Survivor of No Fear February

Hey pookies, 

Long time no yap. 

I went in the trenches in February so let me give you a brief recap:

1. Took an oath to commit to No Fear February to challenge my social anxiety.

2. Slipped on the wet ground of Toronto and did a 180-degree (more like 145) leg split in front of two random girls - I called it a DIVA split. 

3. Flew to Barcelona and Amsterdam for a total of three full days - I fought in the trenches to reach the airport because Toronto was challenged with severe snowstorm.

4. Realized I need to become more budget and environmentally friendly - Can’t pull a Taylor Swift when I’m not even close to a millionaire. 

5. Went on a “funny” (bad) date, and realized that my standards have been higher because I laughed at what happened, rather than clinging onto what I had. 

6. Interviewed for a job for the first time at AMEX and TD (they loved me so much they told me to pursue my passion elsewhere, but all jokes aside I was proud to get an interview). 

7. Started archery to build concentration and inner peace (I actually wanted to be cool). 

8. Finished reading a book that I started in 2025, which is a record because I finish reading once every 4 years - I call it the Book Olympiad. 

At the moment, this is all I can remember but I believe there has been a bit of personal growth especially since I started doing themed months and calling activities "lore". Whether big or small accomplishments, you should always celebrate them as these are something that you from 3 years ago may have wished to achieve and may lead to a bigger success. 

Funnily, people often worry when I say I go to therapy but I’m a big advocate for people to start doing therapy or counseling sessions, whether you are struggling with mental health or NOT. I believe that I’m super happy with myself and life in general, but therapy helps me build confidence and approach every situation in ways that I struggled before. I used to cry that a blob-fish-looking man ghosted me, and now I cry because I feel so seen, heard and loved by numerous friends. And I’m so grateful to say I have more than one friend that I respect, look up to and love. This is insane because they are all over the world, pursuing their dreams, and in healthy and lively conditions. Of course, your experience with therapy may differ as you need to be compatible with your therapist. However, with the right people, you can build an insane amount of confidence and acceptance in life, and grow tremendously, which is so fulfilling. Unfortunately, I am not sponsored by BetterHelp or any companies yet (please sponsor me), but that being said, I’m super serious about challenging yourself and seeing the world through a different lens. 

No Fear February has been initially nerve-wracking since I forced myself to do things I didn’t feel comfortable with (such as networking, going on dates, cracking a joke in class…). But if you approach situations like social experiments and “for the lore”, you can overcome any challenge and laugh by March, after No Fear February. For March, I participated in the legendary More Confidence March, which includes saying thank you to compliments instead of questioning them, wearing a blazer to class just because I wanted to, etc. I’m still not sure what April will be, so please feel free to suggest your ideas/themes for April. By the way, one of the words needs to start from ”A” in this case. 

Although my blog is related to personal lifestyle, I guess it leans more towards self-care now, so I’ve linked some of my favorite self-care products, podcasts and books that could be interesting for you:)) 

For Journaling & Brainstorming:

• Rollbahn Notebook (GOATED product for journaling & brainstorming)

  • Cream colored notebook

  • Light purple notebook

  • Navy notebook

  • Hot pink notebook

  • Blush pink notebook

• Zebra Sarasa Black Pen (So GOATED I buy 30 of these when I go to Japan)

  • Clip 0.5

  • Clip 0.7 (My personal favorite that hits the spot when writing)

  • Clip 1.0

  • I love 0.7 the most, then 1.0 and lastly with 0.5 (but it's personal preference)

Books related to No Fear February:

• The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck (haven't read it yet but it's on my list)

• The Let Them Theory (literally by one of my favorite podcasters, Mel Robbins)

• Supercommunicators (currently reading this and it's interesting)

• Do Hard Things (heard it's good)

Some of my favorite podcast episodes:

• "How to care less about others' opinions" - Episode 269 of The Psychology of Your 20s

  • Every one of her episodes are so good and it applies for both women and men in their 20s

• "No Regrets: How to Take Risks in Your Communication, Relationships, and Career" - Episode 92 of Think Fast Talk Smart

  • I was absolutely obsessed with this podcast in 2023

• "All Great Things Take Great Effort" - Episode 553 of The Game with Alex Hormozi

  • I feel like he says questionable things sometimes but I learned a lot about resilience and diligence from him

Happy April! And stay kind to yourself! 

Xoxo, Chinie