Turning Things Around

Turning Things Around

Who has not been knocked off yet ?  Who has not stumbled down, sometimes with our face flat on the floor ?  Oh well, I can't remember the number of times I myself fell flat on my face.  And there were quite some points in my life when and where I felt i did hit rock bottom.  But alas, I'm still 'alive and kickin' so to speak.  Might wonder, did a miracle from heaven just went down to save me ?  Or was there something like Turning Things Around ?  Yesirrrrs, it was NOT a 'walk in the park'.  During those lowest points, imagine yourself being bludgeoned to near-death even as you reach out to cling to whatever thread or string because you had one foot down below already ?

Good grief.  As the old cliche goes, when you're down, there's NO OTHER WAY TO GO BUT UP.  Sharing here my real-life approach to ensure that Turning Things Around isn't just a slogan.  First and foremost, frustration kicks in, no doubt about it.  Fine, VENT YOUR FRUSTRATION.  While it is not health to nurse anger and keep it alive, nor is it healthy to keep all your frustration inside and just try to fake a smile, find a way to release that anger.  Talk it out.  Ventilate and let it out.    

Never forget that you're NOT alone.  Even if no one is nearby you having that same issue, rest assured there are many other people who are going through the pain you now have.  Recognizing that you're not the only one who has been knocked down can help you avoid seeing yourself as a helpless and hapless victim.  

Now, CONSIDER WHAT IS PRODUCTIVE.  Screaming and shouting won't drive your problems away, whether you're losing your cool or thinking about things with a calm, rational mindset.  Being calm will help you see what you need to do to get out of that current mess you're in.  Then FOCUS ON YOUR AUTONOMY.  No matter how your life's narrative unfolds, you always have a choice when it comes how you react.  You can face absolutely anything that happens to you if you make the choice not to let them destroy you and to find a way to make things better.

OBJECTIFY THE SITUATION.  Take a careful effort to extract your feelings from your view of the current circumstances as that will help you gain a much more objective perspective.  Remember the world isn't actually trying to hurt you and that in fact it can help you heal if you let it.  Then TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATELY and DON'T BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR HELP.  If you are putting up a wall for you to be Turning Things Around, then you're hitting the wall dude ❗❗❗

When You Get Hit with a BRICK on Your FACE

When You Get Hit with a BRICK on Your FACE

Where you ever got hit with a BRICK on your face in the past [not literally though] ? I am quite absolutely sure that regardless of the nature of that 'BRICK that hits your FACE, it would be disastrous and ruinous if not cataclysmic.  A major health issue.  Death in the family.  Major financial crisis.  A major setback in a business.  A relationship issue that may lead to a breakup.  A crisis at work that may lead you either for a disciplinary action or worse, you are given the pink slip.  Just one too many worst case scenarios we dread in life.

Now, to set expectations, we are NOT trying to be SUPERMAN when dealing with our problems.  In fact and in truth, we CANNOT solve our problems but the least we can do is be prepared to deal with the most manageable problems in life.  Here we go.  FINANCIALS.  That problem will never go away because we live in an uncertain world and a financial crisis may just happen at any time in our life.  FIX ?  Acknowledge and accept that crisis and prepare for a RECOVERY PLAN, that's it.

HEALTH.  Oh, this is not far-fetched to happen because our body system works round the clock [even when we're asleep] and worse, if you don't maintain healthy habits, health deterioration is not far to happen.  FIX ?  Besides immediate lifestyle changes, seek medical help ASAP, pronto.  BTW, just more than a month ago, I hit a health crisis but it has now been fixed.

RELATIONSHIP/FAMILY.  Hmmmm, nothing is sweeter than love and family but note it could be a source of PAIN for some because like it or note, we all have human IMPERFECTIONS in our relationships.  FIX ?

Ideally, the best thing to do is prevent those relationship problems from happening but when it does, FACE REALITY and take steps to address such problems because it won't just dissipate in thin air if you thought it will.

Yesirrrrrrs, we need a SECOND LIFE, if we may.  Regardless if the last straw, last thread is about to run kaput, we do NOT have a choice but to FIX and clean up the MESS we are in.  What's a given here is that when a BRICK hits our FACE, let us summon all the remaining energy we have in life because that's near the curtain call ✅✅✅

Can You be Back if You NEVER LEFT ?

