Exploiting Little Edgers

 Exploiting Little Edgers

Humans are biased for anything that is something big, major and significant.  For slight and small opportunities, they are hardly recognized [or even acknowledged at the very least].  What tends to catch us are BIGtime opportunities alongside the magnitude of Lotto Millions.  And it's sad if we fail to be Exploiting Little Edgers.

Whereas, can we swing over to the mindsets and 'DISCIPLINE' of digital fraudsters. What these digital predators are very watchful start off from the slightest and most petty information that may lead towards exploring such opportunity and translating it into a concrete plan.  It could happen to a huge global organization having one single disgruntled employee who resigns.  And that ex-employee used to be part of IT Operations. Now, you can speculate from there onwards.

Now let's swing back to everything on a positive note.  Each time we wake up, we are watchful for opportunities no less. But here's the thing.  Let us NOT filter things out.  Let us NOT ignore those drips and drops of water from the faucet.  If at the workplace, your boss assigns you a task that is OUT of SCOPE, take a positive spin.  DON'T you think that that will 'add a feather to your cap' eventually?  

If in your relationship, your partner/spouse seems to be angling for something that is more of 'whims' than needs, ask yourself, how much will it cost you to give in, in terms of an act of goodwill done in good faith. Aren't those 'brownie points' up for your picking? 

Lesson here is that let us constantly keep a close watchful eye for those Little Edgers because who knows, that will be your 'takeoff point' when it does get translated into a concrete opportunity till it ends up with a WIN for you.  Can you continue to Exploit Little Edgers❗❗❗

Your PERSONAL BRANDING?

Your PERSONAL BRANDING?

Hey folks, how's Your PERSONAL BRANDING?  BTW, this is NOT to impose something much against your own will as I am NOT vested with such right.  But instead, this is NOT for us to do a spiel and hard sell for your buy-in.  Like it or not, even if you are aghast with PERSONAL BRANDING, by now you have your own PERSONAL BRANDING even if you are oblivious and totally unconscious about all these because THIS IS A GIVEN.

So, even much to your own protest, you might ask when did you ever have your very own PERSONAL BRANDING?  Hmmm, as early as you established your own identity even if you have not reached legal age yet.  Your character, your habits, your values, your personality and even all the chinks in your armor, all of these are inputs that built and shaped up your own PERSONAL BRANDING which unfortunately you may be unaware till now?

Now let's be brutally frank.  If you see yourself as a conscientious, responsible and well-grounded worker, does that comprise the very core of your PERSONAL BRANDING?  YESsirrrrrs if that's how you are perceived and a loud NO if that's NOT the perception about you.  See these circles.  PERSONAL BRANDING is NOT how you project yourself but instead, it is how you're seen and felt.

You might ask, is there an off-the-shelf DIY so you can put up the PERSONAL BRANDING you want?  Sorry folks, PERSONAL BRANDING is a confluence and combination of everything about you.  If at work, you're known for your eye for details, you will be branded as such and seen as such be it by your peers, your clients, your boss.  As a partner, if you are just a lousy, irresponsible and totally nonsense guy, even if you dump your partner RIGHT NOW, you CAN'T RUN AWAY from that 'notorious' PERSONAL BRANDING at all.

Build an aura of positivity and good vibes and people will be singing HOSANNAHs even behind your back.  BTW, your PERSONAL BRANDING will carry on to be your very YOU even if you get into a new relationship, even if you switch careers, even if you do a MAKE-OVER.  But for those in despair, everything is not lost if you want to overhaul and reinvent yourself to have that PERSONAL BRANDING you want✅✅✅

Act in a 'HEARTBEAT'

 Act in a 'HEARTBEAT'

How fast is a 'HEARTBEAT'?  Hmmm, it could be as slow as 'bradycardia' which is at 60 beats per minute or it could be as fast as 'tachycardia' which can be faster than 100 beats a minute.  Either way, it tells us that a heartbeat can be NO longer than one second, whew.

