Weizhi Chen’s Post

My Daily Bread (Day 95) - Trust that God is in Control Ephesians 1:11-12 [NKJV] Here's the truth, I am struggling. Mostly because I had recently decided to take on a new part-time studies commitment recently, while at the very same time with the start of my new career opportunity. Maybe some people might consider that to be a little too much. A little crazy. Maybe I am. But I also know that in life, sometimes you have to seize the moment. Opportunities/chances don't come around very often. We don't know what the future holds and if we try to sit around and wait to see what happens, chances are we will have some kind of regret to live with. So, as crazy, tiring & challenging as it might be to manage both a new career & part-time studies right now, I am willing to persevere. But in reality though, it really means I won't have much time to do anything else right now. My time every week (Mon-Sun) is either dedicated to my work, or to my studies/assignment. There won't be any rest days for me. I just have to manage my time on a daily basis and give myself the occasional short breaks throughout the day. As crazy as it is in my right now (on top of the other personal challenges), I'm going to trust that God's grace is more than sufficient for me. I'm going to keep trusting that God's strength will see me through this period of my life as I adjust to my new responsibilities. #mydailybread #dailydevotionals #dailydevotions #dailybread #work #parttimestudies #studies #newcareeropportunity #careeropportunity #commitments #responsibilities #challenges #challengingtimes #growth #growthopportunities #graceofgod #godisincontrol #tired #strengthofgod

https://lnkd.in/gGyKkTRm My Daily Bread (Day 94) - Being an Instrument of Good Romans 6:12-13 [NKJV] Ever since the start of the pandemic a few years ago, I have developed this new (I probably won't call it an addiction) temptation and urge to read/watch the news daily. It's this new desire to keep up-to-date with everything happening in the world. But what also happens at times, is that I would get sucked into it and I would just keep scrolling and watching and before I know it, two hours would be gone just like that. I'm not saying that watching/reading the news daily is a bad thing. I think that sometimes there is a genuine benefit in knowing what is happening around us in the world, so we don't live in this bubble-like mindset. Whether we like it or not, sometimes, the things that happen in the world do affect us to some degree (e.g. climate change, tech news, geopolitics in the region, etc). But again, I do realize that I need to be more self-disciplined when it comes to how much time I allow myself to consume the news daily, and also when to do it during the day. I still have some work to do today (a task that wasn't finished), and I also have a school group assignment to work on. So enough distractions for today. I will just share my daily personal prayer with you... Dear Heavenly Father, I am sorry for being somewhat distracted this morning. I saw the news and I just got sucked into it and so I only managed to begin this daily bread reflection at around 11 am. Now that I am trying to bring my focus back onto You, I thank You for continuing to speak to me through the bible. Thank you for reminding me of the steps/lessons that I can continue to take when it comes to my efforts to build that resistance against my sins, temptations, and urges. I know that no matter what, I will always need to rely upon you. I cannot do everything by myself. My strength will always be limited no matter how hard I try. Thank You for also speaking to me today about how I need to surrender my talents and skills to You. All of them. Thank You for blessing me with these talents and skills. Thank You for blessing me with the unique set of circumstances in my life that has shaped my talents in a unique/different way. And today, as I come before You, I pray and ask that You will bless me. I ask that You will anoint those talents and skills, and continue to use them (and me) to do good work. At the end of the day God, it is all to give You the glory. This is never about me. This will never be about me. And I am okay with that. I vow to give You all of the praise and all the glory. In Jesus’ mighty name, I pray. Amen.

Hey devs, can I share something with you? Please, when you are designing and building your applications, keep this very simple best practice in mind: Keep things simple & easy-to-understand. At the end of the day, the real determination of how good you are isn't measured by how complicated or complex your code looks. It's by looking at how simple and easy-to-understand your code is in the hands of any other developer. The best developers in the world don't bother with trying to create complex implementations because it takes too much effort and time. Not unless they have no other choice but to create something complex/complicated. Also, keep your classes, functions, variables, and file names simple (clear and straightforward). If another developer has to spend more than 5 seconds trying to decipher what the purpose of the class/function/variable is for (or does), then you know that your naming is too vague, or confusing/conflicting. Remember, you are not just building the app/project for yourself. You might not remain in the company forever. That means someone else (like myself) will have to take over the code at some point. The most irresponsible thing you can do is to only think of yourself. Please don't be that guy/girl. #keepthingssimple #frontenddevelopers #frontenddevelopment #softwaredevelopment #developers #appdevelopment #namingconventions #bestpractices

