Herbert Lui

If you’re a writer, maybe your dream is to write a book that hits the New York Times bestseller list. That’s a fine dream—and was mine, at one point!—though it comes with a caveat: whoever can put you on the list, or block you from it, is in control of your dream. Let’s imagine that your dream is to hit the NYT bestselling list. If you want to improve your odds, you’ll need to get familiar with their rules, including the sales venues they consider, finding a traditional publisher, and sell over…

A couple of years ago, when I was employed at Figma, I reflected on the years I worked independently. I wrote, “When you work independently—as an entrepreneur, freelancer, or creator—in the early days, you actually could become more dependent on the people you know.” I’ve since returned to working independently. While I remember this lesson clearly, and been going through the motions of asking for help, I still find it really difficult to practice interdependence. I recently came across a blog…

When you’re young, you just do stuff. Because you don’t have much experience, you’re a beginner, and you have nothing to lose, it’s hard to overthink. As you gain experience and expertise, it’s easier to shoot down ideas quickly. When you’re in the intermediate hump, you experience being in the groove of shooting down ideas, and not giving them a chance to work out. Because you see the flaws in every idea, none of them seem worth your time. You’re also well aware of stronger, smarter, richer…

In late 2021, my partner and I moved to Hong Kong. Several months in, I chatted with a friend I went to high school with in Canada. He couldn’t believe I had moved there. The music I listened to in high school, the language I spoke, my interests and friends, none of them suggested to him that I would make a decision to move to Hong Kong. It was entirely improbable to him. One of the most useful things you can do as a creative person, especially as a writer, is to live an interesting life.…

Several months ago, I moved into a new condo. Shortly after, I noticed the arm in my condo’s dishwasher was loose. It seemed to chug along fine without. Then, a real hiccup, a few days ago: the dishwasher stopped 10 minutes into a cycle and displayed an error code. In searching for what the error code suggested, I quickly reached out for a technician. When the technician came, he saw the loose arm and said he’d start with what he saw first. I was about to tell him the dishwasher worked fine…

As I return to my business writing practice, I’ve also been getting in the groove of finding new business opportunities. Using the Consistency Journal, I’ve found three things that get in the way of me practicing every day: Scheduling: You need to make time to practice. You can do so ahead of time, or you can look out for a time that day. First thing in the morning is the most reliable time. Perceived payoff: What’s the reward? How much of it are you likely to earn, with how much effort? And…

One tradeoff with being prolific is bloat. If you’re being prolific, and someone was to sort through your body of work, they’d find some good stuff amongst a bunch of pretty bad stuff. In other words, it’s a lot of work for them to sort through. One solution is to judge your work after they publish it, not before. Make it public in a small, quiet, surface, like a blog. If you and other people like it, polish and promote it. Make sure you’re known for your best work. Making a lot of work was…

Try jumping on a trampoline, on concrete, and on a sofa. You’ll quickly see different results, even with the same effort. Those are conditions. Each condition helps you achieve something different. Is your goal to get as high as possible, as steadily as possible or to create the safest landing? As you’re reading this, there’s a good chance that you’re already trying your best. Of course, you see ways you can improve, but you’re not sure how you can get there yet. Here are some conditions that…

A few weeks ago, memory chips got more expensive. This would affect pricing for a lot of companies that needed these chips for their devices. Nintendo was one of these companies. In one view of the world, a deeper vertical integration would’ve helped solve this problem; if Nintendo made its own chips, it would have greater control over its destiny. But where does that integration stop; does Nintendo need to harvest its own minerals? What ended up happening is more simple than that: Nintendo…

Drake’s decision to release two albums in addition to his long awaited Iceman—that’s three albums total—resonates with me. He’s one of the more prolific artists who actually follows through, delivering an album almost every year since his debut. I’m sure dropping more songs at once helps him earn more revenue from streaming, and it helps feed his core fanbase. Each song will be someone’s favorite. The tradeoff is this: every song that sounds average waters down the hits. The two non-Iceman…