Ooops, let me clarify. Today's piece is NOT about medical or health aspects but instead we would want to magnify the fact that in every single decision in life, time is of the essence.  The impact and ramifications of the turnaround time cannot be understated because often, there are consequences where there is no UNDO.

Nothing wrong really in spending time to think thoroughly before reaching a decision point but our dilemma is that in the long run, we tend to get used to it.  We end up thinking that TIME is ON OUR SIDE? No sirrrrs, we can only buy so much time but we DON'T have the luxury to spend days when you can think about it in an hour at most or spending weeks and months when you can discuss a decision point with your spouse/partner, all within a day.

This is the 'undervalued value' of making decisions in a 'HEARTBEAT'.  Heartbeat decisions do NOT imply that you will end up with haste decisions.  On the other hand, any decision must be reached out in a painstaking thoroughness akin to combing things with a fine comb.  Many tend to gloss over that 'HEARTBEAT' value but let us not because that's a huge miss.

Yes folks, it is the 'TTD' [Time To Decide] that in truth and in fact pushes up the value of those life decisions.  The eye-opener are those decisions which we do make but still those decisions end up as moot and academic.  Why? Because it could be TOO LITTLE TOO LATE.  Imagine if you and your partner were patching things up and for quite sometime, your partner was reaching out to you, swoon over heels while you put up with your ego till one day you finally thought the relationship is worth working up again.  Only to find out that your partner has FINALLY walked away from you, whew❗❗❗

Cut and Cut Clean

Cut and Cut Clean

Not to sound political but long time back, the then very revered and respected U.S. President Ronald Reagan sent his Special Envoy Paul Laxalt to confront an Asian strongman a.k.a. dictator and in no mean words, the Special Envoy passed this very blunt message from President Reagan to the Asian dictator to "Cut and Cut Clean".  The rest is all written in history but not to worry, I don't intend to veer away today's piece into politics as this is not the appropriate forum for 'geopolitiks'.

Instead, we'd like to amplify this generic message of being "MAN ENOUGH".  And BTW this is not just intended for the male gender.  Point is, as a person, if you want to articulate something, say it with BREVITY and DON'T dilly-dally and bit around the bush.  If you have a political stand, stand for your 'political color' and DON'T be a chameleon and spewing a mouthful.

Truth of the matter, in life, we should be 'MAN ENOUGH' for our own beliefs and conviction.  Just DON'T zig-zig, zag-zag and zigzag trying to project your intellectual prowess only to be a wimp, figuratively speaking.  Many relationships fatally end up not because of a major issue but instead because their relationship has become that convoluted.  

In fact, life is not a web of complexity. Life is as simple as CALLING A SPADE A SPADE. DON'T be verbose.  Say what you want but do and cut it straight to the point.  Why do many conflicts start as a friction and end up as huge conflagration comparable to the uncontrolled forest fires in the wilderness of Australia during scorching summer.

In the shortest words, say what you want.  Pour it out.  Say it out.  Save the KBytes of Meta/FB with all the 'verbose mannerisms' because at the end of the day, YOU ARE WHAT YOU ARE❗❗❗

Who's on a 'FREE FALL' ?

Who's on a 'FREE FALL' ?

True, no one wants to be on a 'FREE FALL' but it's really NOT our choice but instead, it is what it is.  The fact that needs to be amplfied and magnified is that when you're on a 'FREE FALL', the trajectory is always on a downward direction.  The $64 question is how do we handle things when life is going down on a spiral because if you left things as it is, your guess is as good as mine.  Eventually you will reach your end and that end will be damn 

Eventually you will reach your end and that end will be damn fatal.  We'll not even spend time discussing 'FREEFALL' from a gravity standpoint.  But if there is any parallelism between physics and real life, it is a known FACT that once you are on a 'FREEFALL', even if you start with a zero speed, it will accelerate all because of gravity.

