Category: Life

• Buy things you need, with money you have, to impress people you like

  “We buy things we don’t need, with money we don’t have, to impress people we don’t like.” I forget when I came across this quote, but I remember being young. It resonated with me deeply. Inverting this is useful: only buy things you need, with money you have, to impress people you like. Remember, anything…

  Herbert Lui

  July 5, 2026

  Life, Turning Stories

• Self approval

  Peer pressure takes place when the people around you are doing something that goes against something you believe in. It could be a goal, your values, or a desire. It can be brief, like being the only person not drinking at a party because you want to wake up without a hangover. When your friends all…

  Herbert Lui

  July 4, 2026

  Expectations, Life, Turning Stories

• Happiness, desires, values, and environments

  “Desire is a contract that you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want,” Naval Ravikant wrote. Sheryl Crow famously sang, “It’s not having what you want/It’s wanting what you’ve got.” Being happy with what you have is a reliable way to find happiness. The problem is it’s not so easy…

  Herbert Lui

  June 27, 2026

  Expectations, Life

• Winning at the casino

  A family member, who worked at the bank, saw a lot of high net worth clients lose a lot of money gambling, to the point of even re-mortaging their houses. They told me, “At a casino, the worst thing that can happen to you is winning.”  Chasing the ecstasy of the first win leads you…

  Herbert Lui

  June 9, 2026

  Creator Confidential, Life, Turning Stories

• Incline to the improbable

  In late 2021, my partner and I moved to Hong Kong. Several months in, I chatted with a friend I went to high school with in Canada. He couldn’t believe I had moved there.  The music I listened to in high school, the language I spoke, my interests and friends, none of them suggested to…

  Herbert Lui

  May 21, 2026

  Creativity, Creator Confidential, Expectations, Life, Turning Stories

• The courage to miss out

  “FOMO,” an acronym that stands for “Fear of Missing Out.”  “JOMO,” which stands for, “Joy of Missing Out,” is a fulfilling experience. The reward of JOMO is the feeling of purpose you earn by behaving in a way that’s true to yourself. It’s the same feeling of fulfillment you feel when you behave with integrity.…

  Herbert Lui

  May 11, 2026

  Creativity, Life, Turning Stories

• Maladaptive frugality

  I recently decided to, finally, have my iPhone fixed, only to realize a few hours later that my AppleCare could have covered it. I was in a low mood until my partner suggested that I was robbing myself of a good decision.  The iPhone needed fixing, and procrastinating on it wasn’t useful. Deciding to do…

  Herbert Lui

  April 26, 2026

  Creator Confidential, Life, Turning Stories

• The ROI of a recovery attempt

  When you lose something, you need to decide: should you attempt to recover it, or should you give it up? (You can ask this same question when something’s broken: should you repair it, or should you give it up?) Giving up means accepting the loss. It means letting go of the past, moving on, and…

  Herbert Lui

  April 13, 2026

  Expectations, Life, Turning Stories

• Creative enfeeblement

  You and I are using AI. Maybe a lot, and that involvement is only increasing. One of the consequences of using it so much is relying on it, potentially to the point of our minds growing feeble. A useful question to ask: What would you do if it disappeared tomorrow?  Would you be able to…

  Herbert Lui

  April 9, 2026

  Creativity, Creator Confidential, Life

• Thank you, Faiz

  My friend Faiz Ahmed passed away yesterday. Thanks for being a good friend. Thanks for being you. Thanks for encouraging me with my writing, including reading the very rough first draft of Creative Doing. Thanks for writing your blog.  Thanks for reading and sharing your ideas. Thanks for asking thoughtful questions and listening. Thanks for…

  Herbert Lui

  April 1, 2026

  Creativity, Creator Confidential, Life