small habits, and keep going. Failures come from late nights and distraction; the fix is simple routines.
  • 0268: see through the circus and focus on the fundamentals — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1k words. Cut through the circus, media noise, identity performance, other people's nonsense, by focusing on what actually matters: gratitude, making art from frustration, and doing the real work. The goal is being happy in your life, not just with it.
  • 0264: cultivate different perspectives (by moving yourself) — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1k words. Actively cultivate different perspectives, especially by moving yourself to new places, because they enrich life and unlock solutions to seemingly intractable problems. Each new perspective dances with the old ones, and reality grows richer.
  • 0266: beware the dark playground — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.3k words. Procrastination is a dark playground where you pretend to have fun but don't really enjoy yourself. The way out is through understanding its psychology, breaking tasks down, and building habits that make work the first thing.
  • 0270 + 0271: Glossary of Stuff I Talk About v1.0 — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2015 · 2.2k words. Visa compiles a glossary of his recurring concepts, arbitrary configurations, bullshit at boundaries, deep signaling, to systematize his thinking and make his ideas navigable. A reference tool for his own mental models.
  • 0267: be humble in the face of environments — Habits · 2015 · 1k words. Returning from holiday, Visa notices how quickly he reverts to old patterns. Environment controls behavior more than he admits, so he needs to design his surroundings, meeting room, dishes, early sleeps, to rebuild better habits.
  • 0263: search beyond the streetlights — Productivity · 2015 · 1k words. Visa uses the drunk-looking-under-the-streetlight joke to flag how he defaults to familiar busywork instead of the most important work. He dissects layers of productivity and the need to manage psychology and energy to break the pattern.
  • 0269: leave your comfort zone regularly (lectured to SMU students) — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1k words. Facing fear by giving a first lecture; the anxiety and the bliss of overcoming it. Visa realizes he needs hard deadlines and daily practices to stay accountable and keep growing.
  • 0272: let go of cheap validation, do hard things instead — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1k words. Visa reflects on his addiction to cheap validation (likes, shares) and resolves to replace it with the satisfaction of doing hard, scary things. He commits to walking into fear and doing one scary hard thing daily.
  • 0273: ask yourself questions about what’s holding you back, and answer them honestly — Self-Knowledge · 2015 · 1.1k words. Why is Visa stuck? Visa asks hard questions about happiness, work, and purpose, then admits the answer is choosing a struggle and doing the schlep work. He knows what he needs but hasn't fully committed.
  • 0255: fail forward — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1k words. Visa confronts his fear of failure and perfectionism, arguing that iteration and volume, not perfection, lead to growth. He commits to writing daily vomits and trains himself to be indifferent to rejection and to keep failing forward.
  • 0277: adulthood is about learning to parent yourself — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1k words. Adulthood is learning to parent yourself: be stable and firm with your inner child, not neglectful or abusive. Visa is managing his own psychology so his competing desires can collaborate.
  • 0276: listen to yourself — Self-Knowledge · 2015 · 1.1k words. You can't outrun your inner questions. The real work is listening to yourself, figuring out what you actually want instead of chasing external goals. Avoid dramatic promises, just listen without judgement and build accountability gradually.
  • 0279: win yourself over — Self-Knowledge · 2015 · 1.1k words. The problem of akrasia, not doing what Visa says he wants, requires understanding that his subconscious has its own desires. To win himself over, Visa needs to frame tasks as helping people or fulfilling curiosity, not as obligations.
  • 0274: claw out of delusion — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 870 words. Writing and publishing work is how Visa tests reality and escapes delusion. But he procrastinates, multitask to avoid pain, and doesn't know who he wants to be. He must pick one thing.
  • 0281: zoom out to see how you’re blocking yourself — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1k words. We block ourselves with excuses and comfortable fictions. Examining why we don't do what we say we want, like sleeping early, reveals how self-deception keeps us stuck. Honesty and small experiments can break the cycle.
  • 0280: pleasant vs unpleasant, matter of perspective — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1k words. Visa explores the relativity of pleasant and unpleasant experiences, arguing that framing determines joy. He examines his own anxieties and responsibilities, and celebrates small wins like listening better in conversation.
  • 0284: the Internet and the Resistance — Art & Creativity · 2015 · 1.1k words. The Internet connects us, but the real miracle is showing up to work. Pressfield's War of Art frames this vomit: the resistance we face, the rituals that earn our keep, and the need to align actions with ambition.
  • 0285: can I use a Hero’s Journey narrative like Conan’s or Iron Man’s to motivate myself? — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa wonders if he can borrow the hero's journey structure from Conan, Thor, and Iron Man to fuel his own motivation. He retells their arcs, then doubts himself before leaving the question open.
  • 0282: make your plans together with your inner child — Self-Knowledge · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa negotiates with his inner child, making plans that honor both self-discipline and joy. By listening rather than controlling, he designs habits, like offline writing, to build trust and deep fulfillment.
  • 0286: don’t want to be frustrated — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa woke up frustrated, tracing his long pattern of wanting to change but never following through. He realizes self-flagellation doesn't work and decides to be his own kind parent who asks what he really wants.
  • 0283: narratives, weirdness, imperfections — Life & Meaning · 2015 · 1.1k words. A rumination on narratives as the frameworks we use to make sense of life. Grapples with existential purpose, the absurdity of existence, and the need for a sustaining story, ultimately pointing toward shedding illusions and finding freedom in the present moment.
  • 0275: to GTD u have to know what u want — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.3k words. GTD fails if you don't know what you want. Visa explores internal resistance to commitment, the need for aligned purpose, and concludes that consistent output is the real measure.
  • 0278: parent yourself — Self-Knowledge · 2015 · 1k words. The real adult move is to parent yourself: listen to your own wants, figure out what you actually like, and stop imposing your will on Me. Let the repressed little boy come out and play; your job is to bring yourself forth, not just manage.
  • 0265: games that help with time and money — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.2k words. Games can teach resource allocation, but Visa would rather double down on writing. Life is an energy maximization problem: do good work to enjoy rest, and stop flagellating over unfinished games.
  • 0290: what makes a good video game? — Games · 2015 · 1.8k words. What makes a good video game? Immersion, clear objectives, a sense of power and progress. Great games are better designed than most of our lives: we can borrow those principles to live with more direction and motivation.
  • 0292: the way to do it is piecemeal: learn one new song at a time — Education & Learning · 2015 · 1.1k words. Learning works best when you follow your curiosity piecemeal, not through structured courses. Pick one thing you really want to know, and let that lead to the next interesting thing: it chains organically.
  • 0289: what to do if you’re stuck in the Singaporean education system and you hate it — Education & Learning · 2015 · 1.2k words. Advice for a student stuck in Singapore's education system: learn practical skills, read widely, build a body of work online, and focus on creating economic value instead of chasing grades. Life can be rewarding if you take initiative and run cheap experiments.
  • 0288: a letter to JC retainees — Habits · 2015 · 1.4k words. Visa was a JC retainee who never learnt discipline as a kid. The real problem isn't motivation: it's an atrophied discipline muscle. Build it with small sessions, accountability, and radical lifestyle changes. Life can still work out.
  • 0291: my lacklustre relationship with poker — Self-Knowledge · 2015 · 1.2k words. Poker taught Visa that he is not a completionist who thrives in closed systems. He would rather invest in writing, where he can make his own rules and grow on his own terms.
  • 0295: forgive your inner criminal — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1k words. Visa is a pattern in space-time trying to take care of itself, but he keeps feeling like a criminal who hasn't earned forgiveness. He needs to forgive himself, love the sinner, hate the sin, so he can stop acting like one.
  • 0293: get better at estimating (start small) — Productivity · 2015 · 1k words. Visa reflects on his habit of overestimating his capacity and self-flagellating when he falls short. He suggests dropping the flagellation and instead asking what can be changed to improve estimation, for a more balanced approach to work.
  • 0296: procrastination equation- expectancy and value — Productivity · 2015 · 1.2k words. Visa breaks down the procrastination equation into expectancy, value, delay, and impulsiveness. He emphasizes breaking tasks into manageable steps and finding personal value to get things done.
  • 0297: dialogue — Writing · 2015 · 1.1k words. A dialogue about why Visa is switching from monologue to dialogue format to explore ideas freely without being judged. The conversation touches on masks, code-switching, and the fear of being associated with his characters' thoughts.
  • 0299: let go of your guilt, shame and bad estimates — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.1k words. A dialogue where one voice talks the other out of guilt and shame over past failures and unrealistic expectations. The real baggage is bad estimates, overestimating what you should do, underestimating what you actually can.
  • 0301: gym, and how I usually get stuck — Habits · 2015 · 1.3k words. After a great first gym session, Visa realizes he usually gets stuck because he doesn't break things into clear steps. The high fades if he doesn't commit to the next one, so he needs to practice doing things one at a time.
  • 0303: building up the meatbag — Health, Fitness & Body · 2015 · 1.1k words. A对话：感觉睾酮不足、焦虑、想破坏东西。举重后得到释放，决定规律健身吃重。想变壮摆脱瘦弱形象，不再为身材道歉。
  • 0302: breaking out of patterns — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.1k words. A dialogue about feeling stagnated and wanting to quit, revealing it's just fear of the unknown. The speaker recognizes the pattern of avoiding discomfort and resolves to confront it head-on as a chance to grow.
  • 0304: meta-confession — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1k words. A confesses he enjoys confessions too much, then questions whether the need for validation keeps him from growing up. Through dialogue with B, he weighs vulnerability against self-sufficiency; his conclusion is that confessions belong in these bounded vomits while he works on being a good parent to himself.
  • 0298: confront the fears that paralyze you — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.1k words. A dialogue where A confronts the fears that prevent action, fear of being crappy, a fraud, inconsistent. B pushes A to see those fears as starting points, not endings. The piece ends with a resolve to start from zero.
  • 0287: Change the lights — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.1k words. Changing cheap yellow bulbs and slowly upgrading a dusty home taught Visa how environment shapes mood and pleasure. Small fixes, lights, a table, speakers, transformed daily life more than he expected.
  • 0310: stop kicking up sand — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1k words. Visa catches himself kicking up sand inside his own head, self-flagellation, distraction, busyness. The practice is to sit still, let the dust settle, and stop beating himself up so he can see what's really there.
  • 0307: dealing with plateaus — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa feels stuck and ashamed of not progressing. The real solution isn't escaping but befriending the ugliness, a preference for process over outcome and for curiosity over judgment.
  • 0306: Terrangima, The Hero and the Call To Adventure — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1k words. Using the game Terranigma as a lens, Visa reflects on staying in comfort bubbles and the need for a clear call to adventure. He resolves to clarify his own interests and direction, and to honor the childlike need for sympathy while rejecting self-pity.
  • 0309: draw an arbitrary line in the sand — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1k words. Visa is drawing an arbitrary line at 25: no more excuses, time to take responsibility. He wants to build a gym/nutrition/sleep routine, read his books, write about them, and break out of the box he's been stuck in.
  • 0305: 2nd workout, reflecting on overthinking — Productivity · 2015 · 1.1k words. Overthinking is a trap. Information gathering feels productive but delays action. The win comes from doing the simplest thing first, not from more research. Adulthood is self-parenting: stop studying, start practicing. Lift heavy weights.
  • 0300: break free from your stale, suffocating patterns — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1k words. A dialogue between two parts of the self about breaking free from self-flagellation and stale patterns. It's about the gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it, closed by small actions like a trip to the gym.
  • 0311: Introducing C — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1k words. A brings his angry friend C to meet B, and they tussle over whether tension needs resolving or just acknowledging. B says the struggle to fix things creates more tension, and mindfulness is the real answer.
  • 0308: Draw, Play, Explore — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.4k words. A dialogue between two selves about the desire to draw, play, and explore, and the fears and self-doubt that block that. The piece works through feeling incapable, the need for trial and error, and the slow practice of becoming trustworthy to oneself.
  • 0312: B and C — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.1k words. A dialogue about anger: its roots in loss of control, its function as a social negotiation tactic, and the need to understand rather than just feel it. B helps C reflect on why she's angry.
  • 0314: writing when tired, little rubbish piles — Writing · 2015 · 1k words. Reflects on different writing processes, transcriptive, accumulative, argumentative, and how each requires different energy. Writing while tired can still produce useful 'little rubbish piles,' serving the broader creative ecosystem.
  • 0316: thinking and talking about anger — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.2k words. A dialogue exploring anger at people's perceived stupidity and unfairness, questioning whether anger is a response we can change. The conversation pushes toward taking responsibility for one's own mindset and a decision to think differently.
  • 0321: move fast and break things — Productivity · 2015 · 1k words. Tackling a backlog of unfinished tasks and the fear of publishing imperfect work. Reflects on GTD, the value of finishing things, and how external help and readiness matter more than sheer willpower.
  • 0315: what do I want to be doing? — Self-Knowledge · 2015 · 1k words. Starting from scratch to figure out what I really want to be doing. Writing, learning, serving others, building habits, asking the question again, aware the answer might shift.
  • 0313: tenative thoughts about content labor and process management — Writing · 2015 · 1.1k words. Writing isn't magic; it's labor. Reframing as 'content laborer' breaks the block. You need process management, raw materials, and lots of reading to squeeze out the good stuff.
  • 0317: somewhat existential — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.1k words. Feeling cloudy and unmotivated, unsure what he cares about anymore. Wants to sleep well and feel powerful, and considers writing more and making vlogs to reconnect with himself.
  • 0320: reading is good — Books & Literature · 2015 · 1k words. Reading books again, and it feels good. Each book is an experience crafted by a writer. He enjoys the mind-opening tangents on time, and works to sustain the practice because it's fundamentally nourishing.
  • 0318: Romance of Late Nights — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.1k words. Late nights have a romance, the quiet, the freedom, the introspection. But now I'm sleeping earlier, waking groggy, wondering if the morning holds a different kind of power. A reflection on sleep, avoidance, and what we give up for the night.
  • 0319: tawk is cheap — Writing · 2015 · 1k words. Reflects on the compulsion to write daily, contrasts it with the cheap validation of internet chatter, and resolves to focus on his own work instead of following strangers into distraction.
  • 0327: put the gun down — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.2k words. Visa realizes he's been beating himself up for mistakes instead of understanding them. His boss's patient curiosity shows him a better way: stop self-flagellation, clarify the plan, and move forward.
  • 0322: an imperfect manifesto — Personal Growth & Self-Improvement · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa tries to write a manifesto of his values, facing fears, being kind, writing daily, caring for the body, then catches himself over-promising and concludes that a single line lived is better than many lines written.
  • 0329: creative destruction is necessary for progress — Habits · 2015 · 1k words. To make progress, you have to break old patterns and habits. He plans to use X-effects for meditation, writing, reviews, and early bedtimes, and sets a running goal to improve his physical condition.
  • 0330: beware overthinking (make decisions quicker) — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1k words. Overthinking is busyness of the mind, a way to avoid decisions and cling to past glory. Visa argues for discarding expectations, acting in the moment, and trusting that you have far more control than you let on. Deep joy comes from delivering on what you say you will.
  • 0324: draw bright lines and stick to them — Habits · 2015 · 1.1k words. Drawing bright lines for habits instead of case-by-case decisions. Stick to one small rule at a time, like publishing a vomit every night, to build momentum without burnout.
  • 0323: beware supernormal stimuli — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1k words. A raw reflection on how easy it is to get hooked on attractive online personas as a substitute for real life. Visa recognizes the trap, the sadness, and commits to daily boring action to rip the illusion out and invest in his meatspace existence.
  • 0326: back on the wagon — Personal Growth & Self-Improvement · 2015 · 1k words. Getting back to writing after a break, Visa reflects on the frustration of falling off the wagon and the questions he wants to explore about overthinking, expectations, and self-flagellation. He commits to the practice despite feeling limited.
  • 0331: primitive map of behaviors pt1 — Habits · 2015 · 1.1k words. Mapping daily routines from waking to work, Visa identifies suboptimal habits and proposes small fixes: leave phone outside bedroom, exercise early, prioritize one task before lunch. A honest audit of how he actually spends his mornings.
  • 0328: the village idiot goes to the forest — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1k words. Village idiot leaves the tavern to find meaning in the forest, discovers it's mostly boring and mundane. Enlightenment is just surviving and appreciating small things, still overthinking inside his head.
  • 0334: procrastination pt 2 — Productivity · 2015 · 1.4k words. A curated collection of anti-procrastination tactics from across the web: salami-slicing tasks, commitment devices, pomodoros, and why we delay. Practical, link-heavy, no fluff.
  • 0333: procrastination pt1 — Productivity · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa digs into articles on procrastination to understand why we put things off: fear, perfectionism, decision paralysis, and finds that the first step is to stop analyzing and start acting.
  • 0332: primitive map of behaviors pt 2 — Habits · 2015 · 1.1k words. A granular map of daily behaviors: post-lunch crashes, lingering at work, shower delays, dinner defaults, and the small habit shifts that would build momentum. Visa captures the gap between knowing and doing, and the need to pre-decide.
  • 0325: sick + facebook again — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1k words. Visa is sick and reflects on quitting Facebook: missing instant info but learning he doesn't need everyone's approval. He feels fragile and unsure what matters, but senses he should just write more and serve people.
  • 0336: wake up do it now — Habits · 2015 · 1.1k words. Waking up late? Blame it on not practicing the habit of getting out of bed when the alarm goes off. The solution isn't wanting it more: it's designing the environment and acting immediately, like writing this vomit instead of wasting more time.
  • 0335: strive for no zero days — Habits · 2015 · 1k words. Visa strives for no zero days to build writing and running streaks. He reflects on the struggle with consistency, fatigue, and wanting to see progress. A reminder to keep showing up even when it's messy.
  • 0340: decide in advance + do it immediately — Habits · 2015 · 1.1k words. Decide in advance what to do and execute immediately. A morning run, cutting nails, canceling a card: all done by pre-commitment and action without overthinking. Visa builds the habit of doing things now.
  • 0338: identify your implicit beliefs — Self-Knowledge · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa lists the unspoken beliefs keeping him stuck, that hard things can wait, that he thrives on last-minute chaos, then maps a path to building excess capacity through small habits like waking early and finishing runs.
  • 0341: avoid “I’ll do it later” — Productivity · 2015 · 1k words. "I'll do it later" is a toxic phrase that causes procrastination and frustration. The fix is to define what 'done' means for work tasks, measure output, and decide in advance like running.
  • 0337: no really do it now — Productivity · 2015 · 1k words. Today was a messy but productive Monday. Visa reflects on procrastination and the power of doing things now, notes his habit of lingering, and decides to move fast.
  • 0343: a pretty good week — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1k words. Visa reflects on a week of sleeping late, avoiding internet drama, and doing dishes. He feels uninspired but finds his anchor in writing daily, in Good Will Hunting, and in real relationships over points.
  • 0294: believe that you can become a responsible person — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa has been avoiding responsibility because he believes he's a fraud who'll fail. He is dismantling that, being responsible is a skill he can practice through repetition, just like mastering a game. He'll start by finishing this vomit streak.
  • 0344: wipe the slate clean and face your problems now — Productivity · 2015 · 1k words. Wipe the slate clean and stop postponing. Reality doesn't go away, so face problems head-on. Just write, publish, detach from outcomes, and trust the process. That's the only way forward.
  • 0347: writing games — Writing · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa maps his writing production line to diagnose blocks, emphasises routine and raw material intake, and reframes writing as a game he plays to amuse himself.
  • 0345: my journey to becoming precise — Writing · 2015 · 1k words. Visa reflects that writing hundreds of vomits has made him more precise, less verbose, more exact. Getting precise changes what you see, not just what you say. The journey is about refining expression and understanding the gap between vague models and reality.
  • 0348: clearly define your done-criteria — Productivity · 2015 · 1.1k words. Define your done-criteria clearly to stop procrastinating. Vague requirements exhaust you; clear ones let you find the simplest path forward. Avoid status games that turn conversations into contests.
  • 0342: tired, re-reading old vomits — Self-Knowledge · 2015 · 1k words. Tired and re-reading old vomits, Visa examines his recurring patterns, procrastination, desire for discipline, and feels humbled by slow progress. He resolves to keep working at becoming reliable and focused.
  • 0339 - real confidence requires practice and awareness — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1k words. Real confidence comes from practice and precision, not just attitude. Visa tracks his daily productivity and writes twice a day, to learn from his own patterns and cut through the waffling.
  • 0350: 3 years from now — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1k words. Visa reflects on a colleague's question about what he wants in three years, maps out goals for building a content team and getting fit, then realizes the need to break them into measurable steps.
  • 0352: if drunk — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1k words. Visa想象自己喝醉后乱写，抱怨世人蠢、生活烂，然后列出一堆不想成为的样子。最后他意识到自己只是在发牢骚，决定去睡觉、跑步、干活。
  • 0353: discharge your strength, productively — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa wants to be productive but he needs to discharge his strength in enduring ways. He is afraid of getting stronger, but he will stop caring what others think and just get stronger so he can help himself and others.
  • 0354: a day at home — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.1k words. A mental health day prompts self-doubt about work motivation. Visa reaffirms his desire to contribute, and resolves to improve rituals for running, meditating, and breaks, with a small daily habit challenge.
  • 0355: punch the goddamn tires — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1k words. Visa reflects on laziness, self-destructive urges, and the need to balance immediate vs. future happiness. Inspired by a kid punching tires, he resolves to channel his intensity into daily writing as his catharsis, with anger and calm in cycles to fuel his commitment.
  • 0356: Less wrong and next steps — Self-Knowledge · 2015 · 1k words. You're probably wrong about a lot of things, especially the beliefs that keep you stuck in cycles of drama and stress. Break the loop by deciding you've had enough, then take small, high-impact steps, and reward reflection so you actually do it.
  • 0360: fuck feeling guilty about not appreciating life — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1k words. Stop feeling guilty about not appreciating life, you appreciate it exactly as much as you need to. Small daily practices like writing or walking beat guilt any day.
  • 0358: red in tooth and claw — Philosophy · 2015 · 1k words. Nature is red in tooth and claw, brutal, indifferent, murdering babies coldly. Civilization sanitizes this reality; we must suspend our feelings and observe phenomena as they are to truly understand.
  • 0357: turning 25 — Life & Meaning · 2015 · 1k words. Turning 25, Visa reflects on growing up, validating himself, and being more mindful. He contrasts his younger self with now, and considers whether to try harder or let go.
  • 0362: latest cigarette thoughts — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1k words. Visa reflects on smoking relapse after six months clean: the ritual, the self-deception, the after-the-fact rationalizations, and the messy repair process. He realizes how much of behavior is shaped by emotional state and blood sugar, not clean narratives.
  • 0349: ‘be dangerous’ — Art & Creativity · 2015 · 1k words. A Dave Trott story about The Who sparks a search for what it means to be dangerous in creative work. Forcing a dangerous mindset doesn't land, but the act of writing itself becomes the output, even when it's a filler.
  • 0363: blood sugar 1 — Health, Fitness & Body · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa reflects on how lifelong erratic blood sugar levels have impacted mood, energy, focus, and procrastination. He describes poor eating habits from childhood and considers the link between diet and mental/physical state.
  • 0351: quarter of a decade — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.1k words. At 25, Visa reflects on being stuck in a loop, tired of rehashing the same complaints, wanting to be dangerous but aware that blowing up isn't the answer. He realizes he needs to think in weeks and months, not days and infinity, and actually solve his problems instead of perpetually revisiting them.
  • 0367: history of my writing journey — Writing · 2015 · 1.2k words. Visa traces his writing journey from childhood to Quora to blogging to content marketing, reflecting on his mixed motives, love of words, desire for relevance, righteous anger, and his evolving style as a writer.
  • 0359: one coherent picture — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1k words. Visa wants a single coherent worldview to reduce mental fragmentation, reconciling nature's indifference, human suffering, and daily life. Everything boils down to cause-effect and pleasure/pain; change the inputs to change your state. A unified lens for practical problem-solving.
  • 0368: ugh fields — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1k words. Visa explores the concept of 'ugh fields', mental spaces we instinctively avoid, and recognizes his own around work and school. He resolves to stop stagnating and directly face these discomfort zones one by one.
  • 0361: strive to play the bigger games — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa is trying to start each day writing, but getting distracted. He reflects on guilt, wants sympathy, and decides to play bigger games instead, to be like Shepard, solve his own problems, and grow.
  • 0366: “I was stuck but not anymore”, again — Habits · 2015 · 1k words. Visa quit smoking, relapsed when his wife and friend normalized it, now quit again. He's walked this territory before, knows the pattern, and is determined not to let another decade slip into the same cycle.
  • 0370: Do the loyalty missions and embody hard truths — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.5k words. Growing up means replacing the fantasy of a wiser future self with hard truths: nobody owes you care, you earn it by delivering value. Focus on present challenges, listen to your body, and stop romanticizing the past.
  • 0373: revisiting the origin (of the word vomit project): I want to be a better version of myself — Writing · 2015 · 1.1k words. Revisiting the origins of his word vomit project, Visa reflects on his motivations, the gap between hope and reality, and what he's learning about himself. He commits to continuing, using the project to train commitment and focus rather than chase empty validation.
  • 0371: a table of my own — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.4k words. Revisiting the origins of his word vomit project, Visa reflects on his motivations, the gap between hope and reality, and what he's learning about himself. He commits to continuing, the project a way to train commitment and focus rather than chase empty validation.
  • 0372: no escaping the rehearsals — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.4k words. Visa is stuck fixating on his past without learning from it, playing the self-pity game for validation. He realizes he needs to shift his mental game, prepare, and rehearse, no escaping the reading and practice. It's about moving from wallowing to readiness.
  • 0374: consider what’s changed and prepare for future change — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1k words. Visa reflects on what's changed, marriage, job, health, relationships, and committing to walk into discomfort, live with discipline and joy, stop overthinking, and measure output over talk.
  • 0365: stuff I’d like done — Productivity · 2015 · 1k words. Visa wants systems and plans for everything, reading, diet, exercise, sleep. Right now he is just thinking out loud about what he'd like done so he can figure out what to do next.
  • 0376: meditate and reflect to unlearn childish incompetence — Habits · 2015 · 1k words. Sleep-deprived and foggy, Visa reflects on how discipline earns the fun he wants. The vision: carve out space for play and connection by getting shit done, and it begins with better sleep and self-accountability.
  • 0375: body-wisdom and metaphorical car accidents — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1k words. The body sends warnings, a sinking feeling, clenched stomach, that Visa has ignored for 20 years. He keeps crossing the road blindly, getting hit by metaphorical cars, and complaining about it in the hospital instead of changing his behavior.
  • 0381: fuck fear — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.1k words. Fear is a liar. Visa was pretending to be confident but really afraid. Now he is done hesitating. He will look stupid, run anyway, learn to swim, cook, wake up early. He is taking responsibility. Let's go.
