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How a Dog Saved Her Life: Evelyn Choh on Awakening Love, Mindfulness & Second Chances — Transcript

by Mitch Carson · 4,685 words · 624 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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  1. 0:33on the bestseller best-selling author's
  2. 0:38summit 2025. I can't believe it's a new
  3. 0:41year, but it is. Happy New Year. Avoid
  4. 0:44it. Yes. Well, happy new year. Slightly
  5. 0:46belated.
  6. 0:47you know, in in the process of uh over
  7. 0:50coming out of Chinese New Year. So, you
  8. 0:53get two whacks. One because of So, you
  9. 0:56get double whammy. You get one where
  10. 0:58it's celebratory. You drink a little bit
  11. 1:01and the next you you await you either
  12. 1:03divvy up or accept red envelopes. Well,
  13. 1:06that that's that's based on your your
  14. 1:08heritage. So, you get you get two double
  15. 1:10you get two gifts. Okay. I missed out on
  16. 1:12the Chinese New Year part, but we'll
  17. 1:14take this. But let's talk about
  18. 1:16Awakening Love, your heartfelt book, and
  19. 1:21share with us what what inspired you to
  20. 1:23write this book about a relationship
  21. 1:25with a cutest can be pug.
  22. 1:29So the pug's name is Mingu. Okay. Uh
  23. 1:33that's a Tibetan name. Uh his name is
  24. 1:35Mingu. Uh what prompted me to write this
  25. 1:38book? Uh I think in our previous
  26. 1:41conversations Mitch that I came out from
  27. 1:45quite uh I guess lifech changing
  28. 1:48experience
  29. 1:49surgery you know. Yes. And uh while I
  30. 1:53was uh recovering and then I was
  31. 1:56thinking what should I write about in
  32. 2:00this book and um and then I thought that
  33. 2:04well since I am now on my second lease
  34. 2:08of life so to speak I should write about
  35. 2:12what happened and in my first lease
  36. 2:15first right and it's been something that
  37. 2:17I wanted to do I did not know that I was
  38. 2:20going to write it then but after the
  39. 2:24operation then I said nope this is the
  40. 2:26time I got to do it let's do it so
  41. 2:28that's how I wrote about it and um this
  42. 2:32book is actually like a bit of a memoir
  43. 2:34like that and a little bit of a novel
  44. 2:37recounting the experiences that I shared
  45. 2:39with uh our park and and how special he
  46. 2:43was to me but you know he's a first time
  47. 2:45dog right so every every first time is a
  48. 2:48special so you know that he was Your
  49. 2:51first pet? First pet? Yes, we had dogs,
  50. 2:54but they were all huge and gigantic like
  51. 2:56Great Danes kind of dog. You You don't
  52. 2:58And that was when I'm 5 years old,
  53. 3:00right? Okay. This is my real uh pet and
  54. 3:04and he's extra special because the
  55. 3:07person who gave it to me holds a special
  56. 3:09place in my heart. He's my spiritual
  57. 3:11guru. So and and that is also why I I
  58. 3:15connected it to my life is because I was
  59. 3:19given a life you know um a little dog
  60. 3:23the size of my palm right I was given a
  61. 3:26life uh so I I wanted to really uh uh
  62. 3:31share this life that I have with Mingu
  63. 3:34to whoever wants to read it. How how old
  64. 3:38was he when you I don't want to say
  65. 3:40acquired him? Start started your
  66. 3:42relationship. Uh our relationship
  67. 3:45started. S. Well, but it is it's it's a
  68. 3:50relationship. It is. But it is. Yeah.
