Awaken the You Beneath the You

Awaken the You Beneath the You

Most of us live with layers built over time — student, employee, parent, achiever, caregiver. These roles define us to the world. But under these layers, there is a quieter self, one that is often unseen, even by ourselves.

In Luoyang (Henan, China), walking through the ancient streets of Luoyi Ancient City and standing by the magnificent Yingtianmen (Sui Dynasty Palace Gate), I began to hear that inner voice again.

No one there knew my history. No one cared about my roles or titles. I was simply a traveler, a human, breathing, watching. Amidst the thousands of tourists, I was alone.

And in that silence, a thought stirred: Who am I beneath all that I have become?

Maybe awakening the You beneath the You isn't about doing more. It’s about noticing — peeling back the layers we wear daily out of habit, fear, or duty. It's about asking gently, without judgment: Is this still me? Or just a role I've outgrown?

In the Longmen Grottoes, where thousands of silent Buddhas stood witness to the passage of centuries, I realized something simple yet profound: The core of us doesn't change. It only waits — patiently — for us to return.

Today, I invite you to sit quietly, even just for a moment.
Listen beneath the noise.

Feel beneath the achievements.

There, waiting, is your SuperMe: the truest version of yourself.

Not someone you have to invent. Just someone you have to remember.

Written by Andy Ng, inspired by "Come Home to You" song and "SuperMe" book by Vivian Passion Koh

Comments

What an Executive Coach and Business Coach Does

The Secret Under the Mattress: Why would a 79-year Man Bet So Big on 4D?

It was 2007 when we discovered his secret. While moving my father’s mattress, we found them: heaps and heaps of Singapore Pools 4D tickets. They were stacked in layers, a paper trail of lost hopes. What shocked us most wasn’t just the volume, but the stakes. He wasn’t betting a few dollars for fun. He was punting hundreds of dollars per draw—nearly ten times a month. At the time, my siblings and I were furious. Our father was a 79-year-old retiree. We wondered, with a mix of anger and confusion, why a man at his stage of life would need to win such "big money." What was he going to do with the money? We saw it as a reckless habit, a sign of poor judgment in his final years. Some of us would say, "If I were to give him money to buy 4D, why don't I use the money and buy 4D myself? At least I have better discipline". It has taken me two decades, and the experience of raising my own three grown-up children, to finally see the truth that was hidden under that matt...

Head Bleeding when the Chair Falls

The Weight of Silence: What Were We Really Arguing About? My earliest memories are punctuated by the sound of shouting. In 1970, when I was barely 6 years old, I stood as a small witness to the fierce quarrels between my father and my late eldest brother Kah Yang (he passed away in 1971 at the age of 17). As I grew up, these contradictions became the soundtrack of our lives, usually centered around our family's shoe shop and clothing stalls in Chinatown. In the court of family opinion, the verdict was almost always the same: my father was "wrong." He was judged as a man who didn't fulfill his role, who wasn't "burdening" enough for the family’s success. But as I look back from the vantage point of 2026, I have to ask: Was that actually true? Let me finally put to rest what my father did right: the truths that were buried under decades of criticism: Unseen Labor: He worked grueling, long hours. I remember him hauling boxes of goods and equipment to set u...

Business and Money Tips

Search This Blog