The other day, I saw a writer post a photo of the New York City subway from many years ago. Having moved out of New York City recently, I wished I took more photos to help jog my memory. This stands out in contrast to my own words from last year, “Take fewer photos. Be intentional about the moments you want to take photos of, and trust your brain to remember the rest of it.” I assumed that taking a photo would take you out of the moment. Let’s flip that on its head: what if the need to take a…

When some of my friends set their minds to something, they don’t stop. They make it look easy. I know friends who commit to publishing a newsletter every month, and they’ve been doing it for years. Though I write this blog post every day, there are many times when I consider quitting. The path is just so easy to slide into: just take your hands off the keyboard for a couple of days, or let business or personal life get in the way, and you’re easily on your way there. “A writer is someone for…

Wayne Chang was a professor at the University of Waterloo’s entrepreneurship and business program. At the end of classes and emails, he would close off with the statement, “Confidence is high.” In their tributes to him, this motto was one that students recalled and reaffirmed. Wayne passed away months ago, before I found out about him or his work. The motto resonates with me. What it suggests to me: Your professor’s confidence in you is high. Someone you respect believes in you. You’re sure to…

“FOMO,” an acronym that stands for “Fear of Missing Out.” “JOMO,” which stands for, “Joy of Missing Out,” is a fulfilling experience. The reward of JOMO is the feeling of purpose you earn by behaving in a way that’s true to yourself. It’s the same feeling of fulfillment you feel when you behave with integrity. JOMO comes with a price, of course: you’ll need to miss out and develop the courage to commit to that. Here are some questions worth asking: Do I actually want the thing? Or do I just…

A few days ago, I published an essay convincing you to be prolific. I was elaborating on the idea that focusing on quantity will lead to better quality, a lesson I learned in 2013. When I was writing that original post, I came across a useful metaphor from Ira Glass, about how people experience a gap between their taste and their skills when they’re doing their early work. Ira suggested that the best way to close this gap was to focus on making a huge volume of work. Here’s the source video,…

In 2025, people bought over 45 million vinyl records, spending over $1 billion in the process. What’s more surprising: a stat from 2022 suggests that 50% of vinyl buyers in the US don’t own a record player. To a vinyl collector, this is absurd, and perhaps even heresy. What would a person do with a vinyl record if they don’t plan on playing it? Participating in music isn’t just about listening to the songs. It’s about connection. When an artist releases music or performs, they make a statement,…

There’s a book with a great title, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff. It has been recommended to me by family and good friends on separate occasions. The hard part is applying the title: actually not sweating the small stuff. It means letting the bit of discomfort roll off you, when it, unchecked, would drive you to overreact. It means being mindful of experiences like a misunderstanding which feels like a minor indignity, or even your mind stating (screaming!) that you are being insulted or…

In 2013, I came upon an idea that quantity was a reliable way to find quality. It was one of the most useful lessons I have learned, and I’ve aimed to be prolific. It’s why I write every day, and I choose to spend much of my time making as much new work as possible. In the following years, I continued to develop and explore this idea here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. (I’m sure

The other day, I saw a house for sale with the usual realtor’s name, company, and usual other info, and then a dedicated URL for its address. For example, 123SohoAvenue.com. First of all, this was new to me, which piqued my curiosity. I also liked that it suggested the house deserved its own website, which was more interesting. If I were a mildly interested buyer, I’d prefer the chance to browse at my own leisure, not necessarily need to talk to a real estate agent (and risk getting spammed).…

Some people have a policy about AI slop: “If you didn’t write it, I don’t want to read it.” I generally agree, though that kind of work existed before AI anyway. My policy is more like this: If you didn’t put yourself into it, I don’t want to read it. I know a few friends who write with AI. I am still glad to read—or at least skim!—their work, because I’m curious to see what topics are on their minds. Their life experiences, relationships, and expertise have a way of finding their ways in…