  69. 3:52Our relationship started when he was
  70. 3:55only 6 weeks old and he was the size of
  71. 3:59my palm. You know, he fitted right in
  72. 4:02and he was this derpy guy. And in fact,
  73. 4:05I I would say that out of the three
  74. 4:07puppies that were there, he actually
  75. 4:09chose me because he let the puppies run
  76. 4:12around and and I was sitting on the
  77. 4:14floor so that I'm on the same level as
  78. 4:16as the puppy and he kind of just climbed
  79. 4:19up, you know, very gung-ho. He just
  80. 4:21climbed up and then he just like looked
  81. 4:23me in the face and he goes, "Okay." You
  82. 4:26know, and then he just settled in my lap
  83. 4:29and then and then Guru said, "I I think
  84. 4:32the puppy chose you already." you know,
  85. 4:34so uh that that's how the relationship
  86. 4:37started. You can say
  87. 4:40well it is it is a starting of a
  88. 4:42relationship and it's it's a it's almost
  89. 4:44if I'm going a little t bit deeper and
  90. 4:47I've had multiple pets in my life and
  91. 4:49have had bonds some more some with more
  92. 4:54a deeper relationship than others and it
  93. 4:56may sound a little crazy. I had a
  94. 4:58favorite fish as a boy that used to swim
  95. 5:01around and I would it was called an
  96. 5:02arowana. It was a specific type of you
  97. 5:05know what it is but I bought it when it
  98. 5:06was a little and it got to where it was
  99. 5:09over a foot long in my aquarium
  100. 5:12and I used to talk to it as a
  101. 5:1610-year-old boy thinking arowana I would
  102. 5:18think and I would sometimes reach in and
  103. 5:20just touch his back on the top just to
  104. 5:23pet him and I mean I he he didn't give
  105. 5:26me affection back. He'd maybe bite my
  106. 5:27finger a little bit thinking that I was
  107. 5:29a guppy to that was his food. And then
  108. 5:32when he got a little bit bigger, you
  109. 5:34know, he had a little bit of these
  110. 5:35needle teeth that used to snip me a
  111. 5:37little bit. And I had that interaction
  112. 5:40and I I was 10, Evelyn. So to put it in
  113. 5:44the proper context, but he jumped there
  114. 5:47jumping fish. He jumped out through the
  115. 5:49opening after I had him. Yeah. After I
  116. 5:52had him about two years, he got up. He
  117. 5:54jumped out of the opening in the back
  118. 5:56where the filter p you know tubes come
  119. 5:58in and I found him on the floor in a
  120. 6:02crispy state when I came home from
  121. 6:04school. Oh no. Oh and I cried my eyes
  122. 6:06out as a kid. I loved that fish. May
  123. 6:09sound a little strange. It's not like a
  124. 6:11furry animal, but I still had that
  125. 6:13relationship with something living that
  126. 6:17I thought about loved to feeding him. He
  127. 6:20was the my first, let's say, engagement
  128. 6:24or relationship with something. I was an
  129. 6:26only child, so this was my my
  130. 6:28relationship. And it was a fish and I
  131. 6:31also had dogs, but I loved this fish
  132. 6:33more than my dogs at that point. And
  133. 6:36because I I raised it the the dogs were
  134. 6:39Yeah. from a little tiny thing like you
  135. 6:42said in the palm of your hand. Same
  136. 6:44description, just a different animal.
  137. 6:45So, I can relate to that. And I think
  138. 6:47many of the people that are on this call
  139. 6:49with us today can relate to that because
  140. 6:53we're humans and it it
  141. 6:56it fills a void, doesn't it? Yes. Yes.
  142. 6:59And you know what um the the key about
  143. 7:02this is that there is an
  144. 7:04interconnectivity
  145. 7:06between and human and and the the the
  146. 7:12point is we are communicating. It's just
  147. 7:16that we do not know what the
  148. 7:18consciousness is saying to each other.
  149. 7:20But there's a communication and if you
  150. 7:22think that that's perfectly fine because
  151. 7:25sometimes if you call the name of your
  152. 7:26arowana and then he comes to you right
  153. 7:29you know that they are sensing
  154. 7:31something. It is something there. So it
  155. 7:34is not like you know a makeup story or
  156. 7:37anything. Well, you had a a particular
  157. 7:40name for your for your uh puppy and then
  158. 7:44became, of course, a full-g grown dog
  159. 7:46and the and the relationship you
  160. 7:48developed with this animal. Uh, and at
  161. 7:52least you assigned a name. I wasn't
  162. 7:54creative at age 10. My my arowana was
  163. 7:57called arowana.
  164. 8:00No, the next time you have to name all
  165. 8:02your fish.
  166. 8:05Yeah. Well, it was I just make a joke.
  167. 8:07Yeah. about that. So you learned in
  168. 8:10awakening love your well assembled book
  169. 8:13and I was able to join you in this
  170. 8:16journey of assembling this book and it's
  171. 8:18all about love. It's a perfect title.
  172. 8:20It's this relationship
  173. 8:22that we're talking about you had with
  174. 8:23another being, a dog being. It's a
  175. 8:27being. Let's say it's a being. It's a
  176. 8:29being, not a human being. It's a dog
  177. 8:31being. Uh yet you had this relationship.
