Ditching Some Communications Habits

 

NOT to nitpick but WHEN the calendar year flips, ISN'T it about time that we take a pause as well and figure out if we've got any  COMMUNICATIONs HABITS we can possibly ditch? Allow me to share here a Tagalog one-liner "BATO-BATO SA LANGIT, ANG TAMAAN HUWAG MAGAGALIT" [translated DON'T FEEL OFFENDED WHEN YOU HEAR IT] because I'll rattle some of our most common communication habits WHICH I encourage [SHOULD I say plead OR beg] you to consider DITCHING some of these COMMUNICATION HABITS😡😡😡

• Leaving people "ON READ" - YES YES yowww you'd know WHEN you send someone an SMS and you can tell they READ it BUT they NEVER respond for 12 anxiety-filled hours.  Sounds familiar? YES, that is NOT a legislative ACT but a "DISAPPEARING ACT".  Ditch it!  
• BREADCRUMBING - That buzzy term describes the slow drip of attention that never quite develops into anything meaningful.  LIKE suggesting get-togethers that NEVER happen, with nary even a token follow-through

• MINIMIZING others' concerns - LIKE you DON'T want to get dragged into a conflict and you end up with MINIMIZATION with reactions LIKE "IT'S NOT AS BAD AS YOU THINK" or "IT'S NOT LIKE A BIG DEAL"
• Video calls IN PUBLIC!@#$%? - I've seen this a zillion times.  Those are personal calls and IF you're seated next to a stranger, surely that stranger does NOT does NOT want to become that unwitting background in your video call

• TEXT-TRAPPING friends - Here's a NOT so funny exchange I witnessed:  DO YOU HAVE PLANS FOR TONIGHT?  Then the SMS recipient assumes that you want to have dinner or something and WHEN your friend responds LIKE No I'm free, you retort LIKE "I need a ride to the airport tonight".  WHAT?  Holy cow!
• GUNNYSACKING - Heard someone's litany, spewing a long list of frustrations, grievances and hurt feelings [either to your partner/spouse, close friends or people you interact closely].  Studies show that this can a toll on relationships!

Our takeaway:  All these may seem petty stuff BUT it's NOT dude.  If we simply ignore these communications habits, eventually, this can take its toll on you, on people close to you [both at home, at work OR even in business].  At the end of the day, the consequences and/or ramifications will end up impacting our various levels of relationships with loved ones, with close friends, business and work colleagues.  YES dude, please do SERIOUSLY consider DITCHING SOME COMMUNICATIONS HABITS, pronto please😉😉😉

Someone's TRASH Could Be Your TREASURE

 

Our latest world population as of 2025 has hit 8.23 billion [and counting].  YET, we share a lot of commonalities across cultures, countries and even religion.  In fact, things have evolved significantly.  WHILE before, Christmas seemed to be an exclusive for Christians, these days, even other religions [YES, even athiest] have embraced it as a season to celebrate [without embracing [BUT of course] the Christian rituals].  YET, we are also different from each other.  NOT only do we look, think and act differently BUT we also like different things.  BTW, even identical twins may look the same BUT are very different individuals.  And that realization led me today to dissect the given that SOMEONE'S TRASH COULD BE YOUR TREASURE [OR the other way]📗📙📘

There are tons and tons of scenarios WHERE SOMEONE'S TRASH COULD BE YOUR TREASURE [OR the other way].  Let's rattle off randomly.  LIKE an artist's painting may look like a team of monkeys painted BUT to the artist, that's a masterpiece.  WHEN someone plays kind of 'hard rock' music, it could be an eerie noise to some BUT to someone else, that's MUSIC TO HIS EARS [and he TREASURES it]❗❗❗

YES, different strokes for different folks means that people live in dfferent ways and value different things in fact.  And one of the extreme comparison of course are those stuff WHERE one treasures, love and adores it BUT to me and you, it's akin to something that's 'throwable', NOT worth to even glance [OR worse keep] for a second.  BUT that's a fact of life we need to unconditionally embrace💚💛💜