There was a time in my life not that long ago when I would sulk, whine, and complain about why I had to work on the weekends. I would spend my weekdays working 16, sometimes 20-hour days. And then all I wanted to do on the weekends was to go out or spend my time gaming, or binge-watching TV shows. I wanted to do anything but work. But my main problem then was that I didn't know how to be efficient and work smart on the weekdays. I spent a lot of time doing the less important tasks and didn't have sufficient time for the tasks that mattered. I had worked 16-hour or 20-hour days because a lot of that time was spent taking breaks, chit-chatting with colleagues, and being distracted. My perspective today has changed quite drastically. Not only am I willing to work on my weekends, but I am grateful and happy to work on the weekends because I know that it is a sign that I still have a job. And that matters. Ever since I've experienced a life where it can be extremely challenging to find work (even odd gigs and part-time work), I know how to appreciate even the smallest things in life. While some people might complain about their boss asking them to work on a weekend, I will never complain about it anymore. On top of that, I also understand that because this career opportunity is still new (only my second month into it), there is still plenty of work and learning that I need to do on the job. So frankly, this is not the time for me to slacken and indulge in my weekend desires. I know that if I want to perform well, prove my value to my boss, and also keep this job in the long run, I will have to be willing to make this early (initial) personal sacrifice. In my mind, all I am thinking about right now is #delayedgratification. I am willing to give up whatever it is that I need to give up today so that I can enjoy more of what I want to do next time. I can switch back to my #worklifebalance personal mission later. There is always a season for different things in life. Right now, it's the hustle season. #gratitude #appreciation #appreciatethelittlethings #perspective #changeyourperspective #attitude #positiveattitude #personalsacrifices #先苦后甜 #grit #purpose #purposedrivenlife #passion #ikigai #meaninginlife #joy #lovingwhatyoudo

I was about to submit a ticket this morning after a second attempt at trying to set up my custom domain for my Medium account. Just before I could do that, it worked like a charm on the second try. Now, I'm happy to share that my resumption as a professional (freelance) technical writer is finally official. After spending the last 6 years away from writing professionally, I am no doubt a little rusty. For years, I have relied heavily on Grammarly as a writing assistant. And because of it, I have also become a much better writer as a result. But as tempting as it is for me to click on the "Checkout" button right now (even with the recent 41% promo), I have to resist the temptation because I don't have the budget for it. I am unwilling to sacrifice my savings for this month by compromising on my financial plans. But I will begin writing soon. When the time is right, with the available monetization options, I might be able to generate some form of long-term side income as a professional technical/UX writer, along with other potential freelance consulting gigs. For now, I will start by taking those small, baby steps. When I have a bigger budget, I will slowly increase my investments over time. #backforgood #technicalwriters #uxwriters #technicalwriting #uxwriting #devtodesign #d2d #medium #subscription #membership #professionalwriters #professionalwriting #sideincome #monetization #sideincome #passion #purpose #babysteps #investments #ikigai #startingsmall #grammarly #writingassistant

https://lnkd.in/gPUgZjas My Daily Bread (Day 93) - Redeemed & Delivered from Sin Ephesians 1:7, Romans 6:1-4 [NKJV] Today's daily bread felt like a build-up of everything that I have been reading about this past week. After being reminded about what it means to take greater responsibility and ownership of our lives, I feel like this is a reminder that just as much as we need to take ownership of our daily lives, we should also be taking ownership of our own spiritual lives (especially for those of us that share the same belief/faith). Now, even if you do not believe in God, and have other faiths, I think the principle and idea are still applicable. In pretty much the same way as someone who has buried their old life so that they can move forward into a better future. When we come before God to acknowledge how He has saved us from our past lives and sins, we need to also bury our past sins. It is important to note that I'm referring to our past sins (mistakes, failures, doing wrong by others, etc), I am not saying that we should forget those lessons that they bring. We need those lessons in our new lives still. We need those daily reminders. And once we have decided to move forward into our new lives, we need to make that same conscious decision not to allow our past to rule over our lives again. Yes, it is also true that we are imperfect, and yes, I still believe to some degree that there will be days when we feel weaker and we would still succumb to our temptations and sinful ways. But if we were to take greater responsibility and ownership over our lives, then those sinful ways would no longer rule over our daily lives. Final note: When we continue in our sinful ways, what we are showing God is that we do not honor the sacrifice that Jesus has made for us up on that cross. Did Jesus die in vain? No. Ofcourse not. So why are we still willfully committing those same old sins? Stop using our imperfections as an excuse to keep sinning and to keep falling into temptations. We always have a choice to say, "No more." #mydailybread #dailybread #dailydevotionals #dailydevotions #sin #sinfulways #oldways #oldlife #redemption #redeemer #forgivenessofsin #forgiveness #grace #graceofgod #buried #movingon #newlife #takingownership #takingresponbility #nomore #urges #temptations