  178. 8:34Give me the first lesson you learned.
  179. 8:39Well, you know, before I answer that
  180. 8:42question, okay, you have to know the
  181. 8:45reason why the book is called awakening
  182. 8:47love. It's a concept that I believe in
  183. 8:52uh and awakening love it is a in all of
  184. 8:56us we have love in all of us because we
  185. 8:59are humans right and and whatever
  186. 9:02beings. Um but the point is it is it is
  187. 9:06hidden until someone
  188. 9:09awakens it and that is the connectivity
  189. 9:12that we need. Once you have awakened
  190. 9:15that love for humans for animals then
  191. 9:21you I think you are changed forever you
  192. 9:24know. So that's that's that's the part
  193. 9:27of the awaken. How long was he your
  194. 9:29companion? 14 years. Wow. Wow. Every day
  195. 9:33he's at my feet. Especially when we work
  196. 9:36from because I work from home a lot. So
  197. 9:38he's always at my feet. A quiet quiet
  198. 9:42guy. Um so going to your question, what
  199. 9:46what did you teach? What did I learn?
  200. 9:49Yeah. Unexpectedly,
  201. 9:51uh Mitch, patience, right? I'm impatient
  202. 9:56because we all are. We're always rushing
  203. 9:58through life and everything, right? So,
  204. 10:00we want to do everything quickly. But he
  205. 10:03taught me to slow down. And how did he
  206. 10:05do that? He taught me that he's also a
  207. 10:08living being.
  208. 10:10You I forget because he's like a toy,
  209. 10:13right? And then, you know, you wind it
  210. 10:15up, you charge it, and then we want to
  211. 10:17go go and all that. But he he taught me
  212. 10:20to slow down. If he's slowing down, I
  213. 10:23have to slow down. Like in our walks, we
  214. 10:25walk almost every day. I have to slow
  215. 10:26down. I will look at what he's looking
  216. 10:28at. If it is the tree, if it is
  217. 10:30something, I will look at what he's
  218. 10:31doing. And if he speeds up, I will speed
  219. 10:34up. So this is this is a part of
  220. 10:37patience, right? And and this patience
  221. 10:41that I noticed from him, I also learned
  222. 10:45to incorporate into my, you know, work
  223. 10:47life and all that. Um I give you an
  224. 10:50example. So when we work, we forget that
  225. 10:54different people have different pace of
  226. 10:56working, of thinking. So, um, what it
  227. 11:01what it does for me is that I kind of
  228. 11:04slow down a little bit and and when I
  229. 11:06notice the slower ones, I'll coach them
  230. 11:09a little bit more and then so that they
  231. 11:11don't feel any stigma of being uh slow.
  232. 11:15So, and I think that's very important
  233. 11:18because, you know, we we go through life
  234. 11:20and and there's so much things going on
  235. 11:23and if I think that I can do that for
  236. 11:25someone, I think that's very good of me
  237. 11:27and for the person as well. And um yeah,
  238. 11:31so that's that's that's one thing that I
  239. 11:33really learned and to be really mindful
  240. 11:37about what I'm doing. So, and and with
  241. 11:41Mingu, it was interesting because I
  242. 11:44never used to walk in the park and
  243. 11:45notice all these things and smell the
  244. 11:47flowers. I'm not that kind of person if
  245. 11:48you know me. But but because of the dog,
  246. 11:52I'm like, he he's standing there and he
  247. 11:54he is very interesting. He will watch
  248. 11:58the bushes and he'll watch when he sees
  249. 12:01a butterfly and he'll stand there and
  250. 12:02he'll look and he'll observe. It's quite
  251. 12:05interesting because I don't think I've
  252. 12:07seen any of the dogs in the park doing
  253. 12:09that. Just standing there and observing
  254. 12:12the butterfly. So I found he was quite a
  255. 12:16interesting character.
  256. 12:18So that was right, you know, I I I in in
  257. 12:23comparison with my current dogs, right?
