Category: Books Courses Talks Videos

12 Week Year

Many years ago, there was an American movie called, ‘Honey, I shrunk the kids’. That’s what I feel like when I first read the book, The Twelve Week Year, by Brian P Moran and Michael Lennington. They challenged the Annual 12 months planning, to shrink it to 12 weeks.
The starting point is the vision, the emotional connection, the purpose of it. So why 12 weeks? It is more predictable, more focused, and has a better structure and more importantly, better execution.
The important lessons I have learnt from the book are:
– It is not a knowledge problem, it’s an execution problem
– The emotional connection with my vision, my compelling reason
– Doing things consistently – on a daily and weekly basis
– Measuring effectively – measuring both the execution and the results. We tend to measure just the results and get discouraged. By measuring execution, we can determine if our execution is providing the results we want. This was what really struck me – measuring execution.
– Accountability is not consequences, but taking ownership of our choices

After using this 12 Week Year for 12 weeks, I found that the idea is good, but my implementation was flawed. Without an accountability partner for the Weekly Accountability Meeting, I was not measuring effectively. Measurement drives the process and without it, I was not achieving my results.

I also realize that I needed to take control of my time – to spend time intentionally, to be mindful of how I spend my time. My biggest time-waster is social media, where I can scroll through them for hours. It is also my biggest distraction to be checking my WhatsApp – even while typing this sentence!!!

Bottomline: this is a very good book and awesome concept. I need to implement it in a way that works for me, and I need an accountability partner.

Learning as Your Superpower

I recently shared at a book club on Jim Kwik’s book Limitless, how he changed his mindset from the boy with a broken brain to a mind expert with a limitless mindset. We don’t always get to control the circumstances in our lives, but we always have a choice how we view the circumstances in our lives. That’s why our mindset is so important.

Our mindset is the one that will help us view our circumstances as hopeless, or, hopeful. With a Limitless mindset, we can open our minds to new possibilities and adventures for our future. Learn as much as you can – about yourself, your hopes and dreams, your strengths and weaknesses. Learn about the opportunities around you and how you can add value to people and/or situation around you. Learn something new, something that you have always wanted to learn, especially those who find themselves stuck at home during this Covid lockdown. Have a mindset of Continuous Learning to open your eyes and widen your perspective of life. As as Jim Kwik would say: Learning is your Superpower. It’s time to activate your Learning Superpower and make an positive impact on people around you!

 

We are all Influencers in our own space

Last week, I attended the online InfluencerSummit, hosted by Brendon Burchard. It was an amazing online event with many of the top notch speakers ranging from Jay Shetty, to Jenna Kutcher, to two of BossBabes’ founders, Natalie Ellis and Danielle Canty.

Let me share the lesson I learnt from Jenna Kutcher, who helped me realize that I am an influencer in my own space, be it my family, friends or workers. Her mission: Being Enough – Own Your Enoughness and Help Others Feel Less Alone – speaks volume to me, as I struggle to feel good enough in my different roles, even writing in my own blog. This feeling of not “being enough” can isolate us as we don’t even feel worthy enough to seek help. This belief that we are indeed enough, is essential as we live out our different roles and follow where our dreams take us.

She encouraged us to find our Super Power, as she said, “We are way too close to our own genius”. What I find to do so easily and naturally, can be a challenging task to another person, and we say, “That’s not a Super Power!!”.  We are all geniuses in our own rights – it is a matter of recognizing and acknowledging our genius. The way to find out is to ask people close to us or who work and/or interact with us regularly. Another way to figure out is ask this question: what are you the go-to person for?

I suggest you remove the limited definition of an “influencer” as defined by social media and marketing industry – and be intentional as an influencer in your own space, knowing the value you can add to your community and creating an impact for positive change in the world.

5-Second Brain Hack Rule

Perhaps you have heard of the 3-second rule where you drop you food and you can still pick it up and eat it if it is within 3 seconds. Recently, I heard of the most interesting 5-Second Rule by Mel Robbins. It is a brain hack where you count down 5-4-3-2-1 to interrupt your habit loops and prompts you into action. Instead of hitting the alarm clock snooze button, you count down 5-4-3-2-1 and get out of bed! 

Basically, it is a fact that we are never going to feel like doing the things we should do (e.g. exercise), hence we need to stop waiting to feel like doing it. We need to determine what we want, and practically force ourselves to do it. Just like how our parents used to force us to our homework and do house chores, now we need to “parent”, or force, ourselves to do it. 

When you want to do something or have an interesting idea, act upon it within 5 seconds, before your brain hijacks you and talks you out of it. When you see someone interesting and want to talk to him/her, go over and say ‘Hi!’. If you think longer about it, you will most likely “chicken out”. When you think of exercising, quickly put on your proper gear and walk out, before you change your mind. When the alarm clock rings in the morning, count down 5-4-3-2-1 and get out of bed. Overcome your inertia or procrastination by this simple 5-second rule! Your daily battles come down to this 5-second decisions you make every day! You need to determine what you want, then do what you need to do to get what you want! Try this 5-Second Rule!!!

