Get Things From The Mud [if warranted]

 

WHO says good tidings are scheduled to be delivered to you via FEDEX OR UPS come next day?  WHO says your good news will be brought over to you via UBER next morning [just like that foot-long Subway sandwhich]? And WHO promised you that you'll be promoted to that plum position up in the hierarchy within your expected timelines?  And WHO falsely raised your expectations that WHEN you buy all those lotto tickets, you'll get the major prize in the next draw?  NO sirrrrs, IF you need to GET THINGS FROM THE MUD, go for it dude💚💛💜

Obviously, it's much easier to preach and pitch BUT translating those verbose words and executing them into fruition takes tons of efforts.  In the rowdy world of the very competitive world of sports [be it basketball, football OR even board games like chess, name it], PHYSICALITY is the very name of the game [YES, even in chess where classical games can last way beyond 4 to 5 hours, whew].  And in contact sports like boxing and basketball, things can get NOT just dirty BUT damn brutal, seriously💧💧💧

In the process, the protagonists DON'T just get injured BUT literally bludgeoned [that bloody sports of boxing is damn scary] and YET, the bigger question that looms is WHY do the protagonists remain so focused and determined to remain in those most physically competitive [YES, you can include the mental-wracking classical chess games] worlds of sports?  And that brings us to draw the parallelism in life because a huge part of the things we want to succeed in life will have to be earned THE HARD and sometimes THE HARDEST ways💥💥💥

Let's swing over to the world of the world's most successful names like the TRUMPs, the BEZOs, the ZUCKERBERGs, the MUSKs. I can vividly remember one interview WHICH Elon Musk obliged WHEREIN he admitted that he knocks off from work on a given day WHEN WHAT he wants done gets done.  Translating it to concrete terms, if his task was less than 100% successfully done as per his success criteria, he's NOT done and he'll burn the midnight oil, if need be😂😂😂

Our takeaway:  C'mon dude, let's roll up our sleeves, get our hands dirtied and if need be, plunge INTO THE MUD and do WHAT it takes for us to inch and inch closer until we catch the plum and succeed in every endeavor we decided to plunge up front.  YES dude, let's GET THINGS FROM THE MUD [if warranted]✅✅✅

Never Cease Challenging The STATUS QUO

 

Anyone NOT in his comfort zone now?  I doubt it.  I'll get that maybe [at least] 90% are within the confines OR fringes of their comfort zone.  BTW, there's NOTHING wrong with that.  I'll confess that in the past, I was living and lingering within my comfort zones for the longest time UNTIL I DIDN'T want to step out.  Dude, NEVER CEASE CHALLENGING THE STATUS QUO💥💥💥

I remember those years WHEN I sometimes confronted myself with in-the-face questions LIKE CAN YOU GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE NOW without the slightest hesitation?  The bad OR dark side of me would blurt out LIKE WHY SHOULD I WHEN I'M ENJOYING THE FRUITS OF MY LABOR.  Obviously that was well said.  In the end, the weaker side of me would often give way to all those endless whispers that the STATUS QUO is the way to go BUT dude, trust me WHEN I NOW admit that I was totally wrong then!!!

Even across major global organizations, there was this most recent survey by Harvard Business Review asking senior leaders IF EVER they challenged the STATUS QUO OR at the very least, asked them to think out of the box?  Hold your breath, only a very paltry 3% admitted that they did that always.  The rest of the pack?  They were kind of fence-sitters, neither here nor there, which was appalling to say the least❎❎❎

NOW for the mother of ironies.  WHEN Harvard Business Review validated their research results, ironically, a huge majority are excited about change, about transformation and the endless possibilities of the NEXT BIG THING.  But alas, WHAT happened next?  AWAN.  NADA.  NICHTS.  NOTHING.  WHY?  Deeper studies concluded that unsurprisingly, the STATUS QUO offers us all that preservation of one's existing state of affairs.  It's about doing WHAT is comfortable & thinking inside an existing box!@#$?

Our takeaway:  WHAT does all these tell us?  In the fewest words, we CAN'T and WON'T ever find comfort outside our existing comfort zones UNLESS and UNTIL we embrace the NOT so obvious need to challenge the STATUS QUO because if we remain unwilling to take the plunge, nothing and no one can help UNSTUCK ourselves except us😡😡😡

Still DOOMSCROLLING?

