Meet the Writer: Hacker Noon's Contributor Rima, Writer-in-Progress

Tell us a bit about yourself. For example, name, profession, and personal interests.

I’ve been into psychology since I was 12 and it’s safe to say I’m obsessed with self-development. Growth, health, connection, and authenticity are my core values, but I review them every year. If you’re interested to read more you could do so here.

I’m all about living a meaningful life and I spend a lot of time thinking about it. I don’t drink, party, or do the usual 29-year-old things and I’m okay with it 😂. I’ve never had a career or a 9-5 job except when I worked at a juice bar for a few years when I moved to London at 18. I quickly realized corporate politics wasn’t for me. So I started a cleaning business alongside my Psychology degree, then went traveling, moved to Bali for 4 years, worked in Ops for coaches, then started my own coaching business and recently started writing. Not a career yet but I’m hoping it will be soon 🙂.

Interesting! What was your latest Hackernoon Top story about?

I’m still a new writer here at HackerNoon but I assume it’s the CIA article because it’s intriguing! I watched The Spy with Sacha Baron Cohen (how great is he?!) on Netflix and then started reading about espionage. That turned into 3 weeks of listening to podcasts with former CIA operatives, reading whatever I could find online and I decided to write about what I learned. If you’re interested to learn more, I found that Andrew Bustamante was the most interesting guy so far. He has his own podcast as well as was a guest on Lex Fridman, Impact Theory, and others. He also has his own podcast.

Do you usually write on similar topics? If not, what do you usually write about?

All topics lead to self-development & psychology in my writing. I become fixated on a topic for a while, get lost in it, and then bring it back to self-mastery. If we’re not growing in life idk what else there is to do!

Great! What is your usual writing routine like (if you have one?)

Reading, reading, reading, consuming audio content (podcasts mostly), jotting down notes as I get inspiration, going back to the notes realizing I don’t know what I found so inspiring half the time, and then working with the other 50% 😂.

Being a writer in tech can be a challenge. It’s not often our main role, but an addition to another one. What is the biggest challenge you have when it comes to writing?

Translating my thoughts into a coherent narrative. Connecting two seemingly unrelated ideas. Editing, proofreading, and all the admin stuff behind it.

What is the next thing you hope to achieve in your career?

I want to create a business around personal growth and self-mastery and I started a new IG account for that purpose. I don’t know what the business is going to be just yet but that’s minor detail 😁.

Wow, that’s admirable. Now, something more casual: What is your guilty pleasure of choice?

I’m basic: sugar and TV shows.

Do you have a non-tech-related hobby? If yes, what is it?

Cooking, cleaning (I frikin love it, I can turn chaos into order - if that was a well-paid career I would be in it!), and wandering around the city. Also driving a scooter when I’m in Asia. Oh and travelling.

What can the Hacker Noon community expect to read from you next?

Self-mastery, personal growth, building systems for a better life. I’m open to suggestions too! Sometimes it feels like I’m writing in a vacuum: stories I find interesting don’t land and some pieces I write I’m not so excited about get positive feedback 🤷‍♀️

What’s your opinion on HackerNoon as a platform for writers?

Loving it so far! I’m amazed at how good the editors are. I sent my first drafts and they came back supercharged - WOW! Could not think of a better place on the Internet for writing atm 😁

Thanks for taking the time to join our “Meet the Writer” series. It was a pleasure. Do you have any closing words?

Everything in life can be made better and better but not perfect. Focus on the better and better part every day 🙂 Love you!