  • 0377: social groups and answers within — Status & Social Dynamics · 2015 · 1k words. Visa reflects on fixating on social groups as reality, realizes need to deliberately choose influences. Answers come from within through daily action and reflection, not from external gurus.
  • 0382: wake up earlier for a different life — Habits · 2015 · 1k words. Waking up early changes everything, but the battle is with the voices inside. Visa struggled through procrastination, rewarded himself for showing up, and realized the real task is to know his priorities and fulfill his obligations without the artifice.
  • 0378: stop describing problems without solving them — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 893 words. Stop describing problems and start solving them. The flinch and fear of failure keep you stuck; accept being wrong and just act. Describe only to pinpoint the solution, then execute.
  • 0384: express your values through planned actions — Habits · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa commits to waking at 6am and sending daily progress to his boss. By tracking streaks and aligning actions with values, he aims to replace aimless wandering with satisfying progress.
  • 0380: what I’m leaving behind — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1k words. Visa is leaving behind people-pleasing, phone games, and anxious thoughts. He knows he is in control, everything is a choice. He is going to become a novelist, focus, meditate, execute. He has already won; he just needs to walk it out.
  • 0383: review your principles regularly — Self-Knowledge · 2015 · 1.2k words. A raw, honest inventory of personal principles: naming what he really wants, confronting fears, and committing to growth. Visa reflects on values as a living practice, not a checklist.
  • 0346: finish (or decisively abandon) what you start — Habits · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa reflects on the urge to start new things and the difficulty of finishing them. Real pleasure comes from completion, not novelty, and even complaints can be signals to act.
  • 0369: skin in the game and growing up — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1k words. Reading about growing up won't make you grow up, you need real stakes. Time to stop overthinking, take the leap, and actually do the things that matter.
  • 0388: I will write — Writing · 2015 · 1k words. Writing is his core identity and vocation. Visa commits to continuing regardless of audience, driven by a lifelong love of words and a desire to write stories and novels.
  • 0379: I can — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1k words. Time is the true villain. Visa wants to do significant work before he dies, so he must seize each moment, attack his circumstances, and ship. He can keep going.
  • 0385: schedule revisions for learning through repetition — Habits · 2015 · 1.3k words. Visa argues that repetition and scheduled revision are necessary for learning to stick. Using his own struggles with guitar and school, he commits to daily review as a cornerstone habit.
  • 0364: tidy up your mental filing cabinets — Self-Knowledge · 2015 · 1.3k words. Visa offers the metaphor of mental filing cabinets, messy collections of beliefs and worries, and argues for organizing them into simple heuristics. The goal is to stop reinventing the wheel and free up cognitive resources for living.
  • 0392: life is precious — Life & Meaning · 2015 · 1.2k words. Life is precious and limited. To enjoy it, you must figure out what you really want and optimize your work and resources to support that, rather than wasting time on things that don't matter.
  • 0391: examples of wrong feelings — Self-Knowledge · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa's feelings are often unreliable, so he is listing the ones that are wrong, like thinking he can multitask or that he doesn't need rest, and committing to act instead. The only thing stopping him is fear, and that's a wrong feeling too.
  • 0394: the problem with the motivation game — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.1k words. The motivation game, trying to boss your inner child into action, fails because it ignores what the child actually wants. Real change comes from listening, not bullying.
  • 0395: procrastination as Parent vs Child breakdown — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.1k words. Procrastination is a multifaceted breakdown between the inner Parent and Child, rooted in fear and mismatch. Visa explores why severe procrastination resists simple fixes and aims to understand it from the inside out.
  • 0397: stop living life stressfully (the elephant can break free) — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.1k words. Quit living life like a tied elephant, nibbling pleasure while dreading obligations. Acknowledge the trap, then work on freeing yourself instead of commiserating with others. No secrets, just effort.
  • 0389: get your ass up and walk that tightrope, son — Productivity · 2015 · 1k words. Stop waiting for readiness: act now. Escaping the cycle of procrastination requires breaking down tasks, building better habits, and ignoring unreliable feelings. The only way forward is to work in the dark, fail, evaluate, and try again.
  • 0390: my feelings are often wrong and unreliable — Self-Knowledge · 2015 · 1.2k words. Feelings are often wrong and lead us astray. Instead of trusting them, rely on enduring principles. Publish as a checkbox, but the real work remains.
  • 0399: good conversations do not write novels — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.3k words. The body sends warnings, a sinking feeling, clenched stomach, that Visa has ignored for 20 years. He keeps crossing the road blindly, gets hit by metaphorical cars, and complains about it in the hospital instead of changing his behavior.
  • 0396: publish crap — Writing · 2015 · 1k words. Sifting through 400 old vomits feels like a massive project, but the real block is fear of publishing crap. Publishing duds every day is way better than publishing nothing: gotta rely on instruments, not feelings, and just keep the chain going.
  • 0393: earn your own trust — Self-Knowledge · 2015 · 1.2k words. Trust is something you earn by testing yourself, not by believing your feelings. The only reliable evidence is data, but even that is interpreted; you have to systematically eliminate what's wrong and see what survives.
  • 0386: soooo sleepy — Habits · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa is tired but keeping the streak. He is waking up at 6am, printing out his vomits, reading books everywhere, just pushing through to get the words out and go to bed.
  • 0406: nobody summits a mountain by going on a random walk — Habits · 2015 · 1k words. Building habits with Rewire: 5 minutes of meditation, 5 pushups, a word vomit a day. Nobody summits a mountain by random walking; it's about deliberate daily progress and a script for recovery after slips.
  • 0402: a yearning for deep companionship — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa yearns for deep companionship and creative partnership, but recognizes the emptiness within must be self-sourced first. Restlessness masks a need to rest, build habits, and give himself the attention he craves from others.
  • 0403: missed a vomit — Habits · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa breaks a daily writing streak and examines why his habit installations keep failing. The fix: ease in gradually, put money on the line, and use visible tracking instead of all-at-once overhauls.
  • 0404: some things change, some things stay the same — Writing · 2015 · 1.1k words. Reading old writing, Visa notes his style has become more succinct and analytical, while his core life insights, sleep, habits, discipline, remain stubbornly unchanged. He resolves to finally act on the truths he's long known, embracing the continuity.
  • 0401: consider absurdity of tapping on glass — Games · 2015 · 1k words. Visa plays idle mobile games for the easy feedback even though he knows it's stupid. His brain craves stimulation at a mundane level when he doesn't have energy for higher things. No judgment, just an observation.
  • 0405: dealing with slipping and with foggy black boxes — Habits · 2015 · 1k words. Reading old writing, Visa notes his style has become more succinct and analytical, while his core life insights, sleep, habits, discipline, remain stubbornly unchanged. He resolves to finally act on the truths he's long known, and to embrace the continuity.
  • 0407: description of an average day — Habits · 2015 · 1.1k words. A diary-style walk through a typical day: waking groggy, checking notifications, commuting, working, and evening unwinding. Notes of frustration with unproductive routines and small plans to fix them with better habits.
  • 0400: liberate truths from their boxes — Habits · 2015 · 1.1k words. We hoard insights from books like truths in boxes, sniffing them but never internalizing. To truly change, we need practice, habit design, and environment redesign, not just more collection.
  • 0398: beware of digression — Writing · 2015 · 1.5k words. Reflecting on old vomits, Visa sees how his love for digression once sabotaged focus. Now he prioritizes the core story before adding flavor. Consistent practice, not wild exploration, leads to real growth as a writer and person.
  • 0409: emotion in writing — Writing · 2015 · 1.1k words. Emotion is central to writing, but must be balanced with dispassionate research and editing. Write fast to tap the subconscious, then revise ruthlessly to find the true story.
  • 0411: writing aspirationally — Writing · 2015 · 1k words. Reading Alain de Botton reminds him of the power of aspirational writing. Visa is in his cave honing craft, but admits he wants to move people and inspire. He captures intent before it fades, then gets back to work.
  • 0408: (resist the) tendency to talk in explanations — Writing · 2015 · 1.1k words. The urge to explain everything often produces neat fictions, not truth. Instead of handwavey explanations, be observant and let the truth reveal itself. Resist the tendency to over-explain and settle for convenient narratives. The truth doesn't need much explanation.
  • 0414: i want to host dinner parties — Friendship & Community · 2015 · 1k words. A reflection on wanting to host dinner parties at 80 with people you've known for decades, and realizing that you have to start today, with small coffee dates, to build and sustain those relationships.
  • 0412: on conversations again — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.2k words. A reflection on what makes a conversation truly good, beyond exchanging information, it's about communicating care and authenticity. Context matters, scripts feel safe but deadening; strangers can sometimes give us the freedom to be our current selves.
  • 0413: stop trying to save the world — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.2k words. We want to save the world as a performance of a caring identity. The real work is to turn inward and save ourselves, because you can't fix the world until you fix yourself.
  • 0417: idea-resistance, one journey, saying no, falling off wagons — Self-Knowledge · 2015 · 1k words. The only real journey is self-mastery. Identify easy reconfigurations before big changes. Say no to most things to focus on a few. When you fall off, don't beat yourself up; learn and get back on.
  • 0416: be precise about execution and work hard — Habits · 2015 · 1.2k words. Stop overthinking motivation and get precise about execution. Break down goals into concrete steps, identify obstacles, and force new habits with commitment devices. Just write and ship consistently, get better at the doing.
  • 0419: identify and overcome your intrinsic weaknesses — Self-Knowledge · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa examines his recurring patterns of procrastination, self-deception, and avoidance of discomfort. He identifies his weakness as failing to do hard, messy work daily, and concludes the only way through is to face discomfort and take consistent action.
  • 0410: shelves of books and nothing to read — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1k words. Visa is dealing with his tendency to slip on commitments. He realizes rationalization is diversionary, and confronts his fear of unknown 'foggy black boxes' by learning to ask questions and be kind to himself.
  • 0420: intelligently power through plateaus and don’t give up — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.2k words. Plateaus are normal; the real problem is our addiction to feedback. To break through, keep a clear long-term goal, track output, and accept that persistence often feels pointless before it pays off.
  • 0423: muddled time — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1k words. Reflecting on time passing, an old Facebook scroll shows how much I've changed, or haven't. Memories are recreated, not recalled. Forgiving myself and actually doing the things I know work (meditate, exercise) would help, but I'm still waiting.
  • 0421: beware false victory, and validation — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1k words. Warning against the victory lap after overperformance. Visa reflects on his pattern of squandering leads, decides to push through despite the urge to rest, and reframes validation as a learning tool rather than a resting signal.
  • 0424: the yin-yang nature of our inner child and parent — Self-Knowledge · 2015 · 978 words. Visa reflects on balancing inner child and parent, childlike curiosity with adult persistence. Examining his past need for approval, he realizes the good stuff comes from embodying both, like Einstein and Da Vinci, and that he must act despite lingering soreness.
  • 0426 + 0427: significance requires responsibility — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 2.4k words. Visa craves significance but has been chasing cheap validation instead of real responsibility. Fear of failing keeps him small; the only way to be significant is to take on the responsibility he's been avoiding.
  • 0418: do periodic reviews at multiple timescales, experience the joy of reviewing — Productivity · 2015 · 1.2k words. Visakaps on designing review systems at multiple timescales to level up. He reflects on shifting perspectives and building a believable narrative by expanding his sense of possibility through action.
  • 0415: how to have meaningful interactions + game mechanics in life — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.1k words. Meaningful interactions change your mind. Treat life like a game: track habits, reward consistency, and grow. Start with small moves, keep logs, and reverse-engineer crashes.
  • 0428: define integrity and embody it — Self-Knowledge · 2015 · 1k words. Integrity isn't a hollow school slogan but a practical self-consistency that makes life simpler. I used to be proud of being unreliable; now I see that doing what I say is less exhausting and builds better relationships.
  • 0387: knocked down but bouncing back — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.2k words. Ziekte gooide me van de rails, maar ik ben terug. Discipline en routine werken niet zonder een goed doel. Ik ga de oude ik vernietigen, elke dag trainen en vooruit. Imperfect is de enige weg.
  • 0431: your priorities are what you do, not what you say you’ll do — Productivity · 2015 · 1.1k words. Your real priorities are where you actually spend time, not what you say. Visa examines his habit of deferring top tasks, the gap between intention and action, and commits to aligning daily work with stated priorities.
  • 0433: evolving the 1000wordvomits project — Writing · 2015 · 1k words. The daily-writing project needs a review loop: read, catalogue, and summarize old vomits to break the ceiling of repeating yourself. Quantity alone won't hack it anymore.
  • 0429: dissatisfaction with vomits; how to fix? — Writing · 2015 · 1k words. Visa reflects on why his vomits feel stale, he rambles on starting conditions instead of distilling them. He proposes asking sharper questions and building a system to surface past thinking. The real fix may be to stop forcing and do the bookkeeping instead.
  • 0422: reconfiguring things to become a better writer — Self-Knowledge · 2015 · 1k words. Visits a recurring feeling of being fundamentally wrong and unprepared for life. Decides to stop distracting himself and instead use the lens of becoming a better writer to organize his choices and find clarity.
  • 0432: let go of your fixations — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa is exhausted by fixations that keep him stuck. He wants to draw graphs to visualize his life and close the gap between intentions and actions, but knows the real work is translating head-knowledge into visceral motivation.
  • 0435: earn some self-respect — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1k words. Reading The Fountainhead sparks a personal inquiry into what it really means to earn your own self-respect, beyond others' opinions. Visa asks himself the same question, and decides to sit with it privately.
  • 0434: go somewhere new — Writing · 2015 · 1.1k words. Tired of rehashing the same old thoughts in his daily vomits, he commits to analyzing past work and possibly writing fiction instead. The boredom is both a signal and a problem to solve.
  • 0436: people will always misinterpret you, so focus on earning your own self-respect — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1k words. People will always misinterpret you, so focus on earning your own self-respect. But staying disciplined with daily writing is hard, distraction and time-blindness snowball. Still, maintain the schedule and trust the process.
  • 0430: needed changes and a perfect month — Habits · 2015 · 1k words. He's committing to daily reviews, a spindle for tracking tasks, and a perfect streak of word vomits in August. He recognizes the need for structure and stakes to match his writing discipline at work.
  • 0439: perpetual wistfulness — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.3k words. A 25-year-old married homeowner with a functional body and mind still feels perpetually wistful, haunted by unmet expectations of strength and discipline. He realizes the gap between his imagined self and reality can only be closed by action, not thought.
  • 0440: reading old vomits (and thoughts for new ones) — Writing · 2015 · 1k words. Reading old word vomits shows I've already covered most things I need to think about. Now I must systematically incorporate old material into new work, keep publishing daily, and build a map of my recurring ideas.
  • 0441: peopling, and silly — Friendship & Community · 2015 · 1k words. Visa's wife away for a month, he realizes he's been neglecting his need for social connection. Meeting a group of t-shirt retailers reminds him that good people and third spaces don't appear on their own, you have to schedule them like anything else important in adulthood.
  • 0438: break in case of utter desolation: a script — Productivity · 2015 · 1k words. A crisis script for when you're utterly overwhelmed: stop, take stock, break tasks into 25-minute chunks, and prioritize ruthlessly. Face the fear that's blocking you, then ship the minimum necessary.
  • 0444: Hello, World. — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1k words. Visa is awake, alive, electric. Shaking off old baggage, he commits to writing and doing what he says. No more navel-gazing; he will persist with clarity and create.
  • 0442: insist on prioritizing — Productivity · 2015 · 1.1k words. Priorities are meaningless if you don't truly believe in them, without conviction, feelings take over and you drift. The fix isn't just listing priorities but installing the belief that they matter, one hard choice at a time.
  • 0443: GTD, prioritization, dealing with interruptions and distractions — Productivity · 2015 · 1k words. Prioritize one high-impact task per day, work in tiny undistracted chunks, and let small wins compound. Self-regulation starts with bare minimums that you keep rock-solid. Good days become the new normal through consistency.
  • 0445: onward — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1k words. After a peak-state day, he's riding the comedown by sticking to his daily word-vomit commitment and deconstructing old habits like his grip and avoidances. It's about retraining his psychology to turn insight into consistent action.
  • 0446: switching to stories — Writing · 2015 · 1.1k words. After losing a 1000-word vomit to a WordPress glitch, Visa decides to pivot his writing project from personal introspection to short stories, fiction, and creative exploration as a deliberate stretch.
  • 0452: strive to resolve recurring guilty dreams via meditation — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.3k words. Visa explores recurring dreams of guilt and failure, using meditation and self-reflection to understand and release shame from past experiences, including school and relationships. The challenge is to acknowledge failures without adding more anger or shame.
  • 0437: stop walking over the same old ground — Self-Knowledge · 2015 · 1k words. Reading through old vomits confirms he's already said most of what he needs to know about his own mind. Now it's time to synthesize, refactor, and build a stable base, while taking charge of his schedule and believing in himself.
  • 0448: parents, peers and other benevolent plagues — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.7k words. Growing up means navigating protective parents who hide reality and peers who offer flattering escapes. The healthier path: treat young people as full persons, encourage self-exploration, and be gentle with dreams.
  • 0447: Cameron — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.1k words. Cameron's life in three acts: a hyperactive, curious child; a distracted, underachieving teenager; a broken young adult drifting through cheap poker nights, a quiet portrait of neurodivergence and the gradual dimming of spirit.
  • 0451: the moral failure fixation is a red herring — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.2k words. Visa realized his fixation on moral failure was a red herring; shifting from guilt to responsibility and self-examination helped him feel less trapped.
  • 0450: practice taking pauses — Habits · 2015 · 1.1k words. Returning from burnout, Visa commits to the practice of pausing when distraction cravings hit instead of reaching for novelty. Sleep, gym, and framing problems in small chunks are the real priorities, not another streak.
  • 0449: How to think about categorizing blogposts — Writing · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa reflects on his writing project, realizing his vomits lack structure and need better categorization. Visa proposes organizing them by questions, hypotheses, and observations to make his writing more focused and useful.
  • 0453: contemplate presence and impermanence — Life & Meaning · 2015 · 1k words. Looking in the mirror reminds him that nothing stays the same, not his body, not his mind. Visa walks through the weight of impermanence, the fear of death, and the quiet pull to just show up and be useful while he's here.
  • 0455: the joy of working with constraints — Life & Meaning · 2015 · 1.3k words. Constraints, death, time, daily limits, aren't just burdens. This piece meditates on how working within them can generate joy, meaning, and beauty. The ultimate constraint is mortality, and learning to live with it is the work of a life.
  • 0458: oceanic moments of being — Life & Meaning · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa is exploring these oceanic moments of being, those clear lucid present feelings. He wants to capture them through writing, not to catalog his life but to know he has lived it. Balancing living and examining, Visa is convinced it's worth the effort.
  • 0454: the echochamber is the siren — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.1k words. After the election results shattered his assumptions, Visa realizes his echo chamber gave him a false map of reality. He decides to stop obsessing over things he can't influence and focus on what he can actually change.
  • 0460: dance along to your internal compass — Life & Meaning · 2015 · 1.2k words. Life's point isn't goals, processes, or values in themselves, it's the dance. Tend your body, earn your own self-respect, and follow your internal compass back to the moment.
  • 0463: when does a boy become a man? — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa explores when a boy becomes a man, tribal rituals, economic responsibility, but circles back to his own need for validation and self-respect. The real work is taking responsibility and persisting, even when you feel you're trailing behind.
  • 0461: we are all miseducated: accept it and deal with it — Education & Learning · 2015 · 1k words. Realizing school and parents didn't prepare him for life, Visa resolves to self-educate. He reflects on change, decluttering parallel lives, and the ongoing challenge of earning self-respect.
  • 0462: beware grandiose proclamations — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.1k words. Grand proclamations are overrated; real change comes from small, consistent actions like writing another vomit or fulfilling the next obligation. The fear of never being truly on top is a limiting belief, but past growth shows it's not true.
  • 0459: just a little tired — Habits · 2015 · 1k words. Visa is tired after waking early; he realizes sleep and diet need fixing together. He reflects on relying too much on improvisation and needs precise instructions to manage energy and stop firefighting downstream. He goes off to bed to climb the next local maxima.
  • 0464: experiment with different mediums — Writing · 2015 · 1k words. Visa thinks about trying Medium, feeling performance anxiety despite experience. He reflects on friendship and love for people who care, and the hollowness of dreams and ambitions.
  • 0465: the world doesn’t need another personal development blog — Writing · 2015 · 1.1k words. You can't write what you don't know, so Visa uses his vomit project to shorten the gap between input and output. He's abandoned his old personal development blog for a more authentic approach: writing what he needs to read now, for himself.
  • 0466: beware fuckarounditis — Productivity · 2015 · 1k words. Fuckarounditis is wasting time on minor details instead of the top priority. The cure: acknowledge it, ask what's most important, then either do it or rest. Lift, eat, rest, applied to work and life.
  • 0469: make the decision to grow — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.3k words. Visa is stuck in a loop of knowing what to do but not doing it. The real decision is to commit to growth, stop Hamlet-ing, and take action. It's about internalizing the choice to grow.
  • 0468: boredom is a bug of the mind — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1k words. Boredom isn't really about having nothing to do; it's a tired mind overwhelmed by too many choices, unable to find the optimal one. The fix: rest, declutter, satisfice instead of optimize.
  • 0472: experiment with pretending you don’t have problems — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1k words. A dialogue exploring the addiction to worry and drama as self-limitation. Proposes a 12-week experiment of pretending to have no problems, treating the self-narrative as a placebo to break the cycle and perform at best.
  • 0467: past-induced glitchy limbo — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa feels stuck in a glitchy limbo, fixating on people from his past and seeking closure. He wants a deep conversation with someone like him, and uses writing as a substitute. The piece is about feeling stuck and the desire to move on.
  • 0457: the joy of working with constraints, pt 3 — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1k words. Reality's limits are real, but self-imposed mental constraints aren't. Breaking through them to discover what you're actually capable of is a recurring joy. Growth is exhilarating.
  • 0456: the joy of working with constraints, pt 2 — Productivity · 2015 · 1k words. Visa reflects on the gap between getting what you want and enjoying it, and how energy level, from diet, sleep, and focus, determines what he can access in himself. A push to be more productive and fulfilled by managing your energetic constraints.
  • 0471: strive for mastery in the artful application of force — Personal Growth & Self-Improvement · 2015 · 1k words. Life is about applying force artfully, managing your energy like a coach channels a child's exuberance. Break inherited shackles and dance instead of sleepwalking to the grave.
  • 0474: “Do you have any writing advice?” — Writing · 2015 · 1.4k words. Most bad writing happens because the writer doesn't know what they really want to say. Drop the polish, find your line of action, read voraciously, write tons, edit ruthlessly, and enjoy yourself.
  • 0478: moving forward means letting go — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1k words. A reflection on letting go of past insecurities and resentments to move forward. Visa sets intentions to mentor young writers, improve time management, and pursue music, a reminder to focus on what matters and get comfortable with discomfort.
  • 0425: replace hyperbole with precision — Self-Knowledge · 2015 · 1.3k words. Visa notices his habit of hyperbole, calling things 'best ever', is a vestige of low-stakes social media chasing likes. To be useful to the people he respects, he'll replace hand-waving with precision, in respect for others' time and his own thinking.
  • 0470: to be or not to be (in one’s self-interest) — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.7k words. Struggling with whether he's okay, Visa traces his anxiety back to not acting in his own best interests. He reflects on learned behaviors from school and the need to unlearn them by focusing on outcomes and designing structures for himself.
  • 0480: “Why do you read?” — Books & Literature · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa reads to feel part of humanity, to escape boredom, and to see through others' eyes. Books are mind-altering substances that connect him to the vast ocean of human thought.
  • 0479: revisit the Resistance — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.1k words. Re-reading Pressfield's War of Art, Visa sees Resistance as a compass that always points to the work he most needs to do. Taking responsibility and facing fear head-on is the only way out, so he's back to writing.
  • 0482: gooey people and prickly people — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1k words. Visa refracts Alan Watts' gooey/prickly binary through his own life. He finds both sides incomplete and seeks a personal balance, embracing the meaning of his own writing as a deliberate, meaningful absurdity.
  • 0485: the athlete must play hurt — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1k words. Playing hurt means showing up even when you don't feel ready. Life hacks fail because the real problems are deeper, fear, anxiety, lack of discipline. The only way to recover is to play.
  • 0484: use good tools (but don’t obssess endlessly about them) — Productivity · 2015 · 1.2k words. Good tools matter, but don't obsess over them; you learn what you need by doing things badly. The real point is to pick something and run with it, then refine along the way.
  • 0488: getting shit done is a lot of work — Productivity · 2015 · 1k words. Morning vomit about the work of getting organized, merging Workflowy folders, sorting reading priorities, and managing mental clutter. The muddiness is temporary; keeping at it builds clarity and discipline.
  • 0475 + 0476 + 0477: How did I get here? — Self-Knowledge · 2015 · 3k words. Visa reflects on personal growth from chaotic teen to more disciplined, self-aware adult. He examines habits, mindset, relationships, and the ongoing project of understanding and aligning himself.
  • 0483: stop fussing about Poor Little Me — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.1k words. Stop playing Poor Little Me when you avoid work. The worry feels meaningful but is optional, let it go, do what you actually want. Your true North is the work you know in your heart, not the comfort of stress.
  • 0487: progress is cringeborne — Self-Knowledge · 2015 · 1k words. Cringing at your past self is the sound of progress. Visa reflects on his social obliviousness, his desire to become more sensitive, and how the embarrassment of old behavior proves he's finally seeing clearly.
  • 0490: mindfully avoid muscle memory — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1k words. As Visa approaches the halfway mark of his 1000-word vomits, he reflects on the arbitrary nature of milestones and the importance of mindfulness. The real value is in staying present and avoiding the default of muscle memory: relax into the process.
  • 0489: take memories of yourself that you like, and make them more vivid — Self-Knowledge · 2015 · 1k words. A weekend of cleaning and organizing leads to reflections on a self-help book about self-concept. By revisiting and brightening memories you like, you can deliberately shape your identity and heal old hurts.
  • 0473: strive to breathe easier — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa has been distracted and failing to finish writing, but he is learning not to beat himself up. Understanding distraction as relative, he wants to develop discipline as a skill and adopt a cat-like approach: rest when done, then move on.
  • 0492: nothing lived ever goes to waste if you’re mindful and kind — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1k words. Reflecting on a childhood spent playing video games, Visa wonders if he missed out on structure. He concludes that all experiences, even seemingly wasted ones, are valuable if approached with mindfulness and kindness.
  • 0491: everything changes so stop holding so tight — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1k words. Change is constant; stop holding tight. Embrace the need for constant revision and the cycle of action and reflection. Let go of control and perfectionism to focus on what matters.