So, WHAT does this mean to us?  Simple.  Let's NOT, by default, shun off OR shrug off something OR any stuff for the sheer fact that it's NOT our own 'cup of tea'.  Surely, there is a level of value [OR at least, usefulness] on most stuff WHICH even from your perspective you CAN'T reach that level of least appreciation.  WHO knows, today you even treat it as trash because you CAN'T ever imagine owning or needing it [BUT that's for today]. You and me would NEVER know WHAT's in store come next day, NOT in the distant future.  I've witnessed first hand people WHO ended up eating their own words because at one point, they treated something as trash BUT one day, they treasured it✅✅✅

Our takeaway:  Before I get bashed for unnecessarrily spending time on petty stuff, through the years, I've witnessed storied pursuits that was at the precipice of SUCCESS but only to end up as a FAILURE because the people at the front line tagged something as TRASH WHEN it was something he should have appreciated at lease at a level of acceptance because at some point, he could have leveraged on it.  Another scary sharing here. I have seen relationships fail, all because there was a disconnect between partners/spouses simply because SOMEONE'S TREASURE was tagged outright as TRASH😡😡😡

WHAT Is the 'UNHURRIED' Pace Of Life?

 

Bonus question folks.  WHAT is the UNHURRIED pace of life?  Quick one.  There is NO answer to that question because simply put, there are NO hard numbers to be pegged to that.  NOT even if we do an apples-to-apples by comparing Elon Musk and Paul Zuckerberg.  WHY?  Because there are one too many variables that are too [constantly] fluid☝☝☝

Let's face it.  WHEN life is fast paced, we DON'T even have the time to take in much more than WHAT is immediate in that very moment, WHICH is, the task at hand.  Oh yes yes yes, I was in that kind of predicament a zillion times before even as I thought that I had an 'inner voice' telling me to PACE myself.  True, we must move through life at various paces [because there is NO ONE SIZE THAT FITS ALL].  True, sometimes we're able to take a slow pace and other times we must pick that pace up😡😡😡

WHAT's our FIX?  Ultimately, we would need to search for that 'balance' because WHEN we become 'unbalanced' in the PACE of our life, it's very clear as our systems either started to deplete due to a PACE that may be too fast OR at the other end of the spectrum, WHEN we get that sort of lethargic feeling because our PACE has slowed down way too long.  YES, that's our time to take action!!!

Most of the time, we're likely being productive, we DON'T often have that time to even reflect on the current situation.  Those are the times WHEN the small details may get forgotten [OR at least at times overlooked] and in the end, we commit some silly mistakes.  Thing is, WHEN life is slow-paced way too long, it can become a challenge to sit with ourselves and that can cause that unexpected anxiety OR simply just that kind of lethargic feeling of NOT being useful.  We may begin to put too much focus on things that have very little impact in life OR focus too much even on the lives of others.  At this point, we have NOT even discussed that moderate PACE, that kind of PACE which should make us comfortable😌😌😌

Our takeaway:  At times, the PACE in our life moves around in a way that can push us in one direction OR the other.  LIKE if your close friend is in a highly PACED life, likely OR not, they might [unwittingly] pull you to their much faster PACE.  So, WHILE we we have set our own PACE, the influence of others can change that as well.  At the end of the day, we should mitigate that risk of external factors impacting our very self-dictated PACE just right for us!!!

If We Were A Pollywog, WHY Dream To Be A Lion?

