Herbert Lui

Blog on creativity, marketing, and the human condition.

  • About
  • Creative Doing
  • Newsletter
  • More notes on fragmented sleep

    Sometimes, I wake up and I find it difficult to fall back asleep. I wrote about how I prevent and deal with this experience a few months ago, and I wanted to add a few more notes: Abstain from writing in the evening. It’s too energizing for the mind. If I find an idea, I…

    Herbert Lui

    June 19, 2025
    Life
  • Take no ordinary moment for granted

    If you travel often with your friends, you probably won’t realize that your upcoming trip with your friends will be the last one you do together. Not because of any tragedy, just because real life happens—some combination of new commitments, conflicting schedules, diverging priorities. Life is like that, for everything. Take no ordinary moment for…

    Herbert Lui

    June 18, 2025
    A Matter of Time
  • NYC by foot, ferry, or car

    My wife and I live in the Financial District, downtown New York City. Earlier this year, we decided to stop riding the subway. Here’s what that has been like so far: The subway, by far, is the fastest way around the city. Getting around usually takes more money or time now—usually a lot more of…

    Herbert Lui

    June 17, 2025
    Around the World
  • Some slight adjustments for people who take photos to remember moments

    Taking photos can often make a moment more difficult to remember. Linda Henkel wrote the first academic paper on this tendency, describing it as “photo taking impairment.” Subsequent studies have replicated this finding.  One of the potential explanations is that our brains know it doesn’t need to remember the experience, because the photograph will help.…

    Herbert Lui

    June 16, 2025
    A Matter of Time, Around the World, Creativity, Creator Confidential, Turning Stories
  • Soundtracks that soothe

    In NYC, I’ve found a fair amount of shops and publicly accessible spaces blaring high energy music. To balance out this noise, I usually play more soothing music: Wingspan’s soundtrack (the game is also super soothing) Aesop’s Music for Bathing playlist Headspace’s music is helpful for when construction takes place outside

    Herbert Lui

    June 15, 2025
    Around the World, Life
  • Sincerest forms, part 2

    Forgiveness is the sincerest form of revenge. Making plans to get together, and following through, is the sincerest form of love. Attention is the sincerest form of care. Drawing is the sincerest form of thinking. (Writing is drawing!) Gentleness is the sincerest form of Taoism.

    Herbert Lui

    June 14, 2025
    Life
  • Everyday choices

    Every day, you have the opportunity to make choices. More often than not, these choices will sound something like: Do I choose the painful, gratifying path, or do I choose the easy, comfortable path? You want to make a change in your life, and you’re too tired after work. Will you wake up 15 minutes…

    Herbert Lui

    June 13, 2025
    A Matter of Time, Expectations, Turning Stories
  • The way through

    Sean Blanda’s reflection on one year of running his business has been on my mind the past few weeks, particularly his reflection on ego: I have had a wandering eye — which in my case, means roughly six domains were registered with good intentions and I was late in the process with a few companies…

    Herbert Lui

    June 12, 2025
    Expectations, Turning Stories
  • Three quotes that have caught my eye

    “The pressure to perform is baked into our larger society. As a result, children are increasingly absorbing the message that they have no value outside of their accomplishments.” — Jennifer Breheny Wallace via Karen Rosenkranz “If you’re a social perfectionist, you’ll have unusually high expectations of yourself. Your self-esteem will be dangerously dependent on maintaining…

    Herbert Lui

    June 11, 2025
    Expectations, Life
  • The middle path

    Starting in the 1990s, Europe and the U.S. outsourced manufacturing to China for a variety of reasons (mostly because it was cheaper). MIT economist David Autor coined the term “China Shock” to describe this trend, which took place suddenly over seven years. While stuff got cheaper, and American companies’ margins got bigger, this disruption also…

    Herbert Lui

    June 10, 2025
    Creator Confidential, Turning Stories
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