  • 0493: suspend judgement of low-res work, increase resolution through practice — Writing · 2015 · 1.2k words. Writing practice reveals the gap between taste and ability; resolution improves with reps. Watching a beginner stumble mirrors his own earlier struggles and reinforces the need to suspend judgment and keep writing.
  • 0495: 5 away from 0500 while revisiting 1 to 0050s — Personal Growth & Self-Improvement · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa reflects on approaching 500 vomits, revisiting first 50, and how he's changed. He notes what's stayed the same (self-care habits) and changed (perspective, priorities). He buys a squat rack to eliminate excuses, sees 500 as a personal growth milestone.
  • 0494: get into the arena and play to win — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.1k words. Get into the arena and play to win. Stop being a spectator who gets the point; commit to real work, real constraints, and focused practice. The only way to be right is to win.
  • 0498: commit to perpetually upgrading your software (Push The Big Red Button) — Habits · 2015 · 1.1k words. If you had a Big Red Button that forced you into a routine, what would it be? Commit to a daily process of upgrading your software: do the work even when you don't feel like it, and discover who you really are.
  • 0486: boredom is a symptom of a cluttered mind — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.1k words. Boredom isn't about having nothing to do: it's a cluttered mind not knowing what it wants. Organize your options, clarify your goals, and the feeling lifts.
  • 0499: what would Visa like to read? — Art & Creativity · 2015 · 1k words. Visa reflects on a friend's question, then turns inward to ask what he himself wants to write and read. He explores story ideas (Gandalf and Aragorn, void deck movie, fan-fiction) and concludes that he should write to scratch his own itches.
  • 0501: regularly revise your personal narrative and self-concept — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1k words. Visa's work routines still don't stick because of an old narrative around obligations. He needs to rewrite that story: treat work as play, swap the self-concept rather than just willpower.
  • 0500: I’m proud of you — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1k words. A milestone reflection on 500 word vomits, where Visa catalogs what he's proud of, habits, relationships, writing, and writes a letter to his future self about perseverance and self-belief. An earned pep talk.
  • 0503: troubleshooting my first story — Writing · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa wants to start writing fiction but is scared to leave his comfort zone. This vomit troubleshoots the barriers: overthinking, needing conflict, and not knowing the ending.
  • 0497: adjust the resolution of your map to suit your quest — Philosophy · 2015 · 1k words. A conceptual reflection on the idea of 'resolution' in mental maps: how granularity should match the task, how power dynamics force resolution changes, and the challenge of using a higher-resolution map than required. Written in a meta, self-exploratory style.
  • 0496: identify personal baggage that needs addressing, and address it — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 970 words. Guilt has been the dominant emotion of Visa's life. Revisiting old memories with his parents triggered a physiological response, showing how deep the baggage goes. Changing the story we tell ourselves might rewire the brain, but acknowledging the problem is only the first step.
  • 0505: troubleshooting stories, pt 2 — Writing · 2015 · 1k words. Visa talks through ending a story, unsure if 'learn to live with not knowing' lands. He considers euphoria or service, and settles on a trajectory from ignorance to joy. Still sorting out conflict and setting.
  • 0502: set aside time for scheduled personal software debugging — Personal Growth & Self-Improvement · 2015 · 1k words. After a marketing event, Visa realizes he needs to systematically upgrade his cognitive software and physical hardware: consolidate his best writing, build better routines, and do weekly reviews to break out of old patterns.
  • 0507: what does love mean to you? — Psychology & Emotions · 2015 · 1.1k words. A conversation about love, communication, and the weight of adulthood. Asking 'what does love mean?' reveals the gulf between what we say and what we mean, and the difficulty of truly being understood.
  • 0504: the pebble in the shoe is worse than a rocky road — Self-Knowledge · 2015 · 1.2k words. Visa reviews old vomits, which shows progress and recurring patterns. The real friction is internal; focus on habits, obligations, and thought patterns before tackling external challenges.
  • 0512: be a player, not a spectator — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.1k words. Players focus on winning; spectators focus on players. To stop being a spectator, take action and compete in your own life. Don't get lost theorizing: impress yourself by doing.
  • 0510: eliminate information feeds that don’t serve you — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1k words. Stop consuming information that doesn't align with your goals. Focus on what serves you, build deep relationships through shared difficulty, and avoid over-optimizing the process of elimination.
  • 0508: writing publicly again — Writing · 2015 · 1k words. He's returning to public writing after a break, planning daily Facebook statuses and weekly posts on Medium and marketing, while continuing private fiction practice to build his skills.
  • 0509: putting my gains first — Health, Fitness & Body · 2015 · 1.4k words. Prioritizing physical strength as the primary goal, the author explains how consistent home gym workouts led to measurable gains and improved confidence, arguing that making fitness the #1 focus forces better habits across sleep, diet, and work productivity.
  • 0513: reviewing 2015 — Personal Growth & Self-Improvement · 2015 · 1k words. Reviewing the year's highs: a home gym transformed his strength and mindset, a GTD system clicked, and writing output tripled. Regrets about neglecting friends push him to schedule more time with loved ones next year.
  • 0506: More Power: What can I do to raise my voltage? — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.1k words. Visa's blog manifesto centers on "More Power", not domination, but personal capacity to effect change. He's exploring how discipline, focus, habits, and honest writing can raise his voltage, and wonders what kind of community he could build around that aim.
  • 0481: consider glorious possibilities of new ideascapes — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1.1k words. Woke up early excited after reading books; realizing I need vast ideas to fight superficiality and create my own meaning. The possibility of new ideascapes keeps me sane and eager.
  • 0514: don’t build taj mahals — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1k words. Don't build Taj Mahals: isolated grand projects that vanish when the patron dies. Instead, grow systems, cultures, and habits that sustain themselves. Stop second-guessing; define fundamental principles and let them drive decisions, not passing moods.
  • 0511: prioritize strength — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 1k words. Most online stuff is just entertainment. The real priority is building personal strength: physical, then everything else. Lifting heavy weights made Visa truly believe: he can get stronger, and that's what he should do.
  • 0120: build self-control like building a company — Habits · 2014 · 1.1k words. Building self-control is like building a company: start small and dominate the basics before scaling. Most productivity is habit and routine, not conscious effort. Focus on one small thing mindfully, get small victories, and keep moving.
  • 0123: laziness as work aversion — Psychology & Emotions · 2014 · 1.3k words. Lazy is a blunt label that hides more than it reveals. Work-aversion is a better lens: understanding why a kid grinds at games but not school comes down to purpose, narrative, and how they see their future.
  • 0124: Stop living in the past — Psychology & Emotions · 2014 · 1.1k words. Visa reflects on mindfulness and the trap of fixating on past or future. He advocates mining the past for insight to live better now, while accepting the present as the only place where life happens. He encourages writing daily and building relationships with limited time.
  • 0122: whenever i stop smoking — Health, Fitness & Body · 2014 · 1k words. When Visa stops smoking, his body goes through a vivid recovery: eyes get wetter, taste returns, lung capacity jumps. The daily discomforts of smoking sneak up slowly, but reversing them is beautiful.
  • 0127: not enjoying games — Psychology & Emotions · 2014 · 1k words. Visa procrastinates by replaying an old game, then spirals into existential despair about suffering and meaninglessness. He questions his own worth and proposes an "order of neglect" for when life falls apart, but can't escape the darkness.
  • 0125: consider the self as a state — Self-Knowledge · 2014 · 1.2k words. Using the metaphor of a nation-state, Visa argues that managing oneself requires internal democracy and transparency. Distractions like political outrage often mask a failure to lead the many 'persons' within, from the writer to the traveler.
  • 0129: consider the future of education — Education & Learning · 2014 · 1.1k words. Schooling is stuck in an old model that trains cogs, but the world now rewards value creation. Real education will come from outside school: self-learning, data-rich businesses, and communities of practice.
  • 0126: deactivate / large number illiteracy — Habits · 2014 · 1.4k words. Deactivating Facebook and quitting smoking felt good. Now Visa is trying to eliminate distractions with a timer system and dramatically increase output. Also noticing he is illiterate about large numbers, can he make sense of the world's scale?
  • 0130: two thirty am — Philosophy · 2014 · 1.5k words. Late-night vomit on marriage, work, and quitting Facebook. The real payload is a case for questions as tools to carve understanding from chaos, ends with a list of questions you should be asking yourself and others.
  • 0133: Which Singapore? — Sociocultural Commentary · 2014 · 1k words. Singapore isn't one place, it's hundreds, depending on who you are. Until we acknowledge the privilege that blinds us to each other's suffering and the many layers of lived reality beneath the official story, we can't have the hard conversations the country needs.
  • 0128: 2013 in summary — Self-Knowledge · 2014 · 1.2k words. A year of ripping identity to shreds through marriage, home ownership, work, quitting smoking and Facebook. Visa realizes you're not your labels, you're habits and patterns that can change.
  • 0119: unclogged, future direction — Writing · 2014 · 2.1k words. Realizing rising standards have choked his output, Visa plans to shift from sensationalist to genuinely useful writing. He explores habit loops and time management to overcome procrastination and get back to consistent deep writing.
  • 0134: address your anger and jealousy — Mindset & Motivation · 2014 · 1.7k words. Jealousy is a sign you're not doing your best. The real work is cutting the ropes that bind you, stop struggling and start focusing. Pick one rope, cut it, earn your sleep.
  • 0121: a bird in the hand is worth a flock in the sky — Productivity · 2014 · 1.8k words. Projects take longer than expected because the last stretch is trickier than the first. Visa catches himself escaping into broad speculation instead of doing the work, and decides to track temptations and focus on the useful task right in front of him.
  • 0135: strive to go from 20% to 25% — Productivity · 2014 · 1.9k words. Incremental improvement from 20% to 25% beats chasing silver bullets. Focus on engine efficiency not fuel: build sustainable habits, break work into micro-tasks, and respect self enough to change structures, not just try harder.
  • 0139: ADHD — ADHD & Neurodivergence · 2014 · 1.3k words. Visa reframes ADHD as an adjustment disease rather than a disorder. He reflects on how school and conventional jobs poorly serve a curious mind, and suggests that ADHD traits can be powerful for makers and creators.
  • 0137: make time for Life — Life & Meaning · 2014 · 1.6k words. A reflection on avoiding the trap of routine and making time for what matters. Life won't wait; you have to actively choose to live fully, rekindle curiosity, and negotiate for the things you want before you wake up years later unsatisfied.
  • 0138: Identify what makes YOU happy — Psychology & Emotions · 2014 · 1.4k words. Visa explores the hard work of figuring out what actually makes him happy, beyond addictive loops and guilt. He argues for action in the present moment, for joy over sacrifice, and for fighting your own programming moment by moment.
  • 0140: ADHD pt 2 — ADHD & Neurodivergence · 2014 · 1k words. ADHD explains his scattered focus and inability to follow through. Hyperfocus helps when channeled productively, but he needs to avoid battles he can’t win head-on to build a life without anxiety.
  • 0141: Pick the right narratives — Mindset & Motivation · 2014 · 1.5k words. Your story about why you do something matters more than the thing itself. Use fun and pleasure as your engine; chase tiny wins like clearing the 2s in 2048.
  • 0126B: kill the saboteur — Psychology & Emotions · 2014 · 1.5k words. Visa identifies his inner saboteur as the root of his procrastination and misery. He decides to destroy it utterly, drawing on past victories like quitting smoking, and plans a strategic retreat from its battlefield.
  • 0131 + 0132: figure out what you feel most strongly about and lean into that (Tesla, LKY) — Mindset & Motivation · 2014 · 2.3k words. This piece argues that life should be purposeful and driven by strong passions, using Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, and Lee Kuan Yew as examples of leaders with unwavering vision. Visa wishes Singapore would cultivate such passionate leadership to inspire national pride.
  • 0145: becoming less skinny will require small, unsexy changes over a long period of time — Habits · 2014 · 1.1k words. Visa realizes gaining weight requires small, unsexy daily changes over time, not grand gestures. His resistance to doing the boring work is the real problem, not the lack of knowledge.
  • 0146: a utilitarian approach to social media — Internet Culture · 2014 · 1.9k words. A practical guide to using social media for real value: curate your feed, avoid broadcasters, be useful, and build relationships. Having a blog is essential for career growth.
  • 0144: reading in the mornings and the joy of decluttering — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2014 · 1.4k words. Publishing backlogged vomits clears mental clutter. Morning reading habit solved by reading before bed to naturally continue in the morning. Decluttering Evernote drafts reveals new connections and feels joyful.
  • 0147: if it works, do you accelerate it? — Psychology & Emotions · 2014 · 1k words. Reflecting on a personal downturn, Visa explores the need to focus on small daily actions and how peer groups shape behavior. He struggles with commitment devices and seeks self-mastery through deliberate routines.
  • 0148: becoming a better writer — Writing · 2014 · 1.1k words. Becoming a better writer means picking better details, focusing on what the reader feels, and being ruthless with past ideas. The process is iterative and humbling, but the cringe means you're growing.
  • 0154: We Need To Talk About A — Habits · 2014 · 1.3k words. Stop fixating on goals and resources; start honestly examining your starting point. A list of everyday bad habits, phone in bed, skipping breakfast, social media binges, and small fixes to build a better baseline.
  • 0153: I highly recommend watching Boyhood, the Richard Linklater movie — Film & TV · 2014 · 1k words. Visa recommends Boyhood, admiring how Linklater captures real life across a decade, the messy family dynamics, fleeting mentors, and growing up. The film feels like reading good books: packed with perspective.
  • 0152: Letter To A Young Songwriter — Art & Creativity · 2014 · 1.9k words. A letter urging a young songwriter to prioritize quantity over quality, learn by imitating others, practice scales slowly, and always keep creating. Don't chase originality or perfection; just make a lot of rough songs and improve through volume.
  • 0143: question your assumptions about how life should be lived — Life & Meaning · 2014 · 1.6k words. Question the grand schemes and goals that structure your life; presence and simple joys like writing, conversation, and curiosity withstand scrutiny. The only moment that matters is this one.
  • 0156: When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit + ADHD — ADHD & Neurodivergence · 2014 · 1.2k words. Recalling a childhood memoir sparks reflections on time blindness and ADHD. Visa explains his inability to perceive time, the need for strong daily structures, and his determination to survive for his family.
  • 0155: write to solve your own problems — Writing · 2014 · 1.1k words. Writing is a thinking tool. Use a blog to solve your own problems: publish to test ideas, target the right audience, and write with intent. Document goals, values, and processes to improve habits.
  • 0157: Reboot (April) — Writing · 2014 · 1.1k words. Visa stopped writing for a month and felt the difference in his brain. Now he's rebooting, remembering that writing is therapeutic, a privilege, and a habit worth keeping. Lists future topics as a way back in.
  • 0162: Identify your wants and utility functions — Self-Knowledge · 2014 · 1.1k words. Visa strips away bullshit to identify his actual utility functions, what reliably brings joy. Writing is central, but the real work is knowing yourself enough to commit and get started.
  • 0161: Overstimulated — ADHD & Neurodivergence · 2014 · 1.1k words. Visa realizes he’s been wired differently his whole life, ADHD explains his hyperfocus, addictions to sugar and cigarettes, and social media loops. He’s learning to see his brain as atypical, not broken.
  • 0159: morning run with the wife — Habits · 2014 · 1.1k words. First morning run with the wife. Quit smoking, started running. The trick: pick something possible, do it now, correct course along the way. Stop fantasizing about lists and start eating.
  • 0142: Arbitrary configurations of reality — Mindset & Motivation · 2014 · 1.3k words. Tired of waiting for better days, Visa argues that life's arbitrary configurations can be changed through focused effort. He wants to meet people in real life, challenge himself, and stop wasting time on shitty routines, and he urges himself to sprint rather than dally.
  • 0160: motivation is whatever gets you moving — Mindset & Motivation · 2014 · 2.1k words. Motivation is whatever gets you moving, imbalance, not noble purity. Visa explores why we dick around (fear, uncertainty) and how decisive action, structured habits, and daily vomits beat the comfort zone. A call to stop bumbling and start building.
  • 0149: Channel your fury constructively; become stronger because of it — Mindset & Motivation · 2014 · 1.5k words. Fury can be a fuel. When you feel powerless, aim that rage at one specific chain and cut it. Build trust in yourself by taking small, consistent actions. Stop being weak when it counts.
  • 0136: quality conversations, questions and thoughtfulness — Mindset & Motivation · 2014 · 1.4k words. Good conversations come from asking the right questions and being thoughtful rather than just smart. Don't mock others; laugh at yourself instead. Information is power, use it kindly.
  • 0163: Turning 24, my problems have not changed — Habits · 2014 · 1.5k words. Turning 24, Visa realizes his core problems haven't changed: needing focus and routine. He reflects on new responsibilities, the difficulty of starting, and the need to schedule what matters.
  • 0164: Recognizing Naivete, and #welcometothecircus — Life & Meaning · 2014 · 1.7k words. Reflecting on naivete about his writing project, Visa realizes the value of looking back and seeing connections. Facing the heat death of the universe, he concludes we must extract joy from the present and avoid petty distractions.
  • 0170: question assumptions; what got you here won’t get you there — Mindset & Motivation · 2014 · 1.6k words. The belief that smart people have it easy is a trap. You have to do the work: no amount of cleverness replaces consistent, boring effort. Question the narratives you inherited and actually show up.
  • 0169: Marketing, 7 Sins — Mindset & Motivation · 2014 · 1.4k words. Visa reframes the seven deadly sins as bugs of small-mindedness, then homes in on sloth as his biggest weakness. He resolves to overcome it by prioritizing work and reorienting his life, with a short detour into marketing as positioning.
  • 0167: Reading Under The Desk + Groups are scary — Mindset & Motivation · 2014 · 1.6k words. Reading under the desk is a sign of real curiosity, schools snuff it out. Friend groups can be comfortable traps that validate mediocrity. Choose your own path and ambition over mutual delusion.
  • 0172: few people seem to write good book reviews — Books & Literature · 2014 · 1.1k words. Reading books upgrades your brain; Obama's memoir offers real insight into his headspace. Few write good reviews, most conversations are uninformed, and everything, not just cigarettes, should come with a warning label.
  • 0175: Behavioral change is about seeking new equilibrium states, and progress isn’t pretty — Habits · 2014 · 2k words. Behavioral change is about finding new equilibrium states; progress looks messy because it involves shifting identity, not just tweaking one input. Understanding immediate gratification and the systemic nature of habits is key to lasting change.
  • 0173: New Lens Become New Blinders — Self-Knowledge · 2014 · 1k words. New ways of seeing can become new blinders, like MBTI did for Visa. Maps are not the territory; we must remember our models will fail, and protect against the downside.
  • 0176: the state of my vomits represents my life quite well — Writing · 2014 · 1.3k words. The state of Visa's vomits mirrors his life, haphazard, unsystematic. But the original intent was to write a million words to become a better writer, and he's sticking with it because the process itself is the point.
  • 0171: fundamentals, small changes, fixing laziness — Habits · 2014 · 1.1k words. Visa realizes dramatic changes don't stick, so he's replacing bad eating, low energy, and procrastination with small, lasting habits around sleep, nutrition, and focus. His mission is to help himself and others escape dull, unproductive lives.
  • 0177: Why bother doing your work when the universe is going to be extinguished in the end? — Mindset & Motivation · 2014 · 1.1k words. Stop hiding behind the grand scheme. You use the state of the world to avoid facing your own shit. Figure out what you actually care about, do your work, and go to bed happy. You have one brief life.
  • 0179: Why can we sometimes change our habits, and sometimes not? — Habits · 2014 · 1.7k words. Habit change requires more than motivation; you need belief it's possible, a vivid vision, a concrete plan for triggers, and a shift in identity. Failure is part of the process: don't let it define you.
  • 0181: Writing Wet And Dry — Writing · 2014 · 1.1k words. Writing is the final stage of making sense of reality. There's a wet/dry tempo: sometimes thoughts flow, sometimes they're raw and unprocessed. The trick is maintaining a process through both states, not just forcing output when spent.
  • 0178: lean / mvp approach to developing a proper breakfast routine — Habits · 2014 · 1.1k words. Visa wants to build a breakfast habit using a lean/MVP approach: start with simple steps like water and a banana, use the X effect, and enlist his wife as a support partner. Focus on cupcakes (small wins) before wedding cakes (grand plans).
  • 0174: I have limited amounts of conscious attention + assume I’m smarter than I am — ADHD & Neurodivergence · 2014 · 1.7k words. Visa wakes up reflecting on his ADHD, procrastination, and the need for systems to manage his limited attention. Writing his 1000 vomits is his primary goal, and he must review it daily to stay focused.
  • 0180: Hold me back, else I’ll… do something! — Mindset & Motivation · 2014 · 1.2k words. You might think you're held back by something, but what if you secretly prefer the excuse? Stop letting friends enable your procrastination, repay old debts, and just do the work without the performance.
  • 0165: read what you love and teach people to fish — Work & Ambition · 2014 · 1.1k words. Prioritize getting better at your job over abstract intellectual pursuits. Help others become employable and self-sufficient. Seek roles that force you to face real complexity rather than protected positions.
  • 0158: Why do anything? The Disneyland Analogy — Life & Meaning · 2014 · 1k words. Life is just a trip: nothing more, nothing less. The goal is to have a genuinely good time you're proud of, clear of identity traps and meaningless distractions.
  • 0168: The Patient Saboteur + Questions for Singapore — Psychology & Emotions · 2014 · 1.2k words. Visa reflects on his 'patient saboteur', a preconscious resistance to deliberate instruction, and how environment shapes habits. He traces his blogging origins and brainstorms unresolved questions about Singapore.
  • 0183: Everything is a remix + checkpoints and milestones — Writing · 2014 · 1k words. The remix principle applies to life and art: create prolifically by building on what exists. For writing, that means a system, accessible material, and checkpoints to calibrate along the way.
  • 0182: I will probably work on procrastination and productivity problems — Self-Knowledge · 2014 · 1.1k words. Visa reflects on his lifelong struggle with procrastination and work aversion, rejecting 'lazy' as a copout and analyzing the perceived payoffs that drive his behavior. He identifies productivity/procrastination as his natural market.
  • 0150 + 0151: Restatement of Purpose — Life & Meaning · 2014 · 2.4k words. Choosing to take LifeGame seriously: acknowledging the void, then deciding to play earnestly. Visa wants to build something specific to help his younger self and others like him, with his focus on compound growth over distraction.
  • 0190: awakening to inner richness — Psychology & Emotions · 2014 · 1.1k words. Visa reflects on the richness inside himself and the need to acknowledge weaknesses and flaws. Only by confronting inner ugliness can we do the hard work of self-improvement.
  • 0188 + 0189: the kind of person who insists that shit gets done — Mindset & Motivation · 2014 · 2.1k words. Quitting smoking taught Visa he can change. The real work is cleaning the shit from his head and believing he can become someone who insists shit gets done: one small win at a time, the old him let go.
  • 0193: prioritize ruthlessly and follow through — Productivity · 2014 · 1.1k words. The most important skill is identifying the next most important thing quickly and breaking it into simple actions. Visa took drastic action to remove distractions, unfriending everyone on Facebook to focus on work, sleep, and exercise.
  • 0194: mvp model of personal development — Productivity · 2014 · 1.1k words. Apply the MVP model to personal development: do the minimum research, aim for the peak experience as fast as possible, and let that success change your identity. The smallest action outweighs endless research.
  • 0192: “You’re only cheating yourself” — Psychology & Emotions · 2014 · 1.4k words. 你的潜意识始终在观察你。当你欺骗自己，让即时满足胜过梦想，它就会失去信任，停止为你梦想。要赢回信任，从小承诺做起，让潜意识看到你是可靠的人。
  • 0191: I Unfriended Everybody — Art & Creativity · 2014 · 1.5k words. Visa, inspired by 'Everything Is A Remix', unfriended everyone to clear headspace for creative output and quality input. Free of social approval anxieties, he commits to prolific making.
  • 0184: What moves me? I want to find and empower the others — Psychology & Emotions · 2014 · 1.1k words. Visa examines why he talks about discipline but doesn't act, realizing he needs goals that deeply move him. His real want: to help talented people who don't believe in themselves do great work.
  • 0195: strive to globally-maximize your enjoyment of life — Mindset & Motivation · 2014 · 1.4k words. Life is limited, so commit to globally-maximizing enjoyment. Happiness comes from pleasure, flow, and meaning: it requires deep transformation, a cutting-out of what doesn't serve, and the work itself.
  • 0197: 4 parts to procrastination — Productivity · 2014 · 1.1k words. Procrastination breaks down into expectancy, value, delay, and impulsiveness. Diagnose which factor is the bottleneck and apply specific tactics: commitment devices, reducing delays, building habits, instead of vague motivation. The key is to stop describing and start doing.
  • 0196: go go go — Writing · 2014 · 1k words. Visa is angry and bitter because he skipped writing for a week. Writing is the only way to purge the noise and reclaim his energy. He needs to execute, bleed daily, and stop hesitating.
  • 0201: breathe — Psychology & Emotions · 2014 · 1.2k words. Visa is in burnout territory: can't sleep, back hurts, everything feels like an obstacle. Stripping away distractions reveals more ugliness. Visa needs to prioritize his health, breathe, and fight the resistance one small thing at a time.
  • 0186: A list of “What I’ve Learnt”s, part 2 — Friendship & Community · 2014 · 1.4k words. Lessons on building a community from scratch, start small, have real conversations, eat your own dogfood, mixed with reflections on uniqueness, entrepreneurship, movies, and quitting smoking.
  • 0199: set precise goals to measure your progress towards self-mastery — Psychology & Emotions · 2014 · 1.1k words. Visa tries to figure out why he keeps avoiding the big important things even when he knows they matter. Underneath the frittering and numbing, Visa is asking what he actually wants, and why the hardest parts of self-mastery feel so slippery to execute on.
  • 0203: be mindful (don’t be sloppy like in grand theft auto) — Psychology & Emotions · 2014 · 1k words. Visa is exhausted from constant anxiety and panic, comparing his life to running around in Grand Theft Auto without doing the actual quests. He decides to focus, meditate, and build mindful habits instead of staying stuck in chaotic free roam.
  • 0200: cold wistful rainy day — Life & Meaning · 2014 · 1.1k words. A rainy train ride brings up childhood memories and army days, spiraling into reflections on life’s absurdity, the weight of meaning, and the tired refusal to give up.
  • 0204: fixing anxiety, pausing and changing environments — Psychology & Emotions · 2014 · 1.1k words. Visa feels anxious and cramped from accumulated backlog and poor focus. Meditation helps him pause and cope; he reflects on how changing environments enables real change.
  • 0205: reflect on recurring dreams and pay attention to yourself — Psychology & Emotions · 2014 · 1k words. Visa wakes from a dream about failing exams, he faces the anxiety and self-disgust he has been ignoring. He cares deeply about things, but needs to stop beating himself up and just do the work to get out of this funk.
  • 0185: A list of “What I’ve Learnt”s — Personal Growth & Self-Improvement · 2014 · 1.2k words. A list of hard-won personal lessons from relationships, playing in a band, sleep experiments, learning to draw, Facebook, debt, and starting a business. Each item distills a small truth about living and growing.
  • 0198: progressing recursively — Mindset & Motivation · 2014 · 1.4k words. Progress feels slow because of wasted idling and distraction. The key is to cut off divergences, use displeasure as motivation to change identities, and deconstruct skills into basics, like practicing handwriting strokes, to unlock flow.
  • 0187: Reading Dostoyevsky and repeating myself — Life & Meaning · 2014 · 1.2k words. Reading Notes from Underground, Visa reflects on pedestalizing writers, mental health for creatives, and why repeating oneself keeps important ideas alive. Life is short: make it rich and fun.
  • 0202: smoking cessation and ten minute pomodoros — Habits · 2014 · 1.1k words. Visa quit smoking by reverse-engineering what worked, ashtray, role models, clear identity shift. He now tries to apply that same approach to meditation, exercise, and cooking. He realized the usual system of big promises fails; small timeboxes like ten-minute pomodoros are better.
  • 0166: Pullups at the playground — Self-Knowledge · 2014 · 1.4k words. Visa reflects on how Facebook archives reveal personal change, the messiness of self-narratives, and life's serendipity. Visa also questions if writing is the right medium, and records small wins like pullup progress.
  • 0022: conscious constraints can help guard against meandering aimlessness — Productivity · 2013 · 1k words. Conscious constraints like alarms help guard against aimless wandering, but stay flexible for good conversations. Regular re-evaluation in small doses balances freedom with structure.
  • 0021: let go of your judgement of others — Mindset & Motivation · 2013 · 1k words. Let go of judging others: it only clutters your mind. Commit to simple happiness, find joy within, and conquer yourself rather than others. That's all that matters.
  • 0025: dreams are strange, culture might be stranger — Psychology & Emotions · 2013 · 1k words. Visa wakes up with a sore back and a dream that triggers thoughts about fractured friendships, gender differences, and the limits of heuristics. He reflects on clutter, addiction, and why culture shouldn't be over-legislated.
  • 0024: Identify procrastination as pain-avoidance, and lean into the pain — Psychology & Emotions · 2013 · 1.3k words. Procrastination isn't laziness; it's fear of falling short. Visa realizes he avoids writing because he's scared of his own best work. The fix: acknowledging the fear and writing anyway, even if it's shit.
  • 0023: Quora + Naam Ras + Jamming — Personal Growth & Self-Improvement · 2013 · 1.2k words. A meandering early-morning reflection on Quora validation, the humbling grind of waste collection at a Sikh festival, and the catharsis of jamming with his band: each experience as raw material for growth.
