Are You Just Humming [in Life] ?

 Are You Just Humming [in Life] ?

Not too bad, everyone hums I guess. And now, with Google Assistant, you can find that song by just humming.  Indeed, that kind of song search is a quantum leap.  BUT, we deter and discourage everyone to end up humming in life.  Why ?  Because a lot more stuff in our lives needs a stellar approach, a focused approach in everything we undertake.  Humming is fine BUT you shouldn't be humming every step of the way.  That 'humming' attitude has always been flagged down as one of the distractions in our lives, distractions that help us and instead, resulting in us veering away from the focus we need in life.

Work ethics, anyone ?  Obviously, every culture will defend its own work ethics.  My very first job was with one of the biggest global entities till to date.  And lucky enough, I had the edge of having bosses from The Netherlands, U.K., Venezuela and even a U.S.-bred Filipino.  With such a basket of cultures exposed to, I had to roll with the punches and dance with the tune BUT if there's one thing that's non-negotiable, it is your work deliverables.  NO ROOM FOR COMPROMISE.

Oh, we luv Mr. Bean but we just don't like everything about his traits, behaviors and discipline.  In one curt and blunt word, we loathe MEDIOCRITY.  In the hoops game, if you allow a score for every score you make, you're a moot point.  Your efforts will simply go for naught because it's negated.  And that's MEDIOCRITY.

You can even be a dancer but to be a professional one is least expected of you.  You can't be less than that.  You can't just be riding on, buying time so when a dancer calls sick, you could fill in.  You could be a worker or a student, if there's something common both must have, it's that fire in the belly because you must be able to lit a fire.  You can't just be going through the motions.  And by the way, we're not in a galaxy because we're in the universe though.

Life is beyond semantics. At the very least, we gotta 'walk the talk'.  We gotta live on what we preach.  We need to manifest everything we are pushing for.  And if there are dominoes to tip, just don't leave a single domino un-flipped. If there's a common culprit in our mediocrity, it is DISTRACTION DISTRACTION and DISTRACTION. 

In our digitally connected worlds today, researchers in cognitive science and neuroscience have concluded that media multitasking interferes with one's attention and memory.  We tend to be shallower, spottier.  Multi-tasking and other demanding tasks draw on that same region of our brain called 'prefrontal cortex'.  To quote clinical studies, "UNDER MOST CONDITIONS, THE BRAIN CAN'T CARRY OUT TWO COMPLEX TASKS SIMULTANEOUSLY'.  What's the fix for this conundrum ?  Social scientists advice that we intentionally remove 'extraneous devices' from one's workspace because that will drastically limit distractions and resist that 'itching urge' to respond to the device's every buzz or ping. Final fix? FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS in life folks❗❗❗

Water Will Seek its Own Level

 Water Will Seek its Own Level

HAPPY MONDAY ! Who thinks that we can just turn on the taps and we can dictate the water levels ?  Uhmmmp, that is a fallacy shredded to pieces over and over again.  To quote RM of BTS, the world famous South Korean boy group says, 'LIFE IS A SCULPTURE THAT YOU CAST AS YOU MAKE MISTAKES AND LEARN FROM THEM'.  You may want to window-dress your life but eventually, WATER WILL SEEK ITS OWN LEVEL'.

To quote another quotable quote, 'life is what you make it'.  The way you set your life's foundations starts things off.  Over time, across years and years, you would have piggy-backed on those foundations and sometimes you added joints that may end up as its 'weak links', those potential POFs' a.k.a. point of failure.

Tragic mistake from many of us is that misconception that we can live our lives on our own terms.  What we want is what we  get ? No senor.  Rather, what we plant is what we harvest.  If we live lives with multiple facades and multiple versions, the it will be a charade that just can't hold fort throughout life because eventually, what's planted gets sowed, gets harvested.  For mistakes we do commit, they are the 'Siamese Twins' of consequences.  Nothing gets swept under the rugs because it is what it is.

