Every Step Counts

Before going for a big jump, train on small hop.
Before going for a big achievement, embrace on small challenges.
A thousand mile begins with the first step and the first step begins with the first crawl.
Whenever we have a big thought in life, break it down into tiny-doable activities.
In that way, we always try to achieve the "heaven" but practically doing the "earthly" work to navigate through.

Whenever we thought it is too far, try to look nearer.
Whenever we thought it have always been done that way, why not break that way!
Whenever our voice question us, let our heart lead us.
Whenever we tend to say Can Not, perhaps look at it & say Why Not.

Focus is not about getting rid of distractions but managing around distractions. There is always temptations & deviations but remember our "boomerang" typed focus; whenever we got away from the core, always fly back to the base and ask ourselves Why, What & How. Sometimes willpower & decision overshadowed scientific analysis. Some people view it as Luck, Destiny, Goal or Fate.
But a simple "Yes, I Can" or "Yes, I Want" can be the main drive for us to glide through life frictions.

Big things are made from simple but relevant thoughts.
Success is not build with a quantum leap & neither did failure.
Hence, every step counts......

Business Manager & Business Leader

Recently, I've observed some people on how they perceived & run their businesses.
Initially, any business venture is hungry for profits and cashflows as to keep their neck above the water from being drown with a loss. Upon the survival mode, it is time to switch gear to a growing mode. While growing it, we have to build a strong foundation on supporting the growth with systems, principles and teamwork. Once the compass is define with mission, cultures & values and a leadership team is formed, it is time for exponential growth, which is multiplication! Eventually, sustainability is the key to continue growing and maintaining the business without losing its essence and the original "why" that it exists in the first place.
It can be summarized as:

Creation --> Survival --> Growth --> Support --> Multiply --> Sustain

The summary is short but the process may take a decade!
That's why a business manager can only grow a business linearly.
While a business entrepreneur will grow it exponentially.
What is the difference?
One stand for profits. The other stand for something bigger than profit!!
One keep on taking. The other keep on giving.
One is looking on the short term. The other is building a legacy.
One is developing followers. The other is developing leaders.
One is working on people's weaknesses. The other is discovering people's talents.
One is thinking about greed. The other is thinking on creating values.

When a slight change of mindset & direction occurs, it will create a big impact when we stretch the time frame 10 years down the road. In anyway it is, there is no right or wrong. It is the heart & mind of the founders itself. I personally respect either business managers or business entrepreneurs because it takes guts to create something and to walk a journey separated from the crowd. But the way to create a business and the way to grow it needs a different mindsets & skillsets.

Imagine if every entrepreneur creating businesses to create values, the market will be a better place for all!!
I feel grateful and wish to thank all the business creators out there. Whatever it is, a big THANK YOU for driving a nation forward and to create jobs for people.

Dear Business People, you are the Hero afterall!

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.....

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?

Tick, tick, tick....

Now is 2nd of June. Pass this month, 1/2 of 2011 will be gone....

Changes in jobs, my son's height, Japan's geographical area, government's strategies, the number of wrinkles my father has, our education systems, inflation, the car that I'm driving, the number of blockbuster movies....etc...basically changes happen everyday!

Do you feel in certain months or years, time flies? And in some other months or years, time is slowing down? I think it depends on the Changes and the Emotions that we went through. Perhaps time is just a moving events of emotions? Is that what people call quality time or quantity time?

When we have directions, we felt the world stops spinning.
When we are lost, we felt the time is ticking.

No matter what, we still have another 6 months to go!

If focused-planning can't work, perhaps can try flexible-planning?
If systems can't work, maybe trying different strategies will help?
If using our strengths still can't achieve what we want, we may try look for our talents instead?

What about reading additional books?
Making new friends in different expertise?
Attending seminars or courses?
Finding someone to look up to?
Embark on a short vacation?
Google more?
Trying a different scope of work?

So far, are you satisfied with the journey?
Are you sitting in an economy class, business class or first class of your life?

Working harder doesn't necessarily get us what we want. Or else, tonnes of factory workers would be achieving their dreams!

All of us have our own speed and rhythm of managing our life. Instead of comparing with others, why not find our Life Rhythm, Working Rhythm and Emotional Rhythm and ride on with this beat to achieve what we want.

Try it!

Push & Pull Forces

Most of the times, when we wanted to Push ourself to do something, there is always another thing to Pull us back! Sometimes we just want to follow our Passion or Dream.
But due to our past experiences or failures, we tend step back and think .....
"what if...", "what happen next...", "is it worth doing...", "can I do it..."......etc.

It is like the Right-Brain fighting with the Left Brain....within our Brain!
I've heard someone said before, "The biggest prison in the whole world lies between our ears!" How true...

I've had moment like that before.
When I have a Direction of where I want to go, there is a Devil telling me otherwise.
When I try drafting those Details out, Mr. Distraction will divert my plan.
When I try to just Do It, it ended up as Damn It!!

In my opinion, the best treatment for such symptoms is JUST DO IT.
Sometimes the best time management method that I've ever use is just simply SAYING NO.
We need to do trading between exchanging good things with great things......or great things with greater things.

Once I break that decision barrier and was in the action mode, things become much easier. The initial inertia was the problem.

Remember these 2 forces, it is up to us to choose.

Direction ßà Devil

Details ßà Distractions

Do It ßà Damn It

Terminator Or De-terminator?

When we stop achieving what we want, what we don't want will haunt us!
Only time will tell which zone is taking over...

Sometimes when we venture into a new job or new project or a new venture, there will be lots of variables in front of us. Only a risk-taker is willing to explore & conquer bit by bit, puzzle by puzzle and eventually a quantum leap in achievements, perspectives and of course income.

