Purpose

There are 8760 hours in a year. 1,920 at work. 2,920 asleep. What do you do with the other 3,920?

Busyness is easy to wear as a badge, but an unbroken work rhythm quietly erodes the energy needed to do the important things well. Blocking time to rest on purpose is what keeps you from having your body force the rest on you.

Every yes is a hidden no to something else, which means indiscriminate agreement quietly drains focus from the things that matter most. Learning to say no is the clearest path to protecting what you actually want to say yes to.

Unfinished projects do not sit idle — they accumulate as mental overhead that slowly drains your focus; formally closing them out by capturing what you learned is the only way to actually set them down.

You cannot keep giving to others from a cup that is empty — without intentional rest, mentorship, and genuine friendship, the capacity to serve anyone eventually runs dry.

Life is too short to reinvent every wheel, and learning from people who have already walked your path is a strategic advantage hiding in plain sight. Asking for guidance takes humility, but it accelerates growth in ways that going it alone never will.

Dreams provide direction and motivation, but without an honest look at reality, they stay out of reach. A healthy dose of realism does not kill your aspirations — it gives them a path forward.

The thoughts that refuse to let you sleep at night are often pointing directly at your deepest purpose — and paying attention to them can clarify what you are actually working toward.

The hedgehog concept reveals that lasting purpose lives at the intersection of what you are passionate about, what you are naturally gifted at, and what creates real value for others. Missing any one of the three means trading fulfillment for frustration.

Maps go obsolete the moment circumstances shift; a compass grounded in core values keeps you oriented through career changes, family transitions, and every season of life that did not appear in the original plan.

Every person running a business is playing three roles at once — the visionary, the operator, and the executor — and neglecting any one of them is how things fall apart.

Matthew McConaughey's memoir frames obstacles as yellow lights waiting to turn green — a mindset that transforms apparent dead ends into openings for the bold and patient.

Have you ever felt uncertain whether to start a venture, or in too deep with a venture to be able to quit? The Dip help's to work through that!

Going back and forth, finding balance seemed impossible to achieve, and it never seemed to end. But there were moments when I achieved serendipity. When I experienced balance while facing the two opposing views.

Many times, we find ourselves yearning for a specific vision to be fulfilled. There is an end goal we want to achieve. Focused on the hustle, we can find ourselves wanting to break our way into the top. But success never happens overnight.

An “Unfair Advantage” is anything that cannot be easily copied or bought by other stakeholders. This can be technical knowledge, unique skills, connections, patents, or a large sum donation from a distant uncle.

We are making decisions every single moment of our life; what food to order at a restaurant, which YouTube recommended video to watch, or what color mask (if any) to wear before heading out.

When planning out your life, knowing your beliefs, your perspective, and how you approach certain aspects of life will help you assert where your true 'Your location' is, ensuring you won’t plan your life out from the wrong starting point.

Life is not a finite game, where a loss in a year means a loss for the rest of our life (though sometimes, it may feel that way). Rather, it is an infinite game where we are not be tied down by a single outcome in our lives and can continue to learn & grow.

Whether it’s spent working on a project, exercising, leisurely watching some shows, or reflecting on the purpose of life (a timely activity I partake in), being able to know where your time goes allows you to know how you’re using your time.

It’s important to look at where our time, money, and talents are going, that way we know where our heart is truly at.

Through what we build, what we say, and how we live, I believe each of us has the ability to inspire and change the world.

Each season brings a new set of priorities. Recently, I started to shift my attention from my priorities to understanding my faith calling (a.k.a. values).

Have you ever thought about how when we die, how many unfinished things we’ll have? 🤔 Whether it’s small things like organizing the closet, or big things like finishing a side project or hobby, in the end, we will have much-unfinished work.

As someone who personally struggles with leadership, whether it’s leading a bible study or making decisions in a startup, I’ve been inspired to keep the end in mind.

I grew up with a lot of different dreams. Each of these dreams was inspired based on the season I was going through.

When productivity becomes pure autopilot, the question shifts from why to how — and recovering intentionality means slowing down enough to reconnect task execution with actual purpose and conviction.

After the workout, and a chill nights rest, I woke up feeling stiff and uncomfortable. I tried to lift my arms up to stretch, and felt the sharp sting of pain enter my right elbow. I looked down and tried to bend it, but it wouldn’t budge.

Freed from syllabi and tests, learning becomes an adventure rather than an obligation. A reminder to follow your curiosity and explore topics well outside your primary field.

When metrics and comparison creep in, it is easy to lose the original reason you started something — which is why returning to your why is not optional, it is the work.

When quarantine stripped away the busyness, a new kind of stillness settled in — one that turned out to be less of a disruption and more of an invitation to rest.

A church retreat on calling clarified a core truth: each person is a finite expression of an infinite God, and faithfully stewarding the gifts, hardships, and passions He provides is how we prepare for greater responsibility.

A church fast becomes an unexpected catalyst for openness — turning a moment of hunger into a conviction to share faith with coworkers and head into a weekend retreat asking bigger questions about calling.

Eric sets his 2020 aspirations — 12 books, 12 posts, 4 ventures, and 2 speaking events — while anchoring the year in a theme of Focus and Rest, prioritizing faith over accomplishment.

A look back at the wins and hard lessons of 2019 that shaped a two-word theme to carry into the new year: Focus and Rest. Setting a guiding theme is one of the simplest and most underrated ways to direct how you live.

How can a leader lead if their heart is not for what they follow?

How can we chase after pointless and empty dreams that lead to despair? Why do we mindlessly pursue after the many broken pieces in life that are insignificant — like grains of sand that struggle to fill the gaping hole of desire in our hearts — when there is a spring that brings about the living water of life which desires to completely engulf the darkness and fill us with peace, joy, hope, and love?

What do you do when the world seems to go against you?

A roundup of small but meaningful life practices — wholesome hacks for staying physically and mentally well-rounded in the middle of a demanding college schedule.

A deliberate decision to step out of the entrepreneurship season — reflecting on what prompted the choice and what comes next after leaving it behind.

Entering college without knowing what CS even was — a reflection on how uncertainty about your path is normal, and how curiosity becomes the compass when there's no map.

After a nonstop semester packed with meetings, projects, and entrepreneurial events — taking a breath, looking back at what mattered, and setting intentions for a more deliberate year.

With all these thoughts on my mind, you can tell one of the hardest things I wrestle with during this 2-week period is knowing where my heart is at. The question I always have to ask is: What is my intention behind this fast?

Coming back from Thanksgiving break with nothing done and no regrets—choosing rest over grinding, then gearing up to finish the semester like a marathon.

A letter written to myself (and anyone else running on empty) making the case for actually resting over Thanksgiving break instead of grinding through it.

Shifting from shotgunning resumes at every booth to recruiting with intention—researching company values, culture, and mission to find a fit worth rooting into.

Coming back from a summer mission trip in Michigan with a new question—why do I do what I do?—and drafting my first lifetime vision statement.

The hardest struggle regarding my faith is making sure my intentions are clear — where is my heart at when I do something? Whether it’s worshipping, praying, or fellowshipping with others, I wrestle with being fully present in the moment and wholly dedicating my time to God.

EarthHack's Pick It Up project using computer vision, coding a Gmail API script for a church grad night video, and prepping for SWE and Gov exams.

Coming back from winter break after a brutal semester and wrestling with the comparison trap—choosing to step into a new season instead of staying bound by old insecurities.

Five days of JavaScript30, designing a social dance app with microservices, and a spiritual fast from YouTube and social media.