7 Days of Gratitude: Day 1
On the 7 Days of Gratitude Challenge, I wonder if I could cheat a little and start yesterday, because I had such a wonderful day.
My friends and I were meeting at the beach for a nice group dinner, but a couple decided to meet earlier for a seaside jog. I’m not that keen into running, but I love cycling, and volunteered to carry their bags on my bike.
The weather was beautiful. All perfect for an afternoon jog. As the sun went down, I cycled onto a pier and watched the sea, and felt the cool breeze against my skin. I breathed in deep, and felt good to be alive.
Read More7 days of Gratitude: Intro
Everyone will agree that a positive attitude is one that is essential for peak performance living. One of the key parts to a positive attitude that I outlined in 9 Keys to Overcoming Difficult Times is an attitude that allows us to acknowledge what is already going well in our lives and appreciate them for their value. I’m talking of course, about the attitude of gratitude.
Read More9 Keys to Overcoming Difficult Times
Lately, I’ve had to deal with a lot of changes happening in my personal life. At first, describing them to my friends, I kept calling them endings, but afterward I began to feel as if it was a process of renewal. There is a Chinese saying that goes ‘if the old doesn’t go, the new cannot come’. Keeping that in mind, I’ve begun to view these difficult events as a shedding of things for me to grow forward, and so I’ve come to call them ‘changes’ instead of ‘endings’.
Difficult as it may, I know a friend who is also going through some tough changes of his own. This post is really for him because I want to share with him some tools I’ve found to be useful for me in managing my emotional state to navigate through the difficult times. I’m prone to worry and depression myself so I’ve had to learn how to pull myself through, and the beliefs and techniques from NLP and Solutions Focused Brief Therapy have helped tremendously.
Read MoreA Smile can bring you further than a Mile
It’s been a month since I came back from my Cambodia expedition. But I can still see the smiles of the children vividly and hear them laughing heartily in my ears. Oh gosh, I do miss them a lot.
The smiles they wear on their faces are so different from what I see back here where I lived. It’s not the kind of smile you see from a colleague from another department along the corridor nor is it the kind of smile you get from a distant relative at a family gathering. They are smiles that warm your heart, smiles that brighten your days and smiles that you want to see again and again. (more…)
Read MoreA PONDering Moment in Evolution
When was the last time you decide that you have to change something about or around you? How did you decide to change?
There were something that you decided at a certain point that you want to do more of, to have less of, to move away from, to go towards to…you decided that you deserve more, you are going to stay away from…you are sick of it, you are tired, fed up, irritated, frustrated, peeved, and what else not!?
Read MoreThe Most Important Thing to Do: Stretch
The single most important principle I’ve learnt that has changed my life more than anything else is the principle of stretching:
Stretching is the act of doing something that you know is good for you and/or good for others and it scares you.
Imagine yourself at the centre of a circle. The edge of the circle is the edge of your comfort zone. It is everything that you know and are comfortable dealing with. Once in a while you might encounter an anomaly that hits the edge of your comfort zone, if it’s a little thing you expand to include it. (more…)
Read MoreDirections vs Goals
Since we’re nearing the new year I’m sure many of us will be taking this chance to reflect on the year past and renew on the year ahead. I thought this would be a nice time to make a distinction between setting goals, and setting directions.
What is a goal? Simply put, a goal is a target you set that is:
Specific
Measurable
Read MoreHow has it been a great year?
After reading on somebody’s blog that she had a great year, I started thinking to myself, ‘Did I have a great year?’
Being a somewhat critical person, I realized this was the wrong question to ask because it could only have a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer, and my critical voice said ‘no’.
Ok. Restart.
I knew if I wanted a more quality answer I needed to ask a better quality question.
So I applied the ‘What if’ frame and asked myself, ‘What if this has been a great year? What would have made it great?’ Following Paiboon’s post, I came up with 3 highlights for myself: (more…)
Read MoreHow has it been a great year?
After reading on somebody’s blog that she had a great year, I started thinking to myself, ‘Did I have a great year?’
Being a somewhat critical person, I realized this was the wrong question to ask because it could only have a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer, and my critical voice said ‘no’.
Ok. Restart.
I knew if I wanted a more quality answer I needed to ask a better quality question.
So I applied the ‘What if’ frame and asked myself, ‘What if this has been a great year (more…)
Read MoreDon’t Say What You Mean!
What do I mean when I said “Don’t say what you mean”
What I mean is “Say What You Want!!!”
One of my friends made major purchase as a present for himself (e.g. new shirts, watches, etc.) after series of hard work to achieve certain goals. Listen to how my friend response to his friend comment’s
His friend comment: “Wohh.. You got a lot of money and really rich Huh.” (With sarcastic tonality)
He responded: “Oh… no no no lah… I just …” (With shy tonality) (more…)