Chantero's Blog

🙂 Start Here!

Created: 29 July 2023, Saturday | Updated: 20 April 2024, Saturday

Hello, I am Chantero. This is my personal website. Here I will write about things that interest me and about other random stuff. Please read the Terms of Use.

Tag: introduction

[ back to table of contents ]

📖 3 Books - Mindset, Atomic Habits, The 5 Second Rule

Created: 22 April 2025, Tuesday | Updated: 28 May 2025, Wednesday

These 3 books have inspired me to take small steps to improve myself:

1️⃣ 📕 Mindset (by Carol Dweck)

🥜 Adopt a "growth mindset" - Our abilities and traits are not fixed. We can change and improve through effort, learning, and persistence.

• What are the opportunities for learning and growth?


• Form a plan - When, where, and how will I embark on my plan?


• When you encounter a setback, form a new plan - When, where, and how will I act on my new plan?


• How do I maintain and continue to grow?

2️⃣ 📗 Atomic Habits (by James Clear)

🥜 Focus on building "habits" or "systems". Small changes can compound over time and produce significant and lasting results.

• Set systems, not goals:
  
  Fix the input, and the output will fix itself. If you set goals or fix the results only, the results may be temporary. But, if you set a good system, you will achieve your goal with lasting results.
  
  Example: You want a clean room (goal), after you clean your messy room, the room will be clean for a while (achieve goal). If you still keep your messy habits, then the room will get messy again soon (temporary results). BUT, if you change your messy habits (have a system to be cleaner - eg. I will put the stuff back to the drawer immediately after use...), then the goal (clean room) will naturally flow from the good system! (lasting results)


• Persist through the "plateau of latent potential":
  
  You may not see results in the beginning, but persist and continue. After you break through the critical threshold, you will see success!
  
  Example: You knock a stone 100 times and nothing happens, but on the 101st time, the stone breaks. You may not see results for the first 100 knocks, but it is actually doing something... be patient.


• Focus on who you want to become:
  
  The most effective way to change your habit is to have an identity change - Decide who you want to be, and prove it to yourself with small wins. Every action you take is a a vote towards being the person you want to be. As the votes build up, so does your new identity.


• 1st Law: Make a Habit "Obvious":
  
  (1) Be clear - Example: I will do [behaviour] at [time] in [place].
  
  (2) Habit Stacking - Pair a new habit on top of something you already do. Example: After I get out of bed, I will do ten pushups.
  
  (3) Design your environment for success - Make cues for good habits obvious; make cues for bad habits invisible. Example: if you want to practice guitar more, put the guitar in the middle of the room. If you play too much video games, unplug the console and put it in the cupboard after use.


• 2nd Law: Make a Habit "Attractive":
  
  (1) Temptation Bundling - Pair a habit you "want to build" with something you "like or need to do". Example: Only watch your favourite TV show when you are indoor cycling.
  
  (2) Join a culture where your desired culture is the normal behavour, and you already have something in common with the group - we tend to imitate habits of (i) people who are close to us, (ii) the many, (iii) the powerful.
  
  (3) Break bad habits by making it un-attractive - Highlight the benefits of avoiding a bad habit (basically psycho yourself / mindset change) to make the bad habit un-attractive.


• 3rd Law: Make it "Easy":
  
  (1) Take action (practice, not just plan) - The key is to just start doing with repetition (not perfection). If you focus trying to find the best way to do something, it "feels" like you are doing something, but you didn't actually take any "action" ( = no results). Planning is good, but you also have to do!
  
  Example: This professor divided the photography class into 2 groups: (a) "Quantity Group" is graded by "quantity" of photos produced, (b) "Quality Group" is graded by the "quality" of photos (only 1 best photo will be graded). In the end, the "Quantity Group" produced the better photos, because in the process of creating 100's of photos, they honed their skills. Don't just plan, practice!
  
  (2) You form a habit by "repetition" - Engage in "active practice" instead of "passive learning". The more you "repeat" an activity, the more your "brain changes" (create neuron pathways) to be more efficient at that activity. It is the "frequency" that makes a difference.
  
  Example: When you start learning a musical instrument, it is very difficult. After you practice (repetition), the difficulty reduces. Practice more, the action becomes "automatic". Eventually, it may become so easy you can do it without thinking!

3️⃣ 📘 5 Second Rule (by Mel Robbins)

🥜 Count down 5...4...3...2...1, and... JUST DO IT!

• On health, exercise & everything else:
  
  Just do it! You don't have to "feel like it", just do it!


• How to be productive:
  
  Have a morning routine. Focus on yourself first (preferably at home, since once you go to work, you will have lots of distractions). Decide on your 3 musts, and then just do it!


• How to stop worrying:
  
  When you catch yourself worrying, ask "What am I grateful for?" and "What do I want to remember?" It puts you in a positive mindset.


• How to beat anxiety / fear - Part 1:
  
  Re-frame the "negative feeling" into a "positive feeling" (such as "excitement").
  
  Example, if you are anxious because you have to do public speaking, re-frame your "anxiety" to be like "I am feeling this way because I am excited".


• How to beat anxiety / fear - Part 2:
  
  Use "anchor thoughts" to re-direct your negative thoughts into something positive. You can come up with your "anchor thought" beforehand.
  
