July 4th, 2008

It has almost been a year, yet it felt still so close.
Time is a precious thing that we take for granted often. What have I accomplished for the past 7 months? Much and little.
Has this been the most productive free months in my life? It’s among the top in my life for I have found out more about myself and what I can accomplish than any time of my life. I got a very good glimpse at what the future from now on looks like. It’s like being reborn and doing what I always wanted to do since I was young. It’s a great feeling…but it feels lonely…very lonely….
Sometimes I envy those who have people telling them what to do in their workplace, there’s less to decide… but deep inside I knew that was not something I really wanted very often now that most of the time I am managing my time and projects. I finally realized first hand that what many successful people have written about the time when they are starting up are really true…the start …is a horrible feeling of a sense of great uncertainty and a mental torture, yet very often we have to put on a strong front that everything is going all right when it really isn’t for that certain. It’s about EGO which some refer as “Edging God Out“. And what you put yourself in the center of everything, your life is run by fear of what ifs…and in the process of feeling the fear, one might try to do too many things at the same time.
There is a proverb that goes, “If you chase after two hares, you catch none.”
If there’s one most important thing I learnt about myself…it’s that I am not superman after all. If someone can get something done in 3 hours, one shouldn’t assume that he needs to take only half an hour, that’s overconfidence. Once, I thought I could get the many projects done at the same time…well, if it’s at the insane speed that is worked on, yes it’s absolutely possible. But that’s one factor most of us forget to factor in, the factor call motivation. Sure, many of us can hype ourselves up when we need it, but once we hype ourselves up that often, something inside just goes haywire and numb. Like a virus in the body that has grown immune to an antibody, so has the system inside become quite immune to hype.
I’m sure some people will be able to accomplish much more than what I had in these months but I know that few would have really sorted out their lives…I think most people were like me before, we think we know everything about ourselves but not until we have tested and challenged ourselves that we found out that we weren’t really as we thought.
As John Lennon once said,”Life is what happens to you when you are planning on doing something else.”
Yup, it’s now time to reap the rewards.

July 3rd, 2008

Make it a habit to force yourself to do complete things. You must be disciplined enough to do important things that matter right away instead of waiting and taking breaks in between. Go for it and do it until it is complete, finish one task before doing part of the next. Do one thing at a time rather than many things all at once.

That’s one of the secrets of life that I have learnt the hard way.

If there’s one thing that could influence everything else you do in your life, that is the ability to stick to one thing until it’s done.

July 3rd, 2008

After being in the company of several friends walking through the same journey in the past, the road during this year so far has been lonely…for I have chosen a different path. Sometimes I really hope that things have not changed so much, just like those who have walked this path before have warned, the greatest battle ahead when you have made up your mind what you want your life is about, is against yourself. There is no enemy but the person inside the mind against the person inside the heart.

It is a lonely battle indeed…once I had a soul mate whom we share joys and troubles with, she has gone. I would really like to say out loud that I have healed from the wound that was inflected, but that wouldn’t be true. It still hurts. But still, Life moves on…

Failure is not an option…I will keep trying till I succeed…

Godspeed. Sowing the seeds …reaping the harvest…

July 2nd, 2008

The same man cannot well be skilled in everything: each has his special excellence.

-EURIPIDES (455-441 BC)

People who have lived for more than two thousand years ago already knew it and have been trying to reach us through their words of wisdom, by which they found out in their own experiences of a lifetime. But how many of us actually listened? If I may to add to Euripides’ quote, I would like it to be “The same man cannot well be skilled in everything: each has his special excellence. May he choose it wisely and let it be one which he loves.”

Jack knew a little of everything but was a master of none, that means that in every profession that he choose to be in, he is of little value as he barely scratched the surface of his trade. The usual advice? Don’t be a Jack of all trade, but be a master of one.

Truth to speak, how many of us have become a master of what we love to do best?

