How Words From Random People Changed My Life
It’s funny how the people who end up changing you the most…
are usually not the closest ones.
Not your best friends.
Not your family.
Not the people you see every week.
But the acquaintances — the ones who drift in and out of your life, drop one sentence, and disappear.
Somehow those one-liners stay stuck in your head for years.
Here are a few that shaped mine.
“Why do you do it?” — Claire, a uni friend
This one came out of nowhere. I forgot the context — maybe we were talking about goals, or work, or something stupid like how much I hated my assignments.
And she just said it:
“Why do you do it?”
I laughed at first, but it hit a lot deeper than I expected.
It’s the kind of question that spirals you into your own mind:
Why am I chasing this?
What’s the point?
What am I actually trying to prove?
To who?
And why… like really why?
If you’re honest — or a little tipsy on a Friday bus ride home after your internship gives you free beer — you eventually spill the truth.
One sentence.
One raw answer you didn't want to say out loud.
That question still follows me today.
“Why not do it now?” — Khai, a colleague from work
This one was brutal.
I was in Malaysia for a work event, half-joking that I was going to get buff “next year.”
You know that classic line we all say — future version of me will do everything.
Khai just looked at me and said:
“Why not do it now?”
I knew it was cliché.
He knew it was cliché.
But it still punched me in the chest because it was the truth.
We always say “later” as if next year is magically a different universe where we have discipline, time, and motivation.
It’s such a simple question, but it kills all excuses instantly.
These small sentences didn’t come from mentors or gurus.
They came from random people who probably don’t even remember saying them.
But I do.
And somehow, their words built a map inside my head that I still use today.