Stop Saying 'YES' To Everyone & Everything

 

If I blurt out a blanket statement like STOP SAYING 'YES' TO EVERYONE & EVERYTHING, I have to admit that I may be mistaken for sheer braggadocio because that's easier said than done, right?  HOW can a child who keeps kowtowing his parent NOT say YES?  HOW can a student NOT say YES WHEN his academic professor assigns other random tasks for him [even to his detriment]?  And if you're into sales and marketing, HOW can you NOT say YES WHEN your potential customer [for a juicy contract] keeps asking for multiple FOCs [free of charge] service OR product provisions?  And if you are a newly onboarded employee, HOW can you NOT say YES to your boss WHO dumps this and that task to you right on your Day-1?  Just one too many realities in life WHERE it seems we are hapless and helpless NOT to say YES TO EVERYONE & EVERYTHING💚💛💜

I remember by Day-1 at Shell where I had the first taste of a blue-chip workplace and by noon time, our Dutch expat boss invited me for lunch.  To my personal shock, he brought me over to his favorite nightlife haunt, a nearby chic club WHERE, even with the blistering heat at noon time, we were in that cool club having our lunch while we were entertained on stage by the club's 'stars'.  I'm NOT giving any excuses here BUT at that moment in time, my Day-1 @Shell, HOW CAN I NOT SAY 'YES' [and that's to my boss at that time]???

Obviously, there are tons of realities in life WHICH are hardly part of the pre-scripted narratives in life.  NOT to besmirch our school and academic mentors [and even our immediate families], as we were raised up from childhood, for a thousand times, we were taught to say YES to the elders.  And rightfully, there's nothing wrong with that, per se, except that that's simply 'old school', period.  And I'd admit that that was more prevalent especially in the third world where people were more culture-centric compared to the first world people WHO were more opinionated and WHO were more vocal and frank to a point that they often claimed being autonomous even to those 'seniors' or authorities either in government, school OR organizations💧💧💧

Admittedly, I used to SAY TO EVERYTHING!  Even WHEN I migrated to Singapore, things just turned from bad to worse because if prior to migrating, I was saying YES 70% of the time, WHEN I became a naturalized Singapore citizen, I realized I was saying YES more than 70% of the time.  NO excuses.  NO alibis.  I lost the handle of things during those times BUT before things could have turned from worse to worst, I realized that that was the final call, the 'clarion call' for me to shape up and realize WHAT's right and WHAT's not💥💥💥

Our takeaway:  If I have a so obvious REALIZATION in life, it's that giveaway fact that REALIZATIONs will always happen post a situation OR incident.  You just CAN'T expect to push the cart ahead of the horse.  BUT the glimmer of hope here is that, if we can share even a simple insight like this, that REALIZATION can be averted if we're to raise our self-awareness that you CAN'T be flagged down to say NO when, in good faith, your conscience and judgment tells you that you are on the right side for saying NO regardless WHO you are interacting OR engaging to.  YES dude, STOP SAYING 'YES' to everyone and everything😡😡😡

Stretching Yourself Way Too Far?

 

In Channelnewsasia sourced from Rome, Austrian extreme sports pioneer Felix Baumgartner, famed for his record-breaking 2012 skydive from the edge of space, died almost two months ago as he lost control of his motorised paraglider WHILE flying over Porto Sant'Elpidio in Italy.  The reason or cause for the accident was unclear BUT we WON'T delve into that.  Instead, I picked up a thread here, our human tendency to 'over stretch' ourselves, sometimes it's mind-boggling😟😟😟

STRETCHING OURSELF WAY TOO FAR is often our very own fault.  Please DON'T get me wrong.  I am NOT aghast and NOT against people showing their wares and expertise for the simple reason that that's their field, their 'cup of tea'.  I remember watching the Netflix documentary WHEN Alex Honnold was able to successfully scale the 1,667-foot Taipe 101 skycraper in Taiwan without ropes, harnesses OR even a safety gear👌👌👌