Point is, no one else can run counter to the force og gravity.  And if you are in a 'FREEFALL' in your life, guess where and how will you end up unless you take the most drastic step to arrest its course  and reverse its direction.  BTW, even when you are able to reverse its direction, you can only buy so much time and within that new LEASE of LIFE, you got to do what it takes to get back on course, on track and preferably NOT against gravity because in life, going against gravity is akin to going against the norm or against logic.  If your relationship did hit a rough patch and efforts to save it only turned things from bad to worse, looks like you're in for a 'FREEFALL' and you're only way out is to go against its direction head-on no less.

One of the recurring 'FREEFALLs' in life is DEPRESSION.  The World Health Organization states that DEPRESSION by itself already afflicts 280 million people [ key facts published on 09.13.2021 @https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression.  Fix for this?  Take a dead-serious and no nonsense treatment no less.  

If there is a single antidoe to 'FREEFALL', it is to avoid a 'confluence of events' that will lead you to 'FREEFALL'.  Combine multiple problems encompassing financial + health + relationships, you have a recipe for 'FREEFALL' at hand. Sage advice?  Drill, dice and breakoff major problems separately.  Compartmentalize a complex issue, you got one foot out of the foxhole❗❗❗

Why CULTURE Matters

Why CULTURE Matters

Is there such a thing as cultural exclusivity?  No way, Jose.  No one size fits all.  You can be from the White Race, Yellow Race or even the Colored Race but no culture can claim monopoly and superiority over the rest of the crop.  No such thing as a SUPERIOR culture.  Neither is there an INFERIOR culture.  This all boils down to today's piece as to why I got to pitch Why CULTURE Matters.

Even in the U.K., while there is a very admired British culture, let us not overlook the Irish culture. Besides the long list of famous Irish [I admit I'm a fan of Liam Neeson], let us not loose sight why IRELAND is famously called the 'Emerald Isle'.  But besides that, Irish culture stands out as well.  And don't forget the St Patrick's Day, the famous irish holiday celebrated from DUBLIN to TOKYO.  Besides the irish Rugby, horse racing,  shamrocks, cliffs, castles and the world famous Guinness Beer, the irish hospitality is so revered everywhere.   [NOTE:  this is NOT an advertisement]  We can continue to rattle off but this page won't be sufficient to even scratch the surface to discuss about the Irish culture.  Suffice to say Why CULTURE Matters

Even the Nordic countries like SWEDEN can't be left off from our conversation as to Why CULTURE Matters.  Besides Alfred Nobel and ABBA, do a fast forward now and we got the SPOTIFY apps and the mammoth-sized IKEAs all over the planet.  BTW, DON'T forget H&M, one of the most popular retailers today [my family never misses it when we go to the malls].

And INDONESIA? No way I'll downplay the Indonesian culture.  If there's a country I've visited more than any other place else, it is INDONESIA.  Of course Bali and Borobudur + the nasi goreng are all patented Indonesian.  But more than that, I admire their 'GENUINENESS'.  More than 20 years ago, my departing flight from Soekarno-Hatta Airport got cancelled [for reasons I'm bewildered].  And I ended up spending the night, lying down in a bench outside the airport but I felt SO SAFE as Indons were playing chess next to me.  That's one aspect of the Indonesian CULTURE.

BTW, even in the NBA, why is the Miami Heat ballclub one of the most-sought after team to be with?  It's all because of culture.  When the Boston Celtics finally nailed down the spot against Miami Heat in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics guy were saying in union that "THERE'S LOTS of DOGS" in that team.  And that boiled down again th the famous Miami Heat culture.  This is Why CULTURE Matters❗❗❗

DON'T Wait For The Game To Come

DON'T Wait For The Game To Come

Oh, this is our perennial problem.  We always [wrongly] thought that, having nothing on our plate yet means 'WE JUST SEE HOW LAH' [as the Singaporean slang says].  Sometimes we're even ill-advised that to be prepared in life means waiting for things to come, for a trigger to ignite, for an event to kickstart the next flurry of tasks.  BUT hey, just DON'T Wait For The Game To Come.