 

YES YES yow, if you're a pollywog, DON'T ever dream to be a lion!  The thing is, in life, sometimes we tend to overlook WHAT we are, WHERE we came from and HOW's our capabilities and potentials.  That misguided confidence could probably explain WHY even in my own country, in all presidential elections, there are nusisance candidates WHO are actually nuisance candidates.  Of course, the government's Election Commission crafted laws to manage those nuisance candidates BUT again, WHEN executed, those laws had more holes and pitfalls than well-tightened execution parameters.  In our life, we often hear that we need to be aggressive and assertive as we plot out our goals and ambitions in life.  And I'll admit that I am one of its firm believers.  And I'll humbly admit that I did reap a number of modest successes in life, no thanks to being aggressive enough.  BUT lest I be doubted as taking back my words, I'll openly admit that as a pollywog, I never dreamt to be a lion, huhuhu❎❎❎

The thing is, much as ambitions in life are more often deemed positive and encouraging, let's face it, NOT every Tom, Dick and Harry is best to aspire to be a lion if he's a pollywog.  I myself, much as I am an ardent student and follower of geo-politics, never in my life have I dreamt to even come approximately close to someone with the vast geo-politics power of Donald Trump OR Vladimir Putin.  NOT even in my dreams.  WHY?  Simple dude.  I know that as a pollywog, I CAN'T dream to be a lion👌👌👌

Dude, you can always retort that everyone is entitled to be a dreamer.  Ja.  Oo, Shi Die.  Si.  BUT my blunt unsolicited advice, that's just fine to be nursing even the biggest dreams ever BUT let's leave it at that.  Hoping you DON'T unnecessarily spend so much resources for a lost cause.  Hoping you DON'T exert unncessary efforts for an exercise in futility💥💥💥

Instead, let us funnel the biggest chunk of our attention, efforts, priorities and resources on endeavors and initiatives that are realistic enough, doable and achievable.  WHY waste your resources, energy and time on something that is, hands down, deemed as a LOST CAUSE?  WHAT gains will you reap off then?  True, it could boost one's confidence BUT from a benefits-cost analysis, WHEN we're in a lost cause, WHAT is left for us to justify the unneccessary spend of efforts and resources, NOT counting the undue pressures and stress one has to endure, NO thanks for thinking that a pollywog can be a lion, ouch❌❌❌

Our takeaway:  This is as crystal clear as the pristine waters of Maldives.  You should know yourself INSIDE OUT, with NO unknowns, NO IFs, NO BUTs.  It's never a crime to dream BIG BUT if we were to dream things way beyond WHAT we are capable of, does the end justify that 'BIGTIME' dream itself?  At the end of the day, dreams are meant to help us visualize and crystallize all the ambiguities into concreteness.  From thereon, we wil draft our 'blueprint' WHICH will become the basis for us to execute our gameplan[s].  Indeed, If We Were A Pollywog, WHY Dream To Be A Lion?  Think about it dude.  Dreams that remain dreams on paper needs us to rethink things over and over again dude😡😡😡

Iron Out Those WRINKLES!

 

WRINKLES WRINKLES WRINKLES.  NO sirrrrrs.  We WON'T meddle into anyone's household and domestic concerns. And NOT even to your beauty and aesthetics.  BUT rather, let's peek into the WRINKLES in life because I'm confident and cocksure enough that there is NO single life with NO WRINKLES at all!@#$%?  We can randomly pick any facet in our daily lives and I guarantee you that there are existing WRINKLES here and there.  Worst of all, some of our WRINKLES in life would be [negatively] impactful to the extent that it creates a domino-effect down even into our relationships [even with partners/spouses and your loved ones].  BTW, I learned this long time back and very recently, I heard it from my sister-in-law:  YOU WON'T [really] KNOW A PERSON WELL ENOUGH NOT UNTIL YOU LIVE UNDER ONE ROOF.  Oh Oh Oh, well said📗📙📘

Even in the rough-and-tumble world of NBA basketball where in each ballclub there are one too many movable pieces [those are players leaving the team, joining the team OR even being strategized by coaches to take on role-specific tasks [e.g. Center, Forward, Guard]], the onus is on each of the team's strategists and coaches to identify and recognize those WRINKLES within the team and iron it out.  In the NBA where 82 games covers one full season, coaches are expected to have IRONED THE WRINKLES latest-latest sometime/around the halfway mark of the season, i.e. after around 40-42 games.  Otherwise, that team may be likely in deep '_____' the remainder of the season😡😡😡