Imagine for a moment that you are working in an office.  Your typical 9 to 5 job, your own cubicle along with your departmental tasks.  You arrive into work optimistic and ready to take on the day.  You start working WHEN suddenly, your boss asks you to take on an additional assignment.  You know that you have a lot on your plate [an overflowing plate likely, ouch] BUT you DON'T want to just disappoint your boss [OR is it your kind of weak character WHEN you just CAN'T say NO to the bosses.  Seriously💥💥💥

BUT that's NOT the end-of-story even as you went through all the tasks throughout the day even as several of your work colleagues start approaching you as well, each one asking for HELP.  And each time they ask for HELP, you start to think about HOW much Xtra work you're doing, BUT you simply smile and agree to take it on, as you DON'T want to let anyone down.  A week passes and you notice that you're going to work less and less enthused. Suddenly your boss comes up and practically drags you to an adhoc 10:00 AM meeting❎❎❎

Our takeaway:  Without unduly speculating, I can safely guess that stress will begin to mount and exacerbate, then multiple deadlines are creeping and approaching.  Going through multiple environments which gave me those real-life experiences that were life-changing at times, I realized [over and over again] that even if you have the best intentions and your endeavors are all apprached in good faith, STRETCHING YOURSELF WAY TOO FAR will be more inimical than beneficial even within the short-term.  It may be true that you are exerting your darn best to 'deliver the goods' so to speak BUT when we're STRETCHING WAY TOO FAR, it will do more harm than good😡😡😡

Having A Crappy Day?

 

HOW often do you end up with CRAPPY DAYS?  Surely, it's NOT that often, right?  BUT I can bet absolutely that from time to time, you would end up at the receiving end on those CRAPPY DAYS, right?  And NOT to anyone's surprise, during those CRAPPY DAYS, either our day becomes chaotic OR messy OR at worst, we end up unproductive that day, missing to get things done for our priorities for that day.  BUT the recurring question I would hear is this:  CAN we avert OR avoid those CRAPPY days.  I'd quickly blurt, YES and NO.  YES by a long long long shot.  NO, because CRAPPY DAYS do happen and you've got to handle it, regardless of the eventual outcomes for that day💚💛💜

Let me thread back how I did weather those CRAPPY DAYS.  First off, I would always CHECK-IN.  Simply put, I accepted that that day will be a CRAPPY DAY and I am NOT that powerful enough to turn things around by 360 degrees [OR even by a 180 degrees].  By that CHECK-IN, I reset things from within me at least for that day💥💥💥

NEXT logical step, I will take immediate action to revisit my ACTION PLAN + PRIORITIES for that day.  Likely, if I pre-set 5 PRIORITIES, at best, I might be able to accomplish 2-3 PRIORITIES.  That's being realistic and pragmatic.  BUT obviously, revisiting your plan and priorities for that day [right at ZERO-HOUR] is a tough act to do.  Few times I attempted in the past and I did flop and fail.  WHY?  My own post-mortem tells me that during those times, I got rattled and ended somewhat in a 'state of panic', unfortunately.  BUT I learnt my lessons the hard way and the next times I ended up in those situations, I kept reminding myself to KEEP COOL and COMPOSED even during those times❗❗❗

Here's a tough call to make.  IF you anticipate the consequences and impact of your tweaking and changes for that day, you need to reassess how far it will impact others [and if it does, it behooves that you give that/those persons a heads-up and reset their expectations [obviously explaining your challenges for that day]].  Worst mistake we can make is tweak and change our priorities, oblivious of the consequences that will be deemed impactful to other people.  The last thing you want to end up is causing damages and post that damage, you will end up scampering to do that unnecessary damage control.  That's TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE, if you may❎❎❎

Our takeaway:  YES dude, in more CRAPPY DAYS than you could ever anticipate, we may NOT be super humans BUT if you are focused to turn things around, YES dude, you can still turn things around, albeit, it will likely take a lot more tons of effort and often times, some trade-offs, some quid pro quo, some 'balancing acts' to ascertain WHICH scenario you will end up less worse OR much better off.  NOT to scare our readership, many times I did bear witness to people WHO, WHEN they realized they had a CRAPPY DAY, they simply gave up and just abandoned all things as a lost cause.  Ouch, that's NOT the way to handle when HAVING A CRAPPY DAY😡😡😡

Health Is A LUXURY [More Than The Million Problems You're Bothered]!