  • 0026: meeting older friends + singapore/overview effect — Life & Meaning · 2013 · 1.1k words. Meeting older friends and traveling for perspective are essential for growth. Experienced people give energy and wisdom; distance from home reveals what matters. Write fast to learn to say more with less.
  • 0029: strive to maximize flow — Art & Creativity · 2013 · 1.1k words. Flow comes from uninterrupted work; your instrument becomes part of you. Best discoveries happen through serendipity, not logical steps. Keep going.
  • 0031: identify limiting thoughts + avoid excessive safety — Mindset & Motivation · 2013 · 1k words. Limiting thoughts about his 1000-word vomit project become a prompt to examine why he plays small. Visa decides safety is overrated and commits to showing up regardless of outcome, channeled by the magic of early mornings.
  • 0030: early morning + urban legends — Psychology & Emotions · 2013 · 1k words. Visa wakes early and thinks aloud about why urban legends and fake stories stick: examining the human psyche behind viral myths and hoping we can learn to create positive things that capture the global imagination.
  • 0032: “Safety” + Modifying Behaviour + Desire Paths — Self-Knowledge · 2013 · 1.4k words. Visa watches himself repeat the same self-destructive patterns in poker and arguments. He realizes change can't be forced: it has to follow desire paths that form naturally through repeated awareness and reflection.
  • 0028: the 25% — Mindset & Motivation · 2013 · 1.1k words. A call to the 25% of intelligent underachievers sitting between the top performers and the masses. Rally together, support the top 5%, and prove that the middle can make magic happen.
  • 0033: I’ve had the same frustrations for a very long time — Psychology & Emotions · 2013 · 1k words. Frustrated by his sleep disruptions, bed bugs, and inability to start his blog redesign, Visa wanders through his restless mind and finds small insights in chores and Taleb's ideas.
  • 0036: strive to be thoughtful and compassionate — Mindset & Motivation · 2013 · 1.1k words. Visa falls off the wagon then decides to start simple again, realizing his core principles are thoughtfulness and compassion. He wants to be remembered as thoughtful and compassionate, and argues these lead to love and kindness.
  • 0035: HDB — Romance, Parenting & Family · 2013 · 1k words. A couple moves into a bare HDB flat and finds joy in each other and their shared space. They reflect on love, simplicity, and building a life together despite the cold and uncertainty.
  • 0034: waking early — Habits · 2013 · 1k words. Visa explores the benefits of sleeping early, noting that it saves time and feels better. He also reflects on falling off the wagon with his word vomits and the importance of just getting back on track, while touching on exercise, decluttering, and job hunting.
  • 0041- Consider procrastination, and your inability to focus — Productivity · 2013 · 1.3k words. Procrastination is a deeper addiction than smoking ever was, a lifelong saboteur undermining focus and discipline. He's tired of being the irresponsible guy, and he knows the only thing holding him back is himself.
  • 0039: smartphone — Psychology & Emotions · 2013 · 1k words. Got my first smartphone, planning to use commute for writing. But the real struggle is inner: despair, guilt, time management, and the question of how best to serve others. Conquering inner demons as first step.
  • 0027: thinking beyond SG — Mindset & Motivation · 2013 · 1k words. Singapore is 0.07% of the world, why spend all my energy worrying about it? Time to think bigger, dream of global impact, and actually start doing instead of just thinking.
  • 0040: how can I best serve others? by writing — Writing · 2013 · 1.2k words. Asks how to best serve the world; the answer is writing. Shares personal updates, marriage, job, cat, and reflects on responsibility, on refactoring life, and on writing as a form of meditation.
  • 0042: define your dreams — Self-Knowledge · 2013 · 1.1k words. Visa traces his lifelong dreams back to childhood gaming, realizing he avoids discomfort and spreads himself thin. The pattern mirrors his current life, so he must commit, gather scattered energy, and execute.
  • 0048: brain reality and starting from scratch (jailbreak!) — Habits · 2013 · 1.2k words. Your brain shapes your reality, so you need a cunning jailbreak to escape old habits. Small 'jug-of-water' solutions like shower squats and bedtime reading can stick without effort. Meditation and space exploration expand consciousness and reduce suffering.
  • 0046: being a fucking human being — Life & Meaning · 2013 · 1.1k words. We're animals chasing chemical highs, but also patterns that persist beyond our atoms. Being human means reconciling our biology with our emergent magic, a messy, wondrous contradiction.
  • 0044: just wing it — Habits · 2013 · 1.3k words. Doing small daily habits like pushups and squats to build momentum. Break big quests into this-moment tasks; avoid local optima. Keep showing up, one bite at a time.
  • 0045: pick the smallest problem and annihilate it — Productivity · 2013 · 1.3k words. When you're stuck, stop asking big questions. Pick the tiniest actionable problem and annihilate it, that's how you get moving. My wife and I cleaned the house and did finances; just take one step, then another.
  • 0050: pursue flow — Writing · 2013 · 1.3k words. Pursuing flow, writing as a habitual practice, the joy of exploration over editing, and the long game of a million words. Small daily disciplines build toward a life of purpose and contribution.
  • 0051: strive to appreciate and embody happiness — Life & Meaning · 2013 · 1.6k words. Happiness isn't passive, you have to pay attention to what makes you tick and pursue it. Be yourself means doing the real work of knowing what you love and actually doing it, even if it's all been said before.
  • 0054: the future of ecommerce is exciting — Business & Markets · 2013 · 1.2k words. Ecommerce, like dating, is about navigating imperfect information. The future lies in tools that reduce search costs to near zero, helping us find the best matches with minimal effort. The piece explores the evolution from scarcity to overload and the promise of collaborative intelligence.
  • 0055: define your habits and improve them — Habits · 2013 · 1k words. Visa explores defining and automating habits to reduce decision fatigue, with a 'big red button' thought experiment that clarifies priorities and aligns daily routines with long-term aspirations.
  • 0053: we rarely love people — Psychology & Emotions · 2013 · 1.1k words. We rarely love the full person, only our idea of them. Power and morality are perceptions backed by force. Loving someone entirely, flaws, weaknesses, baggage, is hard but necessary. Self-knowledge and honest listening are the way through.
  • 0047: Consider businesses and corporations, schools and social life — Sociocultural Commentary · 2013 · 1.1k words. Humans chase chemical hits; businesses and corporations exploit that. School doesn't prepare us for the dance of conquest and desire that is social life. We need to align ourselves for positive, sustainable outcomes.
  • 0052: should you motivate yourself by comparing yourself with others? — Mindset & Motivation · 2013 · 1k words. Visa questions whether comparing yourself to others is healthy motivation. He admits his own petty envy but concludes it leads to conditional self-esteem, instead refocusing on his grand mission where everyone's success helps.
  • 0037: changing circumstances (first day of work) — Mindset & Motivation · 2013 · 1k words. Visa started a new job at a tech startup and fell off the word vomit habit, but got back to it. Visa reflects on how environment shapes behavior, the need to make time rather than wait for perfect conditions, and the value of doing meaningful work you can lose yourself in.
  • 0056: rip you out of my skull — Mindset & Motivation · 2013 · 1.3k words. Waking up early reveals how deliberate practice accelerates learning, but Visa admits his best-honed skill is rationalizing failure. He vows to rip out the self-loathing that keeps him stuck and monotask to rebuild trust in himself.
  • 0061: structured routines can be good if you design them for yourself — Habits · 2013 · 1k words. Structured routines, even forced ones like RT, can be beneficial if you design them intentionally. Building a writing routine brings clarity, and approaching imposed structure as a meditative process extracts value from detours.
  • 0059: Waking Early — Habits · 2013 · 1.5k words. Waking early is a struggle against old procrastination patterns. Visa recounts the cycle of anxiety and poor sleep, and commits to building responsible habits through repetition and self-trust, one day at a time.
  • 0065: marketing is the communication of value — Marketing & Branding · 2013 · 1.2k words. Marketing is the communication of value. Visa argues that everyone is a marketer, spreading ideas daily, and that great marketing means creating something compelling that people naturally share. Understanding this empowers individuals to make the world better.
  • 0060: what is a blog for? it’s an exocortex, a superstructure for the mind — Writing · 2013 · 1.6k words. A blog is a superstructure for the mind: a tool for thinking, learning, and reaching a self-selected audience. Writing for its own sake, even if you never get great at it, reveals your patterns and brings catharsis.
  • 0062: Facebook fatigue — Psychology & Emotions · 2013 · 1.3k words. Facebook is like alcohol: it scatters focus while writing clears it. The trick isn't to avoid distraction but to build a consistent practice of vomiting words, trusting that repeated refinement leads somewhere good.
  • 0064: making music/art sustainably in singapore — Art & Creativity · 2013 · 2.2k words. Making art in Singapore is tough: venues close, audiences won't pay. To survive, creatives must be genuinely entertaining and accept that a day job funds the real work.
  • 0066: starting over, reflections on procrastination — Productivity · 2013 · 1.6k words. Visa reflects on his lifelong procrastination and lack of self-control, acknowledging that he cannot trust himself with distractions. He decides to strip away social media and start over, recognizing that lasting change requires small, consistent effort rather than dramatic leaps.
  • 0058: Monotasking — Productivity · 2013 · 1.6k words. Visa observes his scattered, connection-making mind and argues that monotasking, focused deep work, is a skill he must develop. He acknowledges his messy writing as a necessary step, and reflects on the ego and anxiety that hinder true effort.
  • 0043: Life is theatre, writing for self — Writing · 2013 · 1.1k words. Life is theatre; we are animals seeking chemical fixes. Writing serves as Visa's fix. Visa struggles with work habits but improves through daily fitness and writing routines. These word vomits are for him first, which ultimately benefits the audience.
  • 0069: navigate by excitement — Mindset & Motivation · 2013 · 1.3k words. Visa argues for navigating by excitement, not duty. Singapore's scenes lack passion; he's disengaged from social media to focus on big problems, though unsure if any of it matters.
  • 0070: social media and me (and games and addiction) — Psychology & Emotions · 2013 · 1.5k words. Reflects on his compulsive social media use as an outlet for nervous creative energy, comparing it to past video game addiction. Questions whether he can redirect that drive into writing and work instead of chasing notifications.
  • 0057: Stop feeding the trolls — Psychology & Emotions · 2013 · 1k words. A workday diary: he avoids arguments, pushes through perfectionism to ship a blogpost, builds the habit of writing on the train, and notices his own hypocrisy and addiction patterns. Another step in the messy process of getting better.
  • 0068: beyond Singapore — Sociocultural Commentary · 2013 · 1.6k words. Singapore is a tiny echo chamber, less than 0.1% of humanity. Maybe we should spend our energy on bigger problems, education, space, eradicating disease, instead of local drama.
  • 0071: manage your energy by focusing on small tasks — Productivity · 2013 · 1.3k words. You have to earn the right to work on big problems by solving small ones first. Manage your mental energy by doing the little work, stop daydreaming about potential, and ship faster.
  • 0073: strive to transcend local optimums — Mindset & Motivation · 2013 · 1.2k words. Striving to transcend local optimums means breaking free from comfortable but limiting habits. Using social media impulses as an example, the piece explores the mindset needed to pursue bigger goals despite self-doubt.
  • 0063: good questions and referral marketing — Marketing & Branding · 2013 · 1.3k words. Good questions unlock good thinking. He breaks down what marketing, referral programs, and his role at ReferralCandy are for, and wrestles with focus, planning, and ownership without panicking himself into leaving late.
  • 0072: don’t break the chain — Habits · 2013 · 1.1k words. He's keeping a daily writing streak, reflecting on his past lack of discipline, and committing to small daily routines, writing, exercise, guitar, to override his old pattern of coasting. He wants to be deliberate, not just infatuated with ideas.
  • 0067: how to help my self-destructive younger self? — Psychology & Emotions · 2013 · 2.2k words. Reflects on what could have steered his younger self away from self-destruction, examining deep-rooted procrastination and avoidance. Concludes he needed reward for effort, responsibilities, and a committed peer group to change his patterns.
  • 0074: stop sharpening the axe — Writing · 2013 · 1k words. Visa is committed to 1000 word vomits, and people are starting to read them. The key is to stop over-preparing and just start doing the work, quantity leads to quality. Swing the axe instead of sharpening it forever.
  • 0076: most people are full of shit including me — Psychology & Emotions · 2013 · 1.1k words. Most people are full of shit, including him. He reflects on the trap of status games and pointless arguments, urging focus on the real work instead. The real self emerges when you stop thinking and just do.
  • 0079: I used to be a tedious writer who digressed too much — Writing · 2013 · 1.1k words. A self-diagnosis of my digressive, double-barrelled writing style. Footnoting and numbered points as cures. Style evolves for context, like bird songs adapting to city noise.
  • 0075: sleepy and unfocused — Productivity · 2013 · 1.1k words. Sleep-deprived and unfocused, I'm frustrated with my lack of productivity. I'm cutting distractions, decluttering notebooks and bookmarks, and using Pomodoro, small steps to wage war against anxiety and mediocrity.
  • 0083: avoid talking over people, ask questions and listen instead — Psychology & Emotions · 2013 · 1.2k words. Visa used to talk over people because he was insecure and needed validation. He is learning that it's better to listen, ask questions, and give people space. It's a work in progress.
  • 0081: evaluate and improve your publishing configuration(s) — Writing · 2013 · 1k words. Visa considers his publishing habits across Twitter, Quora, and his blog, stressing consistent output, deliberate practice, and honest writing. He plans to curate his archive and improve his blog's utility.
  • 0078: become a happy healthy entrepreneur — Mindset & Motivation · 2013 · 1.3k words. Reflects on the tension between happiness and health, realizing he must stop coasting and get good at his work. Decides entrepreneurship is the best way to make a real difference, rather than just talking about it.
  • 0084: remember the anguish of being unproductive — Productivity · 2013 · 1.4k words. Angry at himself for being unproductive, he resolves to eliminate distractions, build routines, and chunk tasks. A raw word-vomit about the difficulty of staying focused and the need for disciplined action.
  • 0082: pathfind your way to what you want — Mindset & Motivation · 2013 · 1k words. Figuring out what you actually want and the path to get there. Stop begging, start building momentum with daily habits, and kick your own ass to see the global view.
  • 0080: be mindful of your age and the passage of time — Life & Meaning · 2013 · 1.2k words. A reflection on aging and how easily life swallows your time. Notes from observing a young soldier, the pull of social media, lingering in bed, and unfit peers, a reminder to consciously set aside time for what matters.
  • 0049: “I didn’t do well because I didn’t study” — Habits · 2013 · 1.6k words. 反思了“我没考好是因为没学习”这个借口背后的自我欺骗，承认自己从小缺乏责任感，现在通过从小事做起（如写一句话、做10个俯卧撑）来培养真正的责任感，面对恐惧并做出改变。
  • 0091: blog history and cultivation — Writing · 2013 · 1.5k words. A history of Visak's blogs from age 9 to present, with an emphasis on the power of consistent writing and shipping despite uncertainty. The blog has been his best asset, the source of jobs and insights.
  • 0085: Keep the psychologically-insulated parasite at bay — Psychology & Emotions · 2013 · 1k words. Reflecting on language and social hierarchy, overheard ambition, and the cruelty of the world. Questions why we bother with heroism when a simple life of coffee and conversation might do. Wanders through nostalgia, pessimism, and the value of thinking and writing.
  • 0087: productivity apps fill buckets when they should be lighting fires — Productivity · 2013 · 1.4k words. Productivity apps try to fill your bucket of tasks, but I need something to set me on fire, periodic prompts that remind me what I care about. That's what would actually fix my procrastination.
  • 0090: firelighting, aphorisms, unknowns, free-roam, shackle-free slavery — Psychology & Emotions · 2013 · 1.7k words. Procrastination thrives on uncertainty; clear steps help, but aphorisms without experience are hollow. Light a fire with mission, but don't neglect the what and how. Free-roaming is seductive, but real progress requires engaging the story.
  • 0094: games aren’t just games — Productivity · 2013 · 1.1k words. Games aren't trivial, they're powerful tools for motivation and behavior change. Harnessing game mechanics helps overcome akrasia and get things done, as seen with Beeminder. Why treat school or work as less important than games when games compel us more?
  • 0089: starting beeminder — Habits · 2013 · 1.1k words. Visa starts using Beeminder to track writing, exercise, meditation, and reading. He reflects on his motivation to improve himself so he can help others, and his struggle with perfectionism in writing.
  • 0092: what it’s like to get better at playing games (eg pacman) — Games · 2013 · 1k words. Games like Pacman and Cookie Clicker teach us about progression, clear goals, and feedback loops. Applying those mechanics to life, via tools like Beeminder, makes habits feel more manageable and rewarding.
  • 0097: use condensed terms to simplify your thinking — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2013 · 1k words. Coining condensed terms (like Venkatesh Rao's 'Gollumization') compresses complex ideas into sticky shorthand, making thinking and communication faster. Visa argues this is a powerful tool for writing and understanding the world.
  • 0095: more on gamification, relationships — Psychology & Emotions · 2013 · 1.4k words. Gamification is about creating compelling narratives, not just points. Life's many games, seduction, work, writing, can be played with respect. His own 1,000-word vomits use gamification to build a writing habit and explore identity.
  • 0096: identity creation and narratives — Sociocultural Commentary · 2013 · 1.1k words. Identity is the most popular game online; we curate selves on platforms like Tumblr. The church and mall offer narratives too, so pick your illusions wisely, because they shape everything.
  • 0100B: protect your inner child from smoking and abusive relationships — Habits · 2013 · 1.4k words. Quitting smoking feels like leaving an abusive relationship: the good times lure you back, but each return worsens the damage. Visa describes his own cycle of quitting and relapsing, and advises his younger self to find better rituals like writing and meditation.
  • 0099: education and identity, school is obsolete rah rah — Education & Learning · 2013 · 1.2k words. School is obsolete because it optimizes for obedience instead of identity exploration. The future of education lies outside traditional systems, in self-directed curiosity and building things for the market.
  • 0101: 14 days later (update from the light-fires-not-fill-buckets guy) — Habits · 2013 · 1.6k words. Visa reports progress using Beeminder to track habits, exercise, writing, meditation, guitar, and it’s working. He shares his graphs, admits work productivity still needs work, and invites others to join the #lightingfires crew.
  • 0098: everything we do is to feel good — Psychology & Emotions · 2013 · 1k words. Everything we do is to feel good about ourselves, even at the expense of reality. Seeking negative feedback and committing to truth is rare but essential. The piece reflects on social media performance and the difficulty of doing real work instead of looking good.
  • 0102: Mean Girls, a tentative/preliminary analysis — Status & Social Dynamics · 2013 · 1.6k words. A scene-by-scene breakdown of Mean Girls through the lens of social dynamics, status competition, and the Gervais Principle. Cady's attractiveness makes her a threat, and Regina's manipulation reveals how alpha groups maintain control.
  • 0088: break up with the saboteur-bum in your head — Mindset & Motivation · 2013 · 1.7k words. Visa wrestles with the laziness and excuses of the 'bum' inside him, deciding to move past comfort and actually do the work. He wants to become a procrastination success story.
  • 0100: quitting an addiction is like leaving an abusive relationship — Psychology & Emotions · 2013 · 1.1k words. Quitting an addiction is like leaving an abusive relationship, emotionally complex and requiring a fundamental shift in self-perception. The piece critiques the simplistic language we use for addiction and change.
  • 0077: we can get better at talking about sex — Psychology & Emotions · 2013 · 1.4k words. We're immature about sex and that makes it less fun. Better to talk openly about desire, attraction, and how we indulge, using analogies to candy and cigarettes, while committing to the messy work of writing.
  • 0093: transitioning to adulthood, maladjustment — Life & Meaning · 2013 · 1.3k words. Visa contrasts the energy of schoolkids with weary adults, reflecting on his own transition to adulthood, the weight of a mortgage, and the meaning of maladjustment. Still collecting dots, no conclusions yet.
  • 0107: learning to focus is at the heart of learning anything else — Productivity · 2013 · 1.5k words. Focus is the foundational skill for learning anything else. Most people skim, don't read deeply, and lack discipline; Visa resolves to build focus through tracking time and engineering his environment.
  • 0104: manage your information diet and lethargy — Productivity · 2013 · 1.6k words. Fighting lethargy by managing information diet: use pomodoro, simplify, meditate, fix nutrition and exercise. Realize deep work beats speed and volume, same boring daily commitment is the only way. No shortcuts.
  • 0105: be aware of your addictions and dependencies — Psychology & Emotions · 2013 · 640 words. A personal account of quitting Facebook and smoking, exploring the physical and psychological grip of addiction. Awareness of these dependencies reveals how enslaved we are and how reality shifts when we stop.
  • 0110: life should be interesting + boring task mgmt stuff — Writing · 2013 · 1.4k words. Life is short; the daily writing grind is the goal itself. Scheduling word vomits and routines removes the burden of deciding, building the writer Visa wants to become. Also, hack away at bad phrasing.
  • 0112: I systematically overestimate what I can accomplish — Mindset & Motivation · 2013 · 1.5k words. Visa realizes he systematically overestimates what he can do, from summarizing 100 vomits to daily tasks. The fix is minimum work thresholds, tighter limits on distractions like Tumblr, and a refactor of his life with better routines and deliberate practice.
  • 0108: future as escapism — Psychology & Emotions · 2013 · 1.1k words. Procrastination is avoiding the present by romanticizing the future. Visa examines why he rearranges to-do lists instead of taking bites, and how addictions like smoking are just another form of the same escape.
  • 0115: how to write for a living — Writing · 2013 · 1k words. To write for a living, focus on quality, take risks, and publish relentlessly. Build an audience through the internet by sharing what matters to you, and don't fear being wrong, feedback makes you better.
  • 0109: Manufactured Context + commit to flow, and interestingness — Psychology & Emotions · 2013 · 1.1k words. We have little free will; context shapes our actions more than we admit. Stop insisting on control, modify your environment, and pursue what's interesting. Commit to flow and done.
  • 0111: how does change happen? activation energy hypothesis — Psychology & Emotions · 2013 · 1.4k words. Change is about crossing an invisible activation-energy threshold, not just inspiration. You feed the right wolf through persistent relapses until the dip is behind you.
  • 0117: I want to experiment with sleeping earlier — Habits · 2013 · 1k words. Experimenting with sleeping early to regain focus and increase output. Sleep is the foundation for better decisions, better mood, and more prolific work. Visa observes how small habits compound.
  • 0114: life should be exciting, and we should see it — Mindset & Motivation · 2013 · 1.7k words. Life should be exciting, but daily living clouds that vision. The challenge is to see it and maintain the seeing through real work and meaningful routines, not letting society dehumanize you.
  • 0118: What I’ve learnt from writing over 120,000+ words. — Writing · 2013 · 1.4k words. After 120,000+ words of daily vomits, Visa reflects on lessons learned: early work is crap, reception is unpredictable, and unedited thoughts now beat his old edited ones. He commits to continuing, with side quests on education, marketing, and real-life experiments.
  • 0113: If I can become a smoker, I can build other habits, too — Habits · 2013 · 1.1k words. After analyzing his smoking relapse and quit patterns, Visa sees that the same gradual, relapse-laced process can apply to building positive habits. He's growing confident he can change, and now needs to figure out the how: through environment and self-evaluation.
  • 0116: writer’s “block” — Writing · 2013 · 1k words. After a month-long writing hiatus from family stress, Visa reflects on writer's block, the need for backup routines, and how adult constraints sharpen his craft. He resolves to deliberately build better systems.
  • 0103: The sneaky procrastinator waits patiently for The Slip — Habits · 2013 · 1k words. Tracking habits with Beeminder reveals the sneaky slips Visa's brain waits for. Visa needs external scaffolding to keep going when his conscious self leaves the room. Working is better than hypothetical-perfect.
  • 0038: back on track — Writing · 2013 · 1.1k words. Visa gets a smartphone and decides to write during his commute. After a busy period, he reboots his word vomit project with a "just start small" mindset and commits to a single line twice a day.
  • 0086: memories of reading, procrastination, facebook, smoking — Psychology & Emotions · 2013 · 1.2k words. Visa reflects on his past love of reading and current procrastination, linking smoking and Facebook addiction to a deeper lack of faith in himself and the future. Visa wants to break routines and become a better writer.
  • 0106: consider the pointlessness of argument — Sociocultural Commentary · 2013 · 1.1k words. Visa argues that debating complex foreign affairs without direct stake is pointless; he demands transparency instead. Visa reflects on conditional self-esteem, the necessity of daily work, and honestly owning up to selfishness.
  • 0001: learn to be productive by examining video game principles — Productivity · 2012 · 1.1k words. Procrastination is bad game design. To get things done, treat life like a compelling video game: clear goals, immediate rewards, and baby steps. Commit to daily writing to build momentum.
  • 0009: add smart things to your environment to shape your behavior positively — Habits · 2012 · 1.1k words. Small environmental tweaks, a water jug in the fridge, squats in the shower, motivational wallpapers, make good behaviors effortless. Visa argues for designing frictionless cues over relying on willpower or motivation alone.
  • 0003: practice deliberate discipline to become a better writer — Writing · 2012 · 1.7k words. To become a better writer, you need deliberate discipline: start immediately, ignore the voice that says you can't, and embrace routine as freedom. Writing is its own reward.
  • 0004: Pursue and embody mastery, like Wilbur Wright — Mindset & Motivation · 2012 · 2.8k words. After reading Greene's Mastery, Visa identifies writing as his Life's Task and resolves to pursue it with the deliberate, hypothesis-testing rigor of the Wright brothers, the beaten path left behind.
  • 0002: I enjoy late night conversations and unedited writing — Writing · 2012 · 1.2k words. Late night conversations with friends affirm existence and spark truth. Writing unedited reveals hidden capacity and catharsis; it's a practice worth building.
  • 0008: waking up early gives you more options — Habits · 2012 · 1k words. Waking up early expands your options. Visa shares how changing his sleep habits gave him clarity, more time, and better choices.
  • 0005: The SAF should use its inspiring people in its marketing campaigns — Marketing & Branding · 2012 · 1.2k words. Visa critiques SAF marketing for missing the real draw, inspiring people and genuine moments. He suggests campaigns should highlight the high-quality individuals and authentic camaraderie that actually move people to sign on.
  • 0007: there’s a gap in the market for sincere, non-pretentious writing — Writing · 2012 · 1.5k words. Visa reflects on the gap in Singaporean writing for sincere, non-pretentious work. He wants to become a well-known blogger, write unputdownable stories, and inspire thoughtfulness and compassion.
  • 0011: I want to travel — Life & Meaning · 2012 · 1.1k words. Visa wants to travel not as a tourist but to immerse in humanity, step out of his comfort zone, and feel alive. He wants to experience more of what life offers, while avoiding the trap of collecting experiences like notches on a bedpost.
  • 0010: remember that life is preparation for death — Life & Meaning · 2012 · 1.1k words. A friend's father gets stage 4 cancer, and you think about death, grief, and Seneca's call to prepare for the worst. Mourning brings people together but isn't a substitute for facing the truth that we all die.
  • 0012: talk is cheap, fear is inhibitive. acknowledge your fears, face them, GTD — Habits · 2012 · 1.2k words. Acknowledge your fears and start doing. Routines like cold showers and pushups build discipline, but internet addiction numbs you. Get past talk and do the work, every day.
  • 0014: protect others from needless shame — Internet Culture · 2012 · 1.7k words. Visa doxxed a guy on a forum and a girl from a YouTube video, then reflects on internet ethics and the choice between public takedowns and private warnings. Privacy is an illusion; he wants to be real without being abusive.
  • 0013: I want to make beautiful web experiences for others — Art & Creativity · 2012 · 1.1k words. Visa wakes late, then reflects on his childhood website and a lost impulse to serve others. He wants to return to making beautiful, useful web experiences, inspired by his own past philosophy.
  • 0015: sleep early and stop smoking — Habits · 2012 · 1k words. After five years of smoking, Visa wakes up well-rested for once and considers quitting, not with a dramatic gesture, but a slow decline. He misses fresh air and worries about his gums, but he's honest about how the habit has changed him.
  • 0016: identify what you’re repressing and express that with art — Art & Creativity · 2012 · 828 words. Much frustration comes from not speaking your mind. Genuine art is expression that breaks through shields, it's alive, not static. The best way to make better art is to make shitty art, not talk about it.
  • 0018: internet addiction and an early night — Habits · 2012 · 1.1k words. Visa realizes internet addiction eats his time and plans to limit it for better sleep and habits, starting with routines like cold showers, exercise, and an early night.
  • 0017: when you’re sloppy, straighten up — Psychology & Emotions · 2012 · 1k words. Today Visa feels weak and sloppy, but he'll shower, do pushups, and tidy up. No time for self-pity: life needs living, and he needs to serve others.
  • 0006: Extract signals from the recurring ideas and experiences of your life — Self-Knowledge · 2012 · 1k words. Pay attention to the patterns that keep showing up in your life: sleep, hydration, time management, the urge to change the world before yourself. That's the signal worth following.
  • 0019: expand your scale of influence — Work & Ambition · 2012 · 1k words. Visa wakes up restless, thinking about scaling influence beyond Singapore. How to produce meaningful content and contribute globally, and how to share the best educators and knowledge to accelerate collective progress.
  • 0020: Remembering Amanat, learning from good logistics and speaking Tamil — Psychology & Emotions · 2012 · 1k words. Visa reflects on the Delhi gang rape, feeling ashamed of Indian culture. He marvels at good logistics at a Sikh festival, and resolves to relearn Tamil to connect with his heritage.
  • minus-1 ramblings for progress — Sociocultural Commentary · 2011 · 1.4k words. Big social shifts like the Cold War ending and LGBT acceptance happen through millions of conversations, not grand solutions. We all play a part in a collective trial-and-error process of cultural evolution, so we need to keep talking.