I comprehend that perhaps 7 or 8 people of 10 would be nodding their heads now, and why? These are people who have chosen to work in a trade or career which they have no interest in, it’s just a bread job and to pay the bills. I was once part of the crowd who nodded his head with a little guilt and sense of helplessness in my chest which would have tightened by now. It happens when truth has been exposed and the mask has to be taken off for a short while. Are we doomed to spend the rest of our lives doing what we are doing even if it is not our greatest love? Not really.

There are two solutions that research from many great people in the past have been hinting us, now it’s time for us to save those who are stuck in this trap. However, first of all, if you have no way of escaping the trap, learn to love what you are doing anyway. We can’t offer any more advice than that if one can’t make change, many times it happens. What about the other alternative? It would be this. If you are a Jack of many trades, and is currently stuck in a career you do not love and which you have already been a master of one skill, good news. You don’t have to stay in it just because you are so good at it.

It is a matter of looking which career you really wanted and how you want to live your life. You already have that one skill which you are a master of and you have a variety of other skills you are just a novice at, what matters now is just to combine them together and make it into another skill which fits your dream career and lifestyle. Sounds too easy and not convinced? Try this.

How would a master baker who doesn’t like to bake but really wanted to be a cook do? He didn’t know how to cook, he only knew how to bake delicious bread very well. Imagine for a second, what could he do to make the switch? Here’s one way, he could be a cook who specializes in culinary which unique selling point is that every dish would have some delicious bread in it. Perhaps by this unique concept, he could not only get a good job as a cook but even be able to start a new trend if he opens his own restaurant. I am sure you have thought of some other ways as well, let your imagination run wild of the possibilities in your mind. Some might say this is too close an example, let’s find another one which is much more an unlikely match.

Years ago, there was a depressed janitor who didn’t know what he wanted to do in life and had no skills whatsoever. Perhaps if that was a skill he had, that was doing a good job as a janitor. When he made up his mind what he wanted to be, he went for it. Today, he’s one of the world’s top motivational speakers. His name is Anthony Robbins. What if he stayed on as a janitor in the past and never decided to become who he became? Anthony might not be able to help and touch the lives of millions of people in the world as he did already, and many more to come in the future.

Another example. This person’s first job was at Macdonald’s and later on worked for 300 gigs as a comedian so that he could fill in when other comedians took vacations. Today, he’s one of the most valuable hosts in the world on television, his name? Jay Leno. He found what he loved to do even though he wasn’t good at it at first and did what he loved to do until he became a master of that which he loved to do.

There will be many of such stories to come in other writings but for now, it is this lesson which we wish to pass on to you. No matter where you are at right now, if you are not doing that which you love to do, look into ways of transferring your skills into that career or hobby you would love to do for a long time. Are you someone like the Anthony Robbins or Jay Leno in your field in the making too? There is only one way to find out.

If you can, take the plunge into doing what you love to do.

If you haven’t decided what you wanted to do or what skills you need to become not only good, but great in your chosen field with your current skill-sets, ask the people around you who know you well. They will be a good source of answer. If not, you can contact us and we might be able to help.

Choose wisely and may your life be fruitful…not just any fruits but with the fruits you love to eat.

July 2nd, 2008

In a world as empirical as ours, a youngster who does not know what he is good at will not be sure what he is good for.

- EDGAR Z.FRIEDENBERG, 1959

A simple question can sometimes bring a fury of confusion and doubt. My friend, what do you like to do? What are you good at? Have you ever tried answering these questions? We imagine it so that most people have a ready answer for what they do not like and what they are not good at rather than for the positive versions. I know a great deal many more people who could give us a list of what they do not like and not good at but hesitated to answer what they like or at good at, I was also one of them.