 

Per se, there's nothing wrong with DOOMSCROLLING, right?  Because you're NOT sowing inconvenience OR trouble to people out there.  Because, NOT to be defensive, almost everyone of us happen to be one of those COLLATERAL DAMAGEs triggered by the unstoppable galloping of social media across cultures and societies.  Partly though, I CAN'T stop blaming our human nature of us succumbing to all kinds of stuff related to BAD news, BAD tidings and even BAD developments unfortunately.  I'll even personally it back to all the forms of media [print, electronic, name it] WHOSE focused goals are to garner more views and readership [obviously to up the ante aligned to their target revenues]💚💛💜

Swinging back to our lives, let's think about it.  Let's face it, if everyday, your breakfast, lunch and dinner [and bundle-in all your snacks] all hover around any stuff that's either bad, tragic OR saddening.  WHAT IF this becomes your default daily recipe of absorptions? WOULD that mean anything that's depressing OR saddening to hear and know becomes your catalyst in your daily life???

WHAT happens next?  It's like we will end up with that enormous appetite to hear, read OR listen to anything that veers on the negativities, right?  Think about it if a breaking news ends up sucking you in a never-ending DOOMSCROLL at the moment?  And that moment extends and lingers on? That human nature  WHEREIN the more you saw OR the more you heard, the more you SCROLLED?  Until getting lost in threads and seeing the shocking comments, then unconsciously you would feel your mood slipping and yet you just COULDN'T stop that skid?  YES dude, that activity of SCROLLING and searching for bad news even though it's disheartening is that very same activity prevailing almost all over, an activity that has risen in [ironically] 'popularity' alongside baking banana bread as we navigate in life✅✅✅

HOWEVER, unlike baking,  DOOMSCROLLING is a totally human reaction to WHAT we're going through.  WHEN stressful things are happening in our life [YES, I dread remembering that recent pandemic], our sort of 'primitive' brain takes over and it becomes concerned with keeping us alive above all else.  This can then lead us to be 'SCANNING FOR DANGER', putting ourselves on high alert for anything that could be perceived as a threat😡😡😡

Our takeaway: As I am NO expert in this domain, let's piggy-back on the experts' inputs for our consideration if we have that gumption to fight-off DOOMSCROLLING:

• Make your mornings SACRED.  Otherwise, you will find yourself scrolling even before you rose up from bed, ouch
• Allocate time for PHONE CHECKING.  If you're anything like me, phone checking will become a habit, ouch
• Check-in with yourself more often.  WHY?  Because DOOMSCROLLING is often a 'mindless' habit
• Use the 'STOP' technique LIKE WHEN you find yourself DOOMSCROLLING, say out LOUD to yourself 'STOP IT'
• Find an alternative to scrolling [YES, I admit I enjoy much more my blogging whose frequency has gone from weekly to daily and of late, even twice a day😀😀😀

Just Do It

 

It's NOT worth spending even a fraction of time for us to dip our hands into private lives, that's just so basic.  And IF you're in a room of 10 folks, you DON'T owe them as to WHAT you will do next [unless you're in a formal ceremony OR event WHERE you've got a role to play].  Otherwise, as the age-old Nike ad goes, JUST DO IT.  Pursue your NEXT plan, take your NEXT step, concretize things with your NEXT action.  NOT to stir the hornet's nest here BUT often we would hear [and know about it via social media] that this and that billionaire will donate hefty sums of monies to this and that beneficiary.  Of course, its a non-news anymore to read that a First World country will donate to a Third World country.  That's most commendable at the very least💚💛💜