Several years ago, if you had lunch or dinner at Kingyo Izakaya, you would likely sit at a table on its main floor. Perhaps your seat would be in part of its big booth, or at the communal dining table with a tank containing the restaurant’s namesake, goldfish, in the middle. You might find yourself in the basement, another space dedicated to dining. In 2021, this restaurant closed down. Perhaps the pandemic made it infeasible. A year later, it reopened as Kingyo Fisherman’s Market. The main…

Maladaptive frugality hit the front page of Hacker News. The ensuing discussion resonated with me a lot, and these two comments were the most relatable: Amarant wrote, “Whenever I have something a little extra in my fridge, most often Italian prosciutto, I refrain from eating it, instead saving it for a “special occasion” even though it is, like, my favourite thing in the whole world. Eventually I have to throw the mouldy prosciutto away because I was too frugal to eat it.” That has happened to…

In the pilot of Hacks, after celebrating her 2,500th show, the protagonist Deborah Vance is a seasoned comedian who is kicked out from her years-long Vegas residency. Spoiler alert: At the end of season four, after she achieves her dream of being the first woman to host late night TV, she must decide to either fire her head writer (and best friend) Ava Daniels, or the executives will fire Deborah from her own show. When she decides to stand up for Ava, Deborah not only has her show taken away;…

“For a while, he even makes you believe that his power has become yours. Irresistible power… that makes every desire’s fufilment seem inevitable.” When I heard this line from Rings of Power, it reminded me of this: Sometimes, business partners want to make you rely on them in order to gain leverage on you—as if you had no other choice. The dynamic between record labels and recording artists comes to mind. It’s important to remember their capabilities—distribution, reputation, etc.—aren’t yours;…

“The word adventure has gotten overused. For me, when everything goes wrong—that’s when adventure starts,” Yvon Chouinard says. It drew to mind my first trips. At some point, you may feel like your back is against the wall, and they’re closing in. Everything is falling apart. That’s a sure sign your next adventure is about to start. The post Adventure starts when everything goes wrong appeared first on Herbert Lui.

In drumming up business for writing, I’ve been starting conversations with people, many of whom I haven’t spoken with in over a decade. We talk a bit about business, and mostly catch up about life. The call often ends on a note of appreciation. My conversation partner, now reacquainted, says, “Thanks for reaching out.” It’s surprising to me how willing even busy people are to catch up. In the services business, it’s good to reach out to at least a couple of people per week. Staying top of mind…

A couple of weeks ago, I was chatting with a friend about AI. They told me they had bought two of the highest tier Claude plans, had two computers running Claude Code, and still often ran out of tokens. Their enthusiasm for making new things with AI was contagious. They told me they wished they’d started with Claude Code six months earlier, when their friends were nudging them about it. “This is your nudge,” they told me. What they gave me was a prompt; a call to action. I felt grateful for it.…

Change is happening faster. A useful term to describe this is future shock. These days, interruptions take place much more often. For example, during the two years between 2020 and 2022, the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted all of our lives. In my own efforts to avoid getting COVID-19, I paused many routines I’d taken for granted, including working out at the gym and hugging family and friends. Even though it’s been a few years since, and life has largely gone back to normal, I find it challenging…

I recently decided to, finally, have my iPhone fixed, only to realize a few hours later that my AppleCare could have covered it. I was in a low mood until my partner suggested that I was robbing myself of a good decision. The iPhone needed fixing, and procrastinating on it wasn’t useful. Deciding to do something about it was. Paying a little more wasn’t a big deal, especially compared to the business opportunities in front of me. I realized I could either continue to drain myself for a small…

Most of the time, it’s okay to be nosy. A more polite way to describe that is curiosity. If you make eye contact, wave, and say, “Excuse me,” you are off to a good start. Learn to ask indirectly. Feel out when to push and when to pull back. Know when to offer to put in some effort, and see if they may change their mind. There are many indirect ways for someone to say no. Try not to be insensitive. Listen carefully. Everybody feels a degree of discomfort when they need to initiate a…