It is true to a certain extend that when one is not sure what he is good at, he will not know what he is good for. One can only guess. Will I be good at driving? I thought I might be for I played racing games on the Playstation long enough. But no, I failed a miserable six times before I finally got my driving licence in Australia, I have to admit, driving aren’t my forte but it doesn’t matter to me. It’s just a skill for us to drive safely from point A to point B. Video games on racing helped little, the cars in the games doesn’t crash as the real world does and certainly, when real lives are involved, we tend to treat things a little more differently, don’t we? *Winks*

What was I good at? I certainly wasn’t completely sure before. I have quite respectable grades for writing, design and the arts as graded by my teachers in school when I was young, surely I must have some kind of talent in that. Yet, when I looked at the greatest writers and world class designers out there, I just hid in my hole proclaiming I was average. Have you done that before too?

It was only after a couple of years down the road when I started to win awards that I started to treat myself with a little more respect which I believed I have earned. But sometimes, no matter how much effort one has put in his or her work, having a second look at it again gives one doubt. “True, I did my best but there are flaws still in it. I don’t think I deserve it, perhaps I won because mine was just a little better than the rest considered, but mine certainly wasn’t up there in the highest shelf of history’s greatest.” It was a letdown, someone covering himself with a wet blanket over himself even when there’s a dry one available, he just chose not to take it.

At other times, I was overconfident. I thought I was the king of the world and thought I should do my best and care little for what others think. There was once when I created an extravagated billboard poster for my presentation. When about a hundred others just stuck an A4 size poster on the board, I cut out “thunderbolts” and stickers to paste on mine. I was one of the few who brought my laptop along and also held a display section in my area on the books which have influenced me on my projects. I even held a small science fair and prepared extra speeches during my presentations. My girlfriend at that time was flabbergasted. She did not wish me to do such things and hope that I opt for the ordinary instead. She asked me if I was sure what I was doing, perhaps she was concerned about me becoming the laughing stock at the presentations. I had the fear too but I told her I was sure what I was doing, the risk will be worth it. As I didn’t wanted her to continue worrying about me, I did the preparations only when she was sound asleep.

At the end of the day, I scored one of, if not the highest presentation points among the hundred or so who took part. She was proud of me, I could tell it in her eyes, but I knew she wasn’t really happy I did it. Yes, a paradox feeling. Perhaps I did it too often, one of the reasons she gave when she mentioned she wanted a break up was that we think too differently from each other. Hearing that, it hurt like hell. I told her I could change, but she said then I wouldn’t be the person she loved anymore. Another paradox feeling hit me. Was one to be punished for being himself and doing his best? But I figured that it wasn’t like that, perhaps it’s just like what she said, we think too differently, perhaps it would be painful to continue being and living together although we loved each other’s company very much for years….perhaps, perhaps, perhaps… In the midst of a couple of other problems, I reluctantly had to let her go even though I still loved her so much…it did hurt like hell.

From then on, I knew for sure what I was great at, not just good. I had my awards to prove to myself. It’s strange, you know? Often, it’s not what others tell you how good or bad you are that you yourself is truly good or bad. It is often what you think of yourself as good or bad that really determines your worth. I was shy to say I was anything good in anything once, now, I know I am great at some things and am not shy to show it if I were to tell it to anyone. That’s a rule of thumb, it is much better and creditable for people to find out for themselves with something you have done rather with what you have said.

So what am I good at? I may not be the best but I know that I am great at Research, Writing, Design and Business, aspects that ranges from planning, marketing and hiring people. These four skills complement each other very well. I opt to pick up on Engineering and Inventing till a later stage of my life when I decided to shift my focus from the information area into the industrial area when I can retire partially on the business side when it’s financially feasible to do so. Two years, five or ten years, I will do my best to achieve it earlier. And when I do so, the focus would be mainly on products which can help the most people to better their lives, especially the needy who would benefit the most from such attention. Basically, that’s how I plan to live my life if there’s no major changes in life.

Have you decided what you are good at yet?

Once you have, it’s time to decide if you can take the plunge soon or now if you have already been waiting for so long. Do contact me if you do or decided not to, or would appreciate some exchange of words between us.

Godspeed and all the best.

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