That is not the correct equation in life.  Passiveness and being laidback are, in fact, the ingredients that chart your path towards FAILURE, yes that's BOLD and in upper case. It's because failures are NOT pre-plotted across the fields the way the land mines are 'planted' by opposing troops in a state of war.  Just DON'T Wait For The Game To Come.

Are you IN for a 'waiting game'.  No sirrrs, not even in the game of Ahedres [Chess].  Many times I've watched chess combatants spending thirty minutes [or even more] before pushing for the next move.  And initially I was befuddled as to what the 'hell is going on'.  Not until I came to that realization that these players DON'T Wait For The Game To Come but instead, they're bringing things on.

Let's call a spade a spade now.  I've witnessed some folks out of job and guess what keeps them busy?  Their common denominator?  They're waiting and hoping that a friend or a friend of a friend or a relative of a friend of a neighbor's friend will ring them up and toss a job offer served with a platter.  Guess how and where are they now?  Till now, they haven't lost hope that that call will happen.  Pitiful state indeed. 

hey, why can't we have our LADDERS 24x7 so that when nothing surfaces for us to grab, we go and climb up that LADDER and search for the good tidings we have been fervently hoping for?  Can you imagine if we DON'T Wait For The Game To Come but instead, it is us lurking around, searching with both PATIENCE + PERSISTENCE + PERSEVERANCE until we end up with that 'pot of gold' in life?  BTW, even 'pots of gold' are not like sitting ducks.  You got to unearth them beneath the surface.  You got to shovel it.  DON'T Wait For The Game To Come❗❗❗

 

When The Rabbit Hole Gets Deeper

When The Rabbit Hole Gets Deeper

Rabbit Holes anyone?  Who cares anyway, right?  But if those rabbit holes are akin to the challenges in our life, surely you would agree we have tons and tons of it, littered all around our lives.  Question is, how did we handle things When The Rabbit Hole Gets Deeper [in our life]?  For the moot and academic cases, they simply threw in the towel and gave up.  Others are so resigned in their life such that it does NOT matter anymore to them anymore.  It's like their life is still under a 'general anesthesia' and do what you want in his life's travails, it has no bearing anymore to someone helpless and likely hapless.

But hey, this is no casual mundane challenge in life which you can simply shrug off. Truth is, When The Rabbit Hole Gets Deeper, we got to do something about it else things will simply spiral downwards till you're in a FREE FALL.

Free fall, anyone?  That's the scariest though because once you're in a 'free fall', you leave everything to whatever is in store in your fate.  But could that 'free fall' be still averted?  Absolutely BUT here's the BUT.  DON'T wait for the rabbit hole to get deeper.  You can only buy and bide your time so much because by then, you DON'T have much wiggle room.

Oh yes, once you're down that rabbit hole, never get comfortable because it means things have tilted against your favor.  Akin to being in a small boat when water starts to sip in and while you can do some quick fix to plug that hole, that 'fix it' thing can only be good enough in a short turnaround.  No long hauls for those 'quick fixes' at all.

Surprised as to why even rabbits would rather be OUT of that rabbit hole?  Ironically, they claim that FEAR IS THERE TO KEEP US SAFE because you gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look FEAR IN THE FACE.  But if you got to do something, do it NOT BECAUSE it is easy but do it because it scares you.  Just DON'T STAY WAY TOO LONG in that rabbit hole✅✅✅

Can You Keep Doing the UNDONE?

Can You Keep Doing the UNDONE?

Why is it 98% of tasks done are the same tasks done over and over again?  It's true successes are one too many but again, 98% of successes are the replication of other successes.  This is NOT to downplay success stories because we CANNOT PUT A GOOD MAN DOWN.  In fact, we got to credit him [and pat his pack] for a job well done.  But akin to Twitter, do we know WHAT'S TRENDING?  A paltry 2^ of today's successes are solid proof and outcomes that the best and the brightest Keep Doing the UNDONE.  Seriously, these are the success stories that can be future hall of famers.  So Can You Keep Doing the UNDONE?