 

YES YES yowwww, HEALTH IS A LUXURY [more than the millions of problems you're quite bothered] !@#$%? True, our life is kind of peppered with those countless [and at times endless and often overwhelming] challenges a.k.a. problems  [for most of us.  And it creeps way beyond the whole nine yards, from our financial woes to our children's school concerns and over to our relationship struggles [e.g. with IN-LAWS, IN-LAWS and IN-LAWS ouch].  BUT again, we are being coaxed and cautioned that we need to increase our consciousness and awareness that there is ONLY one problem we got to face head-on [and resolve it, where possible] and that's our HEALTH no less because that is the LUXURY we can't miss out in life, in fact📗📙📘

All along, with social media more often lording it over our daily lives, where we've been probably subscribing and following in IG, Meta FB and all those social feeds, we're bombarded [and sometimes buried under the bushel of oblivion] with that "MILLION PROBLEM" reality.  And NOT to downplay those stuff, it's true they've got to be fixed and resolved BUT there's a HUGE MISS and it is the fact that our priorities get turned upside down, NO thanks to that "MILLION PROBLEM" reality because in the very first place, we should NOT get 'hostaged' by it because there's something that's zillions of times much MORE important, MORE impactful and at times, MORE urgent [IF and WHEN, we got hit with 'it']💚💛💜

This is where we are being egged to consider that 'PERSPECTIVE SHIFT' wherein, instead of us getting so flummoxed with that "MILLION PROBLEM" reality, prioritizing HEALTH  [via CONSISTENT rest, nutrition and exercise] will pave the way for us for us to have a much better perspective given the tons of difficulties in life.  That recent Covid-19 Pandemic was like a rude awakening for mankind.  As the big majority were penny-conscious and were savings-focused, I heard 'horror' stories WHERE savings for a lifetime were wiped up WHEN health issues hit them, ouch💥💥💥

I've heard a huge throng of folks playing devil's advocate, declaring that every problem has a solution, WHICH IS A FACT!  And that there is NO problem without a solution, OBVIOUSLY!  BUT here's the game-changing question WHICH you might hear in the Miss Universe Pageant Finals Q&A:  HOW WILL YOU PRIORITIZE fixing and solving all your problems?  Of course, this is a giveaway and bonus question because, hands down,  it's got to be fixing HEALTH issues❗❗❗

Our takeaway:  I WON'T get tired blurting that age-old cliche HEALTH IS WEALTH.  And that's the kind of WEALTH that is more and most valued way over any of our properties and monies, business and investments.  Even rolling them all up together may be a drop in the bucket [EXCEPT maybe if you're in the big league of the Elon Musks and Paul Zuckerbergs].  BUT those folks sum up to less than a single drop of water across the ocean's vastness.  Here's the take then.  You have every inherent right to manage your life's priorities BUT please 'bump up' and 'push up' HEALTH up there in the totem pole because burying it deep down your priority list will be one of the most regrettable  things TO DO BUT NEVER actioned.  YES dude, HEALTH IS A LIXURY [More than the Million Problems you're bothered]😡😡😡

Gift-wrapping In Life a.k.a. Sugar-coating

 

GIFT-WRAPPING IN LIFE?  a.k.a. sugar-coating.  Per se, GIFT-WRAPPING OR SUGAR-COATING is generally NOT a wrong thing to do.  NOT to be defensive when we get wronged by people WHO do SUGAR-COAT, more often than not, people do SUGAR-COAT for reasons they [personally] feel makes them right for doing so.  LIKE people with fear of conflict, some people worry telling the truth as it may next trigger an argument OR a conflict!@#$%?