Can You be Back if You NEVER LEFT ?

In our topsy-turvy world, it's not surprising if we ourselves sometimes are LOST, like when we can't even figure things out if we are HERE or THERE ? What causes all this bedlam and confusion to inhibit us from figuring out our whereabouts ?  As often times, that causes us to get confronted with the fact that HOW can you be back if you NEVER LEFT ?

Let's take a real life scenario most common to happen anyway.  Relationships flounder.  Hearts get hurt and later you would hear from the protagonist that he/she will pick up the pieces and continue to live a normal life thereon.  But many of us fail to realize that it is impossible to pick up the pieces if until that very moment, you still struggling from your crisis and unable to accept that what's over is over. So, how can you be back if you NEVER LEFT ?

Often, we know where we are and we know where we wanna go and be but have you not witnessed some who are very much aware of where they wanna go [e.g. they want to live a happy life with all his/her successes wrapped around him/her but in those moments when and where he/she has been able to achieve the successes he/she aimed for, that hollowed emptiness remains within himself.  Why oh why ?  Hmmm, we got to figure this out because otherwise, how can you be back if you NEVER LEFT in the first place ?

True, this poster is damn right, it could be REAL IF IT COMES BACK.  So, let's call a spade a spade.  If you committed a huge blunder in life, be man enough to own it.  If you caused a huge failure at work, be man enough to accept it but in the workplace, accepting it is NOT sufficient.  You got to proactive propose how to fix and volunteer a commitment that you will endeavor so that the same huge mistakes do not recur.  If you're an entrepreneur, if you ended up delivering a defective product or rendered a sloppy or lousy service, volunteer a post-mortem and to top it all. pledge to your stakeholders that that would not happen again.

But hey, pardon my insistence and persistence because in real life, it is extremely tough for one to leave things back and restart on a clean slate.  Why ?  That's where the intangibles would factor in.  Sickness.  Chronic pain.  Depression.  Health issues.  Even the impact of this pandemic., Indeed, how can we be back if we NEVER LEFT ❓❓❓  

Are You DONE Today With What You Planned YESTERDAY

Are You DONE Today With What You Planned YESTERDAY

No sirrrrrs, we have not ran out of topics to discuss but instead, I thought this is one of those low-hanging fruits which most of us tend to ignore because it seems a non-issue.  NOT UNTIL we trip, we stumble, we skid, then we realized that today is another day and how time flies, yesterday is gone and there's no way we can flip the calendar.  So, don't get flustered when someone confronts us if Are You DONE Today With What You Planned YESTERDAY ?  Too bad, these exceptions don't get into our radar.  Probably [or likely because there is always a TOMORROW].

What could explain our lackadaisical and passive behavior when something slipped us ?  Well, this is a no-brainer.  It's simply because there's always a TOMORROW to come.  But are we not aware that supposedly, that come next day, there is a default set deliverables on our plate.  Regrettably, most of us [wrongly] believe that come next day, our plate defaults to EMPTY, whew.

More often, 98% of us all are NOT done yet when the day is over.  This is not a scare though.  Studies have shown that it's pretty acceptable why we can't hit a 100% completion rate when we call it a day.  WHY ?  Because a plan is a plan.  And as defined, plans may be executed to the letter but it doesn't guarantee that the results will end up 100% up to specs, up to expectations.  So where's the beef ?  That worry does not spring up yet come next day. We got to wait for a couple of days to pile up and before we know it, a week or more is over and all we can manage to do is to scratch our head.

No need to do the math.  Let's peruse over the common triggers of slippages in our daily deliverables.  #1 culprit is the fact that we didn't have a list of those deliverables and for the minority who do scribble that list, there is no priority at all.  What else do we expect but slip ups and overflows.  What else ?  More often it boils down to our time management.  Who amongst us allocate slices of his time ?