Blog

Visa’s essays at visakanv.com/blog. (188 pieces, 235k words)

  • gaps — Writing · 2026 · 105 words. Visa is thinking about how to better introduce new readers to his Twitter archive, the current methods feel outdated. For now, he starts with the 2021 talking points thread.
  • cycles — Life & Meaning · 2025 · 651 words. Everything runs in cycles: work, interests, appetite, even tweeting. A conversation with a friend shows we often long for the opposite of whatever season we're in. The trick isn't to fight the cycles but to notice their shape and flow with them, not against.
  • describe — Observations & Humor · 2025 · 318 words. Describing things in detail is surprisingly bountiful: we autocomplete vague images, but spelling things out reveals what we didn't see.
  • filters — Psychology & Emotions · 2025 · 2.8k words. On the complexity of filters in social interactions, ignoring haters, setting boundaries, learning from experience. Visa reflects on how filters shape relationships, the wisdom gained from painful encounters, and the importance of self-care and presence over fixing others.
  • how I give talks — Art & Creativity · 2025 · 408 words. Give talks like a live experiment: pick an open question you're still working through, freestyle in front of the room, and mine the audience's energy. Presence beats polish.
  • work — Productivity · 2025 · 601 words. Visa breaks down his work into four types: writing new, editing drafts, updating notes, clearing tabs, and reflects on the meta-work of noticing logjams and the courage needed to face emotional blocks that slow him down.
  • copes — Psychology & Emotions · 2024 · 973 words. Coping mechanisms (cigarettes, doomscrolling) are hard to reduce directly. Focus on the outcome you want instead of trying to cut X. Most people overfixate on reducing bad habits at expense of pursuing what they actually want.
  • discourse cycles — Internet Culture · 2024 · 269 words. Discourse cycles endlessly; topics resurface because the conversation space is finite. Mapping it is like learning musical scales. Recent examples include H1B debates and literacy discourse around Nolan's Odyssey.
  • do less — Mindset & Motivation · 2024 · 363 words. Doing less is often more effective than doing too much out of anxiety. This principle applies to starting creative projects and structuring essays: ship without suffering.
  • emotional knottedness — Psychology & Emotions · 2024 · 618 words. Emotional knottedness masquerades as tiredness, but rest doesn't help; you need dynamic action, strength training or working through the knot, and properly diagnosing the problem is key.
  • you can look it up — Writing · 2024 · 551 words. Don't let the need for perfect details stall your writing. Trust your readers to look things up. It's liberating to accept you can't include everything.
  • things are knowable — Mindset & Motivation · 2024 · 1.2k words. Things are knowable. Despite pushback and the risk of arrogance, you can get good at stuff by reading, doing the math, managing your psychology, and cultivating resilience. Probabilities matter.
  • notesprawl — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2024 · 489 words. A reflection on notesprawl: the challenge of managing a growing, messy note system. Visa explores how a well-described mess can organize itself, and proposes treating notes like smart, walkable, mixed-use spaces.
  • again — Psychology & Emotions · 2024 · 713 words. Reflection on repetition: sometimes it signals returning to something important, sometimes a failure to learn. Discernment is key. Revisiting old work and rewatching favorites refines taste and perspective.
  • rugpulls — Psychology & Emotions · 2024 · 881 words. Rugpulls: life's betrayals and shocks. Visa explores his personal ones, grief at society following outdated scripts, and the need to understand context rather than stay blind.
  • sigh — Psychology & Emotions · 2024 · 303 words. Visa observes how sighs, yawns, and phrases like "load off my shoulders" reveal the intertwinement of physical tension and mental stress. Visa notes the sleepy grace of perfect ease.
  • advice for people in their 20s — Personal Growth & Self-Improvement · 2023 · 2.4k words. Reflections on his 20s: keep expenses low to buy freedom, invest in relationships, build a body of work, and learn calming techniques like box breathing. Advice is always context-dependent, but cultivating judgment matters most.
  • Advanced Stupid — Psychology & Emotions · 2023 · 533 words. Advanced Stupid describes how intelligent people optimize for self-destruction, using their abilities to pursue harmful paths while ignoring basic survival. Visa illustrates with examples like SBF and pickup artistry: cleverness without humility leads to spectacular failure.
  • attention metrics — Status & Social Dynamics · 2023 · 523 words. Not all views are equal. A single follow from the right person is worth thousands of randos; the real goal is to find your McCartney, not to pander to the crowd. Beware the devil's bargains of metric-optimization.
  • make yourself comfortable — Mindset & Motivation · 2023 · 1.1k words. Making yourself comfortable is not a luxury but a foundation for natural improvement. Visa reflects on reshaping his environment and mindset, moving from self-neglect to self-care, inspired by Christopher Alexander's idea of living structure.
  • deviants — Status & Social Dynamics · 2023 · 1.3k words. Truly deviating from social norms will be punished unless you're privileged enough to get away with it. People who mock others as NPCs are often projecting self-hatred; real deviants know the costs and quietly navigate them.
  • greatness is deviance — Mindset & Motivation · 2023 · 2k words. Greatness requires deviating from the norm, but deviance is socially punished. Visa argues that great ideas always look bad at first; the fear of appearing insane holds most people back. His call: embrace deviance, build support for deviants, and do the deviant work anyway.
  • focus on what you want to see more of — Mindset & Motivation · 2023 · 739 words. Direct your time and energy toward what you want to see more of. Evaluate what you've been focusing on, be kind to yourself, and remember that joy and gratitude are tools for resilience, not denial.
  • intuition — Psychology & Emotions · 2023 · 465 words. Intuition can't be transmitted via text; it's rooted in personal experience. Even the best instructions are snapshots that may trigger intuition in others, but true understanding requires domain experience and self-cultivation.
  • journalling — Self-Knowledge · 2023 · 220 words. Keep a journal or morning pages. The text matters less than the metadata: what you were thinking and feeling. Dump your mind onto the page; many problems solve themselves once you see them written down.
  • why were you late? — Self-Knowledge · 2023 · 1.8k words. A boss's gentle curiosity about why Visa was late revealed his internal taskmaster and revenge bedtime procrastination. Learning to schedule leisure and understand his patterns helped him build self-trust and change his relationship with work and rest.
  • joke about outcomes you want — Mindset & Motivation · 2023 · 108 words. Joke about the outcomes you want. It's a subset of focusing on what you want, and it often works. Here's the main thread with examples.
  • it’s just math — Mindset & Motivation · 2023 · 2.2k words. Most people are miscalibrated about risk and probability. The math is simple: if the cost of a shot is low and the upside is real, keep taking it. It's not arrogance or optimism: it's just math. Bet on yourself and persist until the numbers work.
  • most shared — Writing · 2023 · 507 words. A listing of Visa's most-shared and highest-traffic blog posts, with a linkdump of tweets that shared each one. A meta-index of his writing's reach.
  • my creative process — Writing · 2023 · 3k words. Visa describes his creative process as layers of wrangling, starting with tweets that become essays, managing internal conflicts, and finding flow through arbitrary constraints. A raw look at how he makes words.
  • people-shaped — Writing · 2023 · 670 words. Make your ideas people-shaped. Talk to people to scope your writing. People relate better to human-sized communication than grand declarations. Apply this to creative work and problem-solving.
  • What does it mean to “process” an experience? — Self-Knowledge · 2023 · 417 words. Processing a peak experience means questioning your old assumptions about what's possible. Every breakthrough forces a remodeling of what you thought you knew, which can transform your whole life.
  • psychofauna — Psychology & Emotions · 2023 · 413 words. Psychofauna are the memetic predators of the modern age, picking off peers in digital spaces. Visa suggests people must learn to defend against them, just as ancestors learned to defeat megafauna, by arming themselves with understanding and resilience.
  • quotes — Personal Growth & Self-Improvement · 2023 · 618 words. A collection of quotes Visa finds lively, spanning ambition, self-respect, writing, and existential reflection. Curated wisdom from various thinkers, offered as touchstones for thought and growth.
  • safety rituals — Psychology & Emotions · 2023 · 657 words. Distractions, procrastination, and fixations on productivity systems are safety rituals that protect you from deeper fears and pain. The real relief comes from using journaling and self-reflection to face those root issues, not to avoid them.
  • when “women are people” doesn’t work — Status & Social Dynamics · 2023 · 854 words. The 'women are people' response misses the real issue: men's social models are overtrained on male-only spaces. Visa unpacks the cultural confusion and recommends immersion in women's media and gentle curiosity instead of moral condemnation.
  • the world is big — Life & Meaning · 2023 · 2.4k words. The world is huge and your bubble is tiny. Get out of your Twitter circle, talk to people who don't know you, try new things. Be a tourist in your own life, every day you can be new.
  • take baby steps — Habits · 2022 · 1k words. Start stupid small. The shame of doing too little keeps you from starting at all. Break tasks into ridiculous first steps and celebrate each one. Cathedrals are built brick by brick.
  • culture — Sociocultural Commentary · 2022 · 1.1k words. Culture is a regulatory aether that shapes what we can say and do. Most enforce it, a few produce it at the frontier, and letting those few work unhindered is essential for human flourishing.
  • how to de-escalate tense situations — Psychology & Emotions · 2022 · 583 words. How to respond to intense DMs without escalating: laugh, give breezy answers, gently reject pedestalization, and remind people you're just a guy. A practical guide to de-escalating drama by refusing to play along.
  • happiness — Psychology & Emotions · 2022 · 6.8k words. Happiness isn't a goal to chase, it's what emerges when you earn self-respect, find things you're excited about, and let go of coercion and learned helplessness. Prioritize meaning and connection over pleasure.
  • do whatever makes your heart sing — Mindset & Motivation · 2022 · 2.5k words. The most important thing is to do what makes your heart sing. Stop worrying about what others want and give yourself permission to follow your desires: that's how you come alive.
  • so you’ve been main character’d — Internet Culture · 2022 · 291 words. When you become the target of online backlash, manage your emotional response by writing down feelings, not replying, zooming out, and controlling the frame. Use the opportunity to demonstrate your qualities under fire, or fail gracefully and wait for the distraction to pass.
  • the Losev problem — Friendship & Community · 2022 · 147 words. Oleg Losev invented the LED in the 1920s but died unknown and broke. We should build an informal global nerd network so lonely geniuses like him can find each other and advance humanity faster.
  • self-worth — Psychology & Emotions · 2022 · 759 words. Self-worth isn't something you can just decide to have; it's tied to real variables like health, relationships, purpose. The better frame is self-respect: what do you have to do to earn your own respect? It's a messy, personal journey.
  • ⏱ 4 hours — Productivity · 2021 · 477 words. You can only be truly productive for 2-4 hours a day. Use decisive force on high-value targets, but stay light enough to recognize moments of uncommon inspiration.
  • Aug29: AGI fire alarm drill day — Science & Technology · 2021 · 433 words. Visa proposes an annual AGI Fire Alarm Drill Day on August 29 to practice societal response to superintelligent AI, discusses alignment debates, and critiques Hollywood's portrayal of superintelligence.
  • aesthetics — Art & Creativity · 2021 · 1k words. Aesthetics is the soul that expresses itself through every layer of what you make and wear. Align your choices like Hendrix did, and even small objects can become talismans that reshape your identity.
  • ayy lmao — Philosophy · 2021 · 110 words. Paradoxes like dicking around vs productivity create an anxiety vortex until you see the joke. Laughing lets you step outside and navigate either way: this is the heart of philosophy.
  • “Shouldn’t I want to make the world a better place?” — Self-Knowledge · 2021 · 516 words. Shoulds can tyrannize your thinking and lock you in stasis. Suspending them, at least temporarily, helps you discover what you actually want and feel, a first step in genuine introspection.
  • books — Books & Literature · 2021 · 931 words. A list of books he's written and ones he's spoken about, each with a short personal note. Visa includes his own books on ambition and introspection, and recommends a range from Feynman to Le Guin.
  • troubleshooting arrogance — Self-Knowledge · 2021 · 1.7k words. After years of being told Visa was too arrogant, he spent his 20s deconstructing his own mind through 800k words of journaling and total philosophical rewrites. He emerged with earned confidence and now seeks ambitious peers rather than suppressing who he is.
  • civilization is potty training — Self-Knowledge · 2021 · 1.7k words. Civilization is a series of tradeoffs that condition us like potty training. We can identify how we've been programmed by school, work, and society, and unlearn what doesn't serve us to reclaim our joy.
  • constructive ADHD — ADHD & Neurodivergence · 2021 · 1.2k words. Visa reframes ADHD as a constructive feature, not a bug. He shares how he rebuilt self-trust by announcing small actions before doing them, and advocates writing down intentions to support a meandering mind.
  • coordination does not require conspiracy — Sociocultural Commentary · 2021 · 429 words. Coordination emerges naturally without explicit conspiracy. Visa explores how animals and humans coordinate via Twitter and biology, and hopes to help humanity get better at this for solving big problems.
  • you can’t think your way out of a courage deficit — Mindset & Motivation · 2021 · 203 words. Thinking more won't fix a courage deficit. Reducing cowardice by half beats tripling your analytical smarts: better to be brave enough to get out of the shit than to analyze it.
  • things I learned from my ex-boss Dinesh — Mindset & Motivation · 2021 · 724 words. Dinesh taught Visa to always ask what he wants, how to measure progress, and what's the limiting factor. Most people fail at knowing their goals, breaking them down, or managing the psychology to keep going. The hard problem is sustaining action when emotions change.
  • pave the desire paths — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2021 · 2k words. Use desire paths, the trails people naturally create, as a metaphor for organizing knowledge and writing. Notice what naturally emerges from your curiosity and conversation, then build around it rather than forcing a top-down structure.
  • encourage your friends to ship their ideas — Art & Creativity · 2021 · 621 words. Encourage your friends to just ship their ideas rather than overcomplicating them with suggestions. Ship quickly, learn from real feedback, and don't let the fear of minor awkwardness prevent you from doing the thing you want to do.
  • dominoes — Sociocultural Commentary · 2021 · 941 words. A reflection on the domino vision of progressive steps toward societal change, with a curated list of related posts. Then a naive thought experiment about reimagining wealth distribution through local mutual aid and high-trust networks as a smarter alternative to taxes and philanthropy.
  • what’s it like to live your dream? — Psychology & Emotions · 2021 · 1.9k words. Living your dream brings joy and unlocks a new level of fear: everything becomes consequential. The real constraints are internal, and you see your own patterns clearly, even the annoyance of syncing with yourself.
  • Mint 100 Erasmuses — Friendship & Community · 2021 · 286 words. Erasmus wrote thousands of letters despite hardship. Visa wants to mint 100 Erasmuses: support 100 prolific correspondents to build intellectual scenes.
  • exhaustion funnels: why tired? — Psychology & Emotions · 2021 · 693 words. Exhaustion is a funnel: the worse it gets, the worse it gets. Trying to push through only digs you deeper. The real answer is to accept defeat, try softer, and understand the varieties of tiredness.
  • “i’m such a failure” — Mindset & Motivation · 2021 · 128 words. Failure isn't permanent: it's a signal. Learn to sit with mistakes without panicking, focus on small wins, and shift your story from 'I'm a failure' to 'I'm succeeding a little more each time.'
  • 2,000 copies of F.A.N sold! — Writing · 2021 · 503 words. Visa passes 2,000 copies of Friendly Ambitious Nerd and looks back at the writing and marketing thinking behind it. He's a little embarrassed he hasn't updated it yet, and reflects on the positioning that shaped the project.
  • feral free agents — Work & Ambition · 2021 · 1.1k words. Visa rejects conventional employment and freelancer labels. He describes himself as a 'feral free agent' who writes his way out, builds his own path, and values autonomy, with naps.
  • do 100 things — Art & Creativity · 2021 · 809 words. Do 100 things as a practice of prolific making without expectations, overcoming perfectionism through quantity. The process reveals our fears and teaches us to accept failure as part of growth.
  • fumbling the bag — Status & Social Dynamics · 2021 · 289 words. A dissection of a Tinder exchange where a guy’s height insecurity torpedoes the attraction. The lesson: how you frame yourself matters more than the trait itself.
  • fuckability — Status & Social Dynamics · 2021 · 97 words. Fuckability is capital, people often want to be desired more than they want the actual labor of good sex. A sharp social observation about status and motive.
  • comms is lossy — Psychology & Emotions · 2021 · 611 words. Communication is inherently lossy: words fail to fully convey meaning, and people interpret from different experiences. Visa advocates editing down messages, giving each other time to revise, and recognizing the limits of plaintext.
  • how to DM your heroes — Status & Social Dynamics · 2021 · 845 words. A tactical guide: compress proof-of-work, personal context, and an easy question into three short lines. Approach heroes as equals, not fanboys. The best ask is a small gift the universe itself seems compelled to honor.
  • hostage — Psychology & Emotions · 2021 · 450 words. Visa starts with a hostage negotiation scene from a video game, then reflects on how you can talk someone down, or yourself off a ledge. He lately realizes he has been holding himself hostage with anxious patterns that didn't match reality.
  • thinking is easy, information architecture is hard — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2021 · 975 words. The real work is not having ideas but structuring them. Visa explores why building memorable, people-shaped systems is harder than thinking, and why he's been grinding on his book for years.
  • influences — Personal Growth & Self-Improvement · 2021 · 1.5k words. A personal catalog of the books, music, TED talks, and people that shaped Visa's thinking and creativity, from Calvin and Hobbes to Hayley Williams, with links to deeper dives.
  • iconography — Marketing & Branding · 2021 · 283 words. Iconography is about reverse-engineering successful icons to create resonant images. It sits at the intersection of marketing, PR, and world-building, and you have to start with a niche you genuinely belong to.
  • hyperthreading — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2021 · 1.9k words. Hypertext is a superpower we barely use. Visa threads his tweets and notes into a personal web of ideas; for him, linking is a way to resurface good thoughts and assemble a mindcity with others.
  • iterating Introspect — Writing · 2021 · 3.6k words. The long struggle to write a book about introspection, exploring what people want, wrestling with structure, and realizing you can't solve everyone's problems in one volume. The meta-process of figuring out what the book should really be, told through journal entries and reflection.
  • jinky, janky, junky — Language & Linguistics · 2021 · 830 words. Visa traces the etymology and overlapping meanings of jinky, janky, and junky, words he wants his own work to live in the middle of. A playful celebration of language's wild, textured history.
  • the solution to your imposter syndrome is not inside your head — Psychology & Emotions · 2021 · 252 words. Imposter syndrome isn't solved by more introspection. The fix is talking to other people, really listening to how they see themselves. Art, literature, and music connect us and remind us we're not alone.
  • the library ethos — Education & Learning · 2021 · 4.2k words. Libraries radicalised Visa as a child, teaching that life can be a glorious adventure of learning. He sees the internet as a global library to contribute to, and upholds the ethos of sharing knowledge and writing what matters.
  • play long games — Mindset & Motivation · 2021 · 1k words. Play the long game. Think backwards from the life you want, persist through resistance, and ignore short-term metrics. Build a body of work over decades, and don't be distracted by quick hacks.
  • memed into existence — Internet Culture · 2021 · 627 words. A collected index of instances where the phrase 'memed into existence' appears online, from alt-right recruitment to fandom activism and crypto. Pure cataloging, no thesis.
  • dealing with losers — Mindset & Motivation · 2021 · 1.7k words. To sustainably be kind and supportive, you have to win at games you deem worthy. Define winning for yourself, avoid self-loathing losers who distract you, and use your wins to help others win too.
  • Most People — Status & Social Dynamics · 2021 · 1.9k words. Most people are trapped by caring what most people think. This piece argues for unshackling from social approval, focusing energy on exceptional outliers, and building for the few who dare to be different, because that's how change happens.
  • you are already the monarch of your life — Mindset & Motivation · 2021 · 2.9k words. You are already the monarch of your life: assign value to things, direct your attention intentionally, and wield your own sovereignty with honor. Talismans, attention sovereignty, and the honor economy are tools for reclaiming your agency.
  • narrow utilitarianism — Philosophy · 2021 · 35 words. To be properly utilitarian, you must occasionally be useless, just as highs require lows and light needs dark. A koan-like paradox about the nature of usefulness.
  • oblique approaches can achieve what directness cannot — Status & Social Dynamics · 2021 · 2.9k words. Oblique approaches, telling the truth slant, using masks, avoiding direct confrontation, can be more effective than bluntness in navigating social fault lines and avoiding retaliation. The goal is to stay in the game and not break your ankles.
  • let’s jam! — Music · 2021 · 2.8k words. Visa's music journey, from bad bands to busking on Orchard Road, taught him about community, selling, and taste. He is not a musician, but music shaped everything good about him. Now he busks on the internet.
  • a theory of pissbabies — Psychology & Emotions · 2021 · 1.5k words. A playful but substantive theory of the 'pissbaby', someone who fails to self-regulate and then complains about the consequences. Visa explores how to respond with dignity while encouraging growth, and warns against mockery.
  • Pericles — History · 2021 · 987 words. A profile of the Athenian statesman Pericles, exploring his leadership during Athens' Golden Age, the construction of the Parthenon, and his famous Funeral Oration, presented as a model for contemporary ambition.
  • everything is a remix — Art & Creativity · 2021 · 577 words. Kirby Ferguson's 'Everything Is A Remix' reveals all creation builds on prior work, relieving the pressure to be original. Visa reflects on how this reduces creative anxiety and discusses plagiarism, an argument for making more art.
  • persuasion — Marketing & Branding · 2021 · 769 words. Persuasion is a powerful skill for gaining options, achieved by focusing on individuals, being genuinely interesting, and sharing passion rather than preaching or scolding.
  • I use scapple to do my think-out-loud maps — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2021 · 74 words. Visa uses Scapple, a mind-mapping tool, to externalize his thinking in visual maps. He shares these maps online and has become an accidental evangelist, even making a tutorial video.
  • don’t be gullible — Marketing & Branding · 2021 · 907 words. Don't be gullible. Build an audience one real connection at a time. Run small experiments to validate demand before spending money. Focus on what you can control, and don't quit your day job until you have runway. It takes years of taking shots.
  • seek excellent peers — Friendship & Community · 2021 · 767 words. Your best life advice in three words: seek excellent peers. Evaluate your current circle, reach out to people you admire, and tend your social graph like a garden.
  • the death and life of great scenius — Sociocultural Commentary · 2021 · 479 words. Scenius, collective creative scenes, drives golden ages more than markets or lone genius. The real fuel is productive rivalry among nerds trying to outdo each other, from Athens to Silicon Valley.