WHAT I witnessed more often is that some of us are apprehensive hurting someone's self-esteem OR worse, straining OR even eventually causing a relationship to collapse.  There were outlier narratives I did witness wherein people simply prefer to be liked than be viewed as either harsh OR overly critical, reasons that often remain unspoken BUT which can end up impactful at the very least, to oneself, as effectively, he does NOT come out to be seriously honest up front to himself.  As the old cliche goes, THE END DOES NOT JUSTIFY THE MEANS❎❎❎

WHEN is GIFT-WRAPPING OR SUGAR-COATING at its worst to happen?  Tough call.  YES, WHEN feedback is needed OR solicited and we end up sharing SUGAR-COATED feedback, imagine it's akin to imparting a message that at its best is a half-truth OR at its worst, it comes out as a falsehood and fabrication all rolled into one.  Once we SUGAR-COAT feedback, it's akin to burying the lead underneath a pile of niceties, so much so that the main message is NOT effectively delivered OR imparted.  Feedback sandwiches are one example of SUGARGOATING feedback, WHICH is no less wrong.  Imagine we want to avoid that short-term discomfort of having a conversation BUT aware enough that an honest-to-goodness conversation  must happen💧💧💧

End-result of SUGAR-COATING feedback?  True, it still results in feedback happening, kind of, BUT it happens in an ineffective manner, that it becomes even worse than avoiding the feedback entirely.  And WHY will it be wose?  Because the person delivering that SUGAR-COATED feedback tends to have that illusion that the feedback of conversation took place WHEREAS the person on the receiving end did NOT actually receive the message💥💥💥

Our takeaway:  Surely, there are those obvious underlying reasons WHY SUGAR-COATING of feedback does happen BUT WHAT is NOT becoming so apparent is that it makes it difficult for a leader to speak up and in the end, SUGAR-COATING makes it difficult and at times nearly impossible for anyone to course correct, if at all.  YES, frankly, SUGAR-COATING feedback can lead to frustration and even confusion on both sides.  So, WHY get into GIFT-WRAPPING and SUGAR-COATING😡😡😡

After The Rains, Got To Deal With Mud Too!

 

YES but of course dude, we all PRAY FOR THE RAIN, right?  BUT were we forewarned that after all the RAIN, we GOT TO DEAL WITH MUD too?  I stumbled this catchy one-liner from one of the hit movies of Denzel Washington.  And it CAN'T be farther from the truth.  In the simplest terms, anything you ask for will always have its consequences, and you've got to deal with it [UNLESS you want to run away from it]???

IF you want to widen your horizons and decide by exploring new job opportunities in a foreign country, we've got to remember that every place is unique by itself.  Moreover, as you move into another country, that's another culture, another environment to live with.  And do you think that things will run 'auto pilot' such that you can just be the same version of yourself as you used to be prior to moving to a new country.  NO sirrrrrrs.  You've got to sweat it out.  You're likely to revisit the whole nine years of your life because this is NOT replicating the same life in a totally different environment❌❌❌

True, WHEN you got hit with drought, you had to rethink things and WHEN you found a viable solution, you can't be compared to another commercial airplane which just has to wait for the GREEN signal from the control tower for it to taxi its way towards the runway and position itself for takeoff.  NOT to frighten you, you might need to overhaul a lot from within you!!!