Yes, I'm actually really into tracking everything these days. As convenient (or inconvenient depending on your perspective) as it is to be able to pay for things without ever using any cash (cashless payments), I find that it is still very easy to lose sight of what I'm paying for and how much it costs for certain kinds of daily expenses. It is why I much rather have that visibility all of the time. If someone were to ask me how much I spent on something, I want to be able to say it without any hesitation, or by checking past receipts. I truly believe that if we want God (or the Universe) to bless us with more of something (anything), then we need to demonstrate that we can be faithful in managing the little things in our lives. How we do with those little things speaks volumes about how we will do with larger responsibilities. #thelittlethings #financialmanagement #ezlink #trackingeverything

https://lnkd.in/grtj33_X While experiencing serious #foodcoma doesn't affect our health in any way, it does affect our post-lunch productivity. And as someone that is considered a productivity-junkie, I have always struggled with and hated that feeling of needing to snooze for 60-90 minutes after a meal. It is something that as Asians, I think we've all struggled with when rice is really a big part of our staple food. So, I have always been trying to find a solution. I have tried so many different things over the years, but nothing really seemed to have worked. Except when I had no money to eat and I skipped lunch as a result. 😅 But we know that skipping lunch is not sustainable in the long-term. So, with the rising costs of everything today, how can I still spend less on food, while still making sure that I eat the right stuff? One of those things that I'll be switching out from my meals would be white to brown rice. I am also going to try and eliminate meat during lunch. Since meat is often the other proponent that causes the post-meal sleepiness. Maybe I'll replace it with tofu or something. The real problem with eating "smaller" meals in Singapore is that you still have to pay pretty much the same price. It doesn't really make that meal any less cheaper. Having two smaller meals during the day can end up costing more than just having one. So I haven't quite found a solution to that problem yet. Anyone got any good ideas? I welcome suggestions. One thing I must however accept is that I may never truly be able to eliminate that post-meal sleepiness. I think to some degree, we will always experience it. I just hope to reduce it's effects on me. #foodcoma #productivityjunkies #postmeal #sleepiness #dailystruggles

I am genuinely pleased with myself for traveling all the way to Buangkok/Sengkang to meet a seller on the #CarousellApp. Was it worth it to spend $4.80 (and a total roundtrip of nearly 2 hours) to travel all that way just to save $109 on an already budget phone? Hell ya! You know how many meals I can have with $109?? Many...😅 I could've spent $249 on the Redmi 13C (256GB/8GB model). But I know that I have to always be prudent. I cannot afford to live the way that I used to all those years ago. Just because my financial situation is gradually improving, it doesn't mean that I should increase my expenses/spending. When I heard that the seller only had the phone (minus the box, cable or charger), I was okay with it because at the end of the day, what I really needed was the physical phone. Charger and cable, I have plenty of those. As for the box, I don't need one. So for $140 for this phone (just $40 more from my current phone when I first bought it in 2021), I felt like this was such a worthy upgrade and replacement. Sure, I do have personal desires and a wishlist of things I would like to have (nice to have stuff). But I can live without having the latest and greatest (unless those brands don't mind sponsoring and collaborating with me). I am so grateful and appreciative of this! Time to write a positive review for the seller! P.S. Though my current phone is still glitching every now and then, the fact that it is not entirely broken yet means that I can still use it for mobile app testing. It still runs on a slightly older Android OS, so it's perfect for testing backward compatibility for mobile apps. If the app can run well on my current phone, it can run well on most phones. #carousellsg #secondhand #brandnew #budget #financialwisdom #prudence #domorewithless #doingmorewithless #upgrade #replacement #savingmoney #kingofbudgetphones #redmi13c #gratitude #appreciation #appreciatethelittlethings

Today is one of my two "studies day" each week. Considering that I've only just started a new career/job about a month ago, and now I am also taking on a part-time specialist diploma, one might consider that a little crazy. Actually, it does feel quite challenging at the moment. But I think the challenge feels more like an adjustment period. Honestly, I am still trying to manage my timing between days (hours) that are dedicated to my work, and allocating the rest for my studies and assignments. Yesterday, I shared a screenshot of what my weekly schedule will look like from now on. Right now, I'll be working 5 days a week, 2 days for school, studies and assignments. So yeah, my life feels really packed right now. Yet, I am also trying to fine-tune my time management so that I can give myself more quality breaks during the day. If my experience has served me well, it is to remind me that the only way to prevent any potential burnout, is to ensure my schedule/plans are sustainable. That also means doing everything in smaller increments and intensity, instead of that initial big burst of energy and time investment (like a 🚀 blasting off). It's more like slowly pulling a cart uphill. Don't get me wrong, my passion for both my work and studies will forever remain at 200%. I don't think that will ever change. I guess it's all about being laser-focused and taking more breaks whenever I need to. #schoolday #noclasstoday #needtostudy #schoolassignments #groupassignments #personalassignments #weeklyschedule #timemanagement #routine #consistency #startsmall #smallincrements #passion #grit #purpose #purposedrivenlife #selfmotivation #adjustmentperiod #growth #professionalgrowth #steppingout #comfortzone #change #challenges #challengingtime