Showing results by author "Yong Kang Chan" in All Categories

Have you ever wondered why two people who have a similar physical appearance or medical condition can have such different lives? Some people judge themselves constantly and are obsessed with looking perfect, while others exude confidence despite their imperfections. Some people are sensitive to receiving comments about their bodies, while others aren’t looking to others for approval and acceptance. Some people are depressed by their chronic illness, while others live peacefully despite their disease.

Struggling with low self-esteem? Still feeling inferior, unworthy, and not good enough despite all your effort to change? On the surface, we should be happy. We have all the things we need - a decent job, a stable income, and great friends. We have improved our self-confidence. We thought that we had overcome our low self-esteem issues. But yet, deep down inside, nothing has changed - we still feel inferior to others. Why is this so? Why don’t we love ourselves? The truth is we have been solving the wrong problem.

Do you feel lonely even when you are with people? When we are alone and isolated, many of us think we will feel better once we surround ourselves with friends, family, or a romantic partner. We are constantly looking for someone else to complete us, accompany us, and give us love and attention. But instead of feeling less lonely, we often end up feeling empty and disappointed. 

If you are constantly longing for love from someone else such as your parents, partner, or friends, you might want to revisit your childhood. As children, we didn’t receive the love we desire from our parents. So we are still seeking someone to fulfill this void in us. The truth is we have the capacity to love ourselves. The purpose of this book is to help you learn how to love yourself and be your own parent. What your parents failed to do for you in the past, you can do it for yourself now.

Can’t stop your critical thoughts? With mindfulness, you have critical thoughts… without the suffering. From an early age, many of us have this critical voice in our head that we call the inner critic. We have tried many different exercises and techniques to get rid of it, but nothing works. These intrusive thoughts keep popping up whenever they want. And they make us feel frustrated! Instead of overcoming our self-criticism, we end up making the inner critic our enemy and blame ourselves for having such self-loathing thoughts. 

At the age of 31, Yong Kang Chan was left with no job, no income, and most importantly of all, no identity. He thought having a job in an animation studio would lead him to the right career path. But an unexpected turn of events led him to depression. Those two months of darkness was scary. He even contemplated dying. However, he soon realized depression was a spiritual gift and embraced it. He believed he had depression for a reason: to share the lessons he learned about it.