7 Realisations With Naomi Neo

“At the end of the day, no matter what [your mum] did, be forgiving and remind yourself of all the hardship she has gone through to nurture you,” wrote Naomi in a poignant blog post nine years ago. She was only 14 then. Now 23, the social media star and first time mum gets introspective about love, life, and her career.

- Naomi Neo

You have to learn to love yourself before someone else can love you

“I used to be that girl whose life revolves around her partner,” says Naomi. She recalls canceling plans at the drop of a hat just to accommodate the schedules of her exes.

“In retrospect, I don’t think I really loved those guys. I didn’t love myself enough to say ‘no, I have my own plans and I’m not going to cancel them for you’. I didn’t love myself enough to walk away. I always needed validation, so I kept trying to fill that void with guys who would validate me.”

Think before you retaliate

She’s known for being a firecracker on Twitter and Facebook in the early stage of her social media career, and was quick to snap back at her detractors. But over the last few years, Naomi has been rethinking this approach.

She recalls incidents when she reacted without keeping her emotions in check that didn’t turn out well. “It’s something that I do differently today,” she says.

“I remember the last time someone tried to get me involved in some online drama —I remember typing my response out and was ready to post it, when my then boyfriend (now my husband) told me to take some time to cool down first. After I had calmed down, I realised I didn’t feel like hitting back anymore.”

I’m surprised by how much I’ve changed