What if ?

The said self-doubt question sounds very familiar right? This type of fear appears to our mind whenever we became very scared to start anything - assignment, business idea, exam, interview, project, new changes, task, test, work, and so forth.

We always in a situation of insecure and lack of confidence that what we want to do might ends up half-way. Such fear no doubt will slow down our momentum to complete tasks at hand successfully. We think the process might mess up in between. Thus, we tends to be very reluctant to do little mistakes along the way.

It takes bold commitment and focus to avoid this feeling. To make it easier, I suggest that we must not focus on the "what if..." too much. Instead, we must channel our energy into the process of doing them. Simply put, don't worry too much on whatever the outcomes maybe, but we must enjoy the process. End results could be varies - from good, satisfactory to worst. Why worry about something which we don't have 100% control?

Next time, when this kind of self-talk appears, the following steps will facilitate:

1. The task may looks big on paper, but break it down into parts.
2. Pool all instruments, materials, references, and inputs to make things easier.
3. Ask for help should you stuck in between. That's doesn't means we are weak. It will make us more resourceful.
4. Last but not least, start the task or anything you want to accomplish.

The greatest risk is risks nothing - not start anything at all.

"Excusitis"

Human being is self-doubt a lots and always coming out with some common types of excuse. In short, this act non other than to justify the low self-confident level and also can be considered as an easy form of escapism for not take charge in life.

Realize it or not that "excusitis" is a very dangerous and contagious form of non-biological disease. If nothing done to treat it in order to relieve the severity level, one can suffers from "excusitis paralysis" in the long run.
Some examples of "excusitis" : -

• Too old
• Too poor
• Too young
• No money
• Not for me
• You got to be kidding or joking!
• Are you serious?

And the list is unending...

Note:

• If you think that you can or you can't, you're right!

Bounce

Have you ever played basketball before? This game offers something meaningful to life if you observative or watchful to the way ball bounce higher and higher the harder it being hit.

I admire any basketball players with good dribbling skills. This game requires not only your stamina and speed, but also ability to confuse opponents with your body movement before you can toss the ball into the opponent's basket within short window of opportunity. The game also has few rules and regulations to follow. One of the rules players need to follow all the time is to make the ball kept bouncing while do the dribbling.

This is not to discuss about descriptions of the game per se, but something equivalent we can observe and learn from the Physics Education perspective - the way the ball 'bounce'. Most importantly we can use it as an analogy to explain the meanings of recovery from any life setbacks or failures.

Set of the equivalents in no particular order of importance:

1. Basketball = human person.
2. Opponent's basket = targets or goals.
3. Basketball court = playing field or life stage.
4. Rules of game = set of rules and regulations of life.
5. Players' action = stress levels and life forces that influencing life directions.
6. Bouncy ball = our ability to recover and bounce back from any life setbacks.
7. The height of the bounce = speed of how fast one accepts reality and back to life.
8. Stamina, speed and dribbling skills = imply our patience in navigating ever bumpy road.

Note:

• It is not about how hard and low you being hit, but how fast and high you can bounce back instead of wasting time and energy moaning at life setbacks.

Rush hour

Traveling during rush hour in the morning and after work can be very frustrating if one don't know what to do. What can you do everyday if you are commuting within Kuala Lumpur bustling central business district? I'm referring to commuting by light-rail transit(Putra LRT), STAR, Monorail, KTM Komuter, and ERL. This is the time where people are rushing to reach their office and afterward back home after office hours.

Imagine if you are spending half an hour commuting to office and half an hour back home with total average of an hour daily. Multiply that with average number of working days, say 20 in a month, how many hours one could spend productively per year instead of just commuting but doing nothing.

1 hour x 5 working days x 4 weeks x 12 months = 240 hours
This translates into 10 days in a year.

Now, assume one starts working at age 25(Malaysian's average age of entry into work force after college) and retires at age 55, meaning working for 30 years. In total equivalent to 300 days(10 days x 30 years) might be just wasted if not use productively.

Ideal things to do to spend commuting time productively:

1. Reading a book in hand is a very good idea if one taking public transport to-and-fro to office and home while inside a capsule of this public metro networks.
2. Planning your schedules for the day - prioritize according to order of priority.
3. Listening to motivational tapes.
4. Relaxing by listening to soothing musics or songs.

Note:

• Productivity.
• Time management - one only had 24 hours daily. Time waits for no man.
• The word capsule is used because LRT normally highly compact with commuters during rush hour.

Chameleon

As we just started the first working day in 2008, today's tough challenge is: do we have to do things the same old ways in the past?

How could we do differently in 2008 to produce better results in all of our life spheres?

• Personal life
• Family life
• Business/work/career life
• Financial life
• Community/global life
• Spiritual life

Why do certain segments of people very successful in one or any combination of the above spheres year after year, and others just didn't made it?

What could be the differentiator between this two extremes?

Actually it was differentiated by a very thin line. The secret was the ability of the successful groups to accept changes, acclimatize, and camouflage themselves to any 'situational change' with new tactics and strategies to delibrately move on. The main problem with the unsuccessful groups was the resistance to change the way they had been doing things, and so they suffer the consequences which could lead to self-extinction!

One has to accept the fact that life itself is living. Nothing is stagnant - not even the planet earth and the whole universe. To live means need to change!

Ask yourself this question: How many instances when you refused change just because it was not compelling enough to you? If any, those were times when procrastination ruining your free right to unlimited success possibilities for fear of failure.

What kind of storyline you want to write for yourself if you knew that life could offers you with thousand unprecedented possibilities? It is about time that you start to envision your own destiny - a destiny to live by design and plan, but not by default and accident.

Note:

• Be a chameleon.
• How about dinosaur?
• Change management.
• When is your episode to succeed - could it be in 2008 or beyond?

Resolutions

First day of 2008 has just begun. Now is the right time to flash back on what we had accomplished in 2007 and which areas and spheres of life we would like to improve when we navigate through 2008.

These are few focused agendas for this year; namely:

1. Give inspiration to close families and circle of friends and lift them up to achieve their full potential in life.
2. Read more latest titles as personal lifelong learning. Always asking yourself (what have you read lately?)
3. Not jump into the gun with "Impossible" but change it to "I'm possible."
4. Adding values to the world and give back to the community where I lives.
5. Travel to 3-5 foreign countries I've never went to to learn on how different people are motivated in different ways.
6. Publish website - this has been accomplished with the creation of this blog.

Note:

• None of your resolution is too small to put into perspective and to make it start to take off.
• Change "Impossible" to "I'm possible".