So, here's a giveaway question:  Do we expect to have WRINKLE-free lives?  NO sirrrrs, NOT at all.  WHILE in our childhood, many of us learned that we need to be perfect, that we need to look in a particular way, act a particular way, and meet other people's expectations even at the expense of our very own well-being, those impossibly high standards are unrealistic to say the least.  NO one can just approximate being near-perfect✅✅✅

Circumstances, relationships and engagements are NEVER and will NEVER be perfect.  WRINKLES will be there, left-right-front-rear, trust me.  So WHAT's our fix?  Tweak and fine-tune as far and as much as it is feasible.  NOTE that we're saying AS MUCH AS FEASIBLE.  WHY do we highlight FEASIBLE?  It's because some of us tend to either give up OR simply ignore the need to adapt OR at the very least, to tweak and fine-tune stuff✅✅✅

Our takeaway:  Let's run some WHAT IFs here.  WHAT IF you ignore those WRINKLES either in your engagements, relationships OR interactions?  Sadly, I cam frankly tell you that you will MISS the boat, MISS that chance to right the wrongs OR at the very least, to smoothen any rough edges, trim stuff that seem to protrude and miss that sage advice that WHEN we're in a standoff, an impasse, consider MEETING HALFWAY, that give-and-take kind of thing?  YES, let's endeavor to IRON OUT THOSE WRINKLES [in life]👍👍👍

LESS IS MORE! Is it?

 

LESS IS MORE!  NO sirrrrrrs.  Before I get suspected of infringing into IP [Intellectual Property] rights, I'm NOT referring to a home services in New Zealand which has expanded significantly.  LESS IS MORE embodies that idea that simplicity leads to much better clarity and ultimately, to a more profound form of beauty.  To the many believers of being a MINIMALIST, LESS IS MORE can infer to multiple stuff LIKE owning LESS stuff, focusing on FEWER tasks OR having LESS in the way if only to give us more time, more freedom, more bandwidth and more resources we can tap for much more meaningful purposes.  In communications, it speaks volumes WHEN we hear LESS IS MORE as it seems to buttress the argument that saying OR spewing LESS words can, in fact, be more effective than spewing out MORE words in fact💜💛💚

From a literary perspective, LESS IS MORE means that simplicity is many folds better than any kind of elaborate embellishment and sometimes, something SIMPLE will likely look better than something complicated OR even elaborate in its look and feel.  Tracing back [to give WHERE credit is due], LESS IS MORE was first heard in 1855 from a poem by English poet and playwright Robert Browning.  Till to date, millions of folks have embraced this expression more than just as a philosophy OR inspiration BUT more impressively, even manifesting this the way we live our daily lives💧💧💧

The very essence of this expression can be deduced to the fact that, at times, we can end up overdoing something.  LIKE for movies, having one too many dialogues in an action movie could disappoint the viewers because they expected fight scenes BUT instead, viewers found lots of sitting around and talking scenes.  In that situation, LESS dialogue is MORE effective for an action movie.  And this idea is so much applicable to many different facets in our daily lives💥💥💥

Looking back through my life experiences, I did learn [sometimes the HARD way] that having MORE will potentially help trigger OR cause a disconnect that can worsen into a conflict [especially WHEN that heavy barrage of exchanges of words will transpire].  And before we know it, our frail and vulnerable emotions would join the fray until the situation becomes a full-blown conflict❌❌❌

Our takeaway:  We can even dissect into the field of arts WHERE LESS IS MORE is much embraced both by artists and art lovers.  Add in the threads veering into aesthetics and beauty, then LESS IS MORE becomes the more compelling message that resonates day-in day-out.  As we live our daily lives, let's consider LESS IS MORE as a guiding light more than anything else😊😊😊

2 Million Views and Counting....

 

2 Million Views and Counting.  YES I was watching Netflix's RUN AWAY starring James Nesbitt.  As he faces uncontrollable challenges managing his daughter, he ends up mauling a homeless thug.  And as much as he expected compassion and understanding from everyone for having a huge problem in her maverick and activist-minded daughter, that DOESN'T happen💚💛💜

