Daniel Chiu

Daniel Chiu

Fear: The Invisible Prison of the Mind

I was about about two-thirds of the way to the top of a rock climbing wall when I realized I was too tired to keep going, and too tired to climb down. A slack rope snaked up the wall beneath me and hooked into several anchor points before finishing in

First Income, September Reflection, and October Planning

The three weeks I had of September weren’t quite as productive as I’d hoped, but I did make my first $0.68 from Amazon Affiliate links, and I nevertheless learned quite a bit about digital marketing, how to run a blog, and how to keep myself efficient, motivated,

How Busy People Learn Languages

The two biggest myths of language learning are that it takes years to learn a language and that you need a lot of time to do it. In fact, many languages can be learned in a year or less with a time investment of no more than an hour a

Emotional Inertia: The Secret to Unlocking Potential

The natural human reaction to discomfort is avoidance–if I don’t feel like doing something, I just won’t; if I hate being rejected, I’ll just stop meeting new people; or if I’m afraid of getting hurt, I’ll just play everything safe. Left alone, our instinct

Escape Velocity: The Flight Plan

It’s been two weeks since I quit my job to go it alone. I gave myself that time to rest and recover, making today the first day of actual self-employed life. I already know why I need to do what I need to do. Now it’s time to

Going Rogue: Living with Integrity

Effective today, I am leaving my full-time job to pursue my own aims. I have also decided to leave Silicon Valley and currently have no plans to return, though I remain open-minded about coming back in the future. Before you jump to conclusions, I have not left to start a

2017 Mid Year Review

There’s a little less than 6 months left in 2017, which means I’m due for a check-in on my annual goals. This is just a reflection on goal progress over the last 6 months and on how I can do better in the next 6. For more context

2016 End of Year Review

On January 1, 2016, I started a personal tradition of committing my New Year’s Resolutions and yearly goals to paper and sharing them for all to see. I’m continuing this practice in 2017 because the true commitment to those goals, the pressure from having incremental milestones, and the

2017 New Year's Resolutions

“There’s a million things I haven’t done just you wait!” –Hamilton I was born on New Year’s Day, so I’m big on New Year’s resolutions. Last year I started a personal tradition of writing out my resolutions, really thinking them through, and then publishing them

I Am Iron

On overworked legs, I pass a sign that says, “El dolor es temporal pero la gloria es para siempre”–pain is temporary, but glory is forever. I hold this thought in my mind as I reflect on the past 14 hours over which I’ve endured a 2.4-mile swim