So you might argue, why are we playing up and stirring the waters here?  It's because there are one too many enormous opportunities for us to Keep Doing the UNDONE but we are missing that opportunity.  With all modesty aside, sharing with you some of the tasks and things I think I've done [which until that time [and even as we speak now] remains UNDONE.  

Two decades back, I left my home country to explore uncharted and untested waters.  How?  I went on to flu to another country to explore for an overseas work without getting clearance from my country's Department of Labor.  And that saga went on and on until I took my Oath of Allegiance to renounce my original citizenship and embrace the citizenship of that Southeast Asian country where I resided for nine years.  Can You Keep Doing the UNDONE?

Fast forward, nine years after I renounced my original citizenship, I then renounced my adopted country's citizenship.  Why did I do a 180-degree turnaround?  Hmmmm, well it's because I have to humbly admit that till today,  I Keep Doing the UNDONE.  Not bad to be a copycat for success stories but at the end of the day, you got to LEAVE YOUR MARK [just like 

Miami Heat's Jimmy Butler who keeps doing the UNDONE even in the ongoing NBA Playoffs❗❗❗  Why are there billions of good people on Earth?  Yet there are a much much smaller number of great people.  And how about the great of the greats?  They are just a handful.  In the world of NBA, 'His Airness' [that's Michael Jordan] and the late Kobe Bryant all belong to the NBA's Mount Rushmore.  Why can't we LEAVE OUR MARK as well as those greats do not have a monopoly of being great, right ❓❓❓

When The Ball Bounces Your Way

When The Ball Bounces Your Way

Oh I love it, really, whenever I hear someone proclaim 'WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS'.  Who does not relish those times when we are awash with all the good tidings, all the good news, all the blessings.  But our mentors never missed out to remind us that if during those times When The Ball Bounces Your Way, what else would keep you busy during those episodes?  Celebrating?  Partying?  Pampering yourself no end?  Holidaying till your body just gives up?  Or probably just locking up yourself away from your daily chores till you think you need to go back to work?  Or to your business?

Oh yea, really?  Probably you bagged the TOP SALESMAN Award? Or let's just assume you hit pay dirt with the Lotto Jackpot.  Surely you are entitled for a break, for a respite, and even for a celebration.  But for how long is it?  Is your reservoir of wealth comparable to that typical Middle Eastern Prince who, when he travels for his annual holiday in Europe, he charters an Airbus 380?  Along with a coterie of his cordon sanitaire?  I may not lay claim for having that royal pedigree but unless you are a member of the 'HOUSE of SAUD', no one is entitled to celebrate till the barrel dries up, till the chefs clear up the kitchen of their frenzied culinary preparations.  Even Former U.S. President Donald Trump who we all know as having been born with a 'silver spoon', he knows when to stop and end his holidays.

Two aspects of ethics which we need to dice and drill, namely CHARACTER ETHIC and PERSONALITY ETHIC.  While these two are very much inter-twined, we need to agree that these two subsets of ethic evolved and get shaped separate of each other although in life, it shapes up as just your ethics, inside out.

True, this issue about ethics may be more generational.  But hey, are we now to blame the millennials?  or Gen Z?  And how about us?  Don't we have a responsibility to take on that challenge to become the key influencers to shape up the latest generations who may seem to be OFF-TRACK?  As long as we DON'T get 'swallowed' by them.  I heard of stories where the influencer ended up being influenced instead.

Thing is, in our life, everything can be indulged in MODERATION and REASONABLE enough.  When all the 'LAZY DUCK' mindset becomes the norm, those are tell-tale signs that we ourselves are OFF-TRACK,  Point is, WHEN THE BALL BOUNCES OUR WAY, let's enjoy those moments but let's put a cap to it.  When the PARTY'S OVER, the PARTY has to be OVER ❗❗❗