By SGN | 24 Apr 2026
As a speaker, consultant and bestselling author, Nir has stood on many stages before many audiences. But that doesn’t mean the fear has ever dissipated.
He used to think that having cottonmouth or a racing heartbeat meant that he wasn’t fit for public speaking. These days, he interprets these signals a little differently, telling himself that being nervous sends more blood to his brain and means he cares about doing his best to improve people’s lives.
This was one of the insights Nir gleaned working on Beyond Belief, a new book co-authored with his wife Julie Li. Even the biggest decisions in life – where to live, who to marry, what work to pursue – are based not on the facts we cannot change, but on the beliefs we choose. “We can put down the ones that don’t serve us and pick up the ones that do,” he says.
From New York to Singapore
Born in Israel and raised in Florida, Nir was an entrepreneur in his twenties, co-founding a solar panel company that was sold to private investors. After his MBA at Stanford – where he met Julie – Nir started a business placing ads on Facebook. This venture was also acquired, and it sparked his interest in behavioural design.
Based on this expertise, he wrote his first book Hooked (2014), a guide to building products that maximise user engagement. In an ironic twist, his next book Indistractable (2019) was about overcoming technological distraction, inspired by his experiences fighting the lure of devices while spending time with family.
When COVID struck in 2020, Nir and Julie were living in New York with their preteen daughter. As the pandemic spiked, Nir was alarmed by the public’s nonchalance and took to googling “best place to go during a pandemic”. Soon, the family boarded a flight to Singapore and never looked back. The English-speaking country proved to be a safe, ideal environment in which Nir and Julie could raise their daughter, host visits from their parents and pursue their business interests.
On 10 March 2026, Nir was back in New York to launch his third book Beyond Belief after six years of writing and research, and he was thrilled to celebrate it along with friends and family.
How beliefs impact our lives
“Many of the stories in my book come directly from my experience in Singapore,” Nir notes. “I came across Team Strong Silvers, a group of guys in their 60s and 70s who are incredibly fit. And I remember a push-up contest where a man in his late 70s was challenging a 20-something and left him in the dust.”
In these TikTok “granfluencers”, Nir saw how powerful one’s perception of ageing can be. “Most people think, ‘Decline is inevitable as I age,’ whereas this group of men believe, ‘Growth is possible at any age,’” he says.
He cites a study that found how having positive views about ageing increases our lifespan by 7.5 years – not because thoughts have magical effects, but because those beliefs spur us to keep active, stay social and live healthy.
Stories from Singapore
Unsure of how to proceed, Megan took to reading books and blogs on how to start a company. As most advice was geared towards online businesses and ecommerce products, she felt it prudent to pursue this direction.
She eventually settled on a product-first business for two reasons: she could adjust the scale of operations as per her convenience, and she had identified some potentially lucrative trends, particularly in Singaporean food.
While the awareness of Singaporean and Malaysian cuisine was still in its infancy compared to more established cuisines, they enjoyed a budding demand in the UK. What these cuisines lacked, however, was visibility in UK retail spaces.
“Singaporean condiments on grocery shelves in the UK are unchartered territory,” she shares.
Further research backed up Megan’s convictions. About 78% of world cuisine consumers in the UK were open to trying new foods similar to what they were already familiar with, according to findings from research firm Mintel. Furthermore, with Singapore being such a melting pot of cultures, its cuisine shared similarities with those already in the UK.
“When I first moved to the UK, people often asked me where Singapore was,” she recalls. “But with the rise of Singapore’s prominence in global media, more and more people learned about Singapore.”
Although Nir considers himself a free thinker, his research led him to surprising revelations around prayer, something he hadn’t practised since he was six years old. Studies he looked at show how even prayer without faith has tangible benefits such as lower anxiety and higher self-control.
Since he lives in Singapore – where one can find mosques, mandirs, synagogues, churches and temples situated in close proximity – Nir decided it was the perfect opportunity to conduct research on the ground.
Living in this rare oasis of religious coexistence, I designed a personal experiment. I would visit each of these traditions and pose the same direct question to their spiritual leaders: “How do I pray to God if I’m not sure He’s real?”
Speaking with a rabbi, an imam, a swami, a priest and a monk, Nir learned principles of prayer that anyone could apply – how the ritual serves as an emotional reset, clarifies our thoughts and desires, helps us meditate on what matters, and makes us feel more optimistic and empowered.
“So many good things come from prayer,” he says. “And so now for the first time in my life as an adult, I’ve started praying.” When he passes by a temple, mosque or church, he stops to reflect and give thanks. “I’ll remind myself of challenges that I’m facing and ask for the strength to overcome them.”
A profound life change
Writing the book has had a profound effect on Nir’s life. “I don’t suffer as much. I’m not as stressed,” he says. Whereas a wailing baby on a flight or an aggressive driver cutting into his lane used to set him off, now he’s able to take a step back and see these moments as ways to grow his patience.
A week after the book launch, Nir received the fantastic news that Beyond Belief had debuted on the New York Times bestseller list for advice books. Perhaps his breakthrough was the result of reshaped beliefs around life’s possibilities – although his initial reaction was one of sheer surprise.
As he wrote on LinkedIn, “I was in utter disbelief (which seems ironic for a guy who’s just spent 6 years writing a book about overcoming limiting beliefs 😂)”.
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About Nir
Nir Eyal is a speaker, consultant and the bestselling author of Hooked and Indistractable. His third book Beyond Belief was published in 2026 by Portfolio, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Nir holds an MBA from Stanford University and lives in Singapore with his wife and daughter.
Connect with him here.
