Michael Lim
š x 5 Award-Winning Social Entrepreneur. Sold my first one-person business at 28. Currently traveling Southeast Asia.
I'm a wee-bit exhausted lad š“
Iāve spent the last week at the ASEAN Business Conference. ASEAN = Association of SouthEast Asian Nations. It brings together the 10 nations that make up ASEAN: Laos Brunei Malaysia Singapore Cambodia Thailand Vietnam Indonesia Philipines Myanmar With Timor-Leste joining later this year. This year the conference was held in Singapore. (yes, the land of durians) While I love these events, Iām absolutely exhausted. I fell off writing my daily emails. I also didnāt publish on Medium. Soz for the...
Iāve been keeping a dark secret š¤«
Many people donāt know this. But I was born in Singapore. I was even raised in the Durian Capital till I was 5. And then grew up in Melbourneās mighty west But Iāve got more family in Singapore than I do in Australia. While I love Australia, I always felt disconnected from my cultural heritage. I often feel too Asian to be Australian. And too Australian to be considered Asian. My dark secret? Iām a grandma's boy. One of my grandmothers is 87 and the other is 91. My 91-year-old grandmother...
The man who destroyed my life š„
Naval Ravikant destroyed my life. His advice about 'building leverage' broke my reality. Back when I had a 9-5 job, I binged his content. He once said, "It doesn't take money to make money, it takes leverage to make money." Back then, I didnāt fully get it. Leverage is a word everyone uses. But few people understood (including me). But I kept reading to understand leverage. I consumed everything Naval has ever published. Something about that quote stuck with me. The only problem? I didnāt...
I'm going all-in on THIS š
Hey friend, I took a break from my emails while in Beijing. To be honest, I've been feeling a wee-bit burned out. Since the end of May, I've been non-stop travelling. Singapore. Osaka. Tokyo. Beijing. I'm now back in Singapore again. That's five cities in five weeks. While I love to travel, this schedule is exhausting. So, I took a break. Lately, I've been feeling like my business is running me. I couldn't seem to figure out what was going on. During this time off, I had some space to think....
I was lied to š”
After I left my 9-5 job, I started a government procurement consultancy. I would help construction and infrastructure companies win government contracts. In 2023, I sold that business. I was stoked. It felt amazing. My first business win. I was only 28 years old. But it was a lie. I was misled on: The health of the business. The abilities of one of the co-founders. The vision and direction of the business. The worst part? The business only worked because I did. Neither of my business partners...
Writing = business class baby š©ļø
Iām at Haneda airport in Tokyo. Today, Iām flying to Beijing, China. Despite being ethnically Chinese, Iāve never actually been to China before. Iām excited. But also slightly scared. Besides a poorly pronounced Ni Hįŗ£o, I canāt speak a word of Chinese. And Iāve heard how closed the tech ecosystem is in China. But this is why I travel. To push myself into environments I feel completely uncomfortable in. I can do nothing but surrender to the experience. To feel what comes up. To ride the lows....
Build time under attention šŖ
When I started going to the gym, I always dreamed of doing a muscle-up. Thatās where you do a regular pull-up, But you pull to your belly button and then do a chest dip at the top. Sounds complicated, I know. Itās an even harder movement to execute. One of my gym mentors taught me the concept of ātime under tensionā. Itās where you want to build up time for your muscles to contract under movement. He told me to do a regular pull-up, but do it very slowly. Explode during the pull. Pause at the...
Long-form writing is king kong š«
Yesterday, I had a friend say, āShort-form writing is easier to execute.ā I disagreed. When I spend 1ā2 hours writing a long-form piece of content, I can repurpose it into: Emails Newsletters Digital products Course modules YouTube video scripts So, is short-form writing really easier for a solopreneur? Most people can't write long-form. AI can't do long-form without hallucinating. Long-form writing helps build your belief and philosophical system. You create a base of loyal fans who...
My sales team never sleeps š“
I make money from articles I wrote years ago. Not just from platform payouts or ad revenue. But from clients who discovered me through something I wrote in 2022ā¦ Read it in 2024ā¦ And then hire me in 2025. My long-form articles are a personal army of salespeople. They work 24/7. They never ask for time off. They never get tired, hungry, or burned out. And they never complain. Each articleā¦ Functions as a sales page Positions me as an authority Solves problems my ideal clients already have And...
Writing pays my mortgage š”
My house was finished building in May 2023. I was stoked. I was 28 and owned a house. What was even cooler? Over the last 2 years, my long-form articles have been paying my mortgage. I didnāt have to get half-naked and dance on TikTok. Or post 7x per day on Instagram. Instead, I did this: One long-form article. Solving one painful problem. Publishing on one long-form platform. Takes me roughly 2 hours to write one article. But you only need to write once per week. Far easier than making...
š x 5 Award-Winning Social Entrepreneur. Sold my first one-person business at 28. Currently traveling Southeast Asia.