LIKE WHEN you have been angling for a plum job and here comes D-Day WHEN you got promoted.  After all the hullabaloo has simmered down, you've got to buckle down to work and if previously, your job role was as an 'IC' [individual contributor] and now you are thrust to a role managing people, you may need to realize that that new plum job is NOT just a swivel chair-based job role BUT it's a new role that may require you to roll up your sleeves and work on your soft skills💥💥💥

Our takeaway:  To piggy-back on a very old cliche, NO PAIN, NO GLORY.  If you want to go and reach the next level, it behooves on you to enhance your capabilities [and that includes your soft skills and ALL the intangibles] because at the end of the day, life is always a matter of trade-offs.  NO easy easy.  NO cake walks.  NO unlimited food served on a platter.  Sadly, I witnessed first hand people WHO did successfully reach the next level only to kind of fumble and fail.  WHY?  Simple.  They [WRONGLY] thought and expected that all he has to do is maintain the status quo and this time around, enjoy all the perks and benefits he expected to reap AFTER THE RAINS poured in.  You're totally eskewed dude if that's your mindset because that's a fallacy that should never be given weight at all😡😡😡

No Easy Rivers To Cross

 

WHILE I DON'T claim to be a dyed-in the-blue music lover, I remember that billboard hit THERE'S NO EASY WAY by James Ingram.  And in layman's words, simply put, it tells us that there are NO EASY RIVERS TO CROSS in life.  Nothing is served on a platter for us.  BUT having said that, we may NOT need a new job, a new relationship OR even an expensive hobby this year to find the very true meaning in life.  It's just that there are NO EASY RIVERS TO CROSS💚💛💜

BUT multiple studies tell us that given the very obvioyus fact that there are NO EASY RIVERS TO CROSS, WHAT is most important is for us to find meaning in life, just needing to pay more attention to it.  And those studies trace back things to the fact that we humans have a fundamental need for meaning.  And WHEN our lives make sense, have a purpose, and seem to matter, we see them as more meaningful.  BUT again, there are NO EASY RIVERS TO CROSS.  The huge miss here is what psychologists uncovered WHEREIN the relationship between meaning and attention have rarely been considered by us humans.  The conclusion being, that if we have a deep appreciation of that correlationship, we may NOT likely struggle that there are NO EASY RIVERS TO CROSS💥💥💥

Listening to the experts, if only we pay MORE attention in life, we could find things more meaningful and thereafter, even the realization that there are NO EASY RIVERS TO CROSS will NOT appear like a huge and steep mountain to climb.  I DON'T need to pry into anyone's lives.  Just looking back WHEN I realized that indeed there are NO EASY RIVERS TO CROSS, I asked myself then, SO HOW?  Do I need to plot my next steps for each RIVER I got to CROSS?  More than being time-consuming, I did realize that it will be too taxing if we seem to get enveloped with that mindset that there is always a next river and next next river to CROSS.  WHY CAN'T we live life akin to the waters flowing through the creeks and streams through the rivers until it finds the high seas✅✅✅

True, hardship is inherent in life.  Man's ability to rise above hardship defines him.  Admittedly, I struggled with that idea for quite donkey years as I was misled by the idea that EASY MEANT RIGHT!@#$%?  YES, those were the times WHEN I chased the good and fun things.  BUT the problem with chasing to easy things is that we end up to be never better to improve our own self.  YES, it is those hard things, those tough challenges that will, like it OR not, force us to be better.  Oh YES, I stumbled across this one-liner sometime back:  STRUGGLE BREEDS STRENGTH😡😡😡

Our takeaway:  Lessons I picked up about those tough RIVERS TO CROSS, I realized that difficult things, like starting a new sport, help us improve because it forces us to change.  We have to handle that mental strain of stress, endure the physical pain of exercise and even figure out HOW to manage our time.  And getting comfortable with difficulty is the first step to improvement.  And secondly, let us follow it by confronting things 'HEAD ON'.  The hardest part of any journey is that continuous forward motion BUT that's because there are NO EASY RIVERS TO CROSS dude!!!

