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On Life – Thought Journal
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How you’ve made me
The doctor informed me that I had a few days before she would pass away, due to the irreversible damage from the stroke. He urged me to make arrangements for her dignified death and take as long as I needed to mourn and spend time with her. Once she was a...
Strangers Again
Strangers. Friends. Lovers. Strangers again. It was one of those unremarkable business trips on a Friday, outbound from London to Vienna. The morning rain dazzled outside as I dragged my tired self to the Business Class lane. Throwing the Financial Times copy on the...
Selfishness
He could not remember how long it might have been since she was gone. The thoughts of her came in waves of varying intensity, often happened once every few weeks. This time, his stream of thoughts were overwhelming, leaving him defenceless like a bird without feathers...
All posts on this topic
How you’ve made me
The doctor informed me that I had a few days before she would pass away, due to the irreversible damage from the stroke. He urged me to make arrangements for her dignified death and take as long as I needed to mourn and spend time with her. Once she was a...
Strangers Again
Strangers. Friends. Lovers. Strangers again. It was one of those unremarkable business trips on a Friday, outbound from London to Vienna. The morning rain dazzled outside as I dragged my tired self to the Business Class lane. Throwing the Financial Times copy on the...
Selfishness
He could not remember how long it might have been since she was gone. The thoughts of her came in waves of varying intensity, often happened once every few weeks. This time, his stream of thoughts were overwhelming, leaving him defenceless like a bird without feathers...
Optimising Love
"Have you ever thought about optimising love?", she asked, after a few drinks. We were in a quiet Victorian bar with a high ceiling, wooden and leathery decor. "I don't think this is a rather appropriate topic." hesitantly, I replied. "Setting morality asides, there...
My social network dream, five years later
Very few people know about this story of mine. These narratives are indeed the stories less told, just because, who’d like to publicise their failures, right? It was my first shot at entrepreneurship when I was still a final year student at LSE. I remembered a...
Citizen of Everywhere
I have been travelling recently and lost my identification documents. It was a surprising event because I, being the proud experienced traveller, have undertaken hundreds of trips and been to dozens of countries. I even had Bluetooth location trackers (i.e. this one)...
11 cold hard truths about helping others
Some brief thoughts came to my mind over the last few months about helping others that I jotted down in my journal. I thought it might be worth sharing. Before you are quick to impose a judgement of my cynicality; or write to me in horror "Who damaged you?!", let it...
My Personal Finance System – Part 2
Last month, I pondered over the idea of writing about the various systems I have in place in my life to automate and reduce its mundanity as much as possible; since some readers seem to be interested in the practical steps of how I manage different compartments of my...
Earn vs. Make
The vivid memories come back to me of a winter night in the Alps when I was skiing with a group of friends in finance and banking a few years ago. At that time, I wanted to apply for a Master in Computer Science but could not afford the international tuition fees. I...
Follow The Money
The below is a guest article for the LSE blog. ***** I had a call today with someone who's in her final year at university, coming to doing an internship with GS this summer, but also working on her start-up venture. She was offered £50,000 for 20% of her company...
10 Ultimate Lessons I Have Learnt in 2017
Every year-end, I write a post about the 10 ultimate lessons I have learnt throughout the year. This is the fifth sequel to the 10 lessons I have learnt in 2016, in 2015, in 2014 and in 2013. 1. The law of nature is always to optimise for the whole and support natural...
$100,000 and the price of freedom
A long while ago, when I was on the first date with the Señor, I was admittedly quite tipsy because I had been in my boss' BBQ gathering for the whole day earlier. His wife was an excellent and charming host who kept pouring us more and more wine throughout the day....
10 Ultimate Lessons I Have Learnt in 2016
Every year-end, I write a post about the 10 ultimate lessons I have learnt throughout the year. This is the forth sequel to the 10 lessons I have learnt in 2015, in 2014 and in 2013. 1. Everything I do in life represent an opportunity to earn various forms of assets,...
One hour at a time
“I don’t have enough time”, said I to the Señor when he asked why I didn’t exercise daily. “Everyday I work until really late, average out 12-14 hours a day. Subtracting sleep time, I only have about 3 hours for myself every day”. I continued. “There are many things I...
Yes and No
Growing up, I said "Yes" to everything that comes my way. Every opportunity, every offer, every introduction, every meeting, every invitation, every event, every employment, every phone call, every book, every school of thoughts, every request. This approach has taken...
Know what I don’t know
Over two years ago, I said farewell to LSE and embarked on the journey of a working adult. Immersing myself in excitement and the partial relief that my formal education was finally over, I looked forward to a life engineered under my total control. "Here comes my...
“This, too, shall pass” – A Brexit story
It was 4:32 am on Friday 24-June-2016 when Southampton has just declared for Leave. Although there were a few more counties to go, the result had now been apparent. The Prime Minister looked out through the bright glass window from his office, only to find the street...
23 things I learnt by 23
The following list is in no particular order: Everyone’s deepest desire is to be loved. Give it to them. Regardless of how I treat my family, they are always the kindest, most honest and most available to me in a time of need. I must not forget to treat them well....
