Wednesday, August 24, 2011

A Small Decision With A Big Impact


Sometimes only time will tell in order to know whether we've made the right choice in life. A small diversion of a good decision coupled with a timeframe will lead to the real result that we eventually realized. Unfortunately, the timeframe can be as long as 2 or 5 or even 10 years before the realization comes to past. Be it emotional or logical decision.

Good decisions sometimes are from the experience of making some bad choices. Sometimes it is too far away that it is hard to reverse back the cycle. But sometimes it is still within our circle of control.

Hence, the best decision is a combination use of logic, emotion and gut-feel.
When we want something, analyze a little bit, check our pulse of emotions and then go all out with our guts. It can be a YES or a NO but move forward with a futuristic mindset.

What happen if we make a wrong decision and we can't do anything about it?
The only way is to embrace and change our perspective. That's why some people experienced blessings in disguise.

Of course talk is cheap and easy, practising it takes creativity and thinking out of the box. We surely needs some level of creativity to see the negative into positive, to see the doughnut and not the hole.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Coffee with Love


This is what we get when things are done with a heart and soul through the mind.
Can you imagine how Starbucks positioned their customers? I can feel as they treat us as good friends, judging from the act of taking the trouble to inform us on the outlet closing or re-location, with a meaningful message. I'm touched!

This is great example when a business successfully invested in People, to Perform and eventually generating Profits! When a company tries to skip the People part and jump straight to Performance and Profits, most of the time, the employee retention will be low. As people don't feel appreciated and the sense of belonging is shallow. Therefore, resignation letters are flying here and there!

Some management implement a policy where "I set the rules and if you don't play by it, take a flight and leave!". Guess what, employees will do accordingly to grant your wish.
How can one rule, conquers all? Imagine one medication to treat all kinds of disease.
People are different and we are an organic human being that are suppose to be emotional, don't we? We are not cows or chicken! We have moments of celebration, moments of achievement and moments of dissapointment as well. At the end of the day, what is so great about money if it doesn't enrich or uplift someone's life?

If we want a harvest of a year, grow wheat.
If we want a harvest of 10 years, grow trees.
If we want a harvest of a lifetime, grow people.

Eventually, People will grow your empire!

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Our Inspiration = Our Lack


In our lifetime, we've encountered many people from different walks of life who inspire us to be better, to go further or to think bigger. To be specific, the inspiration part that got us uplifted is not the person but the attributes that he or she possesses. It can be the attributes of risk-taking, positivity, having a great visions, strong execution, talent identification skills, guts, dare to fail, creativity, tactful communication, leadership and the list goes on.
What intrigue me is the attributes that attracted most of us are the ones that we are lacking of most of the time. Those attributes fill up our void and sometimes are the missing link to what we want in life. That is what motivate and excite us; something that we are looking for which is not in us but in others heart and mind. It simply means the person that are we looking up to will indirectly reflects the qualities that we are looking for.
Therefore, it is quite simple to understand our lack. Just look at who inspire us!

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Under Sycamore Tree


A friend of mine created another new blog under the webpage of http://undersycamoretree.blogspot.com. A very interesting and relevant blog within a fast-paced future, telling us to look into ourselves again and figure out the North that we are pursuing.

At times, it is hard for us to figure out what do we really after. But one of the way is to discover our in-born talent, hone it into a consistent strength, spice-up with skills and passion.....there we have it....PURPOSE. It is like beginning to do something and just flow with it without deep analysis. As we do it, our purpose will emerge and as time goes by, it is clearer to us whether to stick with it, tune it a little or add on to it.

It is really easy to start with what we like or what we are good at.

For example, another friend of mine who loves photography, just started a casual hobby called the 30 Days Project in Facebook and I assume the idea was emerged out of his interest in snapping some good picture with different angle and color effects. He just started it, stick with it and he is going to complete it. Who knows, maybe down the road, his interest may lead him to his lifelong purpose of becoming a travel-journalist as he is also good in writing skills and love to enjoy life as well!

I've got another friend who was good at doing marketing, branding and pretty interested in training as well. She has done this for almost 10 years and she is exploring other alternatives recently that got her in a potential career that she is looking for. And she is really good in what she is doing.

The first example is of someone with what he likes and the the second example is of someone with what she is good at.

All we need is a little spark to begin our exploration in our purpose. Think about it under a sycamore tree!

The first step will lead to a thousand miles.....

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Deathbed


The other night, I've watched a tv show until midnight and it is called "Tuesdays With Morrie". It was an eye-opener and I believe this show will surely enlightens and awakens some people's purpose in life.

Morrie is a professor and an old man who fully live his life and lots of time, see the good in people and circumstances. He always gave wonderful wisdom of life to the students around him. Unfortunately, he was struck by a disease (I forgot what is it called...) and the virus is attacking his whole body from bottom up. But before he died, he met up with one of his students, a sport journalist, who was extremely dedicated to his work until he take life for granted and was in a dilemma on his life compass. After 19 years of not seeing each other, Morrie somehow help this man to look at life differently and to cherish what really matters instead of speeding through the journey all the time!

The whole show talked about how to live a life that we truly wanted and bless the people around us. Very often, we are after glamorous careers, great ambitions, make more money, get a big house and if possible, drive a Ferrari! But Morrie talked about how often that we stop and look at what we are after and says, "Wait a minute, is that what I really want in the first place?"

To make it more interesting, Morrie organized a "living funeral" for himself! What a great idea that breakthrough conventional pattern of dying! Yes, it is more meaningful to see our friends and family before we have our last breath and listen to what they have to say about us just before we die. What's the point of letting people compliment and praise you and you are not around to enjoy it.

I wish there are more tv shows that add values to us instead of negative dramas for whole year long.

Luckily, these are some of Morrie's quotes that I managed to jot it down while watching this show;
  1. Never make money by using people.
  2. Love always win.
  3. Love is the only rational act, just let it come in.
  4. We must love one another or die.
  5. When we learn to die, we learn to live.
  6. Forgive everybody everything.
  7. Death ends life but not relationship.
Hope some of these quotes do give you a second thought and help you to discover your life compass.

Imagine that you are dying soon (well, everybody dies....it is not a touch-wood thing!), what do you really want to do and who do you want to be on your bedside during your last breath?