  • shame — Psychology & Emotions · 2021 · 216 words. Visa is riffing on shame, especially how it shows up in Asian cultures where ambition is viewed as shameful. Visa draws on personal experience and external references to understand this social emotion.
  • small talk — Observations & Humor · 2021 · 203 words. Small talk is an invitation to freestyle a bit: just open your phone and talk about the last thing you saw. The content barely matters; it's a permission to connect.
  • smartphones changed everything — Sociocultural Commentary · 2021 · 1.9k words. Smartphones are magical objects that rewired culture, status, coordination, and protest. We've barely begun to reckon with what they do to us, and we're still 20-30 years behind the tech.
  • status quo soldiers lose in the long run — Status & Social Dynamics · 2021 · 582 words. How to handle status quo soldiers who try to discourage change: ignore the content, redirect with your own stuff, and refuse to be discouraged. Their short-term wins lose on the scale of decades. Use anger to fuel encouragement.
  • problems are solvable: define, solicit, integrate — Mindset & Motivation · 2021 · 5.5k words. Problems are solvable by defining clearly, soliciting feedback, and integrating. Visa shares his framework for getting unstuck, with examples from music and life, and the core move is to reconceptualize your relationship with the problem.
  • talent is not rare, talent is clueless and scared — Psychology & Emotions · 2021 · 740 words. Talent isn't rare: it's hiding because it's scared and clueless. Many gifted people stay unknown while loud mediocrities thrive. The world is missing geniuses due to fear and lack of visibility.
  • systems thinking — Philosophy · 2021 · 771 words. System thinking is just real thinking: everything is relationships, nothing exists in isolation. Thinking isn’t just in your head but with your hands; a little knowledge can be dangerous, so run cheap experiments instead of big bets.
  • todo lists as narrative devices — Self-Knowledge · 2021 · 1.7k words. Todo lists are narrative devices that reveal the story you tell about yourself. Align them with your true values, not social pressure, to make tasks feel meaningful and easier.
  • write your memoirs — Self-Knowledge · 2021 · 415 words. Write your life story to understand, edit, and care about yourself. Sharing it helps you find real connection. The act of crafting your narrative is a powerful tool for clarity and self-compassion.
  • “Wrong.” — Status & Social Dynamics · 2021 · 410 words. Telling someone they're wrong is a bad way to change their mind. Better to say 'I don't think that's correct' and find common ground: otherwise you're just feeding your ego and building a bloodthirsty audience.
  • vision — Art & Creativity · 2021 · 63 words. 一个关于愿景危机的简短观察：人们缺乏对未来的有趣想法。伟大的事发生在伟大的人互相激发时。是时候改变了。
  • word magic — Language & Linguistics · 2021 · 3.9k words. Words are magic, they shape thought, free the mind, and let you navigate the ocean of meaning. Visa has spent his life studying them, to figure himself out and to share that power through writing.
  • talking points (2021) — Personal Growth & Self-Improvement · 2021 · 3.7k words. A collection of 98 aphoristic talking points on life, work, and relationships. Encourages doing things 100 times, playing long games, cultivating taste, and managing your psychology with courage and curiosity.
  • after gifted — Personal Growth & Self-Improvement · 2020 · 42 words. Visa announces a planned ebook for formerly gifted kids on finding success and happiness. Update years later: hasn't started yet. Short and self-deprecating.
  • the apocalypse test — Friendship & Community · 2020 · 387 words. Visa describes his 'apocalypse test' for figuring out who to trust deeply. He prioritizes nourishing humanity over labels, and his life goal is to surround himself with people he'd entrust his child to in a crisis.
  • when and why I block people — Internet Culture · 2020 · 238 words. Blocking is a tool to protect honest conversation, not to avoid criticism. Visa blocks when people are cruel to others in his mentions, but he hesitates because public spaces should be open. A warning often suffices.
  • take deep breaths — Health, Fitness & Body · 2020 · 1.7k words. Visa experiments with box breathing and discovers it calms his anxiety, improves sleep, and makes him more aware of his body. He connects it to smoking, posture, and the science of CO2, all as a curious noob.
  • cold emails — Status & Social Dynamics · 2020 · 542 words. Cold emails alone won't get you past busy people's gates. Work backwards from their process, find gatekeepers, and get multiple independent people to want to refer you without asking. Make good stuff as your wingman.
  • unlearning coercion — Psychology & Emotions · 2020 · 513 words. You can't coerce yourself into growth, self-talk contaminated with coercion is an abusive relationship with yourself. Unlearning it means replacing force with love, freedom, and acceptance, one small act at a time.
  • depression — Psychology & Emotions · 2020 · 11.3k words. Depression as a collapse of meaning and a prison. Visa shares his two episodes: at 17 from school and music scene collapse, and at 25 from work burnout and loss of validation. He got through by enduring, music, writing, and eventually reconstructing meaning.
  • elitism — Status & Social Dynamics · 2020 · 429 words. Visa defends against accusations of elitism by distinguishing his meritocratic focus on quality from class-based snobbery. He seeks to connect and help both ambitious and non-ambitious people, and to build a community that helps others.
  • friendly ambitious nerd — Life & Meaning · 2020 · 445 words. Visa's book Friendly Ambitious Nerd lays out a personal philosophy for navigating fragmentation and disorientation: live like a heroic anime, make friends, help with side quests, and don't take yourself too seriously.
  • how to ask for help — Status & Social Dynamics · 2020 · 1.5k words. How to ask busy strangers for help: be concise, do your homework, give specific compliments, and make it easy for them to say yes. The best way to get someone's attention is to start an interesting conversation, not a needy plea.
  • hecklers — Status & Social Dynamics · 2020 · 1k words. A look at hecklers, haters, and status regulators, the people who show up when you put work into the world. Visa examines their psychology and suggests the Obama/Seinfeld frame: treat them with curious compassion.
  • kids in shitty social graphs — Status & Social Dynamics · 2020 · 1.8k words. Kids in broken or mediocre social graphs need encouragement from the public commons to realize their potential. Talent hides because it's scared or clueless: we lose most of the world's best minds. We need better public spaces, not just better parenting.
  • listen to kids — Psychology & Emotions · 2020 · 533 words. Kids are anxious and overwhelmed because adults don't truly listen to them. A few minutes of sincere attention can be life-changing. Kids have rich inner lives and need nourishing relationships with adults who care without obligation.
  • learned catastrophizing — Psychology & Emotions · 2020 · 768 words. Catastrophizing grows from vague thinking and terrorization. To help a kid, accept none of their grand premises; ask what matters to them and get precise. Honesty and trust beat fear.
  • the 4 kinds of luck — Philosophy · 2020 · 2.9k words. A breakdown of James Austin's four kinds of luck, blind, tinker-driven, prepared-mind, and perfect-storm, with Visa's own stories of how persistent tinkering, discernment, and being a high-functioning weirdo turned luck into a practice you can design for.
  • magic junkyard — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2020 · 309 words. Visa coined the phrase 'magic junkyard' to describe Roam Research's messy but lively note-taking environment, tracked its spread across Twitter and Reddit, and later reflected on what makes a space truly magical and alive.
  • masculinity — Status & Social Dynamics · 2020 · 1.3k words. Men face unique social expectations: be emotionally resilient, handle attacks without complaint. True masculinity means using strength to nourish others, and men must create spaces to support each other honestly.
  • narcissism — Psychology & Emotions · 2020 · 4.6k words. Narcissism isn't just loving attention: sometimes privacy is more narcissistic, and self-loathing is a hidden form of it. The accusation itself keeps thoughtful people from stepping up; we should reframe to encourage honest self-reporting and mutual support.
  • how to be more optimistic — Mindset & Motivation · 2020 · 139 words. A short, practical guide to cultivating optimism: write down what you're grateful for and what you want before your inner critic can stop you, take tiny actions, hang out with optimistic people, and be supportive. Optimism is a practiced way of being, not just a mood.
  • don’t pedestalize people — Status & Social Dynamics · 2020 · 324 words. Pedestalization dehumanizes both the worshipped and the worshipper. If you work in public, actively discourage hero worship, people enjoy the status gap, but you're just a person doing a process.
  • the prestige trap — Mindset & Motivation · 2020 · 967 words. The prestige trap of feeling you must do important work keeps you from actually doing the work you'd enjoy. Uninstall that bloatware, be playful and curious instead.
  • project management — Productivity · 2020 · 1.8k words. Project management is the skill of getting things done across sessions. Define projects clearly, collaborate with yourself or others, and use concepts like theory of constraints to overcome bottlenecks.
  • pay it forward — Friendship & Community · 2020 · 765 words. When older friends treated Visa as a broke teenager, Visa felt guilt, not gratitude. Later Visa realized the move: 'My mentors treated me, now I'm treating you: pass it on.' That reframes help as a chain, not charity, and makes everyone part of something bigger.
  • earn self-respect — Mindset & Motivation · 2020 · 564 words. To earn self-respect, know what you respect in people and conduct yourself accordingly. Visa lists qualities like friendliness, courage, honesty, and non-neediness as the basis for a life you can respect.
  • status and status regulation — Status & Social Dynamics · 2020 · 1.2k words. Status isn't zero-sum and doesn't make you happy. Self-respect matters more. Status regulation punishes ambition, but you can build your own frame and stay unfazed, with haters as proof of your depth.
  • optimize for survival — Personal Growth & Self-Improvement · 2020 · 921 words. Survivor bias teaches you to optimize for staying in the game. Fail early and cheaply, think three steps ahead, and don't let ego drive you into avoidable catastrophes: don't break your ankles.
  • thinking — Philosophy · 2020 · 7.7k words. Thinking is asking questions and processing information, but feelings are the weights on the scale. Visa explores the dance between abstract and instrumental thought, arguing you need both, and that overthinking can be a trap while underthinking is a deficit.
  • how I rebuilt my trust in myself — Psychology & Emotions · 2020 · 3k words. After years of being an unreliable bullshitter who betrayed his own trust, Visa rebuilt self-trust through impossibly small wins: announcing he'd drink water, then doing it. The fix isn't punishment or grand promises but tiny, kept promises that compound into self-respect.
  • ⏩ ages 17 to 29 — Life & Meaning · 2019 · 570 words. A letter to his 17-year-old self recounting the next 12 years: marriage, business, meeting the PM, depression, leaving a good job, and the slow, uneven work of becoming who you are.
  • how to get my attention — Status & Social Dynamics · 2019 · 1.7k words. Visa gets many requests and prioritizes by familiarity, shared interests, and compelling stories. Small asks and references to his work increase your odds; reduce chance by making your narrative accessible.
  • learn to laugh at yourself — Philosophy · 2019 · 569 words. Comedy is sacred because it transmutes anxiety into laughter. The true comedian sets aside ego to tap into love and hilarity at life's absurdity, which makes laughter a radical act.
  • empty your cup and allow life to surprise you — Mindset & Motivation · 2019 · 2.4k words. Empty your cup, let go of assumptions and truly listen. Life surprises us when we stop looking so hard for what we think we want. Be open, be curious, and you'll see more.
  • everyone loves to make a great introduction — Status & Social Dynamics · 2019 · 804 words. The secret to social life is being someone others love to introduce. Kindness and trustworthiness matter more than skill or charm, the real test is whether you'd trust someone with your kid in a crisis.
  • @visakanv’s top 10 lifehacks — Personal Growth & Self-Improvement · 2019 · 424 words. A list of ten actionable lifehacks: do a thousand reps of anything, take notes, be prolific, experiment, develop taste, admit ignorance, publish online, make friends, marry young, and accept defeat. Simple practices for becoming interesting and resilient.
  • make friends — Friendship & Community · 2019 · 1.2k words. Making friends on the internet is an art. Be supportive, not combative, and always ask who you want to share your life with.
  • VV’s memex: a map of directives to live well — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2019 · 88 words. A visual map of the recurring ideas and directives that show up across years of thinking and writing, shared as a memex-style web of interrelated motifs.
  • relationships are challenging + a lot of work — Romance, Parenting & Family · 2019 · 4.2k words. A candid and pragmatic examination of marriage as hard work, requiring deliberate systems, emotional maintenance, and a willingness to grow in consideration, based on his own experience and observations.
  • practice good reply game — Friendship & Community · 2019 · 473 words. Most people reply wrong. The art is to support the OP's game, not just speak your mind. Good reply game is practically love: it helps you find the people you want to share life with.
  • representation matters — Sociocultural Commentary · 2019 · 1.6k words. Representation in media is the most powerful force for social change: it humanizes marginalized groups and breaks stereotypes. High-resolution depictions shift how others see them and correct unfair narratives.
  • friends I met in SF — Friendship & Community · 2019 · 126 words. A photo-log of friends met in San Francisco, with brief captions and Twitter handles. Keeping track of the people Visa connected with during his trip.
  • screentime — Romance, Parenting & Family · 2019 · 811 words. Visa argues that worrying about children's screen time is missing the real issue; instead, parents should nurture a child's attention, curiosity, and expressiveness. He suggests engaging with what kids watch, and suspects screen concerns often mask deeper problems like school stress or parental pressure.
  • ‘Smart Writing’ is about cultivating taste, suspending judgement and chasing your curiosity — Writing · 2019 · 1.3k words. Smart writing comes from developing taste, then producing a huge volume of work without trying to be smart, and editing with that taste. Chase curiosity, suspend judgment, and don't worship the result.
  • San Francisco [2019] — Travel & Place · 2019 · 1.5k words. A letter to his 17-year-old self about his first solo trip to San Francisco, where Twitter friends welcomed him and he finally felt he had a table of his own. The experience of a different place and being accepted changed him forever.
  • the world is not kind to those who are tacky — Status & Social Dynamics · 2019 · 602 words. Don't be tacky unless you know why. Aesthetics are the currency of social capital; classiness buys you grace. Know the game, or get played by it.
  • talking to people makes you a better writer — Writing · 2019 · 967 words. Talking to people about your writing forces you to prioritize and clarify your ideas. Testing them in conversation and paying attention to how they're received is the best way to make your work stronger and more compelling.
  • twitter_rpg_strategy_guide.txt — Internet Culture · 2019 · 657 words. Twitter is a multiplayer real-time virtual world that works like an RPG: players can weave threaded webs of hypertext that let anyone interact at the level of individual thoughts. A strategy guide for playing the game well.
  • many people like to contribute to vectors, few like to own them — Marketing & Branding · 2019 · 3 words. A brief note suggesting that people prefer contributing to marketing vectors over owning them, with a redirect to a dedicated page on the topic.
  • bestof 2010-2019 — Books & Literature · 2019 · 770 words. A personal compilation of the most impactful links from each year of the 2010s, spanning essays, videos, and articles. A decade's worth of memorable content, briefly annotated.
  • we need to get better at dealing with assholes if we are to progress as a species — Sociocultural Commentary · 2018 · 2.1k words. We need to get better at dealing with assholes, who make up ~1% of groups but cause most of the damage. Power and civility often protect them, so we must learn to coordinate effectively without becoming assholes ourselves.
  • a system can only be improved at its tightest bottleneck — Mindset & Motivation · 2018 · 207 words. The only meaningful improvement is at the tightest bottleneck. Sleep, shame, and energy are real constraints; everything else is downstream. Apply the theory of constraints to yourself.
  • cultural cosplay: a broader framework for thinking about cultural appropriation — Sociocultural Commentary · 2018 · 600 words. Visa introduces 'cultural cosplay' as a neutral frame for cultural borrowing. All of us are always cosplaying; the key is context and respect. Be a good guest at the dinner party of other cultures.
  • flirting is about signalling interest with plausible deniability — Status & Social Dynamics · 2018 · 253 words. Flirting is signaling interest with plausible deniability, like a stealth video game. Practice with survivable failures, avoid putting people on the spot, and learn to read returned signals.
  • It’s my fault and that’s a good thing — Psychology & Emotions · 2018 · 831 words. It's his fault and that's a good thing, taking responsibility gives you agency. Mid-level demands like mortgages keep smart people frustrated, but acknowledging that is the first step toward higher development.
  • do you know what you want? — Self-Knowledge · 2018 · 592 words. Most people don't know what they actually want: they inherit desires from parents, peers, society. Getting precise about what you want makes it cheaper and easier to get; clarity on costs and tradeoffs buys freedom.
  • mansplaining is sometimes (but not always) innocuous — Status & Social Dynamics · 2018 · 492 words. Mansplaining is how many men talk by default: adversarial horseplay that can be fun between peers but often reflects a real power imbalance. Women get it more, and the mismatch means it's never as simple as both sides being equally at fault.
  • Narcissist PR works because we can’t shut up about it — Sociocultural Commentary · 2018 · 595 words. People can't shut up about narcissists, so narcissist PR works by turning every critic into a free promoter. Attention, not admiration, is the real currency.
  • I used to be a picky eater — Food & Dining · 2018 · 413 words. Visa shares his journey from picky eater to cooking enthusiast, overcoming fear of food through army service, YouTube tutorials, and helping his wife in the kitchen. He urges kindness, not mockery, toward picky eaters.
  • my life in pictures — Life & Meaning · 2018 · 257 words. A chronological photo dump from 1990 to 2019, meant as a quick visual reference to grasp the arc of his own life. No commentary, just pictures marking time.
  • we turn our lives into mostly-predictable sitcoms — Status & Social Dynamics · 2018 · 859 words. We assign each other fixed roles in our social circles, turning life into a predictable sitcom. Breaking out requires killing a familiar part of yourself, and the narratives we cling to can be as destructive as they are comforting.
  • #StrugglePorn: is it painting a false picture? — Psychology & Emotions · 2018 · 1k words. A nuanced take on #StrugglePorn: the fetishization of suffering as moral worth. Visa examines why we lean into struggle, the psychology behind workaholism as penance, and argues for finding joy independent of the struggle. No easy answers.
  • Breakfast AMAs — Personal Growth & Self-Improvement · 2018 · 3k words. A collection of Q&A from breakfast AMAs on Twitter, covering advice on productivity, relationships, career, habits, and life. Visa shares honest, practical thoughts from his own experience.
  • constraints — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2017 · 162 words. A master switchboard linking to Visa's various writings on constraints: the 2019 Twitter thread, the 2022 Substack essay, and three 2015 vomits. Also references Tiago Forte's Theory of Constraints.
  • a sitemap of my memoirs — Self-Knowledge · 2017 · 1.4k words. A personal sitemap of life and writing: indexing memoirs from birth to recent years, while reflecting on school trauma, band marketing lessons, and the compulsion to catalog everything for self-understanding.
  • an oral history of my relationship with religion — Religion · 2017 · 2.4k words. Growing up Hindu, Visa didn't buy into the gods but found community and ritual compelling. After a smug atheist phase, he has settled into agnosticism, where religion reads as a human desire for connection and transcendence.
  • sinister connotations allow people to be assholes with plausible deniability — Language & Linguistics · 2017 · 658 words. Words carry hidden connotations that let people be assholes with plausible deniability: from 'urban' and 'thug' to 'female' and 'lazy'. Visa explores the power dynamics behind language and invites mindfulness without being prescriptive.
  • a list of some of my twitter threads — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2017 · 4.4k words. Visa curates an index of his most popular Twitter threads, organized by theme (relationships, marketing, masculinity, etc.) to help readers navigate his prolific online output and understand his core ideas.
  • hypothesis: the 7 ‘sins’ are really ‘drives’ that can be harnessed — Psychology & Emotions · 2016 · 1.2k words. Visa reframes the seven deadly sins as innate drives that can be channeled productively. Each sin becomes a drive (wrath to destruction, lust to conquest, etc.) with advice for enlightened use, and an emphasis on sustainability and long-term perspective.
  • when arguing, strive to understand context — Philosophy · 2016 · 2.7k words. Arguments are tools, not ends. Context shapes every claim, and in-groups blind us to the territory beyond our map. The real win is understanding the other person's context, not winning the debate.
  • beating yourself up is egotistic — Psychology & Emotions · 2016 · 2k words. Self-flagellation is a trap, a form of egotism that feels like emotional labor but distracts from actually fixing the problem. The only way out is to accept reality, follow evidence instead of feelings, and do the boring work of improvement.
  • bookmarks that I often share with friends — Notes & Knowledge Systems · 2016 · 230 words. A growing collection of links Visa keeps sharing with friends, covering startups, communication, software, and work philosophy. It's a curated reference he updates whenever he finds something worth passing on.
  • how to build and maintain communities — Friendship & Community · 2016 · 5.3k words. A deep dive into building and maintaining healthy communities: how they form, get corrupted by bad actors, and what it takes to keep them alive, moderation, collective action, and the courage to reject contempt.
  • Drogon vs Balerion size comparison — Pop Culture & Entertainment · 2016 · 135 words. Visa couldn't find a simple size comparison of Drogon and Balerion, so he cobbled together this visual answer from YouTube screencaps. He keeps it on the blog for SEO traffic, maybe he will add more Game of Thrones stuff later.
  • the heat death of the universe means legacy is ultimately futile — Life & Meaning · 2016 · 1.2k words. Legacy can't save us from cosmic oblivion, the heat death of the universe makes that clear. That's actually freeing: we get to be kind, live in the present, and build sandcastles for the joy of it, not for permanence.
  • the jetpacks of the 2020s will be whatever helps us navigate information overload — Productivity · 2016 · 1.8k words. The real jetpacks of the 2020s aren't flying cars but better ways to navigate information overload. We need filters and prioritization to stay sane, not faster engines.
  • an analysis of power and social dynamics in ‘Mean Girls’ — Status & Social Dynamics · 2016 · 1.9k words. Mean Girls endures because it nails real social dynamics: Cady enters as a blank slate, the Plastics talent-scan her threat level, Regina rules through manipulation and blackmail, and it takes a bus to break the game. A sociological read of high-school hierarchy.
  • ideas that expanded my mind — Science & Technology · 2016 · 254 words. A loose list of mind-expanding ideas: the scale of the universe, consciousness as an illusion, the heat death of everything, and why a wrong note is always a half-step from a right one. Curious fragments that rearrange your sense of scale.
  • Politics and the English language [2016] — Writing · 2016 · 5.6k words. An update of Orwell's essay on how bad writing corrupts politics. Shows how stale metaphors and pretentious diction make clear thought impossible, and offers rules to fight back.
  • a list of predictions, to test my understanding — Philosophy · 2016 · 1.4k words. Public predictions as an exercise to test and calibrate your understanding of how the world changes. A list of bets on tech, politics, and culture, paired with a preamble on why predictions fail and how to think about uncertainty.
  • one must imagine Sisyphus LOL-ing — Philosophy · 2016 · 1.3k words. Camus's Sisyphus should not be imagined happy but laughing. Happiness is a trap; the only sustainable response to absurdity is humor. Embrace the struggle with a laugh.

