Inspirational poster for You - Make progress daily

Top 10 Quotes on Failure

1.  A failure is a man who blunders and not cashing in on the experience

      Ellbert Hubbard

2. My reputation grows with every failure

    George Bernard Shaw

3. I've  missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times I 've been  trusted to        take the winning shots and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life  and that is why I succeed.

   Michael Jordan

4. I don't believe in failure.It's not failure if you enjoyed the process

   Oprah Winfrey

5. Only those who dared to fail greatly can ever chieve greatly

    Robert F. Kennedy

6. Many of life's failure are people who did not realise that how close they were  to success when  they gave up.

    Thomas Edison

7.  Success consist of going from failure to failure without the loss of enthusiasm

     Winston Churchill 

8. Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes

    Oscar Wilde

9.  Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is  that they         wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death.

    Anais Nin

10. A life spend making mistakes is not only more honourable but more useful than a life spend in doing nothing.

     George Bernard Shaw

It's all in the MIND

Inspiration poster for YOU

10 top quotes on Leadership

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS:

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER:

You do not lead by hitting people over the head - that's assault, not leadership.

FAYE WATTLETON:

The only safe ship in a storm is leadership.

HENRIK IBSEN:

A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm.

JOHN GARDNER:

Most important, leaders can conceive and articulate goals that lift people out of their petty preoccupations and unite them in pursuit of objectives worthy of their best efforts.

RALPH NADER:

I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON:

Keep your fears to yourself, but share your inspiration with others.

ROSALYNN CARTER:

A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go, but ought to be.

STEPHEN COVEY:

Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out.

WALTER LIPPMAN:

The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on.

Inspirational poster for YOU

Who is driving the bus?

Do you find yourself losing steam half way in the effort towards realising your personal or business goals? If you are facing this problem, STOP and take the time to reassess the reason why. Our unconscious mind may be telling us something important such as the possible internal conflict in regards to the goal we are striving for. When we are striving to attain the  goal, we are pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone. We cannot stand still and hope that we will succeed.We may need to learn  new sets of skills,  perhaps acquire new knowledge, form new beliefs, values or cultivate the right attitude. 

There is a popular phrase which I learned from the NLP founder Richard Bandler  "Who is driving the bus?" Picture your  life as a “bus.” Who’s driving? Is it you or someone else? Where is the bus going? Who chose the route, the destination, the speed? Who are the passengers? What about side trips along the way? (You know that side trips often enrich the journey!)

Personally, this metaphor question is about who is in charge of your life? Fear and  false beliefs often grip us from moving forward in our life. This could be due to our conditioning during our upbringing, cultural influence or social expectation.

Is your belief preventing you from the lifestyle you desire?

Inspirational Quotations on making a difference

A list of quotation to inspire you to make a difference.

Tom Brokaw
It's easy to make a buck. It's a lot tougher to make a difference.

Paul "Bear" Bryant
It's not the will to win, but the will to prepare to win that makes the difference.

Anonymous
Never be afraid to do something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the titanic.

Ayn Rand
Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps, down new roads, armed with nothing but their own vision.

Confucius
To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right.

Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I... I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.

Stevie Wonder
We all have ability. The difference is how we use it.

Marian Wright Edelman
We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.

Uta Hagen
We must overcome the notion that we must be regular... it robs you of the chance to be extraordinary and leads you to the mediocre.

Earvin Magic Johnson
You're the only one who can make the difference. Whatever your dream is, go for it

How to handle difficult people

We live in a society with all  kind of interesting characters. I use the word interesting because it helps me to   focus on the uniqueness about the individual rather than face value. It is difficult at times as we tend to prejudge others based on first impression. When we prejudge all communication with that person will fail. I have often met with demanding customers and I find that , it is often their values are violated and thus they respond by behaving in such manner. Sad to say there are also people out there , which are opportunist( not in a good sense) who takes advantage of other people. They  have a scarcity mindset. 

Surprisingly , the most difficult people I have encountered turn out to be my good friends eventually. Understanding the values behind a person helps a lot. People who are seen to be rude and difficult is often unconsiously protecting their values and rights.  We need to be patient because there are some people who are not able to express themselves in a rightful manner. If we spend more time in listening than defending our point of view , we may begin to understand why they are behaving like that. Dr. Steven Covey puts in nicely in habit number 5 "Seek first to understand than to be understood". Often listening diffuses the tension quicker and often I use the word " If I were in your shoes, I would feel the same way"

Every time when you are are face with a  difficult person or upsetting situation. Say to yourself out loud "That's Interesting" Somehow, everytime I use that phrase, I tend to look at things at a different angle.It may work for you too, so tried it the next time.   