The time is now. Stop hitting the snooze button on your life.
– Mel Robbins –

Free Bagel vs Long Queue

Free Bagel

Simon Sinek told this interesting story: after a run, he wanted the free bagel but his friend didn’t want to wait at the long queue. He realised that some people see the thing that they want, and some people see that thing that prevents them from getting the thing that they want. Simon Sinek could see the free bagel but his friend could only see the long queue for the free bagel. It was so funny the way Simon Sinek repeatedly said, ‘Free Bagel?!’

How often we want something but we are usually prevented from getting it because we can only see the trouble or hassle in getting what we want. Even a simple thing like going out for a nice dinner, when we think of the traffic and parking, we may just opt to order GrabFood!

Let us focus on the thing we want, instead of the obstacles in its way. Think ‘Free Bagel!’. Once we focus on that, then we can find ways to get what we want – which was what Simon Sinek did, even without queueing up! As Simon Sinek mentioned, Life has a funny way of looking after you! 

Memorizing Bible Verses

As a Catholic, memorizing Bible verses is not a natural habit. In a recent course where I had to memorize a Bible verse/passage every week, I have learnt to appreciate how this habit benefitted me.

Firstly, it helped me to know God’s word intimately. Secondly, it helped me to pray better, using Bible verses. Thirdly, it calms me down when I worry or feel overwhelmed. Fourthly, I am able to share these Bible verses to encourage or comfort those in need of God’s love. Lastly, it draws me closer to God.

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. James 4:8

So what I have done now, is that I started collecting my favourite Bible verses by searching them online for some nice images with the Bible verses, copy and paste them into my Microsoft OneNote page. I find it nicer and easier to memorize them visually.

This month, as I pray anxiously for my family’s health matters (surgeries), I found that memorizing the Bible verses has helped me focus on God instead of worrying. Every time I find myself worrying too much, I turn to my list of favourite Bible verses and start memorizing them. Truly, there is power in the Living Word of God. Amen!

Faithful Stewards

Recently I joined the pilot group in Malaysia for the Compass course, Navigating Your Finances God’s Way. The first lesson was impactful – all that we have and own belongs to God, and He is in control of everything. We are God’s faithful stewards to the money and possessions that He has given us.

When we realize that we are accountable for this stewardship, then we must understand what is our responsibilities as stewards, namely, to be faithful with what we are given, and to be faithful in every area (not just the supposedly 10% tithing only). The most important lessons I have learnt from the course are: to trust God with the money and possessions He has entrusted to me, to give joyfully, to be absolutely honest, to seek Godly counsel when the situation requires, to avoid debt and being a guarantor, to save for emergency, to invest wisely and to work unto the Lord.

Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men… It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. – Colossians 3:23-24

When I share with my group that I am ‘changing my Boss‘, I am not sure if they understood that I am changing my earthly boss to a Heavenly Boss, and not that I am changing job! Haha!!!

A Different Take on Yes/No

I recently read an interesting article by James Clear called ‘The Ultimate Productivity Hack is Saying No‘. He has a different take on saying yes or no, which was most interesting! He looked at it from the opposite end – meaning that saying ‘no’ is to just to one option, whereas saying ‘yes’ is actually saying ‘no’ to all other options! Furthermore, saying ‘Yes’ is a responsibility – a commitment you promise to the person you say Yes to.

When you say no, you are only saying no to one option. When you say yes, you are saying no to every other option.

No is a decision. Yes is a responsibility.

He went on to say the importance of saying No as a productivity hack, as it safeguard against our most precious commodity called ‘time’. You will realize that saying ‘no’ allows you to say ‘yes’ to those things that are important to you, or has more value to you. That, I think is a big motivation to master this important skill of saying ‘no’ or ‘yes’.

I Am Enough

I love the quote from Maya Angelou that says I am enough. I know I am enough because I am a child of God. He has made me in His image. Enough said!

With the constant bombardment of marketing advertisements and social media highlights, it is no wonder if we can stay afloat with our feeling of adequacy. That’s why it’s important to ground our identity in who we believe we are and live congruently with the values important to us.

I don’t have to prove anything to anyone. I am who I am in this space and in this time. The only thing I need to do is to serve my purpose in my unique way and do things that matters, while helping others do the same too! Knowing that, indeed, I Am Enough!

Prayer that changes me

Yesterday, I was struck by a quote from the movie ‘Shadowland’, a very old movie about the famous C.S. Lewis. He said that prayer doesn’t change God, that prayer changes me.

I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I am helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God. It changes me. – C.S. Lewis

I thought about how I need to be praying persistently, and more importantly, I have to pray persistently – until it changes me. Often, we pray to change our situation, our job, or our (addictive) habits, our children, even our spouse! So, my prayer should be to change me – to change my perspective or my mindset – to develop my character or to strengthen me.