Oh, BTW, do we agree with this poster.  Me thinks YES.  We can practically do anything but the common storyline is that many are started but not all get completed.  Have we had that eagerness and excitement to start off  with a new task as the adrenalin rush becomes too difficult to stop, only to end up somewhere in a dirt road, finding us slumped when that euphoric feeling has significantly subsided ?  What's our very basic lesson here ?  It all boils down to PLANNING, PRIORITIES and a no-nonsense TIME MANAGEMENT.  Let's go dude ❗❗❗

Get the Most BANG For Your BUCK

Get the Most BANG For Your BUCK

Hmmm, when we're talking about $$$$, this should be quite interesting, right ?  What stuff deserves more of our time than $$$$.  And not to sound optimistic, I still feel we will all sing in unison that whatever it is, we need to Get the most BANG for our BUCK.  This should not even be argued or debated.

Nevertheless, let us dissect why this thread is worth our time.  Primus inter pares, first among equals, we all work hard for every buck we got, right ?  Because that's hard earned, straight from our sweat.  Even the regular habitues at the Las Vegas Strip work hard.  Truth is, they work probably ten times harder than our typical level of effort.  These guys at the Las Vegas Strip would even book their room at those hotels [like the MGM] because every 24 hours, they would just catch enough sleep then shower before rushing back to the casino floor.  But for 80% of the population who are part of the workforce, it's just damn imperative that we Get the most BANG for our BUCK.  

If we rattle off the ground rules, everything starts by weighing things out.  Do an apples to apples comparison [NOT a lemon to apple] so that your end-result will be closer to the accurate assessment when all the UPsides are mapped against all the DOWNsides.  To get the most BANG for our BUCK should be part of our mantra.

Even if we take a step back to our ancestors where commerce was pursued via barter, the rule of GIVE and TAKE was prevailing across all the players.  When and where you end up giving more and taking less, what do you do next ?  WALK AWAY, period.  Why struggle to come up with a decision when the GIVE versus TAKE is as clear as the sky and the ground ?  There's one catch though.  When you assess your possible UPside, it must NOT be grounded on sheer speculation because you will be raising the risks and stakes to your disadvantage.  Get the most BANG for our BUCK.  

Yesirrrreeee, this poster says SPEND SMART.  It's nothing less than that.  And if you ask how can we SPEND SMART, go back to your weighing scale, do the math, run the apples-to-apples comparison.  But here's a word of caution.  Please do not run that exercise if it's moot and academic.  If you have pretty decided on something, it means you are cutting corners and likely raising the risks that you will end up shortchanged when you don't Get the most BANG for our BUCK.  This may be a no-brainer but it still makes sense to wake us up Dude 📌📌📌

Crossing the Line

Crossing the Line

The demilitarized zone[DMZ] in the Korean Peninsula, that tenuous walls separating Israel from Palestine, those are the top powder kegs which may easily trigger even a third world war.  For the benefit of mankind, that dreaded third world war has not threaten to break out despite that very shaky truce between the Palestinians and Israel.  What could easily explain that success to date is because not one of the protagonists has attempted to be Crossing the Line.

Question is, should we be really Crossing the Line ?  No Senor, not under any circumstance at all.  Be it at work, in our relationships or even in business, there are invisible lines that cannot be crossed by any means.  But before we talk about proactive measures as regards Crossing the Line, let's rattle off outcomes and results that arose simply because at least one of the protagonists was Crossing the Line

Relationships got strained until bridges were burned.  Domestic households were in constant frictions.  And in the workplace, you would have witnessed an employee being sanctioned by HR or worst, an employee getting waylaid by the company and if it happens you are entrepreneur, imagine losing clients even as your business starts to bleed until it leads to the worst nightmare an entrepreneur will dread, and that's bankruptcy.  All these do happen because we're Crossing the Line

What are the ground rules then for us to be Crossing the Line ?  Not much really but enough to guide us though.  Have we wondered why different people react differently to the things you say or do ?  Maybe you told your parents a story that made them laugh but you found out later that that same story was upsetting when you shared it to your work colleagues.  Or maybe you posed a question to a couple of friends and one or two of them got offended ?  What could have caused some people to react differently compared to the rest ?