Enter Mackenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Jeff Bezos [WHO, depending on the timings of Amazon's wealth fluctuations, would rank either third or fourth wealthiest globally now with a net worth fluctuating from US$ 239bn to 259bn], has etched her name all by her own, almost effortlessly in fact.  Following her divorce from Bezos, she took home US$ 38bn.  So, HOW did Amazon's co-founder [WHO founded the Amazon business from their garage] spend the cash?  In 4 years, she donated US$14 bn and she has been giving it away more quickly than anyone else in history.  MacKenzie Scott had that rare opportunity to participate in the billionaire game WHICH includes philanthropic galas, private jets and hedge funds.  Instead, SHE REWROTE THE RULEBOOK, donating over US$ 14bn to more than 1,600 organizations since 2019.  NO conditions.  NO right to name.  NOTHING. NADA.  NO grant proposals longer than 200 pages.  Simply have faith to communities, universities, food banks, racial justice organizations, YES even shelters for women.  The types of companies that typically DON'T have billionaires on the phone.  That simplicity of her philanthropic model is indeed radical, to say the least🙏🙏🙏

WHILE it's just a pipe dream for anyone of us to approximate .00001% of MacKenzie Scott's net worth [even as it significantly dropped now], the messaging we're trying to impart across is the NOT so obvious fact that in life, WHEN you want to do something, JUST DO IT [ because more often than NOT], you have made and reached that informed decision [of course there will always be outlier narratives WHERE a person commits a string and a streak of faux pases.  You've got your advocacy, your passion, your interests, pursue it and follow it through WITHOUT worrying any others' opinions, reactions OR unsolicited commentaries [that sometimes end up via social media]💧💧💧

Point is, in life, it's NOT about them, NOT the reactions OR commentaries from naysayers and the sort of 'do-nothing' folks.  Your life is yours for you to drive it, steer it, take it to the path that aligns with your best judgment.  It is indeed true that NOT all our judgments are correct in life BUT as long as you manifested good faith in arriving at that best judgment call, then you'll be fine.  The worst is for you to hold unto your thoughts, decisions and plans, all because you're more concerned with this and that reaction.  WHILE we do understand our human nature, to hell with it, right?  Express yourself,  pursue your passions, find your path and take the high road you have plotted for you to thread💥💥💥

Our takeaway:  I've seen and know first-hand and up-close people WHO, even through their adulthood, remained shackled and tied-up, too paralyzed to go on and ignite their own plans and actions, all because of that apprehension [a.k.a. F-E-A-R] of reactions coming from various quarters.  Sadly, that will be one of the contributing culprits that will stall someone else's journey, until being stalled leads one getting stuck to the status quo.  NOT the best pragmatic approach and ironically, one is doing himself the worst disservice ever IF IF IF ever you end up in a predicament similar to this.  Our short and sharp message:  Go for it, JUST DO IT, dude😊😊😊

When Our SELF-RESPECT Becomes Overdue!

 

SELF-RESPECT is one of the least discussed topics, if at all. WHY oh WHY?  Probably because it may come out as self-serving, right?  And moreover, with tons of issues we face everyday, more often, the last challenge we want to get diverted to [imagine your aircraft approaching the runway for landing only to be diverted for reasons the pilot OR control tower will use their jargons like 'technical issues'!@#$%

Here's a  bonus question:  Can SELF-RESPECT be practiced easily?  Answer is:  YES and NO.  YES, if you are disciplined enough to manifest SELF-RESPECT in a consistent manner.  NO if you're a people-pleaser!  That fear of saying NO can keep you stuck in a cycle of neglecting your very own needs and giving into things that DON'T serve your genuine interests in the first place.  Unfortunately, WHEN we let others take advantage of our very own selves, we chip away at our self-esteem💥💥💥

And WHEN our self-esteem gets chipped and chipped away, studies show that will likely lead to anxiety, less interpersonal effectiveness and expectedly, your SELF-RESPECT will skid down and go down south until it may deteriorate to a point WHERE you CAN'T arrest that skid.  I'd admit that in the past, even as I did practice personal effectiveness, I sometimes found myself in situations that would prompt me to unconsciously give away my very own SELF-RESPECT.  It could be as petty as you're at the grocery check-out counter and it seems the cashier mistakenly scanned another price.  Would you argue that it WON'T affect your SELF-RESPECT WHEN you keep thinking that you were shortchanged???