Frame Studies

Visa’s writing on Substack. (61 pieces, 148k words)

  • 13 questions I ask my marketing clients (and why) — Marketing & Branding · 2026 · 4.2k words. A list of 13 questions Visa uses in marketing consults to help clients clarify their positioning, brand, constraints, and next steps, plus why each question works and what it reveals about the client's real situation.
  • compelling projects — Writing · 2026 · 2.4k words. A look at what makes projects compelling through Visa's own writing projects: Introspect, hyperthreading, wordvomits, YouTube, and Substack. Feedback, novelty, completion, and mission drive them, but each plateaus and forces a new frame.
  • i'm going to email you 100 times — Romance, Parenting & Family · 2026 · 1.1k words. Fatherhood has remade Visa's priorities, disrupted his old ambitions, and turned him into a man with narrower daily concerns. With a second baby due in July, Visa is going to publish daily until then: then disappear into newborn chaos.
  • if it pleases you — Psychology & Emotions · 2026 · 1.3k words. A scalp massage reveals Visa's been racing through life on autopilot. He realizes he inherited a covert workaholism and wants to slow down, feel his feelings, and live more deliberately.
  • how we fall apart — Sociocultural Commentary · 2026 · 1.8k words. Why good organizations and scenes always seem to fall apart. It's the difficulty of enforcing boundaries, the way success corrupts, and the challenge of keeping people in the healthy danger zone. Death makes way for new life, like whale falls on the ocean floor.
  • let down and hanging around — Psychology & Emotions · 2026 · 1.2k words. Visa reflects on how Radiohead's bleak music gave him access to his own sadness, contrasts his public optimism with private despair, and meditates on artistic evolution while facing exhaustion as a parent.
  • notes on literacy — Psychology & Emotions · 2026 · 4.7k words. A collection of notes on literacy as reading terrain, plaintext, and social signals. Emphasizes that communication is lossy, misunderstanding is the default, and cultivating psychological defenses and patience is essential for navigating the modern media environment.
  • on tedium — Psychology & Emotions · 2026 · 1.6k words. Tedium is thoughtless repetition. Visa explores why he avoids good processes and feel-good buttons, and how he might act differently now.
  • perennial problems — Psychology & Emotions · 2026 · 1.6k words. A reflection on realizing Visa's been struggling with the same problems, perfectionism, poor habits, motivation, for over a decade. He considers whether he's just talking about change or actually growing, and concludes there's a threshold of competence in managing these perennial issues.
  • the min-max mystery — Psychology & Emotions · 2026 · 2.1k words. Visa tries to understand why he doesn't always pursue pleasure or avoid pain, the 'inaction puzzle.' It comes down to avoidance patterns practiced unconsciously, and becoming a father has forced him to see them and choose presence instead.
  • to feel and to fail — Art & Creativity · 2026 · 2.8k words. The artist's job is to feel their feelings and risk failure repeatedly. Children have beginner's mind, but socialization makes us boring. Art requires discipline, public failure, and scenes that encourage both. Everything else is logistics.
  • inner sanctums — Psychology & Emotions · 2026 · 3.8k words. We all need inner sanctums: protected spaces where we can truly rest and be whole. Visa traces his own struggle to build one, from a home he never settled in to the trust he wants his son to feel, and the hard work of forgiving yourself.
  • xerox'd flowers — Writing · 2026 · 2.7k words. Visa's archivist impulse, rooted in grief, has reorganized his life around documenting. He sees his notes as xerox'd flowers, static copies of living things, and now he wants to let ideas drive again.
  • wallflowers — Art & Creativity · 2026 · 1.4k words. Visa reflects on art as feeling and failing, using Singaporean examples like a civil servant love story and Singlish t-shirts, and asks what makes art real, not just numbers or gatekeepers.
  • the rehab ladder — Psychology & Emotions · 2026 · 1.9k words. Sickness reveals the capriciousness of clarity. Visa navigates fog with beacons from past selves, confronts the humbling descent to basics, and climbs the rehab ladder of creative and psychological recovery.
  • a funny pattern — Writing · 2025 · 2.6k words. A funny pattern: telling myself to write leads to distraction, but saying I'm going to bed sparks real writing. I explore predictability, the fear of being typecast, and learning to do things badly on purpose, then realizing I should just write standalone pieces, not chapters of a book.
  • a virtual space of one's own — Psychology & Emotions · 2025 · 1.8k words. Visa maps his mental space as a cluttered living room, confronting frustration about the world's changes and his own mistakes. He uses the metaphor of a virtual space to explore his emotions and plans to reorganize both his physical and psychic environments.
  • for future reference — Writing · 2025 · 2.3k words. Visa reflects on 25+ years of writing online, losing archives, and realizing grief over lost words drives his output. Enduring work emerges from conversation and emotional honesty: revisiting old material overcomes self-indulgence fears.
  • contending with cyberspace — Internet Culture · 2025 · 2k words. How the internet affects people differently: one man's meat is another's poison. Scissor statements split audiences, cyberspace is a psychedelic trip without warning labels, and we must find ways to surf the chaos rather than be overwhelmed. No simple answers, but being oblique helps.
  • fragments — Writing · 2025 · 2.3k words. Visa explains why he's starting a 'fragments' folder: to embrace imperfection and free himself from the burden of 'proper' essays. Drawing on Brno Del Zou's photosculptures and Orny Adams's journey, he argues that creative work thrives on accepting incompleteness and trusting intuition over the compulsion to do the right thing.
  • I've been substacking all wrong — Writing · 2025 · 69 words. Visa has been approaching Substack wrong by thinking in tweets instead of long-form. Now he's calling it out and figuring out what's off.
  • jankposting from the hip — Writing · 2025 · 2.1k words. Feeling like a different person every day makes projects tough. Instead of fighting his fluctuating self, Visa commits to one-session jankposts that shoot from the hip and practice the reframing he preaches.
  • homecoming — Psychology & Emotions · 2025 · 1.2k words. Visa moved to a new home, forced to sit with decades-old patterns. He is not rushing to fix things this time, just feeling what's there. He is raising a toddler and facing exile and return. T.S. Eliot knew: coming home is the hardest exploration.
  • a Note is something you consider, a Post is something you inhabit — Writing · 2025 · 2k words. A Note offers a thought; a Post builds a world you can inhabit. This essay explores the difference between short-form and long-form writing, arguing that the true value of a Post is the experience it creates, a home for the reader.
  • on sentimentality — Psychology & Emotions · 2025 · 2.2k words. A reflection on whether he's sentimental, how it varies by culture and context, and how the feeling connects to his writing phases and the hunger-satiety cycle of creative work.
  • on scaffolding — Art & Creativity · 2025 · 2.8k words. The creative process needs scaffolding, sketches, drafts, low-res work, to build anything substantial. Practice the parts separately, keep it fun, and don't polish turds. Mastery comes from cheap mistakes and playful persistence.
  • one more turn... — Writing · 2025 · 3.9k words. Reflecting on game sessions from chess to DOTA, Visa explores what makes a writing session feel well-spent. He struggles to design a satisfying essay form, with the metaphor of navigation and beginner's mind to get him unstuck.
  • containers and throughlines — Writing · 2025 · 2k words. Testing his belief in signposting, Visa explores his adversarial relationship with structure and containers, drawing lessons from jigsaw puzzles and Herb Caen's three-dot journalism. The piece itself becomes a performance of finding a throughline between free-writing and coherence.
  • compulsions — ADHD & Neurodivergence · 2025 · 1.9k words. Visa's interests wax and wane in cycles, like ADHD patterns, he can't force them, so he saves notes and waits. Watching his toddler grapple with his own compulsions shows him we're all conflicted inside, and learning to accept that is healthier than fighting it.
  • the tao of poasting — Writing · 2025 · 2k words. Figuring out what a Substack post is by contrasting it with Twitter. Embrace writing and shipping, notice cycles, treat it as sketchbook performance art for yourself.
  • why 'frame studies'? — Writing · 2025 · 3.2k words. Visa introduces his Substack Frame Studies as a project about media literacy, framing, and self-directed learning. He reflects on hating school, his books, and the need to overcome perfectionism to write imperfectly but genuinely.
  • the joy of browsing — Books & Literature · 2025 · 1.7k words. A celebration of browsing bookstores as a joyful act and essential practice for a writer. Connecting with surprise, culture, and the sweet spot between certainty and uncertainty keeps the mind alive.
  • making media — Sociocultural Commentary · 2024 · 2.4k words. Sketches on how media quality gets forgotten, sequels degrade, representation evolves, and comedy shifts with platforms. Observes that reintroducing overlooked work is as valuable as making it originally.
  • a matryoshka of possibilities — Writing · 2024 · 3.6k words. Beyond courage to start and keep going, writing a good essay requires describing things, finding trapdoors, and accepting artful incompleteness. Each essay births the next, like a matryoshka.
  • a stupid bravery — Writing · 2024 · 3.3k words. The key to writing a good essay in one sitting is to discard your plans and follow what feels right. Information architecture is about feelings and requires courage, not just technical skill.
  • \"Are you having fun, son?\" — Psychology & Emotions · 2024 · 1.9k words. A reflective piece on why fun matters as an animating spirit we must protect, not a reward for work. Visa remembers childhood LAN parties and chocolate binges to argue that sustainable joy requires knowing when the dose is right, not just chasing more.
  • facing reality, pt 1 — Writing · 2024 · 3.5k words. Prioritizing writability over readability, Visa ships unfinished essays to overcome overthinking and face reality. Writing is a process of self-persuasion and discovery, not polished perfection.
  • ephemeral plaintext — Writing · 2024 · 1.6k words. A personal history of writing online, from diary-x to Substack, reflecting on how context collapses and ephemeral plaintext still matters. Plus a note on how 'useless' things find new uses.
  • if i'm honest with myself — Writing · 2024 · 3k words. On the difficulty of writing honestly without lying by omission. The threshold guardian, the grumpy inner child, and the need to face the present: write your way out of it.
  • heartbroken all the way — Writing · 2024 · 1.4k words. A hater's criticism prompts Visa to reaffirm his reasons for writing, it needn't be complex or useful, and reflect on his non-college path, the tension in online discourse, and the desire to consolidate scattered notes into a coherent whole. Earnest and meandering.
  • straight outta tartarus — Writing · 2024 · 2.5k words. Using the game Hades as a metaphor, this piece explores how to endure failure in the creative process and find the deeper insight, the thing within the thing, by feeling your way to it rather than planning in advance.
  • facebook memories — Writing · 2024 · 1.8k words. Facebook memories prompt reflection on how the social platform replaced personal blogs. Visa explores why most people post casually while a few treat it as a vocation, and reaffirms his commitment to writing words as his true medium.
  • Are you serious? — Mindset & Motivation · 2023 · 4.3k words. Seriousness isn't solemnity, it's dynamic persistence, doing the work, and staying curious through setbacks. Visa argues we need more people who genuinely mean what they say and keep going over decades, while staying playful and kind.
  • Breakthrough! in the DMs — Psychology & Emotions · 2023 · 2.6k words. Visa reflects on the breakthrough conversations he has in DMs, where he helps people figure out what they want by acting as an inquisitive mirror. He critiques the Ikigai model and introduces the idea of dynamism vs static self-image, drawn from his own journey and conversations.
  • maybe buy more waffle irons — Productivity · 2023 · 1.5k words. A reflection on noticing bottlenecks and inefficiencies in everyday processes, from a hospital waffle stand to a t-shirt business, and the value of periodically asking what's working and what's not to improve effectiveness.
  • interestingness on demand — Art & Creativity · 2023 · 3.8k words. A reflective essay on the challenge of making interestingness a job, the tightrope between pushing too hard and not enough, the internal conflicts of a creative, and the recursive task of demonstrating interestingness rather than explaining it.
  • branching paths — Writing · 2023 · 2.6k words. Visa explores branching paths as a metaphor for his creative process. He connects Frost's misread poem to desire paths and information architecture, and realizes his own writing method is about paving desire paths, the Crackle embraced before the Boom.
  • resonance over coherence — Writing · 2023 · 2.1k words. Visa reflects on his struggle to write Substack essays, realizing his assumptions about coherence block him. He explores getting unstuck through motion, possibility-space, and making ideas 'people-shaped,' prioritizing resonance over perfection.
  • reality is unrealistic, take 1 — Philosophy · 2023 · 2.7k words. We don't see reality as it is; we see through flawed models that we mistake for the real thing. The 'realistic' advice is often just conservatism. Updating our models when they bump against reality takes courage, but that's how we grow and avoid being trapped by old maps.
  • the tavern and the temple — Writing · 2023 · 3.6k words. Twitter is a rowdy tavern; Substack is a temple for patient thought. Visa explains why he needs a contemplative space to write deeply, and why he loves the chaos but can't think there.
  • stray clippings #01 — Writing · 2023 · 1.7k words. Visa has been sick and not posting, so here's a loose thought-dump about writing, storytelling, impending fatherhood, and his reading. He wants to do more sketchy posts between proper essays.
  • patterns: witching hour writing — Writing · 2023 · 2.9k words. Visa reflects on his late-night writing sessions, the pattern that governs much of his work. He examines why some sessions succeed and others fail, and shares his desire to inhabit his patterns with more aliveness, while accepting when it's time to stop.
  • yeet thyself — Writing · 2023 · 2.5k words. Visa announces he's creatively unblocked and plans to write daily, rejecting sensible publishing for voltage. He explores project management as collaborating with yourself, then resolves to write what he really thinks and yeet himself into bold territory.
  • when the vision isn’t manifesting — Writing · 2023 · 4.6k words. Visa wrestles with the gap between his vision for this Substack and the messy, slow reality of making it. He finds solace in the struggle itself, learning to let the idea drive and to trust the process even when nothing seems to work.
  • dancing with constraints, pt 1 — Writing · 2022 · 1.7k words. Visa is frustrated by human limits, fatigue, hunger, the fleeting nature of clarity, and by the constraints of writing mediums. He wrestles with the urge to ship imperfect work vs. the desire to do justice to his vision, ultimately choosing to publish despite the pain.
  • I don't wanna! — Writing · 2022 · 4.3k words. Visa hits a wall with his writing and publishes a raw rant about not wanting to do it. He works through frustration, self-criticism, and the need to fall back in love with the craft, ultimately choosing play over coercion.
  • nothing is edgier than earnestness — Life & Meaning · 2022 · 4.4k words. Earnestness, living with zest, following what makes your heart sing, is the best way to live, but it's under attack from edgelords and cynics. Tend the flame, ignore the critics, and publish imperfect work.
  • Santa Is Real — Philosophy · 2022 · 941 words. We don't have to lie about Santa or rush to disillusion kids, we can initiate them into the secret conspiracy of making the world better, because all social reality is made up stories, so we might as well tell good ones.
  • The Essays I Have Not Published — Writing · 2022 · 3.6k words. After six months without a second Substack post, Visa examines why: rising standards, a growing audience, and the tension between wanting grand essays and needing to publish something. This is him negotiating with himself about his own creative process.
  • We were voyagers — History · 2022 · 2.6k words. The past flows within us. A sense of history gives us belonging and purpose, and we owe it to our ancestors to build on their work and play for all of time.
  • hello world! — Writing · 2021 · 158 words. Hello world! Visa is starting a Substack to write essays again after finishing his ebook INTROSPECT. He doesn't know his posting frequency yet: maybe nothing for months, maybe two in a day. Updates: renamed twice, now FRAME STUDIES.

