You are in one of the category of Reflections of a Business Driven Life. To read all posts, go to the main page, or you can choose to read or subscribe to a category: on technology, on life, on business, favorite quotes, jokes, tidbits, EntrepreViews & reading reviews.
|
Monday, May 30, 2005 |
|
I took this picture a few months ago at the Hong Kong Ocean Park. It is a great show where dolphins jumped to heights of almost 20 feet up. After the show, I chanced upon the pool, and noticed that it was very deep, then it struck me ... The dolphins have to go deep in order to jump high. Without depth, there is no height... Do you see parallelisms in the principles of life?
6:15:38 PM  comment [] trackback []
|
Go Deep to Jump High |
|
Tuesday, May 17, 2005 |
|
Being Tough on Yourself ( on life) When I was growing up, one of my favorite books was Robert Schuller's , "Tough Times Never Last, but Tough People Do. " I have had the fortune to have had a tough life, which has molded me to the person I am today. One of the quotes I treasure, and the reason I advocated slow rise to success in a previous post is the "the skills you learn on your rise to success are the skills that will keep you there. " In fact, if you read most of my posting here, you will note that I am an advocate on being tough - on ourselves, and on our loved ones. Another quote I believed sincrely was , "Be tough on yourself, and Life will be easier on you. " What does the quote mean? It means... If you discipline yourself to spend money wisely, then you will have less problems on not having enough money. Sometimes, it is really because we become too easy on ourselves, that we encounter life's toughest problems...
8:33:18 PM comment [] trackback []
|
|
Envy ( on life) One of the things that is preventing us from becoming better and happier is envy, which is one of the deadly sins. We need to free our reins from never ending comparison with others. When a person from a developing country looks at a person from a developed country, he cannot understand why that person could be unhappy since from his standards, the person already has everything he does not have, and which he considered to be necessities for having a good life. However, more often than not, we are unhappy and under pressure, not because we don't have enough, but we yearn to have more, because the neighbor has more. This is underscored by a quote by a famous executive in the IT industry who is believed to have said, "It is not enough that we succeed. Our competitors have also to fail. " This was also believed to have been true even in communist countries. This was supposedly an anecdote that Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev told US Secretary of State James Baker III about the difficulty Russia has in its psychological transition to capitalism, after so many years of communism... " A Russian peasant finds a lamp by the side of the road, and rubs it. Out pops a genie. The genie tells the peasant he will grant him any wish. The peasant tells the genie, "you know, I have only three cows, but my neighbor Igor has ten cows." "Would you like twenty cows?" , the genie asked. "No, " says the peasant." I want you to kill seven of Igor's cows". I am not saying we should not benchmark ourselves, our abilities, and our performance with others. That is healthy competition, and spurs you to do better. But do we need also to compare also the size of our diamonds?
7:46:01 PM comment [] trackback []
|
|
|
Saturday, May 14, 2005 |
|
If You are Remembered to be Rich ( on life ) I noted that there are many people who spend a lot of time solely getting rich, or showing people that they are rich. Is that all we want to be remembered by? If the only thing people will remember you by was that you were moneyed and rich, does that mean you have had a successful life? Wouldn't you rather be known for something else? As a caring parent, a learned educator, a respected businessman, a great storyteller, an effective manager, an eloquent speaker, a generous benefactor to the community, an accomplished tennis player, a loyal friend, a sought after chef, a noted linguist, an engaging blogger , etc. Wouldn't it be a good idea to start spending time on the things you want to be eventually remembered for?
2:40:15 PM comment [] trackback []
|
|
|
Thursday, May 12, 2005 |
|
Gauge of Success ( on life) I was on Paul Allen's website when one of his post made me think. Yes, what if one of the best gauge of business and life success is: - how many people do you have on your address book? And how many would return your call?