That may sound like a petty example BUT let's face it, the truth is, each time you stand up for WHAT's fair, you RESPECT yourself, right?  And WHEN others take advantage of you, it can do one of three things, namely:  Trigger anger WHICH may lead to an outburst OR internal anger and you'll have that feeling of hopelessness and reinforcing the false belief that you DON'T deserve RESPECT and lastly, prompt yourself that sense of ownership and help you act assertively✅✅✅

Our takeaway:  It's NOT being petty BUT think about it, if everyday you shrug off your shoulders ten times WHEN you were at the receiving end for ten times on a given day, WHO thinks that those incidents WHICH initially look like outliers will NOT pile up and even eventually overflow to a point WHERE you would end up like that headless chicken unable to take counter-measures WHEN the floodgates are swung wide open, even overwhelming you with its sheer force?  BUT again, it's NEVER too late to rectify things so you get back on track to give your SELF-RESPECT WHAT you deserve after all, dude😁😁😁

Staying The Course, Halfway 2026

 

What's our score, halfway 2026?  Obviously, there are one too many experts, from Feng Shui to astrology, and NOT to forget, our own NEW YEAR's resolutions, ouch!@#$%?  BUT not to downplay all the brewing excitement WHEN 2026 kicked in 7 months ago, I have to admit that I've never believed that change should be reserved for special days BUT again, I'll be the first one to admit that every NEW YEAR tends to carry a sense of promise and hope for us all.  BUT how about now that's halfway 2026💛💜

You and me may NOT ride that bandwagon BUT let's admit it, every looming NEW YEAR often brings along that surge of clarity, motivation and hope that maybe things really could be different.  And then, as January kicks in, that excitement combined with oozing energy builds up UNTIL that initial energy seems to fade and fizzle out as the new calendar rolls out.  Then, responsibilities pile up.  Then, our bandwidth tends to shrink.  And before we know it, we're pulled back into the familiar current of obligations, far from the shore we hoped for😁😁😁

Nope, I DON'T buy the version that we lack willpower OR discipline.  To be fair, most of us are and have been trying our darn best all along, right?  WHAT we often need though is the right kind of mindset combined with the appropriate support to help us stay the course WHEN life inevitably intervenes.  At this point, I have to admit, I am NO expert and I DON'T have a monopoly of the best advisories we can share and counsel for the upcoming year.  Year on year, we have evolved to become like experts!!!

So, WHAT else can we counsel?  Just some tidbits:

LIKE physical health and vitality

LIKE habits, mindset and purpose

LIKE living life with a joy and purpose

LIKE emotional and mental well-being

LIKE harmony, sort of aligning with the stars

LIKE financial health, which we need to work for it

LIKE communications, ensuring it's all in good faith

Our takeaway:  Regardless WHETHER you are a staunch believer that WHEN a new year kicks in, new hopes are enhanced and if there is lingering confidence, that just gets stronger.  BUT these are NOT figments akin to DIY solutions.  From Day-1 to Day-365 of Year 2026, it behooves that we be consistent in our pursuit of the plans we will [OR have plotted] as aligned with our preset GOALS.  Hoping everyone keeps track of one's progress [OR even non-progress, ouch, for 2026.  In 7 months, we'll be welcoming 2027💥💥💥

Beware Of BROWSER FINGERPRINTING

 

BROWSER FINGERPRINTING!  Sound techie?  YES it seems BUT before you shun this off in an instant, allow me to beg you to hang-on for a minute please?  BUT I won't be a hypocrite to claim domain knowledge about it because I am NOT and I DON'T have it.  Instead, allow me to piggy-back on Ritoban Mukherjee's recent sharing via lifehacker.com as he highlights the risks way below the surface and offers a cost-free solution WHICH even non-techies like us can consider☝☝☝

Allow me to quote EN TOTO Ritoban's sharing "Uninterrupted browsing used to be a lot simpler.  Disable third-party cookies, blacklist known tracking domains and get an ad blocker.  BUT now, online platforms can pick on things like your screen resolution, basic hardware specs, timezone, and installed fonts to establish a fingerprint unique to your browser and device.  Websites can query a lot of seemingly harmless data from your device without prompting any security reaction"!!!