  258. 12:25He he's really different. And that was
  259. 12:27what prompted me also to write about
  260. 12:30Mingu now that I have two more to
  261. 12:33compare with. And I noticed that these
  262. 12:35two fellas are different you know. Uh so
  263. 12:38so yeah so some of the learnings over
  264. 12:41there
  265. 12:43well it's the the relationship you have
  266. 12:46everybody has a different type of
  267. 12:48relationship and we learn different
  268. 12:51lessons and so the so patience was one
  269. 12:55of them and when you slow down and it
  270. 12:57sounds like he introduced you to let's
  271. 13:01say stimuli that normally you wouldn't
  272. 13:04pay attention to correct and if he
  273. 13:06slowed down. I mean, Singapore is not
  274. 13:09known for mountains or I mean, it's more
  275. 13:13it's flatter. It It's got its definite
  276. 13:16charm. I I mean, I love Singapore. I
  277. 13:18love going there. It's a great place,
  278. 13:20but it isn't a a place that's
  279. 13:22mountainous. It's not Tibet.
  280. 13:25No. Or Nepal, which has a different type
  281. 13:28of feeling that gets tapped inside us.
  282. 13:31But it still may bring you to those
  283. 13:34places. And sometimes our little
  284. 13:36spiritual guide is about yay big. Yes.
  285. 13:41Yes. I I agree with that. I really agree
  286. 13:44with that. Yeah. And it opens a door
  287. 13:46like you said you were walking down the
  288. 13:47street and it may stop and look at a
  289. 13:49tree or you might perceive it to look at
  290. 13:51a tree and it may draw your attention
  291. 13:53to. It's like what's he thinking? Yeah.
  292. 13:56What's he thinking? It's like why is he
  293. 13:58slowing down? You know, and then you you
  294. 14:00I try to like look at where his eyes are
  295. 14:02focused on and then that's where you
  296. 14:05say, "Oh, our friend our little friend
  297. 14:08knows how to admire little butterflies."
  298. 14:11Oh, but I I thought that was quite
  299. 14:14unusual, you know. Well, does it make
  300. 14:17that is it he's admiring them or is he
  301. 14:20maybe thinking about chomping them? That
  302. 14:23it Well, and that might be a metaphor in
  303. 14:25itself, too. It's like, isn't it
  304. 14:26perception? is our own reality. Yeah,
  305. 14:30that was okay. That could be a point.
  306. 14:32But you know what? He's so good that he
  307. 14:35doesn't run after chickens like in the
  308. 14:39park, you know, there are wild chickens
  309. 14:40around. And when he first went there as
  310. 14:43a puppy, they all avoided him because
  311. 14:45they don't know his style yet, you know.
  312. 14:48But later on when he goes walking and I
  313. 14:50unleash him, uh, when there's not many
  314. 14:52people at the park, they he he doesn't
  315. 14:55chase them. He's not bothered with them
  316. 14:57and then they will they will be walking
  317. 14:59on this side and then the other chicken
  318. 15:01and all that will be walking on the
  319. 15:02other side and he's okay. And you know
  320. 15:04what the other thing also he doesn't
  321. 15:06charm them as you say is like example
  322. 15:10the you know in my house we live near
  323. 15:12the forest so we have lizards okay yeah
  324. 15:15you know lizards right so dogs would
  325. 15:17usually go after lizards they would
  326. 15:19because they they scuttle around very
  327. 15:21quickly but I've seen him you know the
  328. 15:24lizards it I felt as though we are we
  329. 15:27are growing lizards or something but the
  330. 15:29lizards on the ground and Mingu is face
  331. 15:31to face with the lizard it's like
  332. 15:33they're having their own chat and then
  333. 15:35they'll look at each other. It's like
  334. 15:36having a a a onetoone face off, you
  335. 15:39know. After a while they oh okay then
  336. 15:41they'll each go their own way and then I
  337. 15:43thought it was really funny because they
  338. 15:46are like saying oh you know how was your
  339. 15:47day I like all right you know not much
  340. 15:51and then they just went on one went up
  341. 15:53the wall the other one went to look for
  342. 15:55some whatever thing that he wants to
  343. 15:57look at. So that was interesting. I like
  344. 15:59wow, you know, um no chasing of lizards.
  345. 16:06Well, it's maybe yeah, he's a different
  346. 16:08soul. Maybe you learned a lesson there.
  347. 16:10You don't have to chase everything
  348. 16:12that's in front of you. True. Isn't that
  349. 16:14a corporate lesson also in itself? It
  350. 16:16is. Well, it's like pick your battles,
  351. 16:19you know, and and also it's a matter of
  352. 16:21pick your battles. How you going to win
  353. 16:23the war? You don't fight every battle.