Those LITTLE Things Could Be BIG Things

 

It's beyond debate that BIG is BIG and sometimes BIGNESS is the BIGGEST thing in life!  BUT should we consider the NOT so obvious fact that those LITTLE Things Could Be BIG Things in life?  For many of us, this does NOT happen most of the time.  In fact, it may happen rarely BUT I'll admit that it's a reality that does happen.  Where's the catch though?  IF and WHEN it does happen, some of us fail to grasp that realization that it has happened, that it did happen💚💛💜

We DON'T need to look far behind?  Just look at your day today.  HOW was it WHEN you woke up?  Were you sick OR ill?  Very likely, you woke up with no manifestations of any current OR imminent illness.  So, were you thankful you woke up feeling good, mentally and psychologically.  Likely, you were thankful [BUT OF COURSE] BUT did you realize that THOSE LITTLE THINGS COULD BE BIG THINGS?  Maybe NOT, right?   And that's our common miss in life.  We appreciate the BIG stuff BUT for those little things, they seem to be a no brainer.  So, the not so subtle question here is this:  WHAT is it we miss out WHEN we miss out that THOSE LITTLE THINGS COULD BE BIG THINGS💥💥💥

This may sound and seem so petty BUT that question has stuck with me since the first times I was like a small fry, a fingerling, being thrown out to the open waters of the high seas.  And it just makes so much sense.  Let's face it.  Almost always throughout the days and weeks, our routine is most likely set in stone and the little things happening during that time are the ones that make the difference.  BUT hey dude, I hate to say this, the fact is, NOT too many really have that realization.  LIKE if you're a salesman, the dealbreaker was WHEN you got stuck in traffic, missing that appointment with a customer willing to strike a deal😌😌😌

LIKE WHEN we were still attending school, your academic performance was A-ok, you were competitive enough BUT from time to time, you were 2-5 minutes late to arrive in your classes.  Then, comes crunch time WHEN your academic mentors need to finalize the rankings and you were in a neck-to-neck competition with other high performers.  Until the mentors decide against your favor, all because of those LITTLE THINGS, WHEN you were frequently late to school😡😡😡

Our takeaway:  Surely, each of us have been blessed with one too many blessings in life, even those LITTLE THINGS which may seem that way.  LIKE a perfect cup of tea.  LIKE a good samaritan WHO rushed up to hand you your wallet you dropped at the roadside.  LIKE that very refreshing Zumba or a good gym workout.  LIKE on a day you were to host a major customer presentation, you arrived early for the appointment, well-rested [and well-fed], no THANKS to your partner/spouse WHO prepared everything for you early morning.  YES dude, LITTLE THINGS COULD BE BIG!!!

When 'LIFE FEELS STUCK'

 

HOW is it WHEN  'LIFE FEELS STUCK' [or stalled]?  Surprisingly [OR should I blurt out SHOCKINGLY?], I've met one too many folks WHO did hit those times WHEN LIFE FEELS STUCK and YET, lo and behold, WHEN I was engaging with them, they were like 'COOL AS A CUCUMBER'.  And I admire them for that but NOT unconditionally though.  Because WHEN I touched base with them months and even a year after to catch up on 'goings on' in life, there they were still in those LIFE FEELS STUCK moments.  And I thought those moments have dragged quite long enough and God knows if that deep morass they were stuck [before] only got deeper months or even years after

Let's face these realities in life.  Everyone of us [and that includes moi] do feel get stucked in life at some point [oh, I got stucked more than once before and I'd rather not look back, ouch].  It could be an unstimulating job role.  OR it could be an acrimonious relationship that's getting worse as days pass.  OR for some, even just a general sense of indifference.  BUT WHAT's the glimmer of hope we can cling to?  Anyone and everyone of us can STOP feeling STUCK by figuring out WHY we're feeling that way in the first place.  WHAT if you just DON'T care???

Studies show that often times, the triggers of feeling STUCK are those times WHEN we feel an overload OR that feeling of overwhelmed.  True, those difficult times in life can lead us to those times WHEN we sometimes feel we lost our sense of direction, right?  From NOT getting enough rest to even facing unprecedented challenges, before you know it, you're manifesting the ill effects of burnout WHICH then can lead you to feel STUCK and even unsure WHERE OR WHEN to turn to.  And NOT so surprisingly, the common denominator revealed in multiple studies show that SELF-LIMITATION is a common culprit, that's WHEN we doubt our self-worth

Besides health issues WHICH can really turn days from bright to gloomy ones, WHAT is not so easily discerned is that, sometimes, we have that limited vision. So, my blunt question is:  WHAT'S YOUR WHY?  YES, we have to follow through WHEN faced with those endless streak of obstacles.  Without forging our own path, we may end up going with life's current, WHICH may lead to us getting STUCK!@#$%?