Meaningful Symbols

It is rare to see a clear beautiful rainbow arch flanked by another rainbow with less intensity. This photo shot is taken from my house compound after a short rain shower. As I stood with awe of this magical moment, I recall a biblical story of Noah and the flood in the book of Genesis. Based on the story, God was angry with the wickedness of man and rained the earth for 40 days and the earth was covered with water for 150 days, killing all living things on land and in the air. Righteous Noah and his family were spared as he was given the task to build an ark to house a pair of all living things before the rain fall. After the water receded, God made a convenant with all living things, never again will there ever be a flood of such nature regardless the sinful gravity of men.

Symbolic objects are such an important reminder of the promises we make to ourselves or to another person. The wedding ring is a symbolic reminder of the commitment of love made to each other. Tattoo is fast becoming a personal trend among the old and young alike that signifies something important and meaningful. Those who adhere to Feng Shui practices use symbolic objects to ward off bad omens or draw in favorable fortune.

I have a glass globe on my desk, a present from my friend Seumas. He gave that to me because I shared with him how I intent to start a training company that serves the global market. His little gesture meant a lot to me and it serves as a constant reminder of my dream.

Do you have a meaningful symbolic items that you wish to share with me?

   

 

Knowing Vs Doing

There is a great distinction between the two. Many people knows what it takes be a successful person. They will tell you hard work, dedication , commitment , persistent and so forth but they just stop there. There are many things that we are aware of but lack the follow through in making it a reality.

Back in 2004, I have heard about the buzz word "blogging", even mentioned it to my circle of friends. I even told them blogs can generate income but I was not doing it myself. I though I knew the subject matter but how wrong I was.Only in December 2008, I really got down and started a blog and boy, there so much I need to learn. What I though I knew was only the scratch of the surface. As I post a blog nearly everyday now, I begin to understand of it's application . I searched for professional blogger such as Yaro, Alex Mandossian, Jeff Johnson to learn from them. I began to realise how little I knew. I was truly ignorant about the subject.

My favourite power quote is adapted from Nike " Just Do It". It is better to make a few mistakes and later correct it than just knowing the subject.

Priming the Pump

In 1998, I made my first trip to the Philippines with my wife Liza, her 10 year old sister marylou, mum in law Lilia and late Lolok Fred(sadly pass away a few years back) to a province called Ilocos Sur located at the western coast of Northern Luzon . It was the hometown of Lilia which took 9 hours journey ride in a coach. Luckily it was an air conditioned bus with a video facilities. They were showing the local Tagalog film without sub titles which was pretty interesting for me to keep on figuring out what's the movie all about.

We stayed at Lilia's relative house and it was my first experience in learning to use a well water pump drawing water from ground below. At first I thought it was as easy as just pushing and pulling the handle in upward and downward motion. I used my strength a few times and nothing happen and I though it was spoilt. Someone told us then to raise the handle and pour in water into the pump nozzle and then do the upward and downward motion. After a few times we succeeded. Not easy for a first timer. The water effluent was refreshing and very cool.

The term Pump priming is now used to illustrate Government spending during recession in attempt to stimulate private spending and the expansion of business and industry. I can still remember back 1997, when the Asian financial tsunami hit the economy, the bankers starter to tighten the grip on it's financing which resulted in many business closing shops. After the government intervention in the central bank to loosen it's grip and many other measures taken, the economic machinery began to move and we were recovering at a much faster pace.

On personal level, I realise that to attain something we need to give first. If we want happiness, we need to make others happy before attaining it. If we want to be successful, we need to help other succeed first.

Lion dance

The sound of the drum and clashing cymbals from the distance have excited the children. With anticipation, they wait for the lion dance trouper to come to the house. We were fortunate it happen during my friend James open house visit. For many centuries, the lion dance is use to scare away the evil spirit and bad luck. In doing so wealth, health and prosperity will reside in the home. As a form of appreciation, we will hand the ang pow (money enclosed in small red envelope). There is no fix amount except when you request them for a special performance.

In good times , there will be up to 8 to 9 lion groups going round the town and housing area. This year I was informed that only 5 lion groups were making their rounds. This is one of the way the association, temples and even schools to raise fund. However it can be quite taxing if there are a lot of them going around. I remember when I was little, my dad would have set aside a certain number of ang pow to give away if the lion came to the house. If we ran out of it, we close the gate and pretended no one home.

As I began to do a little read up on the lion dance origin, I found out that the local Malaysian lion dance is following the southern Chinese tradition, The varying colour of the lion head an it's fur has different symbolic meaning to it. From my reading , the golden yellow represent liveliness, the red represents courage and green means friendship. This reminds me of a story.