Take that no-brainer task to prepare tea [and by the way, there are 3,000+ ways and means to prepare tea].  What gets seeped is the tea you eventually prepared.  If you re-use that tea bag more than what it should have been, that end result ?  Your guess is as good as mine.  If you meticulously prepared it, with the keen of detail it needs when preparing, you could be seeping the best Chinese or British tea ever.

At the end of the day, it's the contents that matters.  Pour it in a cup or kettle or whatever, you'll end up with what and the contents it really is.  In our life, you can sugar-coat but that will only offer you results with both the face value and intrinsic value giving us the very true picture.  But unlike when preparing tea, you can instantly correct yourself, in life, there is no UNDO and mistakes and the consequences could have compounded by then.

In life, if you remain an enigma [even to yourself], who the hell can figure out your end result ?  Again, it all boils down to the contents of what you prepared over time.  In our workplace, if you built a work life where you're self-driven and results-oriented, you will get your results and your stakeholders will take cognizance.  Where your work life is less than stellar, how probable is it for your bosses to tag you as 'hollowed' ?  Indeed that's likely to happen because in life, it's GARBAGE-IN, GARBAGE-OUT.

To cap these all, let me rattle off these one-liners:

ALBERT EINSTEIN - Imagination is more important than knowledge.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE - Take time to deliberate but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking.

MICHAEL JORDAN - Talent wins games but teamwork wins championships.

ELLEN DeGENERES - Sometimes you can't see yourself clearly unless it is from the eyes of others

OPRAH WINFREY - Where there is no struggle, there is no strength.

Sayeth not.👀

"DON'T WAIT FOR OPPORTUNITIES"

DON'T WAIT FOR OPPORTUNITIES

HAPPY SUNDAY ! Apologies to quote the most quoted quote, i.e. DON'T WAIT FOR OPPORTUNITIES.  Instead, you gotta create it.  Unfortunately, a lot of us [including me sometime in the past] did wait for it, akin to waiting for the apple to ripen and drop straight to me while I was under that tree. That did happen though and when it did, the apple was already overripe and about to rot.

Oh, did you know that almost 20% of the world's population is in China ?  So this beach snapshot shouldn't surprise us if we see Chine holidaymakers literally rubbing elbows right at the beach because literally, there is no 'elbow room' for mobility at all.  Yet, we need to understand that they're at the beach because they wanna enjoy the 
holiday and despite the beaches teeming with people they created that opportunity to be right there as well.

Just like that biscuit that gets dipped in tea, just a slight delay, that right crustiness of the biscuit will be instantly gone.  This tells us about opportunities. When it's right there in our hands, time is fast ticking and suddenly, it's akin to a ticking time bomb that may blow up in a bit unless you make that timely move with precision at that.  With an opportunity right on your palm, it becomes a no-brainer that you gotta grab it, pull it by the lapels and move and move fast and swift.  And if you bail out, there's NO UNDO there.  You'll be left with the ramifications of being damn slow to act on it ASAP.

Just like Mondays.  How many of us are tagging Monday as the day with the most opportunities for us to grab ?  Unfortunately, not too many of welcome do welcome Mondays with open arms, embracing it as the best weekday of the week.  C'mon, for most of us, it's another week of grinding and grinding in a rat race.  Won't you agree that Mondays mean OPPORTUNITIES ?

Here's a proven formula to seize the BEST ever opportunities.  The BEST of the BEST opportunities do arise during downturns, when everything is down or just at the aftermath of a major debacle or crisis.  Those are times when a venture capitalist's net worth shoots up from $1Mn to 100% or more after the downturn.  The billionaire investor suddenly gobbles things up in the property market when prices are deep down south.

What does this tell us.  We gotta think 'out of the box'.  Creativity kicks in.  Initiative surfaces.  Unconventional ideas would pop-up, driving things up akin to that adrenalin shot that triggers an enormous momentum that triggers a full throttle. You could have been retrenched during this pandemic but we gotta realize that a new day will dawn, markets have to be alive, the economy has to remain alive albeit subdued due to the pandemic.  But have we thought that during this pandemic, it makes sense to upskill ?  To re-tool ourselves ?

