Where you live will impact your way of life. For example, when I was in China, I spent a lot of time on the phone. I do a lot of online shopping because everything is so convenient. You order food, it will arrive at your door in half an hour, it’s just so easy. Everything is done by the phone or online. You don’t need to go out that often, but when I moved to Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, you walk back home, you pass so many supermarkets and shops, because the labor cost is high there, there are not so many deliveries and other things. So you do the shopping by yourself off line.

That, first of all, makes you go out more, less on the phone. The second, after I had my dog, I go out more often. I go hiking, I walk her, and when I walk her I start talking to people. It’s another thing. When you go hiking you’re doing sports. I actually don’t do any sports, I am just like a bookworm, I study, stay home, and things like that. Going out more, exercising more, and exercise will help you discover your physical body. Before I didn’t realize that, you have body build, you care about what you eat. You eat more organic. You eat healthier. I do think the environment and what you do and going out more often will change your life, your thinking, and your character.

One last thing, the importance of language.

It significantly influences our thought processes and expressions, There are 3 key facts that have helped me realize its impact:

Language serves as a bridge or tool for accessing a culture or place, akin to local cuisine that combines heritage with modern influences. It represents the underlying logic of a community and fosters a sense of belonging. Ultimately, language facilitates broader understanding, diverse perspectives, and increased acceptance.

Question: What is the ratio of external to internal factors, is there anything inherent to what makes you who you are?

Answer: Of course, even the people who grow up together from the same background can become really really different. I think who you are now is, of course, by the things I just mentioned and by your choices. Because if you make a different choice at some different point you become a different you. I do think so. And by your choice it will lead you to different environments and your environment impacts you a lot. Like where you stay, who you meet, and the people you deal with. I think internal wise, it’s also how you address things.

For example, if you face some challenges, of course you will have challenges in your life, if you become negative. You will be…, how do you say it, those things might take you down. But if you think of those things in a more positive way and you can really turn the situation and make it become opportunities. Or maybe you are jumping up, like you just do bungy jumping and when you are at the end of the bottom you will…. BOOM! Top up. It just depends on how you digest things, how you face things, and turn the situation from negative to positive. I do think so.

I think the perspective you look at things through is also quit important. So for example, if you start work. You work at a working level and you do what your manager tells you do do, and you only know that piece of paper. But when you become more mature and see things from a bigger picture you will understand things more. For example, form the big picture, you sacrifice something to achieve something else. But if you are in some piece of paper that you scarifies, you will say, ‘why? What the fuck? I don’t understand.’ But if you jump out of the area you are looking at maybe you will understand things more except things more and your area or rang will become bigger.

I just think if you are like deep into it, dragged into it, sometimes when you take a step back and you feel like, ‘O yeah, actually it’s understandable. It helps you release and also make peace with yourself, maybe not yourself but inside. Different perspective looks at it from a bigger picture and sometimes takes a step back and look at things from an outside angle, not inside. It will really help.

Question: Do you think your self is continuously changing?

Answer: Yes, day by day. I do believe so.

Question: Know that the self is continuously changing, how does that impact your life?

Answer: Before my 20th I was really shy and bad at talking to people. Now a days, you know yourself better. You know what you are good at and what you are not good at. Some days you think it is acceptable for me that I am not good at something. But there are somethings I do think I can improve. So for example, you have a list from best to worst and this is your advantage. And you can use that. Maybe use it for earnings, maybe use it for some other things. And something you are not good at. And you will list it out and then you will really do something to make it better.

For example, when I realized I cannot talk to people in public and in your career you need that. You do need that. So by knowing that I did a part time job teaching English in public. So it would force me to talk in public and that changed me. So I have more confidence to talk in public, to talk on stage, and present something. That did help me. So I do like who I become now, some is by the environment, by luck, some is by choice. So it’s really…. I do think I like me today. more than me before. So yeah, I like this changing. I become more talkative, I become more confident, and I become more mentally stable. Before I was really emotional, I can be really happy for a moment and depressed later. But now I think… I like who I become now.

Question: What would make you not you? Or what makes you feel not like yourself, if you ever have that feeling?

Answer: I do. Take an example, before I came to this place (Kazakhstan), I started with just the Easter holiday then it became an endless holiday. At that moment, I lost something I really held on tightly for quite a long time. And of course I am upset, I was upset. I was really upset. When people come and talk to you, ‘hey how are you? How do you feel? Bla bla bla…’ and I still need to smile back and say, ‘hey, you know it happens. That’s life.’ But inside of me, no I am not okay, at least for a couple of days. So there are some situations you feel like, you show a different you in front of other people. Because you would not like to show your weakness to everyone. You only show your weakness to the people you trust or are close to. So that’s the point, its not really me. This is one point.

This is the other point. I think I am lucky to meet some life changing decision or life changing people, becuase there are really some hard points for me that could really take me down. But I was lucky enough to meet different people and they were kind enough and supportive enough to help me, to drag me out of that darkness. If that person was not there at that moment, I wouldn’t be me at this moment. I do believe that some people show up at the right time to help you. It is just meant to be.

Question: Is there anything else you think is important or relevant?

Answer: Yeah, something I want to add on. Now a days you feel like you can get all the information you want, you just search online. It’s so easy to get information. But the information you are recieving is… some point, some app, some places, some angle. It’s the commercial world, is like what they want you to see.

My first job is to do strategy for big companies, and what we do is get all of your information and design the coustomer journey for every coustomer. When you search something what you actually receive is already designed by the backhand system. I do think this also impacts you a lot. If you believe something, you believe A. And there is B and C existing in the world, but if you search online you only see A. You will believe it more because that is what you see online.

Before, maybe I would be trusting A, and accept B and C. But when I so strongly trust A, maybe I will be less accepting of B and C. I think this impacts how people think and how people receive things.