  354. 16:26Exactly. And and this this this topic
  355. 16:30about picking your battles, right,
  356. 16:31Mitch? Um it was very clear there is one
  357. 16:35particular dog about his size. Her name
  358. 16:38is Yogi who walks the park also and
  359. 16:41she's a Jack Russell with a pointy nose,
  360. 16:44right? So she she loves Mingu and she
  361. 16:46wants to come and you know play with him
  362. 16:48but Mingu is flat, right? So because
  363. 16:51he's a pup. So she when she comes near
  364. 16:54she pokes him in the face. So this dog
  365. 16:58of mine avoids yogi avoids
  366. 17:02when he sees her walking here on the
  367. 17:05pathway. He will turn around and go one
  368. 17:09big circle and wait for me on the other
  369. 17:12side. He will not let yogi come near
  370. 17:16him. So that is to me he knows how to
  371. 17:20pick his battles.
  372. 17:23To me, it is like learning how not to
  373. 17:27get into tussles with other people on
  374. 17:30other people's terms. So, I pick my own
  375. 17:33battles. I come back to fight another
  376. 17:35day on my terms. I may take a longer
  377. 17:39route, but I will come back. Well, and
  378. 17:43yes. Yeah. And and sometimes, you know,
  379. 17:45I I don't know who I heard this from,
  380. 17:47but but dogs may bark a little bit and
  381. 17:50they may not have the memory or the
  382. 17:52resentments that humans carry. They
  383. 17:55might start a fresh day. And that that's
  384. 17:57a lesson learned. It's the simplicity in
  385. 17:59matters where humans to can, not all,
  386. 18:03but some of us as homo homo sapiens hold
  387. 18:07resentments from from a day that was a
  388. 18:10week ago. And that individual that we
  389. 18:13may have a resentment with is owning
  390. 18:15real estate in our brain, right? He's
  391. 18:18got a position uh in our brain of of
  392. 18:20resentment. It's like we're giving that
  393. 18:22person too much weight. They might have
  394. 18:24forgotten about the incident. And dogs,
  395. 18:26I don't think carry resentments.
  396. 18:28Elephants do, but dogs don't. They
  397. 18:30don't, but they remember what is good
  398. 18:32for them and what's not good for them. I
  399. 18:34believe they do. And that's a good point
  400. 18:36in itself also. It's okay. If we know
  401. 18:40that walking in the traffic will cause a
  402. 18:42problem for us, we don't do it. Yes. So,
  403. 18:45we don't we're if we had a if you have a
  404. 18:49little dog and you see a Rottweiler
  405. 18:51walking down the sidewalk
  406. 18:54opposing you and you're getting closer
  407. 18:56with a spike collar around its neck and
  408. 18:59the owner look is a ruffian type person,
  409. 19:03you don't want to get into an
  410. 19:04engagement. You may pick your dog up to
  411. 19:07avoid that. You know, humans act in a
  412. 19:10different way. Sometimes can be
  413. 19:11confrontational if you have a lot of
  414. 19:13testosterone in you at that moment. But
  415. 19:15as as a parent, because you're a parent,
  416. 19:19you are the parent of that dog, so to
  417. 19:21speak. Our roles aren't necessarily
  418. 19:23equal. The the exchanges back and forth,
  419. 19:25but we might pick you might have picked
  420. 19:27your dog, Mingu, up to avoid that
  421. 19:30interaction with the spikealler
  422. 19:32Rottweiler. Yeah. Because that's not a
  423. 19:35battle it could win. I I I'll pick you
  424. 19:37up if I see something like that. Well,
  425. 19:40yes, but those are those are visuals. I
  426. 19:42mean, it's how does that apply to our
  427. 19:44real life? Because your book isn't just
  428. 19:46about or it's not limited to not just
  429. 19:49it's not limited to, oh, I love my
  430. 19:52little dog. You have applied life
  431. 19:54lessons throughout this book and that's
  432. 19:57what gives it some great traction and
  433. 20:00uniqueness is what I would say. Yeah.
  434. 20:03And um you know when I when I was
  435. 20:06writing the book, the more I wrote about
  436. 20:08it and the more I recalled what was
  437. 20:12happening you know in the past then I
  438. 20:14realized that wow it really became more
  439. 20:18and more obvious to me because on that
  440. 20:21time when it happened I was reflecting
  441. 20:23on it but you know it's all forgotten
  442. 20:25but as I wrote the book it it became
  443. 20:28clearer and clearer to me what it was
  444. 20:31about you know So, so yeah, I'm totally
  445. 20:35convinced of with myself
  446. 20:38and your your journey with our
  447. 20:41relationship started about a year ago.