Instead, as he was hitting that homeless thug that looked more like he was the mauler and the latter was the victim, people were taking their videos of that fight that happened in the middle of a public park.  Even as he was released by the police with no charges, by the time he went home, he was so drained and down by then.  And expectedly, he thought he could feel the compassion and sympathy at least from his wife as he's the purported victim in those circumstances💦💦💦

Quick lesson here.  These days, WHETHER you are on the correct side OR you are on the wrong side, our unseen nemesis here is social media WHEREIN once it captures something, before you know it, you were in the center of a video with 2 million views and counting.  And the harsh reality there is that today's video can distort the real truth of a situation BUT instead, people [running in the millions [and still counting]] will continue to unfairly FEAST UPON YOU in circumstances WHERE you are totally unable to defend yourself?  WHY?  Because those people sort of 'throwing stones on you' are faceless.  HOW can you defend your hapless self then???

That's the harsh reality of social media.  Once things get viral and you happen to be in the middle of a storm, HOW can you protect your name and honor if you happen to be one of the COLLATERAL DAMAGES of an incident you DIDN'T least expected to just pop-up in the most unlikely timings?  Indeed, the harshness of a so called informal 'grand jury' WHEN you are caught in the middle of a sandstorm❎❎❎

Our takeaway:  NOT to unduly cause a scare across because I myself I continue to embrace social media everyday, the obvious takeaway here is to CHOOSE YOUR BATTLES and if you are in the middle of a disconnect that turns into a raging conflict, be very mindful if one of the protagonists will leverage on social media.  Even IF not done in bad faith, once the damage is done on you, that CAN'T be UNDONE dude.  Remember WHEN there are 2 million views and counting😡😡😡

Quote 'WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD'

 

Before we get suspected of plagiarism, allow me to piggy-back on that "WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD" as a spin-off from the Firestone Tires ad campaigns in the 1950s [as per AI].  WHICH reminds me during my stint with Goodyear, another global tire player, much as we wanted to hitch on that one-liner, we CAN'T as it happens to emanate from another market player.  BUT allow me to ride on that to draw its parallelism to our daily lives💚💛💜

Simply put, "WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD" refers to the moments in our life WHERE we need to put to test anything that has been discussed, deliberated and plotted on paper and in theory.  It's jumping from the drawing board straight into the frying pan [and NOT the fire yet anyways].  Almost all of us went through years of education and post-graduation, we get rolled-in for on-the-job trainings and all sorts of entry-level workplace programmes!!!

And IF you ask me WHAT's the failure rate post "WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD" phases, I DON'T have the validated statistics.  Even AI confirms that thee are NO universal failure statistics.  So, allow me to speculate that FAILURE RATES post "WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD" could go anywhere between 30 to 60% [+/- 10% as its error of margin].  YES, that's how it can go up💥💥💥

The thing is, almost everyone fails and flops especially in one's first foray[s] into a domain that was totally foreign to him prior to plunging into that new field.  WHEN I got introduced into IBM's mainframe computing, I DIDN'T have either the heads OR tails of computing.  Admittedly, I had to exert more than the mean efforts for me to reach and achieve the acceptable absorption level that aligns with the industry norms and thresholds.  WHAT we're harping now is that IF and WHEN THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD, it's very fine to fail, flop and flounder✅✅✅

Our takeaway:  Allow me to repeat that IF and WHEN THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD, it's very fine to fail, flop and flounder.  I did fail, did flop and did flounder zillion times over BUT if there's one thing I refused to succumb, I DIDN'T want to flip over, surrendering and abandoning my plans and its execution simply because I hit a road hump OR worse, I hit my head on a concrete wall.  Instead, I told myself, this and that failure means I am a step closer to realizing my goals and achieving the very success I crystallized for myself.  YES dude, WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD, carry on, never give up and abandon things.  CARRY ON dude😀😀😀

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😡😡😡