Hey friends,

I just turned 40 today.

I initially wrote a few sentences on how I was feeling about entering a new decade of life. Well, that became 1,500+ words and a couple of drawings to accompany them.

Looks like I have a lot to say on the topic, so when you’re ready, let’s dive right in:

​On Turning 40​

The Best Birthday Gift You Can Give Me

I’ve been writing this newsletter for a number of years now, and I’ve received so many heartening messages from people around the world. Here’s one I received earlier this week:

Since it’s my 40th birthday, I will indulge in an ask. If you’ve ever been impacted by my work or found value in it, the greatest gift you can give me is to get my book, The Inner Compass. If you’ve already bought and enjoyed it, then getting more copies for your loved ones will be another way you can send me some birthday love.

To keep the gift chain going, if you pick up the book, just send me your order receipt and I’ll send you a bonus booklet of 30 daily meditations. I’ve carefully selected each one to act as a mindful start to your day, and many people have shared how helpful it’s been as a companion to their journaling practice.

A birthday gift for me, and a thoughtful gift for you. Thanks for taking a moment to celebrate this day with me.

A Thought I’ve Been Pondering

Lawrence Yeo @moretothat Just get these 3 things right: 3:0 AM • Sep 25, 2025 65 Retweets 540 Likes Read 8 replies

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I shared the above excerpt in today’s post, but I wanted to elaborate on it further here.

Age has the interesting quality of filtering out the superfluous and amplifying the necessary. So much of who we are is determined by what we pay attention to, and when we are young, we pay attention to all the little things that don’t really matter. Who said what about whom, how to save a dollar here and there, what it takes to be popular, and so forth. This is why we tend to outsource our identities to the external world given that we pay so little attention to our inner one.

But as you get older, you understand that there are just a few things that move everything else. That if those 3 crucial things are addressed, everything else naturally falls into place. Where you live, what you work on, and who you’re with. Wisdom is about allocating most of your attention to those few things, and letting everything else fall by the wayside.

That simple and that hard. Perhaps age is nothing more than understanding that duality over time.

A Brief Parting Question

This one is for those of you that are 40 or older.

If you were to give me one piece of advice for my forties, what would it be?

Don’t hold back; just give me your honest thoughts based on your life experiences. I love learning from my readers just as I do from my favorite writers. So if you feel compelled to share, know that my inbox is open.

As always, hit reply to share any thoughts, to respond to the parting question, or to simply say hello. I love hearing from you.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to share this email with anyone who might enjoy it. Have a great rest of your week!

-Lawrence Yeo

P.S. Thanks to all the wonderful people that support the blog on Patreon! It means so much. If you’d like to support More To That and get access to book recommendations, exclusive AMAs, offline posts, and other reflections, join as a patron today.

P.P.S. If you want to learn how to write essays like the one I shared today, check out my writing course, The Examined Writer. It’s 3 hours’ of self-paced material, all designed to elevate your writing practice.