The Most Sustainable Thing I Can Do Every Day: Listen

But I prefer an even simpler definition:

A sustainable way is something you can do again and again because it continues to create value for yourself, for others and for the world.

By this definition, sustainability is not only about what companies do.

It is also about how we live, lead and relate to people.

And one of the most sustainable practices I have found is Love Intelligence (LQ)—particularly the simple act of listening.

Listening is a renewable resource

Listening costs almost nothing.

Yet we can practise it every day, with our employees, customers, colleagues, friends and family.

And strangely, the more we listen, the more value we can create.

When I truly listen to someone, I understand more.
When I understand more, I make fewer assumptions.
When I make fewer assumptions, I make better decisions.

The other person also feels heard and respected.

That creates Connection.

Connection creates Trust.

And trust creates value.

So listening creates a virtuous cycle:

Listen → Understand → Connect → Trust → Value

And then we can do it all over again.

That is sustainability.

AI makes listening even more important

In the AI era, machines will become increasingly good at generating answers.

But leadership is not only about having answers.

Sometimes the most valuable thing a leader can give another human being is the feeling:

“I hear you. I understand you. You matter.”

AI can process millions of words.

But leaders still have to decide whether they are willing to stop talking long enough to genuinely listen.

That is why I see listening not merely as a communication skill.

It is Love Intelligence in action.

And perhaps sustainability begins much closer to home than we think.

Before asking:

“What can I do to save the world?”

Try asking:

“Who can I listen to better today?”

Do it tomorrow.

Then do it again.

Because when something creates value for you, others and the world, and you can keep doing it again and again, that is truly sustainable.

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...

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