Sheng Huang
Expansion means to continuously grow and evolve for the sake of exploring the edges of life. To step even beyond it, again and again. For the challenge is what makes it fun. The accomplishment is what makes it worthwhile.
As a former strategist for Google and Niantic Labs (creators of Pokemon Go), I navigated fast-paced business environments. This experience led me to develop the Epiphany Mapping Method - a powerful visual thinking technique for transforming mental chaos into clarity. In 2020 amidst a personal crisis and global shutdown, I picked up journaling to illuminate my inner world. Now I combine the two into a daily reflection practice that turns life into lessons, and lessons into aligned action.
So now I share my process with you on this channel because I love to see you spread your own wings.
Sheng Huang
T minus 2 days until I set off on a 15 day bikepacking trip across Taiwan. I’m journaling to surface intentions and a mind map to plan packing and logistics. Truthfully I never intended to explore Taiwan on two wheels but my shin splints are forcing me to open new doors where one closes. The art of life is using “creative constraints” to create something unexpectedly beautiful.
1 week ago | [YT] | 31
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Sheng Huang
When the light hits just the right way
1 week ago | [YT] | 24
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Sheng Huang
Rise and shine folks happy Monday. The sun is out full blast. Just finished my run and calisthenics workout. Feeling strong. Looking forward to getting the week started and I hope you are all having a great day! Let’s get it!
1 week ago | [YT] | 37
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Sheng Huang
Happy new year from Taipei! It was so special returning to this beautiful country after 2 years. I was a very different person in a different life situation then. I usually spend new years solo camping somewhere remote but this time I decided to switch it up and drop into the middle of the busiest spot in Asia. What a contrast! And to share it with one of my best friends Brian no less.
They say what you do on the first day of the year is what you’ll do for the rest of the year…so that means I’ll be in good company going into 2026. So full of gratitude for this amazing life and the privilege of sharing snippets and lessons with you here 🙏🏼 full steam ahead my friends 🐎
1 week ago | [YT] | 31
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Sheng Huang
Every goal begins as a fantasy — a story you tell yourself about who you’ll become if you follow it. But only action reveals the truth about what you actually want and, more importantly, who you really are.
This is why goals are best treated not as achievements, but as hypotheses.
Goals force you to engage with life. They pressure test fantasy with reality. And once reality enters the game, something interesting happens: the goal stops being the main subject of our focus. You become the subject.
Why? Because you’re finally in the driver’s seat closing feedback loops rather than day dreaming. But the real meta value of goals is only revealed if you have a reflection process.
Reflection slows time down enough to examine honestly a) whether your goals are actually serving you and b) your reactions to the journey itself.
Ask…am I enjoying the process? How and why am I reacting to obstacles and friction? Do I even like achieving this goal? Is it bringing me closer to what I actually want?
Goals aren’t scorecards for your discipline or worth. They are experiments in self-understanding and discovery. Temporary structures that create friction, and through friction reveal character and true intent.
In the end, the achievement itself is often the smallest part of the story. You can finish the race and forget the thrill (and pain) within weeks.
But the self-awareness of what you actually want and how you respond to obstacles follows you everywhere - if you stop to reflect along the way.
sheng.substack.com/p/vm3-goals-help-us-understand-…
1 week ago | [YT] | 23
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Sheng Huang
Goals are only necessary for what isn’t part of us yet. If something is already integral to who you are — like journaling in the morning, or walking, or reading — you don’t need to turn it into a “goal.” It’s already embedded. It lives in your identity. You feel it when it’s missing, the same way you feel it if you forget to eat or brush your teeth.
Where goals become useful is in that middle zone — where something isn’t quite “you” yet, but it’s not completely foreign either. It’s a habit you’re trying to integrate. It’s fragile. It hasn’t grown roots. And this is the exact place where structure becomes helpful. Not forever — just long enough for the habit to become stable.
That’s why I don’t see goals as fixed commitments. A goal is basically a fantasy until it’s tested by reality. It’s a hypothesis about who we might become. Once reality pushes back — time constraints, travel, injury, emotional capacity — we get feedback. Maybe the original goal was too ambitious. Maybe the timeline needs to extend. Maybe the goal needs to be downgraded from four times a week to three. And maybe, in some cases, we realize that we didn’t actually want the goal in the first place.
In this framing, goal-setting becomes less about discipline and more about life design. It’s a living system.
More on this topic here: sheng.substack.com/p/goals-are-only-useful-for-wha…
1 week ago | [YT] | 22
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Sheng Huang
How to enjoy long international flights?
The reframe:
You literally have 15 hours of uninterrupted solitude and stillness 30,000 feet above the earth.
How amazing gift is that?
Oh, whatever you do, just don’t stare at the digital map with the ETA. It’s like watching water boil (very slowly).
2 weeks ago | [YT] | 44
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Sheng Huang
Marathon training update: at Week 7, I just finished my first 20 mile long run with 2300ft of elevation. Throughout the way up, there were so many times I wanted to just stop and walk up the hill. But I’m glad I didn’t because view would’ve felt very different. This time I really earned it.
At this point, it’s a matter of making sure my cardio engine remains strong while tending to the shin splints that’s starting to form (yup I ramped up a bit too fast per usual 😅). Funny enough, this “creative constraint” is inspiring me to turn my time in Taiwan into a cross-island bikepacking trip where I can put in a ton of low impact miles while strengthening my shins, calves and feet.
When life presents us with an obstacle, we can either choose to flow around it or get stuck in our tracks.
2 weeks ago | [YT] | 22
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Sheng Huang
And just like that, Christmas came and went. It was a joy to see my parents and take them out to a Cirque du Soleil show as their present. I realize that as they get older, they don’t need more material things. Experiences and memories matter much more.
Now I’m on my way to a 15 hour flight across the world to Taiwan 🇹🇼 a country I haven’t been back in 2 years but one that’s left a lasting impression on my growth. On to more adventures in the new year!
2 weeks ago | [YT] | 44
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Sheng Huang
What if your annual plan wasn’t an overwhelming checklist… but a series of exciting adventures? That's why I made today's video "How I Plan My Year (Mind Map → Notion System)": https://youtu.be/4tacPfUfX6k
I share how I map my year through Life Expansion Zones — health, wealth, relationships, and expression — then turn the Mind Map into a Notion system that tracks what I’m building, what’s in progress, and what’s next.
You’ll also see how I use AI to transform big dreams into weekly action, so your plans become reality, not just wishful thinking.
I’ve already done the heavy lifting system so just grab the mind map and Notion templates for easy setup (it’s linked in the video description 👆).
2 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 32
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