  448. 20:43You came in a little bit later than the
  449. 20:46other people are in your group who all
  450. 20:48all 12 of you created your concept, had
  451. 20:52a book idea, wrote it, we pushed it.
  452. 20:55It's now undergoing bestseller status uh
  453. 20:59because of all the sales that you've
  454. 21:01created interest. You've got quite a few
  455. 21:03reviews because you've touched people's
  456. 21:05hearts throughout this process and you
  457. 21:10impress me because I think you were
  458. 21:11about two to three weeks behind
  459. 21:13everybody else. You caught up and then
  460. 21:16shined. You shined. that felt like you
  461. 21:20had because you went through a rough
  462. 21:22surgery and that's your place to do to
  463. 21:24disclose it or not but you went through
  464. 21:26let's say a medical challenge and then
  465. 21:28you had joined and you were inspired
  466. 21:31because of I I I believe you it was a
  467. 21:34real jump start for you to start the
  468. 21:36next area of your life. Right. Right.
  469. 21:39And in fact, you know, uh, Mitch, 21st,
  470. 21:43no, 24th January is my anniversary to
  471. 21:48the operation.
  472. 21:50And you're right, I I missed three
  473. 21:52lessons. I mean, I came in on the lesson
  474. 21:54number four and I thought we were ending
  475. 21:57soon. So, I I was in a big hurry to
  476. 22:01write. Um, somehow my mind was really
  477. 22:04focused. Maybe because it got opened up
  478. 22:07and then you know more air got in or
  479. 22:09something. So maybe maybe it got more
  480. 22:13oxygen
  481. 22:15back.
  482. 22:17And that's where you got recharged
  483. 22:19almost, didn't you? Yeah, probably. So,
  484. 22:22um I I wrote it during my medical leave.
  485. 22:26Maybe that's why I could finish it so
  486. 22:28quickly.
  487. 22:30Could be that. Yeah, you had a little
  488. 22:31Could be that because I was like 100% on
  489. 22:33it, you know. um instead of resting like
  490. 22:36I can't rest 24 hours a day or or sleep
  491. 22:40the day away. So during my waking hours
  492. 22:44I I'm really like trying to think about
  493. 22:46how and where where the book should go.
  494. 22:50It went through a lot of editing of
  495. 22:52course but I think it came out okay. It
  496. 22:55came out very well and I like your
  497. 22:57books. Which brings it into
  498. 23:00our my question for our audience here.
  499. 23:03What's your gift for them? Because
  500. 23:05you've we've talked about it and it's an
  501. 23:07excellent book, heart-c centered. This
  502. 23:09isn't a tactic about how to make more
  503. 23:12money. I mean, every you know, we got a
  504. 23:14bunch of authors on this summit, but
  505. 23:16share what you're offering to our
  506. 23:18attendees. Of course. Um I have um put
  507. 23:23in uh one chapter of the book um which I
  508. 23:29believe Mitch will include in some uh in
  509. 23:34the resources section for each lecture
  510. 23:36resources section. Please feel uh free
  511. 23:39to read it and if you feel comfortable
  512. 23:42to buy the book it's on Amazon.com
  513. 23:46either in ebook or print copy. But if
  514. 23:50you're in Singapore, uh you know how to
  515. 23:52reach me. Uh I have hard copies at home.
  516. 23:55In fact, I sold very well. Um Mitch, if
  517. 23:58I might say so. I about 300 copies. I'm
  518. 24:03down to less than 50%. And this is just
  519. 24:07normal uh sales through friends and and
  520. 24:11all that. I did not do any big time uh
  521. 24:15bookshop something or whatever. Not yet.
  522. 24:18Not yet. I I hope somebody will call me
  523. 24:21and say, I want to put like 50 to 100
  524. 24:23books on my shelves and then I go,
  525. 24:27well, different doors open at different
  526. 24:30times and books. You know, you've heard
  527. 24:33my stories about books I've written and
  528. 24:36years later. That's the beauty of it has
  529. 24:38shelf life and you've got such a great
  530. 24:40cover. You just don't know when or or if
  531. 24:44it's going to work. You think, "Oh, is
  532. 24:45is this going to work?" You just don't
  533. 24:47know when you have to be out there and
  534. 24:50exposed. That's why I have this author
  535. 24:52summit for all of you Singaporeans
  536. 24:56because I wanted to give you an
  537. 24:57opportunity to showcase to your
  538. 25:00Singaporeans and to some Americans who
  539. 25:02are also listening to your interview and
  540. 25:06this is great. So, let's go through I've
  541. 25:08got a couple questions from people in
  542. 25:10the audience which I want to reveal. I
  543. 25:12can't go through all of them but let's
  544. 25:14talk for a second. What was your number
  545. 25:19one
  546. 25:21lesson you want to share with people who
  547. 25:23want to write a book? What should they
  548. 25:26do or what do you recommend to do? I
  549. 25:28don't like to sh on people. What do you
  550. 25:30recommend people do in order to get a
  551. 25:33book done?
