Profile Picture: Celestine ChuaHi! I'm Celestine Chua. You're reading Personal Excellence, my personal development blog and coaching business that I started in 2008. This is my safe haven where I help others grow and live their best life.

If you're wondering how I came to pursue my path today, I share my story below.

H ave you ever wondered why you're here? Why you're on Earth and what you're meant to do?

Since I was young, I've been very results-focused. I believe that we should only do something if we believe in it. And if we're going to do something, we should do the best we can.

So I adopted this attitude in everything I did. When I was 15, I taught myself in the areas of web and graphic design and created a network of websites with over half a million visitors/month. As a student, I was dedicated to my studies and got onto the Dean’s List. I eventually graduated as the top student in Marketing in NUS Business School, one of the top business schools in Asia.

My implicit life goal as a teen was to get a well-paying job, earn lots of money, and become extremely successful in the corporate world. This was what I was repeatedly told by teachers, media and society as the highest things to aim for; this was what I was implicitly and explicitly taught in my country. Two years before my graduation, I secured a prestigious job in Fortune 100 company over a thousand applicants in the region. My role was meant for the management track and I was paid extremely well compared to my peers. This was in 2005 and I was 21 then. As people around me said, I was "set for life."

A year before I graduated however, I started to think about my life, and my future.

I thought about what I wanted to do, not just now, but in my 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and even 70s and 80s.

I thought about where my current life path would take me and whether it would help me lead a life of highest meaning.

After months of deep introspection, I realized that continuing my current life track and assumed goals would not give me the highest meaning in life. Being extremely successful in the conventional sense will not significantly change or impact the world, except my one life and the few people around me. Being bla·sé or uninformed about the sufferings of people will not change the fact that there are people out there suffering, even in today's world. There are more meaningful things to do than be in a continuous chase for money, nice clothes, endless beauty products, and material wealth. Pitting people against people will not make anyone happy, only create a deep divide between humans and prevent everyone from getting together to help other living beings.

The world may be far from where we may want it to be, but that doesn't mean that we should watch it pass us by.

And it all starts with us.

So in 2008, I quit my corporate job and started my business and online platform, Personal Excellence. It's already been 10 years, and today,

  • We are one of the largest personal development blogs with over a million pageviews a month with readers from over 200 countries/territories.
  • I conduct online courses and coaching sessions. I've coached tens of thousands of people to achieve excellence in their life, relationships, business/career, health, and personal goals. Celes coaching (Soul Sisters Feature)
  • I speak regularly on personal development and entrepreneurship. Some organizations I've worked with include Wharton Business School, Dove, Ministry of Defence, JobsCentral, National Library, NUS Global Alumni Network, People's Association, and Singapore Institute of Management.
    Entrepreneurial sharing session at National Library (Workshop)

    Sharing my entrepreneurial story at National Library Board

    Dove Camera Confidence Workshop: Interacting with participants

    Led the Dove Camera Confidence Workshop in their Camera Confidence campaign

    Wharton Marketing Conference

    Panelist at the Wharton Marketing Conference to share my expertise on blogging and online marketing

  • I've been featured over 70 times in media, including CNN, Channel News Asia, Asia One, Straits Times, Today, Business Insider, Her World, Sunday Age, and CBS.
  • I've been profiled in the documentary Soul Sisters, about inspiring women in Singapore. Watch the episode here.
  • I regularly share free tips through my blog and articles.

M y purpose is to help you achieve your highest potential, be your best self, and live your best life.

For me, this means to

  1. Create the best, meaningful content that changes you and the world.
  2. Focus on digging into root causes vs. dealing with effects. So much of self-help today is about quick tips, dealing with effects, etc. which are mostly distractions that keep you busy.
  3. Being truthful in everything I share with you.
  4. Making sure every piece of my content counts vs. adding to the noise.

I do not claim to know all the answers. But you can be guaranteed that I will do my best to help you. And I hope you will allow me to walk with you in your life's journey! 🙂

How Personal Excellence Works

"Just want to say thank you for your words of wisdom about dealing with anger within families. You basically saved me from needing a lifetime of therapy and showed me a way to reflect and grow instead."

Majority of this site is free, from my over 700 of articles that I've poured my heart and soul into writing, to my videos, to my podcasts. These free materials have changed lives around the world, with some telling me that they're even better than the stuff they have paid thousands of dollars for out there! There are also many school portals that use my articles as add-on resources for their students.

For those of you ready to take things to the next level, I have created premium courses, available in my Courses section. These contain my best material where I share practical tips, advice, and frameworks to bust that particular area in life. Many of my course participants have received transformational results from taking my courses!

Other Information

  • I was born and raised in Singapore. I'm based here but travel frequently.
  • I've been vegetarian since 2008. I do so for cruelty-free reasons, greater mental clarity, and a healthier life.
  • I believe in reducing our carbon footprint in the world. Many material countries today, including and especially developed nations, have incredibly wasteful practices. GDP is not a measure of the richness of a country.
  • I was born in 1984. I'm a June baby. 😊
  • I'm a world traveler and have spent more than 50% of my time traveling in the past 5 years.
  • I'm married. For more on my love story: How I Found My Soulmate ♥
  • My values are Truth, Love, and Excellence.

For more about me,

  • Subscribe to my newsletter. It's free, and I share all my latest content there, including messages I don't normally post on the blog!
  • Watch this documentary episode about me below in Soul Sisters, a show about inspiring women in Singapore. It is an excellent summary of how I came to pursue my path and some of my usual activities in the first 5 years of my journey:

Through my material, many readers' lives have changed for the better:

“Hi Celes, during 2012, I was going through hard times. During that time, I found your site. I went through almost all of your articles every day and it motivated me greatly. Today I have accomplished so much and I can’t believe myself. Even my critics are motivated by me! Very few people are reasons behind my success and you are one of them. Thank you. ” - Praveen

“Every day I can’t believe how far I have come, and it’s all thanks to you. I’ve landed an amazing career, doubled my income, and I get to spend all my time doing what I love. You’ve helped me become someone with purpose, and I am truly enjoying my journey of ‘personal excellence’!” - Kimberly

"I usually have a lot of contempt for self-help sites because they tend to have only a single good message that they keep repeating in different forms. But Personal Excellence is different. Every single concept that you covered has been covered so thoroughly that it gives complete satisfaction. Different readers can take away different messages, and you cater to them all! You seem to have the inhuman, almost computer-like ability of looking for a better solution to a problem even if you already have a good, working solution." - Adwaith

“Celes, I came to know of you when I accidentally stumbled on your esteemed site 'Personal Excellence' on Google. I felt as if I've dug out a diamond in a jungle.” - Kevin

"Just wanted to say thank you for everything you've done so far with Personal Excellence. It has been a great inspiration and resource for me in my journey from (miserable) corporate employee to (blissfully happy) entrepreneur. Please keep up the good work!" - Rob

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