WHAT's scarier here is that unlike cookies, "FINGERPRINTING does NOT require a website to install files OR extensions to your web browser.  Instead, it uses server-side and JavaScript-executed signals to collect innocuous details about your device and setup".  IF that does NOT scare you, in the simplest terms, it can likely breach through your login credentials to your online banking.  There you go, lock, stock and barrel❌❌❌

Is there a FIX RIGHT NOW?  Yes there is, and it's FREE.  Accessing for free EFF's "COVER YOUR TRACKS", I was able to run FREE scans that showed me exactly HOW EXPOSED my device is/was.  The site generates an immediate report that tells me WHETHER I have cookies or trackers enabled in my browser, along with the types of data my device is "LEAKING" that can then be accessed by FINGERPRINTING technology.  BUT the thing is, we CAN'T fully stop browser fingerprinting because the technology does NOT rely on a single point of access to collect data from our device💥💥💥

Our takeaway:  WHILE there is no fool-proof FIX to this BROWSER FINGERPRINTING, I can attest that by leveraging on 'COVER YOUR TRACKS' [which offers the 'FREE SCAN' of your browser], I am alerted at the earliest possible time WHEN a potential data leak becomes imminent.  Dude, please DON'T shun off from this practical advice simply because you'll claim you're NOT a techie [BUT hey, this piece is for laymen like us😂😂😂

Fading Goals? Oh No!

 

GOALS GOALS GOALS.  Boring words BUT this an earth-shaking word that reverberates across our life.  To complement GOALS, look out there, we're even drowning in a sea of self-development.  Tons and tons of self-driven online courses, life coaches volunteering around and even the deluge of self-proclaimed gurus lording it all over social media, Meta FB, Tiktok, name it.  They preach about longterm plans and even pitch via podcasts.  BUT HOW's the state of our GOALS to date???

True, we are witnessing parade of perfectly optimized people.  BUT WHEN you're just a regular person like you and me, trying to get by, it's hard NOT to feel q little cynical [especially WHEN we hit those unexpected bumps] WHERE does that lead us to?  And NOT to badmouth the gurus, WHERE do they find time to sort of meditate for hours OR that sum of monies to fly to the 'jungle' to 'find themselves'???

NOT to feel negative, it feels easy to get the feeling that those self-improvement 'games' are rigged for people WHO started off the race with a huge advantage.  BUT WHAT about the rest of us?  The ones WHO ride the metro OR the bus, running small businesses, work demanding jobs and promise ourselves tons and tons of resolutions every January 1st, that the next upcoming year will offer us an immense sheet of sea change in our life???

Then that brings us back to GOALS GOALS GOALS.  WHY CAN'T we find out WHY?  Take some time to think  WHAT does your ideal life look like?  WHAT do you enjoy now and WHAT do you want to get rid of?  Your true GOALS are the ones that align with that vision, right?  In that manner, it will be easier and more enjoyable to achieve because they get powered by your GENUINE desire, and NOT triggered even by external pressures [that includes people and the prevailing circumstances that tend to influence you]💥💥💥

Our takeaway:  WHEN we buckle down to GOALS, let's make it REAL, dude.  Once you have an idea, let your rational mind have a look.  Is it realistic?  Planning to negotiate a deal in a language you CAN'T even order a burger might be a stretch, right?  YES YES yoww, your GOALS must challenge you and NOT set you up for failure. And definitely, NOT to precipitate your GOALS to fade.  That CAN'T and MUSN'T be, dude😡😡😡

What Works, Works!

 

WHAT WORKS, WORKS, period. WHENEVER we stumble down, WHENEVER we fall flat on our face, WHENEVER we suffer all the bruises black and blue, WHAT happens next?  We'll start pondering to go back to the drawing board, redraw, revamp and if needed reinvent the wheel right from scratch.  BUT multiple researches proved that flops and failures do NOT mean that we go back and reinvent the wheel because more often, all it needs is a tweak here and there💚💛💜

Even in the topsy-world of the NBA world, a failure does NOT mean a hard reboot OR reset follows suit.  Looking at the Indiana Pacers, they bagged the Eastern Conference Title and went on to the NBA Finals only to lose to the Oklahoma Thunders.  This year, they are down there at the pits, hugging the cellar.  WHAT a difference a half-year brings indeed!!!