A long time ago a strange creature appeared in China and horrified and ate men and animals. The fast and fierce creature was called 'nien' (or 'nian'), which sounds like the Chinese word for 'year'. Neither the fox nor the tiger could fight the 'nien' effectively and in despair the people asked the lion for help. The lion shook his mane, rushed towards the creature and wounded it. The nien hurried away with the tail between its legs. But it announced to return for taking revenge.A year later the nien did return. This time the lion couldn't help the people. He was too busy with guarding the emperor's gate. So the villagers decided to do the job themselves. Out of bamboo and cloth they produced an image of the lion. Two men crawled inside it and approached the nien. The 'lion' pranced and roared and the monster fled away again. This is the reason why on the eve of the Chinese New Year, lions always dance. They are frightening evil away for yet another year.

Keeping the tradition alive

Chinese New Year is two days away. The atmosphere at the shopping mall is setting the pace and mood on the coming festivity with red coloured decoration on sales, a symbol of prosperity. In this few days, we want to believe that things are going to be better and hope the negative news surrounding us would not dampen the spirit of celebration.

This is the time of year where immediate family from near and afar make every effort to come together at the parents or eldest house to have a sumptuous dinner on the eve of new year. It is not so much different from the other festive such as Christmas, Hari Raya, Thanksgiving and etc.
This year we are welcoming the year of the Ox. Good bye Rat and Hello Ox. Since I am a sino kadazan and was not raise in a typical Chinese family, I still find the origin and the respective animal characteristic of the Chinese Zodiac fascinating to know. The Chinese has many tradition and taboos, depending on which Chinese ethnic you belong too. I remember my late grandmother would cautious us not to sweep the floor or wash anything on the first day of Chinese new year as it will chase away the prosperity and good luck. I am not a firm believer but I prefer to observe the taboo out of respect to the tradition.

What's the do and don't being practice in your area?

I am watching

I caught little Ryanna, looking out of the window pane. This reminds me when I was little, I used to look out from my family two storey wooden house for anything interesting . Since the house I lived in, is surrounded by thick bushes on 3 corners, Only the backyard is facing my neighbour uncle Ah Lam. The north side of the house was overseeing a thick grown bushes with many tall trees. In the evening, flocks of pigeons would gather for a chat among each other. Sometimes quail could be seen walking cautiously towards the fence to peck on the grains of washed out rice from our kitchen drainage. It is common also to see a monitor lizard scanning the ground with it's long slithering tongue for food.

Yes, that was the good all days where we can see the wonder of nature. Now I don't pay much notice of the things happening around my housing, everyone seems to be busy with their own activites. I can still recall seeing my grandmother chatting with the neighbour over the wire mesh fence, a rare sight nowadays.

Rock of Ages

I have lived by the seaside from the age of 7 to 15 years. Some evenings, I would stroll along the beach with my brothers Robert and Simon collecting shell, poking at little crabs and be fascinated by starfish. Along the coastline there is huge 15ft limestone wall which divided the beach and makes an interesting beach landscape.

Based on my limited knowledge about rocks, Limestone is made of shells and dead sea creatures that collect at the bottom of the ocean. They get buried by other sediment and, after millions of years

of being under pressure, the particles get cemented together to form solid rock. Limestone is a very strong rock and is often cut into large blocks and used in the construction of buildings and skyscrapers.

Looking at the limestone now, I wondered what if I was a limestone, what would I have observed through out the ages? I am sure I would have watch and stand witness to many wonderful, peculiar or unfortunate events that took place on the beach front.

I remembered some of the events. Aside from the weekend family picnics and the daily commuting of the ferry and cargo ships crossing, I have witness the annual 5.4 KM cross channel swimming, the fatal crashed of the caribou plane in 1995 , 2 water twisters formation and the 2 stranded cargo ships which was laid to waste away.

It would be interesting to keep a journal of all the sweet and bitter events as to remind ourselves of the journey we have taken in our life. I can imagine now sitting with my grand children by the beach listening to the stories of my life.

The two brothers

Looking at my watch, it was only 7 .00 AM. It is still very early to go to the office. I have just sent Raynald (my youngest son) to school and decided to take a walk along the beach at the sea sport complex. Two trees stood side by side that caught my attention.

Though I am not an expert on trees, I began to ponder on some of the possibilities why there is a distinct variation between the trees. Both of the trees are of the same height but one look undernourished though it is just a few feet apart. The tropical climate here is sunshine all year round and rain mostly towards the year end till early of the year. So the climate is not the reason why the tree is losing it's figs because both receive the same amount of sunshine and water, furthermore it's close proximity to each other. Perhaps the other trees is sapping up the nutrients from the ground away from the other tree. Maybe it is able to do so due to it's better root network.

In my biology studies , I have learned some tree will grow it's root as wide and deep for it to extract nutrients and water from the ground. Aside from this, it holds the tree down firmly against the treacherous weather.

Our belief is our part of our root. What we believe will determine the outcome in our life. In my NLP studies, most of the time we believe something to be true however it is sometimes not based on real facts. I remembered when I was 7 years old, my late grandmother told me not to point at the rainbow or else my finger will be crooked. Later in life , I discovered that the belief has no basis. I am sure that the origin of the belief was for a good reason.