About Broken Heart
"Why did you choose what you do?" asked the Monsieur. I was surfing on my computer while he was folding his work shirts and cleaned his wardrobe. I looked at him. "You meant why I chose which job to apply for when I had no clue?" "Yeah. It's not like you want to be a...
Power is like a lady
Last month, I purchased a Netflix subscription. I then certainly did what everyone else presumably did when they first had their Netflix account: Starting to watch “House of Cards”. In compensations for my late-night hours finishing all 5 seasons in one week, the show...
I made associate
It was in the middle of a busy afternoon last November when I had back-to-back calls on a live transaction. After I just hung up on a colleague, my dealer board rung of an internal number from Paris. “It’s Mai speaking. May I ask who’s calling?” I picked up the call...
Alone together
On love, power, sex, self-esteem and independence. As some of you may know, I am born on May 31st. Coincidentally and interestingly, May in French is also Mai. My parents had no idea of such coincidence when they named me. “May special” is a series in May every year...
What would I do if I weren’t afraid?
I remembered the years of the 1990s when I grew up in a small village in Vietnam. In those years, one of our childhood’s trophies were Coca-cola - the soft drink. The soft drink was considered a “treat” to kids, reserved only for special occasions such as weddings,...
True Love
At 00:24, I finished watching The Danish Girl. My brother and The Monsieur refused to watch it with me so I watched it on my own. Admittedly, I have cried. Since I last watched Les Miserable the musical for the fourth time last year, no other performance has made me...
10 Ultimate Lessons I Have Learnt in 2015
Every year-end, I write a post about the 10 ultimate lessons I have learnt throughout the year. This is the third sequel to the 10 lessons I have learnt in 2014 and in 2013. Shout-out : Some lessons here may have already been obvious to you. That probably means you...
Be kind sometimes
One late afternoon over the weekend, I was sitting on a crowded underground train on the Piccadilly line heading home. There were six more stations until my destination. As the train door opened, countless people were rushing in to fit in the already-crammed space. A...
I am not …. enough
Five years ago, as a high school senior, I was applying to read Economics at universities in the UK. Even with the predicted grade of A*A*A*A A for Further Maths, Maths, Chemistry, Economics and Physics, a senior leadership position in the school Student Union, a...
My Three Principles
Toan – the founder of “How I got my job in the US” - reached out to me as he once stumbled upon my website. I have been immensely impressed by the inspirational stories featured on the site. To continue the youthful fire of the dream-chasers across the globe here is...
Can the excitement in love last forever?
In this very rare occasion, I decided to write about romance. It is rather a dangerous change of topic due to the highly subjective nature of the matter. I am, however, writing about it because I have recent discovered a sensible answer for a prolonged question I have...
Want to be stronger? Introspection and Repeating Fears
People don't grow mature with time. They grow mature with experiences, in particular, with handling experiences. In this article, I'll share with you a few thoughts on how to be stronger and increase the "depth" of you and your understanding of yourself. Our ability...
Why you’re the smartest when being alone
You have likely heard of this quote or many paraphrased versions of it: “You're the average of the five people you spend most of your time with” Jim Rohn - Businessman, Motivational Speaker I have long agreed to this opinion, yet I underestimated the importance of it....
On Life Options And Three Steps To Become The Best
Many people wish to be a millionaire, and spend a good deal of their lives practising different paths to get there. When men look at millionaires from the view point of admiration, good stories are often made up about how their success came about. Little do people...
If Someone Had Told Me These Things About Working Life…
I have graduated and embarked on my work life for almost a year. The transition from a student to a full-time employee is not always as smooth as I have imagined it to be. When I was in my third year at LSE, I was very eager to start working and envisioned several...
How Can You Have A Lot Of Time And Money At The Same Time?
I have been travelling a lot lately. One observation I find, particularly true for long-haul and international flights, is that the elder travels a lot. In fact, on most long-haul flights, you'll often find elder (50 years old and beyond) travelling than youngsters....
(The Improved) “Student Seeking Advice”
The below post was originally written and published in April. I have done some editorial work to improve it as well as obtaining the consent of the people mentioned below so hope you'd enjoy this re-published version. ****** Having put my email address on the...
Ambition, Discipline, Purpose
*Written at Zurich airport I remember the day when I left Vietnam to the UK 5 years ago: 8 September 2009. I was 16 and had never taken a plane before in my life. It was frightening somewhat to step away from the warmth of family, although I have lived by myself for 7...
10 Ultimate Lessons I Have Learnt In 2014
The below are lessons I learnt in my personal life in 2014. For the lessons that I learnt on my job, I have written a separate blog here. 1. On Identity: One’s job and background are a part of their identity not the identity itself. We often too easily label people...
How Do You Know What You Want In Life?
One of the most frequently-asked questions that I received from readers of the blog in writing is “How do I know what I want? How do I know who I need to become?” One of the letters I lately received was of a confused gentleman in his mid-twenties, telling me that...
10 Ultimate Lessons I Have Learnt In 2013
Think first: Whatever song on guitar, no matter how difficult you can always find an easy tab to work with. Same for most things in life, if you pause and think for a moment, there is usually an easier way to do it. Luck matters: sometime a lot, in your career. And...
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