The solitary answer really has got something to do with "BOUNDARIES".  And if you are unabble to recognize the "BOUNDARIES" of a person, you can likely offend them and in the end, you'll be Crossing the Line.  Sometimes a person can tell you up front that you were Crossing the Line and at that point, you can immediately apologize. But what if you were unaware ?  This is were we need to expand, widen and deepen our perspective and understanding of everyone else, and that includes our family and even strangers.  Bottomline is let's avoid Crossing the Line 📌📌📌

Self-Inflicted Wounds as a PRIORITY

Self-Inflicted Wounds as a PRIORITY

This could be the most boring picture, a self-inflicted wound at that.  But do we really need to spend another 5 to 10 minutes for this seemingly mundane subject ?  Yesirrrrrrrrrrs because self-inflicted wounds have been a permanent fixture in our life but it's a fact that we could absolutely avoid because we don't need self-inflicted wounds in the first place.  Any fix that comes next becomes unnecessary if avoidance was given impetus in the first place, we don't even to peddle that Self-Inflicted Wounds are a PRIORITY.

Simply put, why do we need to  prioritize self-inflicted wounds ?  Simple.  We fix what we caused.  We clean up the mess we did.  And why do we need to prioritize?  Simple.  In the first place, that problem should not have been there in the first place, had it not been for us triggering it.

Oh well, prioritization means choosing what problems are NOT to be solved.  Pinpointing the most important problems to solve should always include all problems caused by those self-inflicted wounds.  That reduces the burden of prioritization because it won't be lumped with the rest of your problems.  And that will lead you to come up with fact-based decisions in fixing your problems.

What will guide us in fixing our problems.  It is our directions.  Because that will lead us to our priorities.  If your direction is to funnel your finances towards your business, those holidays and travels may be tagged with lower priorities.  But if your direction s to prioritize self-inflicted wounds, that becomes a no-brainer and no hard-sell should be needed, if at all.  But instead, go and proceed to prioritize fixing a self-inflicted wound because that's a non-issue.   

So how do we clean-up things ? First and foremost, DON'T suppress your emotions although we know that anxiety tends to ramp up when things get messy.  But be aware that shuttind down does NOT eliminate anxiety.  it just buries it. It will hum in the background.  When you address anxiety head-on, you are better equipped to begin working to fix your problem.  DON'T forget to have a TO DO-List and make sure your schedule suits you.  And DON'T forget to take one thing off your plate because you need to agree that you don't need to do all the tasks on your plate except to prioritize fixing a self-inflicted wound 📌📌📌

Our Landscape is in a Constant FLUX

Our Landscape is in a Constant FLUX

For the biggest chunk of our lifetime, at least speaking on behalf my generation and the generations following suit, we never experienced the agonies of going through the agonies of World War I or II.  Neither did the Korean War impacted us.  So, we should be pardoned if we thought that our landscape will continue to be that nice and dandy.  Then pandemic struck.  But even before pandemic struck us, our landscape has been in a CONSTANT FLUX.  Those in the academe were not guaranteed to get consistent high marks.  Relationships were not guaranteed to be in the 'honeymoon' phase forever.  The job market may have never dried up but people we know had become jobless at some points in the past.  Our finances were sometimes in the RED.  Our health would be failing from time to time.  And entrepreneurs in the U.S. are much familiar with Chapter 11 as that is the very framework of the U.S. bankruptcy law for businesses [Chapter 7 for individuals].

All these circumstances should push us to that realization that indeed, our landscape has been in a CONSTANT FLUX.  What else can we do?  A lot though.  As it is, life is all about good times, bad times and those in-between times when you aren't really sure which way it will go.  So how do we handle life. C'mon, let's accept that career FLUX, love FLUX, money FLUX, home FLUX, technology FLUX and even health FLUX   It all starts with our awareness.

Breaking news today.  Governments have all synched up and agreed that our world will be moving from PANDEMIC to ENDEMIC. In a nutshell, this is a clear-cut manifestation that indeed our landscape has been in a CONSTANT FLUX and the option left for us to recognize this latest realization even as its ramifications has impacted our global community.  

Indeed, there are a varieties of flux.  Yet it only takes two words to describe 'em all.  FLUX SUCKS [pardon me on this].  Thankfully, it also only takes two lenses to see your way clearly through flux, a long-term lens and a short-term lens.  Basically, if you're enduring an anxious trip into the 'LAND OF CHANGE & UNCERTAINTY', a bifocal lens will ensure you better enjoy.