  Example, if you are scared of flying, you can imagine how you are on a beach enjoying your holiday - Since you can imagine yourself on the beach, it means your flight went well.


• Practice everyday courage:
  
  Nothing comes naturally until you practice it! Do what your instinct tells you to do. Practice everyday courage, and build your confidence. As you do so, you will learn that you can count on yourself, trust your own abilities, honor your desires, and take control of your life! Confidence is not a personality trait, it is a skill!


• Find your passion:
  
  When you have an instinct to act, you must physically move and act on it... or else, your brain will find some way to stop you.
  
  (1) Explore your passion (what does your heart really want?)
  
  (2) Take simple steps to explore the subject (read up on it, take a course, write a plan, etc.)
  
  (3) Have courage to commit (decide that you are ready to commit... you will never "feel" ready...). Even if you are ready, it might not feel good in the beginning, but have faith and belief in yourself, and have courage, and do the work!


• Relationships:
  
  Leave nothing important unsaid. To improve a relationship, just "say it". Intimacy takes courage. There is no right time to have the conversation, ask the hard questions, say I love you, etc. There is only now. When your heart speaks, say it! Sometimes, there is no next time.

Tag: books, growth, productivity, habits, systems

[ back to table of contents ]

🍮 Recipe - Caramel Egg Custard

Created: 20 April 2024, Saturday

Make the caramel

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup of sugar
2. 1/4 cup of water

Directions:

1. Heat the sugar and water in a small pot
2. In medium heat, stir and melt sugar to dissolve the sugar
3. Once syrup boils, reduce to low heat and let it simmer
4. Once it starts to turn golden brown, turn off the heat, as the caramel could burn quickly
5. If the sugar turns into crystals, you can add more water and just start over

Make the custard

Ingredients:

1. 4 cups of milk
2. 1/2 cup of sugar
3. 6 eggs
4. some vanilla essence

Directions:

1. Mix the milk and sugar over low heat - to warm milk and to melt sugar
2. Mix eggs and vanilla into the milk
3. Strain the egg mixture 2 times - to have smooth texture

Put it all together

Things to have:

1. Individual ramekins or baking tray(s) - to put your custard
2. Extra larger size baking tray - put some hot water

Directions:

1. Pour the caramel into the ramekin / baking tray
2. Swirl caramel around until it covers the bottom of the tray
3. Pour in the egg mixture
4. Put the custard-tray into the hot-water-tray
5. Put it in a pre-heated oven (180°C)
6. Bake until the custard sets (around 30-45 minutes)
7. You can eat it hot or cold

Tag: recipe, egg-custard

[ back to table of contents ]

🍨 Recipe - Homemade Yogurt

Created: 20 April 2024, Saturday

Ingredients:

1. Milk powder
2. Water (around 4-5 cups? up to you)
3. 1 small plain yogurt (from the shop)

Directions:

1. Mix milk powder and water (I prefer a thicker yogurt, so I add a bit more milk powder)
2. Heat the milk until it just starts to boil, and turn off the heat
3. Wait until the milk cools down a bit (warm to the touch), then mix in the yogurt
4. Divide the milk-yougurt into glass containers (that has lid) - sieve the mixture when pouring in to remove lumps
5. Place the closed containers in a warm oven, and cover them with a warm cloth
6. normally, I will turn on the oven (and put the cloth inside) for a little while, then switch the oven off once I am ready to place the yougrt into the oven
7. Leave it for around 8 hours, and put in the fridge when it is done (I usually make yogurt at night, and leave it overnight)

Tag: recipe, yogurt

[ back to table of contents ]

💇‍♀️ Hair Washing Technique

Created: 24 May 2025, Saturday

Earlier this month, I finally made a trip to the salon to cut my hair.

"Oh my, your hair is starting to thin..." said the close-to-retirement-aged hairdresser as he gently combed my wispy fringe, "if you do not do anything about it, you will likely be bald in twenty years, give or take".

Yes, of course I sensed an upsale coming up. But I was more concerned about my impending baldness - "Please tell me how to stop this from happening".

So, he gave me some common sense solutions (which I will not repeat here), and then he taught me how to wash my hair:

👨‍🦳💬 : When you wash your hair, "massage" the scalp 💆‍♀️ don’t "scratch" it!

... And yes, I did end up buying that tiny tiny RM150 bottle of shampoo in the end 💸😭.

Tag: hair, haircut, shampoo

[ back to table of contents ]

🌱 Ajinomoto For Plants?

Created: 20 October 2024, Sunday | Updated: 23 April 2025, Wednesday

So apparently, the popular flavour enhancer "Ajinomoto" (aka MSG aka monosodium glutamate) can be put into your plants to make it bear more fruits and leaves.

Around 1 teaspoon for a medium sized potted plant will do the trick - supposedly. Mom is testing this on her lime trees. Will see if it works.

Update 23 April 2025: When they said add "1 teaspoon" to the plant, they forgot to mention how many times a day/week/month - So, mom may (or may not) have over MSG-ed the plant resulting in some white-ish specks on the leaves, but... no fruits.

Tag: plants, garden, msg, ajinomoto, monosodium glutamate

[ back to table of contents ]