9:17:42 PM comment [] trackback []
|
|
|
Sunday, May 08, 2005 |
|
Let me feel Important ( on life) My eldest son ( age 11) thinks his two younger brothers are nuisances. My second son ( age 9) thinks the youngest ( age 4) is also a nuisance to him. For parents of 2 or more children, I guess this is not something that is alien to you. Sibling rivalry happens, no matter how you manage them. The youngest one, for instance, wants to get everything his brothers have. When we buy some books for the first one, he also wants to have his book ( even if he does not know how to read). He also wants to play with the computer ( even if he does not know how to operate). He wants to get his share of TV, his share of food, his share of toys, and his share of attention. He plays with the video machine, or the computer and does not know what exactly is the objective of the game. But he gains pleasure in able to control the movements, and influence the cursor. His constant scream is "Let me participate. Let me be part of it. Let me feel important! See me influence and control the computer and do this! I want to do everything my brother does, and I can do it better! " When we grow up, we will be able to do a better job to mask our emotions, and we will also be able to reveal less of our natural selves especially if we are not with our own family. But the constant scream in all of us , "I want to be part, I am as important and as capable a member than anybody, I want to feel important" will still be there, and is an important need for everybody and ourselves that we need to recognize if we want to be successful in our interrelationships. History is replete with examples how people will go to great lengths and sacrifices to assert their pride and dignity. We all have this innate need to feel that we matter. The person who knows how to manage this within himself, and in his interrelationships with others will be the more successful manager and businessman.
10:35:20 PM comment [] trackback []
|
|
|
Sunday, May 01, 2005 |
|
How to Impress People ( on life) It was Feb 2005 and it was the finals for the selection of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. There were 17 of us finalists. The organizers decided to give us 2 hour slots. Mine was going to be 10 to 12 noon. I was to go to the studio to get some pictorials, do some videos for promotion, as well as do interviews. I could not imagine the painstaking effort of over 20 people in the studio to prepare and work to get a good 2 minute video. But happily it went well. After the shot, it was nearing 12, and the studio had prepared lunch -- for myself, the organizers, and also the film crew. It was customary for them to have lunch together with the candidates, and the lunch was also prepared just in case the shot might dragged to the afternoon. The director asked me politely whether I would like to invite my driver in so that we could all have lunch together. I sheepishly replied that since I was out of town, I had come in a cab. Oh, he said somewhat not knowing what to say. After lunch, they politely offered me a chauffeur and a car to drive me back to the hotel. At length, I found out that I was the only candidate who had come in a cab -- the other candidates had come in chauffered driven cars. I was a little bit embarassed, and swore that next time, I would do a harder job on impressing people. Happily, I did win in one of the categories, and don't know whether that little car incident impressed them in the right or wrong way. To impress or not to impress... For years now, my family has been egging me to get a new car -- I currently drive a Honda Accord that is over 8 years old. It is still a good and comfy car, but they keep telling me that there are business customers that I need to impress... But there was an incident a few weeks ago that made me convinced that driving an old car can bring better peace of mind. I was slowing the car when suddenly I got bumped at the back. I stopped, and noted that a taxi had rammed me slightly and had dented my fender. I raised my head, and saw that it was driven by somebody who was nearing 65, and obviously scared. In our place, most taxis are not covered properly by insurance, and thus, in many collision cases, it sometimes became the liability of the driver who was at fault. He was obviously at fault, and I could see the twitch in his face thinking where he was going to get the money to pay me. I surveyed the damage, and in that instant, I said to myself -- hey, my car can take this, and I can take this.... so I told the driver it was OK. No need to pay or to worry. You could imagine the relief in his face, and that picture is still clear on my mind today. I feel good the whole day, that I was able to be generous. And I said to myself, I would have agonized long and hard if it was a new car. So who do you want to impress, and how do you impress them? I can say that It felt good to impress people whom you were not expecting favors or returns. And maybe the best way to impress people is when they know you were not consciously trying to. I can remember stories of Microsoft's Bill Gates who long after he became a billionaire still took economy, Walmart's Sam Walton who drove a pickup when he could afford better, or stories of Bill Clinton who sported a digital TMX watch worth less than a hundred dollars. Would people have been more impressed if he had worn a 50 thousand dollar watch?
4:08:31 PM comment [] trackback []
|
Last update: 7/11/2005; 10:14:42 AM .
