Junk

The first time I heard of this word was from junk food. I loved eating junk food when I was growing up. Mamee Noodles snack, Twisties, Mi-mi, Doritos, Cheezels, Double Decker, Walkers, Lays and so on, you name it! I have probably tried them all, if not most. Over time though, my concern for health started to develop although that was just back in college not very long ago (about 4 years ago). I came to a realisation that I was overweight, and being overweight is probably the last place I will put myself at these days.

The story of how I managed to turn over my entire lifestyle from being overweight into where I am today shall be left for another day. Although being overweight was not entirely due to junk food and (junk) soft drink, but also coupled by lack of exercising and messed up lifestyle, junk food and junk drink (soft drink in this case) definitely contributed a huge portion of the factors. That was when I chose temporary short term gratification over long term benefits and success. I chose to devour on delicious junk food and sweet soft drink because I thought it made me happy. Was I really happy though? 

Most of the time I was feeling depressed and lack of confidence. My body shape and weight definitely did not contribute any better, if not worse. My self confidence was at rock bottom, and I was not proud of admitting I did not have many friends. Every day in school, I was afraid of how other students would judge me, or how they will pull me down at one point. In fact they succeeded. My only way trying to "prove them wrong" was through my academic result. Given my level of intelligence, I know I have to put in much more effort than other smart students or the so called "geniuses". You all knew how they succeed! 

I managed to attain above average result in the end. Still I was not confident enough, until the day I finally got a lightbulb of revelation. My lifestyle. I need to change my lifestyle, to live healthily, by eating the right food and consistent exercises. I started to see changes first by my energy level and soon my body began to adapt. I am more confident as a person now. I feel more energetic now than ever. I know how easily I got tired and clumsy when I was overweight. I promised myself not to get back to that stage. It is a no-go zone. The first step of eating right was to stop eating junk food and soft drink altogether. 

At one point in high school, I was drinking 100 plus (isotonic drink) every day for no apparent reason. I only exercised once or even none per week. Even now, it is still a challenge for me to stop drinking sweet drinks though. Nescafe, fresh fruit juice, Mocha ice blended! Ah my new favourites haha! Think of the amount of calories it will put in... 

Most of the time we only see this term junk from food perspective, but do you know there is such thing as junk reading? When was the last time you read? If you are reading this blog, chances are you are still reading to nourish your mind with informative contents (I hope I am informative haha!). Well done! What about books? Facebook doesn't count in this case. Maybe articles and blogs? If we constantly feed our mind with junk materials such as novel, mangas and comics, do you think our mind will develop and grow? I will leave that for you to ponder. To me, even newspapers and online journals can be junk contents sometimes. 

If you are only subscribing to sports or entertainment columns of the news, you are feeding your mind junk material. A good way of thinking this is: how can this add value to me? If I read this article or watch this video, how can this add value and change my life? If you can't answer this question, most probably it doesn't offer much value. It has been at least two to three months since I last watched a Youtube video. Not because Youtubers do not make good videos nowadays, but because of I have better things to do such as reading and writing blog. Watching football matches is another thing haha!

I know some people must watch certain news channels every night, good for you! But what are the things you are listening to? Are they beneficial to you? Or are they bringing you more cringes and drive up your stress level? I believe you do realise the proportion of bad news reported on the news channel is way higher than those of good news (news that can bring values into your life). Maybe it is time for a change? Nassim Taleb (one of my favourite authors who wrote "Fooled by Randomness" and "The Black Swan") once said that he muted the CNBC channel and only read the headlines at the sidebar. By doing so, he can cut himself off from being influenced by the "noise" blurted out by the news presenters/journalists, so called business professionals and pundits. 

Whatever you are reading doesn't matter, as long as it can add new perspectives and knowledge to your mind. You ought to feed your mind daily! Biographies, economics, finance, history, politics, philosophy, self development, religion. Anything! Just read something that will benefit you over the long term. Your future self will thank you. I have this habit of reading Quora and blogs during free time, just to get inspired with more useful information and fresh ideas. Maybe I should write there too.

Truth is, when you start reading consistently, feeding your mind (seed) with good materials (high quality fertiliser and nutrient-rich soil), your mind will grow not only linearly, but on compounding basis! Everything will fall into place more systematically, and new concepts would not appear entirely new anymore when you are able to relate the "new" concepts to existing ideas. 

Why not give it a try? Give yourself three weeks and develop this as a habit, you will see wonders! All the best! 

Signing off.