Our takeaway:  Often times, almost all of us are focused in our day-to-day life, WHICH, in many cases is a sure-fire to manage stress.  YET, perspective is WHAT may help us to choose the path we need to thread on.  BUT if there's that pit we sometimes fall in, it is NOT establishing clear goals for our personal and even professional life that may lead us to feel STUCK.  One 'self-trap' I did observe from my limited viewfinder is that at times, we tend to spend way too much time [and sometimes, unnecessary energy] on every little detail in order to do something 'PERFECTLY'.  With that mindset, I can assure you with the least effort that that will slow down your progress.  And worse, it can lead you to that feeling of getting STUCK.  Let's eke ourselves out of this dude!!!

Nothing Changes Until Everything Changes

 

NOTHING CHANGES UNTIL EVERYTHING CHANGES.  WHICH reminds me one of Ernest Hemingway's catchy one-liners:  GRADUALLY, THEN SUDDENLY.  We can take all kind of samplings, be it the feel-good stories and the heartbreaking ones.  And we DON'T need to look far and way behind.  Let's try to recall the various transitions we went through in life.  Just like the diesel-fed car engines, it starts cold and it takes time for it to be ready enough to go full throttle.  And at times WHEN you prematurely drive it off, expect the engine to pick up a bit slower than WHAT I even tolerable.  As Hemingway said, GRADUALLY THEN SUDDENLY💚💛💜

Let's look at those common heartbreaking stories, like someone now critically ill given no less than a few more months to live.  Let's look back.  WHEN that patient was diagnosed with his particular illness, was he like that hapless patient teetering and on the brink of death?  Likely NO, right?  As Hemingway said, GRADUALLY THEN SUDDENLY.  WHAT explains this?  It is that COMPOUNDING thing in life, albeit it's strange enough💥💥💥

Let's look back, even on the most pleasant memories.  If today you can attest to have reached the zenith of your corporate career, let's look back.  Was your career trajectory already at that pattern by the time you reached the zenith?  Very likely the answer is a loud NO.  Just like the diesel-powered, it takes time before it can go full throttle.  BUT once it becomes a GO, things will be compounding at times faster than one would expect.  WHY can the trajectory in life can suddenly change so suddenly, either towards the north OR south?  Layman's explanation here is that because all the time, it feels like nothing is happening😡😡😡

I can go down memory lane and look back at the phases in my life.  Like during my school days, I'll openly admit that, academically, I was NOT part of the Tier-1 of our class, from our elementary until high school days.  BUT towards my last years in high school, I'll acknowledgment that I was gaining the momentum and picking up speed compared to the earlier years.  BUT before you pre-empt me, let me openly admit that even as I was picking up that speed and momentum, I DIDN'T overtake the Tier-1 of my class.  Having said that, it reminds me of  Hemingway saying, GRADUALLY THEN SUDDENLY.  All too true every step of the way!!!

Our takeaway:  There's no need for any spiel here.  Simply put, if you've got to CLEAN UP, CLEAN IT UP.  If you've got to CUT CLEAN, CUT CLEAN.  If you seem to be hitting a wall, revisit and relook with a holistic view of things.  And from a 'troubleshooting' perspective, it behooves that we revisit if our mindset has changed or it has been tweaked to align with the changes that should come into fruition.  WHERE there seems to be even the slightest perceptible gap, pull the brakes and relook at things because that may potentially cause your shortfall once you hit those rough patches.  YES dude, NOTHING CHANGES UNTIL EVERYTHING CHANGES [and that CHANGE starts with you, your mindset]😗😗😗