Sum On Sleeve Podcast

Disclaimer : This article is not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual or on any specific security or investment product. I’m only sharing what worked for me and my opinions. I highly recommended you seek professional advice from someone who is authorized to provide investment advice. I started with $5000 as an experiment to make $100. How I made $3500 trading s...

When I first started blogging, I had no idea who was going to read my stuff. It was a space for me to express myself, put feelings into words and make sense of what was going on for me as a mom. 4 years later, I’ve had distant family members, anonymous strangers, friends of friends, folks I used to go to school with, and old coworkers reach out to me, praising me for what I’ve written. It’s amazin...

Why not both? I wish this meant I could have both soft and hard tacos but instead it’s experiencing both sexism and racism as an Asian woman. It’s like if I’m not being discriminated against for being a woman, then I’m being discriminated against for being an Asian. And if it’s not that, there’s a third category where race and gender come together into a mixed bag of shit, from subtle to blat...

I used to believe I needed to scrub clean of my past and start fresh every time I stepped into a new relationship. So when I first started dating my husband, I told him I didn’t want to talk about my past relationships. The past is the past right? However, I’ve realized the experience and wisdom I gained from being with my exes have not only helped my marriage but taught me so much about myself. H...

I knew I had experienced racism, from being made fun of how I look and what I ate to having someone shout ‘ching chong’ at me while they drove by. Those acts were blatant and obvious. However, microaggressions are, to say the least, micro. They happen so subtly that after each incident, I would feel confused, unable to pinpoint what I had experienced and what I felt about it . I didn’t know I was...

I was really against using screens at mealtime because of everything I know about distracted eating. It prevents them from listening to their bodies, enables unnecessary snacking between meals, and increases their risk of obesity later in life; using screens at mealtimes seems to do more harm than good . In addition, I’ve personally struggled with emotional eating most of my life and battled an ea...

Growing up with two older sisters wasn’t easy. From always getting hand-me-down clothes, toys and shoes, playing catch up because I was “never old enough”, having a fraction of the baby pictures that my sisters had, to being called the wrong name too many times to count, being the youngest had its challenges. Over the years, I’ve realized that although those experiences shaped a part of who I am,...

From books, calendars, watches, radios, CD players, pedometers, cameras to GPS, the phone has replaced so many things in our lives. It’s incredibly difficult to avoid using our phones. I even use the camera as a mirror sometimes. Therefore, instead of criticizing this mom’s behaviour, I came up with a list of things moms do on their phones when they’re watching their kids.

This was my first taste of my kid keeping something from me because they were scared of my reaction. There will be many more to come as they grow up. I don’t expect the conversations to happen like this every time, especially when they reach the tricky teenage years. However, I’m going to keep in mind that sometimes, sitting silently with my child gives them the time and space to find their voice....

I’ve discovered something about myself when I procrastinate. I delay things because I’m not scared of the consequences. The immediate gratification of looking at one more cat meme seems like a higher priority than typing up this article. I have rose-coloured glasses that make me feel invincible to the looming chaos. I realized I need a sense of fear with meaningful and scary consequences that will...

After giving birth, a mother's body doesn't just magically go back to the way it was. How did I manage to lose the baby weight after 2 kids? Here are 4 habits I adopted. See: How to Cook So You’ll Actually Eat at Home See: 5 Food and Cooking Hacks That I Forgot My Mom Taught Me

Can you make money with self-published books? It’s been over a year since I self-published 3 books, one about brutally honest dating advice, another about how to deal with Asian parents and lastly, one about how to have a healthy marriage . Here are 4 lessons that I learned:

People-pleasing = low self-esteem From always saying yes, breaking promises with ourselves, sacrificing our values to help someone out, enabling toxic behaviours, keeping silent to prevent hurting someone’s feelings even though they’ve hurt ours, being inauthentic about our true feelings to siding with the majority when we completely disagreed, people-pleasing behaviours come in all forms. When I...