We can draw lots of parallelisms between our daily life and WHAT's going on in the NBA basketball world.  You're UP yesterday and you could be down today BUT before one gets tempted to press the panic button, WHY not take that concerted effort for a deep-seated post-mortem to figure out WHAT went wrong and more importantly, validate if the loss OR failure was a close shave between winning OR losing OR was it a runaway loss WHEREIN you did eat the dust?  That validation is critical because WHAT WORKS WORKS and yet, many of us would miss that opportunity to pull the brakes and instead, we end up to be more prone to pressing that panic button pronto, ouch💥💥💥

IF you're in the production line, PROBABLY it was just a single misstep that deviated from the SOP.  IF you're  behind the steering wheel for a long drive and ended up in a mishap, MAYBE you were a second late in your reflec reactions to quickly pull the brakes WHEN a dog running berserk suddenly crossed the highway, causing you to go offtrack?  IF it's a personal cash flow issue, maybe you had one big-ticket item that impacted your budget❎❎❎

Our takeaway:  Picking up from the hard lessons I did pick up along those road patches, it pays to constantly remember that WHAT WORKS, WORKS and that should tremendously calm down our nerves WHEN we feel LIKE we're in a pressure cooker simmering at the seams.  Take a deep breath and after stabilizing things, get back to that oft repeated declarative statement that WHAT WORKS WORKS dude😀😀😀

NOT All Answers Are Correct Answers

 

Typically on average everyday, HOW many questions do we stumble across WHETHER it's asked on us OR questions WHICH we silently ask ourselves?  Could be curious questions, mundane questions, those essential questions OR even self-reflection questions?  There are no pegged averages because it really depends on one's prevailing circumstances.  Obviously, if you are teaching in the academe, expect hundreds of those questions, right?  BUT we WON'T delve into that but drill-down in handling our very own questions💚💛💜

Let's face it.  The real world we face-off everyday is messy enough.  Fact is, we DON'T have all the answers in our daily life.  And that's the best part.  To quote Irish singer Bono, THE MORE YOU SEE, THE LESS YOU KNOW.  THE LESS YOU FIND OUT AS YOU GO.  I KNEW MUCH MORE THEN THAT I DO NOW.     I need NOT look any WHERE else.  Many times in my life, I made a decision because I needed it and NOT because I really wanted it.  Again and again, that vicious cycle most often happened to me in numerous forays in the labor market.  Driven by my goals a.k.a. ambitions, I kept angling for this and that plum job.  Having started my career with Shell, one of the top global organizations recognized across markets, I [wrongly] believed that the only way to go was up up up!!!

The truth is, more often, those decisions I made were the answers BUT were NOT the correct answers to the questions I was facing multiple times in the past.  WHILE it is NOT debatable that our needs and necessity come first amongst anything else. there is a catch there that may NOT be so obvious on the surface.  Sometimes[and in my case, many times], things get so blurred.  OR from a different dimension, WHEN you're right there standing in front the trees, you CAN'T see the forest anymore.  And that's the thing.  This is WHERE we should give some serious thought to reevaluate our decisions before succumbing to it.  And if need be, reinvent ourselves😃😃😃

WHAT I'm harping here is that, there are decision points in our life WHERE we need to be 'larger than life' itself.  UNLESS one is in the midst of those outliers, knock on wood, like terroristic OR medical situations, it's more than just taking a huge leap of faith.  It's true, results and outcomes matter BUT the bigger question is, were those results and outcomes the most appropriate to happen?  Difficult pills to shallow BUT those instances recurred in my life many times all because I [wrongly[ thought over and over again that ALL ANSWERS WERE CORRECT ANSWERS, which is NOT really the case💥💥💥

Our takeaway:  Before I get whacked here, it is very rare to have 'CUT AND DRY' answers to every question.  Hardly, if at all.  In fact, for questions in life that are more complex than simple.  I'll draw a parallelism with the rubik's cube.  One has to approach situations from multiple dimensions until the complexity gets magnified enough to be simpler than complex.  Because after all is said and done, NOT ALL ANSWERS ARE CORRECT ANSWERS!!!