Bottom-line is to drastically reduce your waiting time.  That's just counter productive.  I'd like to cite that timely piece from David Rhodes and Daniel Stelter @ https://hbr.org/2009/02/seize-advantage-in-a-downturn, to quote them:  'INACTION IS THE RISKIEST RESPONSE TO THE UNCERTAINTIES'.  Rethinking and re-planning is a must-do especially in major crisis that was unforeseen.  Going back to the drawing boards is the must-do.  Any INACTION simply by pointing that the pandemic isn't over is the worst disservice one can ever heap upon himself.  Shape up, dude, pronto.❗❗❗

Patience is a Virtue BUT...

Patience is a Virtue BUT...

HAPPY WEEKEND ! This could be a debate that can go on forever, i.e. whether it pays to be patient or not.  Of course, conventional wisdom dictates that it is.  Literally, the old school of thought always molded us along the age-old values of patience BUT that was ages and generations ago.  Things have evolved so 'fast and furious' such that we even seem to have been overtaken by events.  So, should we still cling to the old school ?

Ours is a digital world today.  One too many things became 'passe' overnight, whew !  Where are the broadsheets now ?  Suddenly, those cool snapshots of cafe's with coffee drinkers patiently combing every column of the openly widespread broadsheets are gone.  Instead, lurking from all corners and even folks briskly walking are literally glued to their gadget.

The snail's pace is gone.  Certainly, the turtle's shadows have long been relegated far behind.  What we are in now is the RAT RACE. Deny it or accept it, we are now in the RAT RACE even if we refuse to recognize that we're embroiled in the midst of this pandemonium.  What then are the cards left on the table for us to pick up ?  BTW, the ace card might not be there anymore so better be forewarned.

That stretched patience with your fishing rod is so contagious but remember, you're desolate, alone by yourself if you stick your nose out along the edges of that rickety fishing platform.  Thing is, we gotta embrace what's staring right in our face.  Too bad, there remains some stubborn souls who would dig deeper into their fox holes, holding fort and refusing to dump the PATIENCE is a VIRTUE school of thought because that just doesn't hold water anymore.

Even along the immense expanse of greens across the golf course where golfers were molded by embedding PATIENCE as a VIRTUE, where they see a streak of light, a ray of hope, they will go for the full swing even if the next hole is across a 'water challenge'.  Over to our lives, these are times when we all should 'roll with the punches' and not hold onto it.

Around us, especially in our virtual workplace these days, are predominantly from Gen Z.  Even the millennials are gradually getting outnumbered.  And what stuff are our Gen Z's made of ?  They are the least patient, least persevering.  Instead, they are the restive and restless who might [likely] snap off when their patience just runs out of steam.  As the old adage goes, if you can't fight them, join them.  EXACTLY.  Fence-sitters ?  I'm sorry folks there is no room for you these days.  In fact and in truth, there's not even a fence you could sit on because we all live now in a connected world, a seamless one at that.  And if you're that damn intransigent, I'm sorry, you'll be left out by the bus.  It's just NOT your choice anymore.

To cap off this weekender, here's a blunt poster telling us patience is simply a WASTE of TIME.  You gotta get into the mix.  If you're outside the circle where the frenetic things are morphing into random but frenzied pursuits, you just gotta get into the mix.  This is no time to dilly-dally.  Hmmmm, are you patiently waiting for this pandemic to get behind us ? Oh my, only God knows when will this be over, so just throw in the towel & be that IMPATIENT, ok ✅✅✅

Fight Your Fears

 Fight Your Fears

HAPPY SUNDAY ! 

Many of us are neither here nor there.  Some are in limbo.  Some seem to be in purgatory [whatever that means]. Some are just totally lost.  That commonality across those seemingly lost along the way are likely off-track because of fears.  Some have the fear of the knowns.  A lot more of us have that fear of the unknowns.  Where do we start then ?  Go and grab those known fears as a matter of priority.  

Start off with the known fears.  Identify it.  If it seems vague and hazy, crystallize and concretize it.  And once you've 'known the known', face it head-on and eventually, that will shrink, trust me.  And if that fear spans across a period of time, objectively craft a solution.  An example will be a small-scale businessman more worried about payroll.  