Medium

Visa’s writing on Medium. (41 pieces, 42k words)

Marketing Blog

Visa’s blog on marketing and sales. (92 pieces, 57k words)

  • solve for distribution — Marketing & Branding · 2026 · 2k words. Distribution (getting your product to customers) is often more important than product quality alone: decent products with good distribution beat good products with poor distribution. Study the market, build relationships, and don't leave distribution to chance.
  • product-market fit is unintuitive — Business & Markets · 2026 · 1.1k words. Product-market fit heals almost everything: successful people can be awful at basic things and still win big. Most people's model of reality is wrong; facing that discomfort is the path to real success.
  • you don’t have to give a TEDtalk — Marketing & Branding · 2026 · 434 words. You don't have to pitch like a TED speaker. If you're procrastinating on marketing tasks, it might be because the formal style clashes with your real personality. Instead, define your own audience and style: have casual conversations, focus on the problem, and let the sell happen naturally.
  • how to make money — Work & Ambition · 2026 · 748 words. A delirious but practical freestyle on how to make money: persuade people by solving problems. Jobs are stable scripts; the real game is defining your own expedition, like a podcast or product, and converting attention into money.
  • define your expedition — Marketing & Branding · 2026 · 446 words. Define your expedition: sustain your own interest in your project over time. The way you frame your journey reflects your personality and attracts the right people. Interest is the critical variable and it's contagious.
  • substack — Marketing & Branding · 2026 · 584 words. Growing a Substack isn't about chasing big numbers. It's about defining your ideal reader, being polarizing enough to attract them, and framing your publication as an expedition they'll want to follow.
  • introduce the conflict — Marketing & Branding · 2026 · 303 words. Frame your outsider status as a strength: clients value fresh perspectives when you demonstrate good faith and competence. Lean into the conflict that makes you interesting.
  • do a smaller version of the thing — Mindset & Motivation · 2026 · 250 words. Start with small proofs-of-concept to build conviction and overcome overwhelm. Short expeditions need less time and money, and past success lights the way through larger projects.
  • Start Here — Marketing & Branding · 2025 · 581 words. Visa introduces himself and his marketing blog, sharing his background and philosophy of 'slow marketing.' He lists links to his best writing on marketing, content strategy, and networking.
  • client notes — Marketing & Branding · 2025 · 1.8k words. Notes from marketing consulting sessions: the questions, frameworks, and advice that actually help clients clarify their brand, positioning, and direction. Raw, practical, and full of the patterns he's seen work.
  • on the value of consulting — Marketing & Branding · 2024 · 446 words. Visa gave a friend marketing advice over ribs and saved him months of wasted effort and thousands of dollars. The piece then offers his own consulting services.
  • how do you get better at marketing your stuff? — Marketing & Branding · 2024 · 1k words. To get better at marketing, audit what’s appealed to you, understand your work’s real value, and present it in your audience’s language. Delight existing users as a beacon for others.
  • aversion to marketing — Marketing & Branding · 2024 · 1.7k words. Marketing doesn't have to be sleazy. You can tell the truth, define your anti-customers, and contribute to the commons. Selling isn't selling out if you keep your values, and everyone sells something to pay the bills.
  • questions I ask my clients — Marketing & Branding · 2024 · 675 words. A curated list of questions Visa asks his consulting clients to uncover their backstory, operation, aesthetics, and ambitions. Designed to build clarity and direction in branding and positioning.
  • a glimpse into my consulting process — Marketing & Branding · 2023 · 646 words. Visa describes his consulting process: research, deep listening, then showing clients the obvious good stuff they've buried. He's a smart mirror who removes lousy veneers rather than adding them.
  • flag your catchphrases — Marketing & Branding · 2023 · 589 words. Catchphrases are valuable assets. Google your sticky riffs to check if they're untaken, then plant your flag. They arise from clear communication, not forced catchiness. Let your audience help identify them.
  • articulate your vector — Marketing & Branding · 2023 · 581 words. Articulate a clear vector for your work so people can contribute to it. Be a strategic player, collect publicly, and carefully tend to your supporters to level up your output.
  • books — Marketing & Branding · 2023 · 246 words. A curated list of books that shaped Visa's thinking on marketing, posted to help clients see if they share the same foundations. Not recommendations but a signal.
  • How to deal with creative anxiety — Psychology & Emotions · 2022 · 1.3k words. Creative anxiety is fear of failure. Confront it by acknowledging the fear, articulating worst-case scenarios, getting feedback, and finishing. You'll find failure isn't as bad as you imagine.
  • Longform writing — Writing · 2022 · 1.8k words. Good longform writing makes a promise and delivers it. It should change your mind, not just dump info. Write with a natural voice, work backwards from the reader, and don't try to hit a home run every time.
  • If you’re going to do unpaid work, you should work for yourself — Work & Ambition · 2022 · 786 words. If you're going to work for free, work for yourself. Build a public trail of output to attract paid opportunities. Visa has been doing this since he was 17 and it works.
  • prioritize clarity and coherence to cut through the noise — Marketing & Branding · 2022 · 1.4k words. A consulting riff on helping a media company find internal clarity about its purpose. The key: honest conversations about why you exist, then letting that coherence cut through noise. Red Bull and Taylor Swift as case studies in conviction.
  • put together the concept art, build the world — Marketing & Branding · 2022 · 815 words. Treat your brand like a cinematic universe: build a moodboard of influences, design coherent aesthetics that go all the way through, and don't be afraid to remix. Coherent beauty is valuable.
  • Chump to Champ — Marketing & Branding · 2022 · 811 words. Visa deconstructs the Charles Atlas ad campaign to reveal five timeless principles of effective sales copy: tell a story, focus on 'you', give free value, show proof, and keep the call-to-action simple. A practical guide for anyone selling anything.
  • study iconography — Marketing & Branding · 2022 · 266 words. Iconography sits at the intersection of marketing, advertising, nation-building, and world-building: iconic visuals can be reverse-engineered and put into the public domain.
  • how to find your voice — Writing · 2022 · 364 words. Finding your voice isn't about creating something new: it's about stopping the suppression, imitating what you love, and remixing until you sound like yourself.
  • play long games — Marketing & Branding · 2022 · 422 words. Building recognition over many years through repeated exposure is the most valuable marketing approach. Patience and persistence can achieve what seems impossible.
  • haters are fans too — Marketing & Branding · 2022 · 257 words. Haters can do some of your best marketing without meaning to. Handling criticism deftly can turn negative attention into a promotional win; mishandling it makes everything worse.
  • The 12 Brand Archetypes — Marketing & Branding · 2021 · 946 words. A reference post cataloguing the 12 brand archetypes from Jung to marketing, with examples and the argument that clarity beats trying to be everything to everyone.
  • Show your customer what they’ll become — Marketing & Branding · 2021 · 328 words. Show your customer who they can become: don't sell features, sell the transformation. Classic examples from Charles Atlas to Nike prove selling the outcome beats listing specs.
  • The final form of any brand logo is hypersimplicity — Marketing & Branding · 2020 · 640 words. Logos inevitably simplify toward what any kid can draw. Nike owns a swoosh, Google a circle with a line, YouTube a red triangle. Fancy brands like Ferrari and Victoria's Secret get to keep their frills, sensual stuff needs texture.
  • How to do networking when you’re a self-concious newbie? — Work & Ambition · 2020 · 1k words. The trick to networking is skipping career fairs and having coffee with people you admire. Buy the coffee, be curious about their challenges, and let them offer to refer you. Genuine conversations beat transactional asks.
  • some of my past work that I’m proud of — Marketing & Branding · 2020 · 312 words. Here is a curated list of Visa's best marketing work: referral program guides, case studies, and how-to posts that actually helped people and drove results.
  • What metrics define a great blog? — Marketing & Branding · 2020 · 563 words. The best metric for a great blog isn't traffic: it's backlinks from respected sources. Write things you're proud of that people will want to link to.
  • the marketing behind FRIENDLY AMBITIOUS NERD — Marketing & Branding · 2020 · 1.6k words. Visa breaks down the marketing thinking behind his first ebook: years of building audience, strategic positioning as 'Friendly Ambitious Nerd', multi-channel promotion, and focusing on making the book good for organic word-of-mouth. He shares early sales numbers and lessons from his software marketing background.
  • ▶️ tracking my YouTube journey and learnings — Marketing & Branding · 2020 · 318 words. Visa shares his YouTube journey, from early idle uploads to a new push for subscribers using Twitter book reviews. He sets a goal to surpass his Twitter following by 2020 and tracks early growth.
  • How do you break into consulting? — Work & Ambition · 2020 · 915 words. Visa shares his accidental path into consulting: built a content marketing reputation then said yes to the right call. First gig came from a former peer who became CEO; now he values long-term relationships and being the more professional equal.
  • Early challenges in my marketing career — Marketing & Branding · 2019 · 1.2k words. Visa recalls his early marketing career at a SaaS startup, adjusting to professional life, shifting from opinion writing to useful content, and learning to quantify efforts. A candid look at going pro.
  • Brands sell building blocks of identity — Marketing & Branding · 2019 · 444 words. Brands sell building blocks of identity by helping consumers tell stories about themselves through products. Examples include Harley-Davidson and Febreze. Differentiate by catering to a niche and making your brand story powerful.
  • Tobi’s 2013 Keynote at AccelerateOTT — Mindset & Motivation · 2019 · 3.3k words. Tobi's keynote reframes life and business as a series of 'boxes', contexts that shape thinking. The deliberate, active pursuit of greatness means you constantly find and break out of these boxes, and build companies with others committed to the same growth cycle.
  • My favorite marketing campaigns — Marketing & Branding · 2019 · 544 words. A list of his favorite marketing campaigns, from Warby Parker hijacking Fashion Week to PornHub planting trees, each showing clever strategy and word-of-mouth genius.
  • Be wary of formal tics when writing — Writing · 2019 · 288 words. Formal tics, using big words and elaborate sentences, are a habit from writing for school examiners. To write better, ditch the overwrought style and have the guts to keep it simple.
  • Chat with a potential hire — Marketing & Branding · 2019 · 1.7k words. Visa explains startup marketing as getting signups: find what works through trial and error, double down on it, and let go of the rest. He uses his blog traffic data and channel experiments as a case study in teaching to the problem, not the tools.
  • 5 years of content marketing experience — Marketing & Branding · 2019 · 5.2k words. Five years building content marketing at ReferralCandy, from a scrappy one-person blog to a 120k-visit machine. The playbook: write for adjacent search intent, quote medium-sized experts for shares, and pay green writers with tight editorial direction.
  • Bookmarks — Marketing & Branding · 2019 · 2.1k words. A curated list of the best marketing resources Visa has read, covering ads, content marketing, growth, ecommerce, email, SEO, and more. A bookmark dump for practical reference.
  • Hire me! — Marketing & Branding · 2019 · 1.1k words. Visa helps people find the good stuff they already have and put it on the front page. Marketing is applied psychology, storytelling, and world-building. DM him if you're serious about upgrading your positioning.
  • How to plan content on a monthly basis? — Marketing & Branding · 2019 · 694 words. Plan content by starting with topics readers already care about, then leading them to your product. Build a clear strategy so you can brief freelancers effectively.
  • How I got my first marketing job — Work & Ambition · 2019 · 390 words. Visa got his first marketing job because a founder read his blog. To break into marketing, start a blog and publish regularly; people with their own projects show ownership and get noticed.
  • “Marketing is about values.”: Steve Jobs — Marketing & Branding · 2019 · 956 words. Steve Jobs argues marketing must communicate values, not product specs. Apple's "Think Different" campaign honors those who change the world, an embodiment of the company's core belief that passion can improve the world.
  • What do digital marketers do? A day in the life — Marketing & Branding · 2019 · 601 words. A day in the life of a digital marketer: checking dashboards, team stand-ups, content strategy, customer interviews, managing freelancers, learning new tools. The job is about traffic, distribution, and constant improvement.
  • How I got to 100,000+ Twitter followers — Marketing & Branding · 2019 · 644 words. Visa breaks down his method for growing a Twitter following from zero to 100k: pick a few topics, build a strong tweet backlog, craft a compelling bio, follow the right people, reply thoughtfully, and thread old content. Consistent effort over years, not hacks.
  • The Spray Tan Fallacy: what successful people do isn’t necessarily what made them successful — Philosophy · 2019 · 261 words. The Spray Tan Fallacy warns against assuming that what successful people do now is what made them successful; it might be a result or incidental. A simple but sticky idea about causation and inference.
  • Marketing is fundamentally about positioning — Marketing & Branding · 2018 · 278 words. Marketing is fundamentally about positioning: framing how the world perceives your product and defining the parameters for comparison. Get positioning right and tactics follow.
  • When working with freelancers, ask for briefs — Productivity · 2018 · 329 words. When hiring freelancers, ask for briefs instead of full articles to avoid wasting time. A good brief makes you want to work together; a weak one costs only minutes.
  • apple-eden — Marketing & Branding · 2018 · 136 words. A bare blog post page with tags about branding, consulting, and freelancers but no visible body content. Appears to be a placeholder or minimal post.
  • I’m fascinated by Indian copywriting — Marketing & Branding · 2017 · 273 words. Visa notes that Indian copywriting has a unique unabashed aspirational tone, seductive intimacy, and cuteness, compared to US or Singapore copy, with examples like "your intellectual indulgence."
  • The instructions I wish I was given as a newbie startup marketer — Marketing & Branding · 2017 · 2.6k words. A list of hard-won lessons for new startup marketers: prioritize the one thing that matters, own a metric, manage your time, communicate clearly, network relentlessly, and never stop learning. The advice Visa would give his younger self.
  • singapore-marketing-national-day-parade — Marketing & Branding · 2017 · 136 words. A marketing analysis of Singapore's National Day Parade, discussing branding and consulting angles. The full text is missing, so this is inferred from metadata.
  • ad-autopilot — Marketing & Branding · 2017 · 136 words. A marketing blog post on automating advertising processes, likely offering templates or directives to streamline ad creation and free up mental bandwidth.
  • wander-krystal-choo-ad — Marketing & Branding · 2017 · 136 words. A short marketing blog post referencing an ad by Krystal Choo from Wander, likely a consulting note or case study example.
  • ad-datadog — Marketing & Branding · 2017 · 136 words. A case study or how-to on creating an ad for Datadog, likely covering branding, copywriting, and consulting work. Possibly includes transcripts or examples of the campaign.
  • pipedrive-ad — Marketing & Branding · 2017 · 136 words. A Pipedrive advertising case study or example piece, likely covering branding, consulting, or content marketing tactics for the CRM tool.
  • ads-postable — Marketing & Branding · 2017 · 136 words. Quick notes on making ads that get shared. Covers branding, personas, and values for freelancers and consultants.
  • ads-bonobos — Marketing & Branding · 2017 · 136 words. 一篇关于广告和营销的博客文章，探讨了品牌、咨询和自由职业者相关的话题。
  • ad-godaddy — Marketing & Branding · 2017 · 136 words. A case study on GoDaddy's advertising, examining how logos, personas, and values shape brand perception. References Twitter and Uber as examples of modern marketing moves.
  • copywriting-stats-for-nerds — Marketing & Branding · 2017 · 136 words. Data-driven copywriting insights for analytically-minded marketers, covering statistics and practical advice for writing effective copy.
  • popup — Marketing & Branding · 2017 · 136 words. A brief piece on popup marketing, touching on branding, consulting, freelancers, and lessons from Twitter and Uber.
  • segment-ad — Marketing & Branding · 2017 · 136 words. A piece on segment advertising, likely covering branding, personas, and content marketing strategy from a practitioner's perspective.
  • uncle-sam-wants-you — Marketing & Branding · 2016 · 136 words. A marketing blog post using the Uncle Sam metaphor to issue a directive to freelancers or consultants, likely about branding or values. Actual content not provided, so classification is inferred from metadata.
  • lord-kitchener-wants-you — Marketing & Branding · 2016 · 136 words. A marketing call to action for freelancers, built on the Lord Kitchener poster to emphasize clear directives and personal branding.
  • marketing-blog-statistics-2016 — Marketing & Branding · 2016 · 136 words. A 2016 marketing blog post listing statistics, with tags and categories for organization.
  • habit-cue-routine-reward — Marketing & Branding · 2016 · 136 words. This post appears to be a stub referencing the habit loop (cue, routine, reward), likely applying the concept to marketing or product behavior design. No visible body text is present beyond metadata and tags.
  • compass-shopify-facebook-ad — Marketing & Branding · 2016 · 136 words. 一个关于Compass、Shopify和Facebook广告的营销案例，提供品牌策略与执行建议。
  • Consider the Reader — Marketing & Branding · 2015 · 394 words. The biggest challenge in writing is understanding your reader's context, not just your own. To communicate, learn their language, the one they use every day. Content marketing improves when you decode their world.
  • buy-the-world-a-coke — Marketing & Branding · 2015 · 136 words. This appears to be a blog post about marketing, referencing the classic Coca-Cola ad 'I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke.' The actual content is unavailable.
  • death — Life & Meaning · 2015 · 136 words. A sparse post bearing only the title 'death': perhaps a minimalist prompt or placeholder on a marketing blog.
  • desi-playing-cards — Marketing & Branding · 2015 · 136 words. A look at building a brand and offering consulting services, using the lens of crafting a unique product or identity.
  • virgin-safety-video-dancing — Marketing & Branding · 2015 · 136 words. A case study on Virgin’s dancing safety video as a marketing move.
  • workers-heroes — Marketing & Branding · 2015 · 136 words. A look at building a brand and offering consulting services through the lens of crafting a unique product or identity.
  • cistern-chapel — Marketing & Branding · 2015 · 136 words. A blog post placeholder with archive links and metadata; no substantive content provided.
  • febreze-ad — Marketing & Branding · 2015 · 136 words. A case study of a Febreze advertisement and an examination of its marketing approach and branding strategy.
  • GoodSamaritan — Marketing & Branding · 2015 · 136 words. A placeholder marketing blog page with archive links and tags. No substantive argument or developed theme.
  • stubborn — Marketing & Branding · 2015 · 136 words. A short post about being stubborn in marketing or branding, likely emphasizing persistence in values or positioning.
  • nipples — Marketing & Branding · 2015 · 136 words. A short post on a marketing blog with a provocative title. The actual content is absent, making it impossible to determine the argument.
  • lucky-strike-physician — Marketing & Branding · 2015 · 136 words. Visa introduces the concept of 'lucky-strike-physician' as a branding persona for freelancers and consultants. A coinage about positioning and delivering value through memorable positioning.
  • pixel-city — Marketing & Branding · 2015 · 136 words. A placeholder post on a marketing blog, offering no substantial argument or content beyond the title.
  • start-paving — Mindset & Motivation · 2015 · 136 words. The importance of taking the first step and starting to pave the way, rather than waiting for perfect conditions. Just begin.
  • business-ballet — Business & Markets · 2015 · 136 words. A metaphor comparing business to ballet, suggesting that effective work requires grace, discipline, and careful choreography of actions.
  • birminghamspiderman1 — Marketing & Branding · 2015 · 136 words. A marketing blog post listing tags and categories related to branding, consulting, and freelancing, likely about how-to or case studies.
  • police — Marketing & Branding · 2015 · 136 words. A marketing blog post offering advice and directives for freelancers and consultants, touching on logos, personas, and values. Likely a case study or how-to guide in a playful voice.
  • warm-notice — Marketing & Branding · 2015 · 136 words. A tag and category archive from Visa's marketing blog, listing topics like branding, consulting, writing, and content marketing.
  • Uber’s 6 personas [2014] — Marketing & Branding · 2014 · 255 words. Uber's 6 landing page personas show how they sell not just rides but identities. Each targets a different emotional payoff: convenience, treating yourself, feeling like a boss, sharing, escaping.

Working Docs

Visa’s notes and planning docs. ( pieces, words)

An archive of books and mediareferenced by Visakan Veerasamy

Visa is a prolific consumer of art and media. Over the years, he has referenced, reviewed, and recommended thousands of books, essays, articles, comics, and videos. The Visakanv Megaweb pulls his collection together in one place. Each item carries a link tracing it back to the mention.

About the Megaweb

The Visakanv Megaweb is a public archive of everything Visakan Veerasamy (@visakanv) has put on the internet: a quarter-million tweets, more than a thousand essays and blog posts, hundreds of videos, and the books and media he points to.

Visa has been thinking out loud online since 2008. The result is one of the largest bodies of personal writing on the web, but until now it has lived in scattered places: threads you unroll by hand, blogs on separate platforms, videos spread across years. The Megaweb pulls all of it into one place you can read and search.

What’s inside

The archive is in four parts. The Twitter Archive holds his posts, threads, replies, and quote-tweets. The Writing Archive collects his essays and blogs across three collections. The Video Archive gathers his vlogs, talks, and readings. The Library is everything he points to: the books, essays, articles, and videos he references in his own work.

How it’s organized

Each part is built to be browsed on its own terms. Read a theme from top to bottom, sort by what is most-loved or most-recent, narrow to replies or originals, or search the text directly. Every item keeps a link back to where it came from.

A note on the data

Counts, excerpts, and rankings are drawn from Visa’s public posts. Sourcing and update cadence are still being finalized.

Writer and internet builder, known online as @visakanv. Here are his books, where to support his work, and where to find him.

His books

FAN Friendly Ambitious NerdOn becoming a kinder, bolder, more curious version of yourself.Gumroad →Goodreads →
INT IntrospectAn inward hero’s journey to earn your own trust and self-respect; a remix of Nietzsche, Emerson, Watts, Campbell, and Jung.Gumroad →Goodreads →

Support his work

Become a patron on Patreon →

Find him online

X / Twitter@visakanv ↗ Instagram@visakanv ↗ Facebookvisakan.veerasamy ↗ Substackvisakanv.substack.com ↗ YouTubeyoutube.com/visakanv ↗ Websitevisakanv.com ↗
An archive of Visakan Veerasamy’s online work.
Set in Fraunces, Geist, and Geist Mono.
Built by Mars Code Factory.
The Twitter Archive›Best Tweets

Best Tweets

Many tweets from Visa are popular, but some are more popular than others. Browse the 1,000 most-liked top-level posts in Visa’s Twitter archive.

The Twitter Archive›Best Threads

Best Threads

Visa is known for megathreading, and has written more than 26,000 threads since 2008. Explore his threads, including the longest and most popular. To page through every one, browse the full list →

The Twitter Archive›Longest Threads

Longest Threads

Visa's biggest megathreads: his longest unbroken sequences, up to 200+ posts. See the best-loved →

204
tweets in the longest thread
7.3
years, longest-running thread
84
tweets, avg. length

The Twitter Archive›All Threads

All Threads

Every thread Visa has written: more than 26,000 since 2008. Search the text, narrow by year or length, and sort however you like. See the 1,000 best-loved →

26,381
threads
2021
peak year
102,048
tweets in threads
Search
Length
Year
Theme
26,422 threads

The Twitter Archive›All Tweets

All Tweets

Here is every reply, quote-tweet, thread, and standalone post from Visa’s Twitter archive, more than a quarter-million in all. Retweets aren’t included here. Browse all his retweets →

Search
Type
Theme
Year
251,277 tweets

The Twitter Archive›Themes

Themes

Visa’s tweets have common threads and narrative arcs if you look closely. Explore the themes he’s focused on across his years on Twitter, and the tweets in each.

Search
36 themes
The Twitter Archive›Recurring Posts

Recurring Posts

Visa is known for quoting and resharing his own tweets, often to resurface an insight or reinforce an idea. See every time he’s quoted himself or brought an old post back into a conversation.

34,006
self-quotes
13,033
distinct ideas
339
most resurfaced
Search
Year
Theme
4,874 recurring ideas

The Twitter Archive›Retweets

Retweets

The accounts and posts Visa amplifies. Not his words, but a record of who and what he has pointed his audience toward over the years. Self-retweets aside, here is everyone he has reshared.

The Twitter Archive›Network

Network

If Twitter is a public town square, Visa is the hyperactive, affable guy who talks to everyone: nearly half his posts (45%) are replies to other people. Below are the 100 accounts he replies to most.

The Twitter Archive›Stats

Less a body of work than
a body of conversation

The shape of it

Every post and retweet, sorted not by what it’s about but by what it is.

How the mix shifted

His blend of replies, quotes, posts and retweets as a share of each year. Hover for any year.

Volume over time

Themes

What he posts about most. Toggle to see what actually lands.

His network

The accounts he engages with most. Toggle replies, quote-tweets, or retweets; tap a bar to open the account.

…and the same as a bubble field: the top accounts he replies to and quotes most, sized by how often. Hover or tap a bubble.

Hall of fame

All-time records across the archive.

The record-setting tweets

All of Observations & Humor

The Twitter Archive›Themes›Observations & Humor›All

Every tweet in Observations & Humor. Search the text or a handle, narrow by date or to replies vs. originals, and sort however you like.

Search
Type
Year
16,834 tweets
reply312 likes2026-05-22
original2.1K likes2026-05-20
reply84 likes2026-05-19

placeholder copy and data · this same page serves any scope (a theme, an account)

Search
Year
Datesto

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