by DR. JOHNBEN LOY
Back in Jan 2013, I titled my very first post as “Discover Your True Passion (And Don’t Give Up Trying).”
Recently, people such as Mark Cuban and author Cal Newport are telling people that the advice to follow your passion is “totally bogus” (as this article headlined it).
Is it really totally bogus? Continue reading “Is “Follow Your Passion” Bad Advice?”
Obviously, my blogging has slowed down a bit — my last post was over one year and 10 days ago!
Continue reading “MBTI and Couple Relationships (and a little update on this very slow blog)”
I admit it. I suck at updating blogposts. It’s because I can’t stand bad writing — especially my own. And it takes too much time to write well and consistently. So I’ve decided on the next best thing. I’ve created a public Facebook page.
I got this idea when I gave a talk in Hong Kong last month, and one of the co-speakers in the event talked about the Attention Economy.
Continue reading “Now You Can Follow Me on Facebook [Alt: The Attention Economy]”
Several year ago, when my Singaporean friend was stationed in Kuala Lumpur at Al-Jazeera, I remarked that Malaysia is a very diverse country and that it is quite surprising to me that we lived in such harmony. He then remarked that Malaysians generally live in parallel realities and we don’t fully intermingle culturally. It got me thinking.
Continue reading “My First Ramadan Fast (And What I Learned From It)”
Living in Malaysia, you can’t avoid the month of fasting for Muslims. You hear it everywhere, you see it everywhere, from the closed Malay restaurants to the tired looks of Muslims. Practicing as a therapist in Malaysia for the last 5 years, I have become sensitive not to offer drinks to my Muslim clients during this month. And I am also sensitive to their differing levels of energy throughout the day.
“Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen.” – Brené Brown
I would like to leave 2014 with a confession. Here it is:
Continue reading “2015 Resolution: Connecting Authentically, Imperfections and All”
When I returned to Malaysia after my Ph.D., people looked at me funnily and asked why I didn’t remain overseas. My answer to them was simple: my family is here.
For our 57th Hari Merdeka, Maxis and Digi have come up with ads that promote Malaysia as a family. When I watched them, one made me laugh out loud and the other moved me to tears. [Watch the ads at the end of this blogpost.]
The past few years have been very challenging for us here in Malaysia. I have tried to remain positive and hopeful despite the political battle cries, the droughts and haze that seemed not to have a solution, and most recently, planes that go missing or are bombed out of the sky. It hasn’t been easy to remain positive.
Continue reading “Malaysia: We Are Family (Happy Merdeka Day!)”
Some people chide me for being a workaholic. One of Rekindle’s clinical interns said to me yesterday that he could not fathom how I manage to do all that I do. I replied that during my Ph.D. studies, I was three times as busy as I am now. He didn’t seem very encouraged.
I admit that I am busy and sometimes physically tired from all the work, but I don’t feel tired in my soul. I love what I do. For instance, while I was sitting on the plane alone traveling to my holiday destination, I found myself thinking about what could be done to train up good marriage and family therapists in Malaysia. Instead of watching an inflight movie, I opened my new book, Common Factors in Couple and Family Therapy (authored by one of my mentors, Doug Sprenkle) and devoured it for ideas on training therapists. Continue reading “What do you do on a holiday? I re-create!”