  552. 25:36I thought that was an obvious uh uh
  553. 25:39answer. Mitch, call you Mitch. Oh, no.
  554. 25:43No. I wasn't even referring to that so
  555. 25:45much as the discipline to get it done.
  556. 25:47Oh yeah. Yeah. I mean Okay. Yes. Yes.
  557. 25:50But yes. So if if you are someone who
  558. 25:53wants to write a book, then write it.
  559. 25:56Don't don't don't think too much and
  560. 26:00don't spend three years at it. Just
  561. 26:02write the first one. It's perfect
  562. 26:04already as it is. You know, edit it,
  563. 26:06whatever. But put it out as soon as you
  564. 26:08can and then go do more edit. And as you
  565. 26:12get better at it, then you get better at
  566. 26:14it. So, I mean, that's how I would work
  567. 26:16it. Well, round two is better. I mean,
  568. 26:20the first time you get on a bicycle, you
  569. 26:22might fall down. Yes. And you need some
  570. 26:25training wheels, but when eventually if
  571. 26:27you haven't ridden a bike for 20 years,
  572. 26:29which I haven't ridden a bicycle outside
  573. 26:30in years, there's no way I'm falling
  574. 26:33down. I'll be careful because I'm older
  575. 26:35and I don't want to break today.
  576. 26:37Boy. But yeah, I could ride a bike and
  577. 26:39balance perfectly without much exposure,
  578. 26:43without muchuh planning or training. I
  579. 26:45think the same would hold true for you
  580. 26:47once you acquire that skill of balance
  581. 26:49on a bicycle. Same holds true for
  582. 26:52writing a book. Your second book, third
  583. 26:54book, easy peasy. You know, the proc
  584. 26:57should be easier. Should be easier. But
  585. 26:59I must say that uh I must get off my
  586. 27:01butt and do it. I I think that's the
  587. 27:03thing. You know, procrastination doesn't
  588. 27:05work here. You got to you got to just do
  589. 27:07it. So, so a little bit at a time. And
  590. 27:10you you you made a what what I was
  591. 27:13looking for and I I I'll observe what I
  592. 27:16saw with you was an absolute 100%
  593. 27:20commitment to doing it because you had a
  594. 27:22sense of purpose. You had a passion and
  595. 27:26at that time through unfortunate
  596. 27:28circumstances you had the time. Yeah.
  597. 27:31You couldn't use time as an excuse
  598. 27:32because you you weren't working. how I
  599. 27:35said it. Yeah. So, yeah, it's one year
  600. 27:39and and and I haven't written the second
  601. 27:41one. So, uh I'll try to do it again
  602. 27:43soon. Yeah. But you also had the break,
  603. 27:46but you all had this big commitment. And
  604. 27:48in some ways, you checked that box. You
  605. 27:52ticked it. I did. And you have a book
  606. 27:55done. And you've done what most people
  607. 27:56never do, which is get it done. You
  608. 27:59wrote one and that's that's great. Well,
  609. 28:01Evelyn, it's been a joy. As expected, I
  610. 28:04did have this expectation of you sharing
  611. 28:07your your heartfelt book. This isn't
  612. 28:09about a step-by-step system to make more
  613. 28:12money or to raise kids or bring up
  614. 28:14bilingual fluency. Those are all hard
  615. 28:16topics. This is a soft, heart-c
  616. 28:19centered. If you want to relate to great
  617. 28:21stories through metaphors of the through
  618. 28:24the eyes of a dog and the relationship,
  619. 28:27this is a fantastic read for you. easy
  620. 28:30read and one that if you're a human
  621. 28:32being will tap your heart. Evelyn, it's
  622. 28:35been a pleasure to have you here today.
  623. 28:37Thank you so much and we will see you
  624. 28:40again soon. Thank you. Me

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