All of us can't predict the future. We can only follow-through and solve problems along the way.

Think about these series of silly questions for awhile:
"Does a mother know how to be a mother before becoming one?"
"Does a student know how to be an engineer before becoming one?"
"Does an entrepreneur know how to be an entrepreneur before becoming one?"

Obviously "No" for all! Now I began to understand successful people always encourage us to do what we love and what we are good at instead of doing it for the sake of money alone. Of course money will be a great reward and a measurement of how our performance & innovation stands. It is a major resources to build bigger dreams. But that should not be the seed of starting something.

I've tried before when money is the only motivation to work, doubts will always creep in.

When we have doubt, it is most often that we don't know what we want in the beginning. Sometimes we can terminate an opportunity in front of us only to realise this is what we want in life later.

There's no perfect life. Fast forward our life 10 or even 20 years from now, then look back from that perspectives and review back, we'll gain our guts right away, whether to pursue or not to in a new venture!

At times, good decisions are found from the journey of making bad decisions.
How many of us got married straight away with our first boyfriend or girlfriend? That proves the point!

Therefore, a Terminator destroys Vision & Dreams while a De-terminator builds it up with hard work and perseverance. Which one are you?

But becareful not to Focus Naively but Focus Flexibly as the society, market and the whole nation is changing and adapting from time to time.

Let's quit quitting to be a quitter and don't quit winning to be a winner! Yeah!!!

You Bhd: A great company or a PN17 company?

Wow, time really flies....

Remember the time that we talked about Y2K? Some are afraid of the "bugs" will shut down certain computer systems!
Here we are... 2010, almost ending!

10 years already past.
Some thought 2020 is still a long way to go.
Yeah, try wasting another 10 years and calculate how many extra wrinkles on our forehead by that time! We won't be able to smile by then as we have extra 2382 fine lines when we do! Well, definitely it is not the fine lines that matter, it is our journey that counts.

Time is only moving in one direction, which is Forward.
But thoughts can be travelling Forward or Backward.
To move Forward, sometimes we need to scan a little Backward.

Perhaps reviewing some aspects of our life will help. Especially in terms of:
1) The income that we earn? Surviving? Satisfying? Enriching? Or "Fatt Tatt" already, haha....?
2) The job that we do? Is it based on passion or merely a surviving tool?
3) Family: Are we settling down? Do we have the correct budget for family planning? Any education fund for our kids?
4) Who is our hero in life? Perhaps any mentor around?
5) Are we happy with where we are? Job, Biz, Charity, Education...etc
6) Do we want to excel in our job, or starting a small biz or try investing?
7) What else do we want to learn more? Leadership? Entrepreneurship? Self-Enrichment? Socialising? Parenting? Playing musical instruments? A different job scope? Property? ...etc
8) The circle of friends that we associate with? Is it the same? Do we want a change?
9) Satisfy with our body weight & posture? Overweight? Fit? Big tummy? Stamina?
10) Our personalities, habits & attributes? Do we want to be more extrovert, risk-taking, positive, open-minded, prudent, generous, caring, result-oriented or people-oriented? ...etc

Well, the list could be endless.
Perhaps we can provoke ourself this question:
"If I have a 100k to acquire a stake in someone's life and expecting a consistent or higher return, who would I invest in?"
Is it "John Wong Sdn Bhd", "Adeline Tan Sdn Bhd", "Shukri Enterprise", "Krishnan Bhd" or etc....
Just think about everyone as a company for a while.....

Then we'll begin mapping People in Business aspects. We'll start searching for the relevant attributes don't we?
Are you going to invest in Intelligence or Emotional Intelligence? Knowledge or Attitude? Certificates or Leadership?

The interesting part is "Are you going to buy a stake of your ownself?"
If "YOU" are listed in Bursa Malaysia as YOU BHD, are you going to buy? Do you think others will buy? Or all of them who have bought it, sold it coz you are a PN17 company!! haha.....
Joke a bit lah...you are not that bad! All of us are unique and I truly believe we have our own spark plug to ignite our real desire and potential in life.

When you think about companies like SPSetia, Maxis, YTL, IOI, Amway, Petronas, HongLeong (of course it is not an endorsement or recommendation to buy!), what are the attributes that we like about them? Perhaps mapping it in-person like Ananda Krishnan, Liew Kee Sin, Francis Yeoh, Tony Fernandes, Idris Jala...etc...
Attributes like Integrity, Growth, Performance, Trust, Confidence, Management, Leadership, Branding, Ethics, CSR....etc, comes to mind.

Well, I hope it can provoke us a little.
Afterall, we are after a balance circle of success and on top of all, HAPPINESS & SELF-SATISFACTION!
Hmmm.....let's think about it....

Enjoy Life...

Exploring life is a process of discovering Faith, Adventure, Direction & OwnSelf. Sometimes I'll know it when I start. I truly respect those who are experiencing a life of what is exactly being dreamt of years ago. When I watched one of Oprah's show where she helped a young girl achieving her dream of being a singer, getting an album done & singing with Celine Dion live, what a contribution! That's life! That is exciting. Making a difference in someone's life.

Time flies.
When I look back, only to realize not everything I have achieved is in concurrent with what I've planned or desired exactly.

Surprises & disappointments are around us. Indecisiveness are very frustrating and normally it is rooted from the lack of a compass!

I gotta align & focus!
But I won't just focus on the result while ignoring the process of enjoying some events and good people around me.

Money is important but after money, friends, family, respect & happiness is what we are after.

"Aiyah, why so Serious...... sometimes "sot-sot" like dat oso quite healthy!"