Is your current beliefs holding you back or opening doors of opportunities?

The meaning of TIME

When I was little, I use to watch my late grandmother winding an old wooden grandfather clock with a white clock face every few days. It can be mesmerising at times to just sit and watch the pendulum swinging from left to right to left. When I recall that clock, I can still hear the sound it my head.. tick tock tick tock tick tock. Since the clock is in my grandmother's room, she would look at it before leaving the room.

Before my grandmother winds the clock up, she would first stop the clock's pendulum and proceed with inserting a special key into a small little hole and start turning it anti clock wise. I not sure how many turns she made but I can hear the clicking mechanism made. Once she have done so, she will swing the pendulum and clock resumes it's movement.

Clock is an instrument that shows the passing of time. We all have heard the phrase" Time waits for no one" Indeed it is true. I realise that we all give different meaning to time. Especially in the city time seems to fly past us quickly. We are so often busy with chores and events, we are not aware of the passing of time. However if we are sick and lying in bed, the clock seems to tick away slowly and painfully. We become very conscious of the minute hand.

When I was visiting my auntie in the Kampung (countryside) back in the 80's, Time seems to stood still. There was no TV only the music being played from the radio, Some houses between each other is nearly a mile apart. In the night, I would sit in the veranda enjoying the cool night breeze and listening to my mother exchanging stories with my aunt. Though it is pitch dark with minimal lighting in the area, I can hear the neighbours talking even though the house way down the gravel road. Today, all this have change, they have installed cable TV which show 24 hours television. There goes the peaceful and tranquil environment.

I want to share this poem taken from a passage in the bible.


To Everything There is a Season

To everything there is a season. A time for every purpose under Heaven.

A time to be born and a time to die

A time to plant and a time to pluck what is planted

A time to kill and a time to heal

A time to break down and a time to build up

A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones

A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing

A time to gain and a time to lose

A time to keep and a time to cast away

A time to tear and a time to sew

A time to keep silence and a time to speak

A time of love and a time of hate

A time of war and a time of peace


Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8

This poem is meaningful to me, because it reminds me that there is time for everything.The most precious gift a man has, is time. We can never get it back because the clock keeps on ticking. Tick- Tock, Tick -Tock ,Tick Tock.

Lost and Found

Trickles of rain tapping on my office window pane. It has been raining lightly since early morning, a good sign for me. Strangely enough, the sound of the falling rain from above makes me feel at peace and sharpened my focus. I am truly happy today and I will tell you why.

On the 2nd of January, I lost my set of keys which opens to my home and office. I Searched frantically though out my whole house, my cars but to no avail. I tried backtracking my activities since my realization and search thereon. Still cannot find it. I enquired at the coffee-shop which I regularly have my breakfast, the hotel which I stayed on new years eve, my office, the bar I patronise and still no keys.

I then remembered my personal saint whom I usually turn to for help. I said a prayer to Saint Anthony last night and hope for the best. In the past miraculously, after saying a prayer, most of the time ,I would be able to recover my ring, my keys, documents and etc. Yes.. I have lost my key before. My christian confirmation name was named after him during the confirmation rites. It is also my grandfather's name. I carry the name with pride as it means a lot to me. This morning, I had a strong instinct to search my car once again, particularly under the front passenger seat which I have earlier look through. True enough the keys was hidden way behind a can drink holder which was under the seat too. 4 days of unsettling feeling have come to an end. In a way , I am glad that I went though this experience because posting it reminded me of my saint, my grandfather whom I never got a chance to meet. My dad told me that grandfather passed away when he was only few months old. I will light a candle in my home later as a remembrance.

Thank you Saint Anthony, my patron saint.

Reality bites or just our Perception?

It is our perception that shape our world. If we were to believe in this statement, then looking at the positive side of things would change anything?

News flash everywhere that the world is facing a huge financial crisis. With the near collapse of the world super economy and trillions of dollars vanish through the loss in the stock market value. Company downsizing and people losing jobs. My friend who work in the offshore bank was given a 24 hours notice however she was given a 6 months salary as a compensation. 10 years ago in my hometown the local shipyard gates were chained up early one morning. Workers were left stranded outside the gate not knowing what had happen. Salaries were not paid and the company was under bankruptcy. Is there any good that can be seen in all this happening ?

Life just isn't fair, but I think that being positive is not to deny what seems to be happening, but rather to focus on our ability to response to what is happening. We should not be the victim but the victor. Playing as a victim will paralyse us from taking action and only becomes bitter and angry. We all have choices although sometimes it does not seem that way. Remember the old saying " When there is a will, there is a way" I believe we are equip with the natural instinct to survive and will do anything to make a comeback.