If that fear is triggered by a lack of information, go and scour for those missing pieces as you need to complete the picture.  If overcoming that fear entails a lot of hard work over and over again, take a 'mental mapping', shaping your mindset that for you to achieve that success, you gotta train damn hard a 100 times a day across the next 1,000 days.  

Worst of worst, many end of us end up with that fear of failure itself.  Rigid upbringing of children can end up internalizing damaging mindsets.  Another root cause is perfectionism itself.  While a lot of us tend to be perfectionists, we need to temper that with restraint, else we end up pushing ourselves at edges of the cliff.

Pivot anyone ?  Where you get stalled, think pivoting, something that is just fundamental in our lives.  It is akin to changing directions but you remain focused to the same vision and goals you have pre-set.  There's a pitfall in pivoting though.  You'll end up receiving tons and tons of unsolicited advice.  All these will just simmer things up and cause you more undue pressure.  Better be beware.

Muniba Mazari, a Pakistani activist whose body is literally 'caged' is one success story of fighting fears.  Since she got into that accident in the most isolated mountains in Balochistan Province, she was literally crushed, including three vertebrae completely crushed.  And that's besides her broken rib case, broken arms, shoulder blade and collarbone amongst others.  But her success in overcoming all these even made her become the UN Ambassador for Women in Pakistan and ending up in the Forbes 30 under 30.  Her feat should inspire us all that overcoming fears can lead you to even max-out your abilities, your goals, your dreams. ❗❗❗

When No One is 'BITING'

 When No One is 'BITING'

Are you ready to be all by yourself in your private island out there in the Pacific?  Surely there will be zero takers to this proposition because as John Donne says, 'no man is an island'.  On the contrary, we just can't exist without co-existing because that's just how really goes.  Otherwise, it really defeats the very purpose of life itself.

Who needs an audience ?  Everybody does.  But the bigger question is, will everyone just be biting and riding through your spiel ?  Likely not.  You gotta grind and grind harder than you thought.  Unless it's the 'cordon sanitaire' of a political leader or his subalterns, nothing will be served to you on a silver platter.

You could be dealing with your immediate family, even your kids or siblings or your workmates but you gotta toil hard.  And do embed the mantra that you need them more than they need you.  Think how to progress in your steps towards your goals.  You would need every drip, every drop of BUY-IN from every stakeholder.  And do dread that scary scenario of seeing them walk away from you.

How then do you get the BUY-IN ?  No frills, it's all B2B [back to basics].  Firstly, BE PREPARED.  Unless you are prepared, trust me, you can't be cockier than you want to be.  Have that COMPELLING reason or purpose.  And before swinging everyone else to your side, get your very own BUY-IN, heads over heels.  Have you been into those disgusting moments when, even from deep within yourself, you doubted yourself, you were UNSURE whether you'll take the plunge or NOT ?  So, how'd you go from here ?  Make it REAL ! If your moves are so contrived, no one will be biting.  And that's bad.

Mediocrity ?  That's the elephant in the room we wanna and should avoid [at all costs].  Have that 'locker room' mentality.  As life is a 'trap' game, we gotta handle our business as what the doctor [that Wellness doctor though, and NOT that ER doctor] ordered us to. And when you start to swing your fences, have that mindset of refusing to end up being left at the podium all alone and abandoned, ending up to be licking your chops.  

Many years ago, I had to prep for a presentation to our corporate CIO, arriving on a whistle-stop visit and I was allotted no more than 5 minutes.  And my Dutch mentor never missed giving this ground rule.  All I have is 60 seconds to get his attention.  After 60 seconds, I'll lose his him unless I really made my mark on him.  Are you ready to make your mark ???

Are You in 'SCRAMBLE' Mode ?

Are You in 'SCRAMBLE' Mode ?

Hardly anyone will admit it when he's in 'SCRAMBLE' mode.  But some are just damn honest they are totally oblivious that they're already in 'SCRAMBLE' mode.  And that's when our very challenge surfaces because not know that you're in that 'SCRAMBLE' mode, that puts you in a serious handicap because the $64 question that should stomp you right in your face is this:  How the hell can you press the 'PANIC' button if down deep within you, you dunno you're right there.

