Teh Hui Wen

Secrets of Successful Teens  by Adam Khoo My first "self-help" book was Secrets of Successful Teens by Adam Khoo. It was about how to take charge of your life, make many friends and get along with parents. I loved the book because Adam shared a lot about his rocky teenage years, where he was failing all the subjects in school and had a bad relationship with his dad. I first read it when I was 13, and the book really spoke to me. It was then when I learnt about setting goals, time management and how to study well. When I had finished the book, I reread some of the chapters whenever I needed guidelines. It was my handbook to survive and thrive in my teenage years.  Secrets of Successful Teens was the book that made me believe that self-help books could really change my life. Today, I would say I was not quite right, but not entirely wrong either.  I have had my fair share of self help books:  The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, How to Win Friends and Influence People, Th

 Yesterday, I was bored and restless, having finished the BBC TV series Sherlock, which left me feeling empty because I didn't have anything more to look forward to. I opened the book cupboard, hoping to find some fantasy to entertain myself. I dug out my old copy of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief , which was the first book in the series Percy Jackson and the Olympians . I sat down on the floor and immersed myself in the world of Greek gods, monsters and demigod heroes.  The Percy Jackson series was the HIGHLIGHT of my life back when I was 11 years old. I first saw it as an advertisement for the movie (of the first book) in a brochure, and after I read the excerpt, I was immediately drawn to the story. I was excited when I found out that it was adapted from a book. (Yes, I was a total bookworm.) I begged mom to buy me the book, and to my surprise, it was sold as a set of three! That was when I became a total fan of the Percy Jackson series.  If you haven't read it, you d

  Photo from PEOPLEIMAGES/GETTY IMAGES   Last week, I was down with a fever, flu and a bad sore throat. Being ill made my head really fuzzy and my body weak, and I spent most of my time in slumber, only waking to eat or drink. Naturally, I stopped any form of exercise, which included my daily evening runs.  When you stop a habit you have been keeping for some time, restarting it is actually quite hard. For the past three days, I have been well enough to continue my running routine, but I kept making excuses, like the weather being too hot and sunny. Today however, after a short workout at home, I felt a little of that running itch. I think it's because when you have been maintaining a habit for a long enough time, even if you have broken the streak, your body will still remind you of it when the time comes. I decided to put on my running shoes and a cap, and head out into the sun.  Just one round, I thought to myself. I started off at a slow pace, waking my legs up and slowly got u

Screen grab from Youtube  ChilledCow The other night, I was getting ready to do my job: wash the pile of dirty dinner dishes and I pulled out my Spotify in search of some upbeat music to help me get started on the boring task. A Spotify recommended playlist popped up, it read, " Happy Favourites: Put a smile on your face with these happy tunes from the 90's, 00's and 10's ". I tapped into the list and browsed through the familiar song titles. A few seconds later, I decided that I was happy with it and after connecting it to my mini bluetooth speaker, I played the first song on the list.  It was "It's a Beautiful Day" by Michael Buble. I hadn't heard that song before but I loved it at once. The 00's and 10's songs had a type of style, there was always a clear beat, that few chords and the happy upbeat melody with lyrics that kinda tells a story. I happily got started with the dishes with the cheerful music in the background.  Just as the f