I've written on Medium for years and I never thought my partner earnings would increase to the 3 digits. Here are the 3 things I did to reach this. Humble beginnings with zero expectations I’ve been writing on Medium for over 3 years . At first, it started as just another avenue to get folks to read my stuff. I published here and there, not thinking much would happen. I rarely logged in and when I...

I've heard the stories of wives praising their husbands for surprising them with a break from their kids. However, a break wasn't what I wanted. I thought I wanted the surprise I’ve heard the stories of women praising their husbands for surprising them with a day off, taking the kids out and giving their wives a much-deserved break. It’s like that joke about what mothers really want on Mother...

As a writer, it sucks when you get that email saying your article, proposal, or idea wasn't accepted. How do I deal with the rejection so that I can quickly move on and keep writing? You’ve probably heard the wise saying, “It’s not a rejection; it’s a redirection.” Okay, sure but it still sucks when you get that email saying your article, proposal, or idea wasn’t accepted. Over 20 different public...

What motivates us to want to write? It's about asking ourselves tough questions. What does motivation mean to me? Why do I want to write? A writer’s block, burnout, and a lack of creativity are just some of the common struggles a writer experiences during the week. Pile on some rejection (from clients, publications, a mean troll), no one reading our stuff and a fear of putting ourselves out there...

From kindergarten to university, I spent over half my life in school. Do I regret my decision? Was it a waste of time or time well wasted? It's about seeing the life skills I acquired from years of study. I didn’t enjoy school Don’t get me wrong, going to school wasn’t a pleasurable experience for me. I wrote an entire article about how I hated it even though I was good at it and conclud...

As a working mom, the days are long and hard. Here's my story of how one missed call reminded me that it's all worth it. Sometimes thinking about the scary stuff makes the hard days easier. It’s a Wednesday afternoon. I just finished drafting up an article when my son wakes up crying from his nap. I carry him downstairs and we start our mother and son dance party. He’s 1 so it’s more like I d...

I took the challenge of writing 25 articles and getting them accepted by publications on Medium. Here's what happened. Increased traffic? Yes but so much more than that. I was embarrassed to call myself a writer Around mid-November, I read an article about how a writer was able to make 4K a month writing on Medium. I was astonished. I had been writing for most of my life and barely made a fra...

Does cooking at home mean using only healthy ingredients? How to cook delicious meals you'll actually eat and look forward to leftovers. Because why make something you won't want to eat? Tasteless food isn’t tasty Imagine this. It’s a weeknight. You just finished work and you’re starving. There are leftovers in the fridge. It’s dried chicken breast, bland steamed broccoli and a container of p...

Mothers are often hard on themselves and feel like they're not good enough. Here's what to do when you feel like an inadequate parent. Dropping the ball and picking it back up. Obviously, I know there’s no such thing as a perfect mom In my home, socks are unmatched. The laundry is dirty. Cheese sandwiches can be dinner. There days that are spent indoors even though the sun begs us to come out...

Parents are not good or evil, heroes or villains. Seeing them as humans let us practice empathy and compassion for others and ourselves. “Respect your parents! They did so much for you.” As the author of the book “ How To Deal With Asian Parents ”, it’s obvious I’ve struggled with the relationship I have with my parents. ⁣ ⁣ With that, folks often send me comments and advice about how I shoul...

Disclaimer: Even though I focused this post on married heterosexual men, it doesn’t mean that other genders don’t use their partners as an excuse. This behaviour transcends gender, culture, relationship status, sexual preference etc. However, in my personal experience, I’ve heard men default to this excuse more often than women. When a husband says "My wife won't let me", he's actually masking his...

Was he racist or sexist? As a woman of colour, I'm often in a tough position. We are vulnerable. How do I stand up for myself enough? As an Asian, I am vulnerable to a slew of belittlement, from microaggressions, prejudice to blatant racist attacks. As a woman, I have been stereotyped as those who overreact, overly emotional, sensitive, hysterical.  Therefore, as an Asian woman, these are jus...