A long-term lens will help you keep your eye on the prize of your ultimate goals of happiness and fulfillment while a short-term lens will help you keep your eyes on your feet so you DON'T GET TRIPPED up by fear. By seeing both points of focus, you will be able to navigate at your least clumsiest and wisest ever, making decisions even if you're aware that our our landscape has been in a CONSTANT FLUX ⏳⌛⏳

Until Smoke Comes Out From the Fire

Until Smoke Comes Out From the Fire

Fires happen all over the place.  That explains why fire detectors are in place.  That explains as well as to why we have fire marshals in office buildings.  But there's a gaping hole in our life though.  Neither do we have 'fire detectors' nor are we trained to be fire marshals.  And often, this causes us to panic, not realizing that the valid panic button happens not until smoke comes out from the fire.  Until then, we should be as cool as ever.

But this is easier said than done though.  Not until smoke comes out from the fire, in life, it means, a problem in life has not reached that 'crisis point' when the problem becomes almost unresolvable.  Akin to the Papal Conclave with the Catholic Cardinals would converge in the Vatican to elect a new Pope, the whole world reaches a state of stupor as all cameras are fixated on that chimney from the Sistine Chapel, where if smoke billows from it, it means there is a new Pope.

Yesirrrrr, life itself is akin to fire.  Heard of expressions like "WE'RE ON FIRE" ?  Exactly, as long as we're alive and kickin', indeed "WE'RE ON FIRE",  Things may seem to 'turn south' when things go from bad to worse, when a problem balloons from an irritant to a real fire, when one day you're in an argument at work and come next day, you're out of work, when one moment you're in a heated tiff with your partner and before you know it, your relationship seemed to have floundered.

In life, a lot of fires would have started with a friction, a spark until it flares up and out beyond control.  Then we reach that impasse when and where nothing literally would budge.  As problems from the past make us more resilient along the way, it's a lesson for us not to take things lackadaisically till a problem worsen to proportions that will entail double or more of your efforts.  At hindsight, had you moved to fix a problem much earlier, you need not be facing a monster by now.

And now comes this pandemic which has become the mother of all problems and practically hovering all over our global community.  As a layman, the least you can do is to handle fire WITH URGENCY before your back is pushed against the wall and you are left totally defenseless.  But who are we to blame when finally a smoke billows from that fire ❓❓❓

Morphing From Being Useful to NOT is Tough

Morphing From Being Useful to NOT is Tough

A lot of things in life do go through morphing and that is fine.  Example when a boy adores his father, eventually he could be morphing into his father.  What is regrettable is when we are morphing from being useful to NOT.  Then things become Tough when that evolves.

BTW, let's set aside morphing of physical attributes because that's not even a discussion point.  But instead, I'd like to tackle some 'horror stories' when someone is morphing from being useful to NOT.  Why ?  Because that points to us a lot of wastage.  Wastage talent and knowledge.  Wasted opportunity.  Wasted efforts even if it means non-efforts in the first place.  In a nutshell, just seeing  utter wastage is disheartening.  Imagine someone who's an expert in his craft but whose nowhere in his direction now.  A technical handyman who used to be a jack-of-all-trades but who is now idle.

Isn't it a wastage if in the past, you would always STAND OUT IN A CROWD, with your stakeholders plucking you out from the crowd but now, you're simply incognito?  How many opportunities will be missed out simply because you are there idle, passive and just oblivious of all the goings-on ?  And when those opportunities in life do slip past you, how can you recoup those missed opportunities ?

To quote Hillary Clinton, WOMEN ARE THE LARGEST UNTAPPED RESERVOIR OF TALENT.  Our dilemma is, things seem to be happening so fast, we got to catch up by morphing much faster.  As our global village itself is morphing faster than we expected, we need to keep pace with it, else we will end up IRRELEVANT.

Oh, those HELP WANTED tags are all over the place.  What needs to be tapped are our energy, our talent + our commitment.  It's all there for our picking.  You may be an IT SME, a medical front-liner, a finance specialist, a real estate agent.  Name it, all of those opportunities are for our picking.  It's a huge letdown though when we start morphing from being useful to NOT.  That's Tough 📌📌📌