The irony here is that PANIC buttons were not intended to cause panic and pandemonium but instead, it was meant to take out panic from that panic situation.  Too bad, a lot of us end up turning things from bad to worse till we get dragged by that fast locomotive which will likely end up as a train wreck.  C'mon, we gotta turn things around.  Just not acceptable by any terms else we end up as a dead fish.

Swinging over to the airspace.  Why is it when there is a 'mad scramble', it really is a VALID 'mad SCRAMBLE'.  Why?  It's because their detectors can trigger alerts with pinpoint precision and all it takes is 5 minutes, these squadrons will takeoff from the nearest aircraft carrier and scramble in 5 minutes, that's all.

In life, when things are spinning out and spiraling, that's when our instincts will tell us that we gotta 'right the ship' and if we need to be downright combustibles sometimes, so be it as the situation calls for it.  And knowing which side our bread is buttered should guide us when maneuvering because you should know pretty well where are the chinks of your armor because those are your vulnerabilities.  

Can you ignite a dumpster fire to trigger that surge you need so you can lit a fire ?  Can you be that straw that stirs the proverbial drink ?  Be mindful that you gotta climb back in the swing of things and be that cookie that never fails.  OR, do you wanna wait till the stove pipe heats up ?  Till it blows up right in your face ?  Sorry folks, these are quite confrontational interrogatives but unless we kick one's ass [apologies for the harsh words] damn hard enough, who else will kick our ass that hard ???

Pit Stops in Life

 Pit Stops in Life

In our lifelong travels, we can't blame ourselves when most of us tend to be looking far ahead at our destination when it will be light years, if at all, before we will reach that point.  Not in the F1 Race where the Pit Stop is a major-major milestone and very much an integral part of the grueling F1 race.  See this GIF ?  Time is damn critical at every pit stop.  In fact, they are slotted to complete their myriad tasks and checks IN PARALLEL all within a few seconds.  And what's the established record to date ?  It's 1.9 seconds by the Red Bull F1 Team.

Every pit stop in the F1 race is very much akin to those intermediate stops in our life.  And see how time-constrained each of the role players in the pit stop.  And while the pit stop teams go through that frenetic pace of their tasks, during that pit stop, tje F1 race driver needs to REFRESH, RE-ENERGIZE and RESTART befpre he embarks on the next lap.

As you see yourself as the driver right behind that steering wheel, you need to be aware that you worked your butts off to build that initial 'nest egg' enough for the next lap, so you don't want to squander it with one fell swoop.  That pit stop is NOT the time to be buttering both sides of the bread.  Unfortunately, for some of us, during those pit stops, we seem to take our own sweet times, totally oblivious that the clock is ticking.

This akin to the final checks performed on the ship before it gets out of the dry dock.  There is just NO ROOM for ERROR. be it you're into an F1 race or at the dry dock.  I'd like to quote John Wall, the disgruntled NBA star player from Washington unceremoniously traded to Houston.  So, when he finally went into the match against his former team, he poured it out to win. In the aftermath, he was quoted:  'I THOUGHT THEY THOUGHT I WAS DONE SO I DID WHAT I DID TODAY'.  Whew ! It seems the stakeholders thought he was a spent force so he got traded.  He had the last laugh though.  

Take the case of docking or mooring your boat and most marinas are rigidly configured.  So, that means, docking your boat will need lots of your dexterity as you wiggle your way through the maze and even some choke points as things get narrower.  Such is life as well.  As you aim to dock, the roads get much narrower

I'd like to cap off this piece from the Hyderabad Youth for Christ [YFC] @ https://www.hyderabadyfc.org/youthtube/2020/10/23/handling-lifes-pit-stops wherein the given is stated, i.e. LIFE is a RACE and what could be your pit stop ?  it could be when you graduated from school.  It could be when you successfully passed the state board exams.  It could be when you received your professional certification.  In summary, never undervalue the pit stops in your life.  Else, you may not reach your destination at the time you want to.❗