Many times, we are unable to control our situation, but we can control how we react to the situation. We can control our perspective of the situation, and hence, we can change from a negative to a positive perspective. That each situation is a lesson in the making, and that we can learn from our failures and mistakes, and hence grow stronger from the experience. Our prayer should help us to see God’s will for us and how He wants to change us and develop our character. That, I believe, is one of the important aspect of Prayer.

PichaEats Malaysia

With the help of PichaEats, we met some Myanmar refugees who shared their stories. I was amazed with one of PichaEats founder’s story of how the three of them decided to help refugees in Malaysia, while still studying in university! They found a unique way to help refugees – turning their culinary skills into a quality and delicious food business.

Through PichaEats, refugee families who are forced to flee to Malaysia can get a chance to rebuild their lives, regain their dignity, and provide for their family.

As I reflect on the PichaEats team and the refugees’ sharings, I am reminded again of how blessed I am to have my home, my family, my job and my friends, and many things that I take for granted! It also reminded me to stop complaining about what I lack, but to appreciate what I already have, which is more than enough!

PichaEats team is a young dynamic entrepreneurial team. I salute them for their courage and tenacity to start and maintain this business of helping refugees in Malaysia, and inspiring more people to help others. Read their story, support them by ordering their food if possible, and be inspired to do something to help others too.

L.E.A.D.E.R

Acronym for Leader

Recently, I attended a Talk by Cash Flow Story founder, Alan Miltz, in Kuala Lumpur. He gave the acronym for leader that I found most useful and insightful:

L – Listen

E – Empathy

A – Attitude

D – Decisions

E – Energize

R – Resilience

These are the admirable qualities of a leader! What a apt acronym for them! Furthermore, he highlighted that the letters for the word ‘listen’, are the same letters for the word ‘silent’, signifying that we must learn to be silent when listening! So true!

Do you have these qualities as a leader?

Start With Why

Why I started BlessedAbundance

Simon Sinek’s book, Start With Why, started a movement and shook people and corporations at its core. In his TED Talk in September 2009, How Great Leaders Inspire Action, he talked about the Golden Circle – What, How, Why. Most people start from the outer circle of what they are doing, then how they are doing things – but very few people know, or stay true, to the Why they are doing the things they are doing!

The Golden Circle provides compelling evidence of how much more we can achieve if we remind ourselves to start everything we do by first asking why.

Simon Sinek

So it begs the question of why I have started BlessedAbundance? I had this idea a personal blog a few years ago but gave lots of excuses for not starting it. It took me a long time to overcome my limiting belief that I am not good enough and/or I don’t know enough to share. I believe each of us have a unique story to tell, and more importantly, each of us can inspire and be inspired. Just as I am constantly inspired by books and articles that I read, I can also inspire others to overcome their limiting beliefs and fear of failure, and do what they have always wanted to do! Even if I just inspire one person, I believe that is a very good start!

Congruency

I first heard of the word ‘congruent’ in the Live Your Legend course, ‘21 Days to Discover Your Passion’. Congruency means the ability to act in direct accordance to your dreams, values and strengths. It got me thinking about the values that are important to me, and evaluate my life in relation to them. For example, health is an important value to me, however, am I eating healthy, exercising regularly and having enough sleep every night? Truthfully, no.

So I started writing down the top 5-10 values that are important to me, then ranking them, which was challenging. I realize that having these values written down will help me make better decisions based on what is important to me. I believe that it will give me greater clarity and help me live my life’s purpose.

Now or never!

Is it human nature to always procrastinate? Giving reasons when there are actually excuses and justifications? Is it human tendency to seek the easy and least resistant path? I do so admire those people who stop procrastinating and really get things done!

If you don’t do something now, now just becomes later, and later just becomes never…

Chelsea Dinsmore

I felt like being slapped in the face the first read the above quote, coz it was so true for me! How many ‘later’ have not materialized in my life? Chelsea’s quote made me realize that if it is important to me, and I don’t do it now, it will end up never done. In fact, this quote inspired me to get this blog started, as I didn’t want it to be a ‘never’!

For any of you still ‘pondering‘ on your passion or interest, the time to start is now. It’s so okay to start and fail, and learn from your lesson, rather than not trying at all due to fear of failure. Through my failures, I have learnt so many valuable lessons, and looking back, it was more like adventures to me! So, start now! And share your stories with me, yeah?

To Cherish…

How often we hear the words in the wedding vows, ‘To love and to cherish‘, yet we tend to think mainly of love. In Gary Thomas’ book, ‘Cherish: The One Word that Changes Everything for Your Marriage’, he summarised the meaning of Cherish as ‘to go out of our way to notice someone, appreciate someone, honour someone, and hold someone dear‘.

One of the ways to cherish our loved ones is to be grateful for who they are – with their imperfections – knowing that we are imperfect as well. To thank them in specific ways for the big and little things they do for you, to encourage them when they need support, to inspire them to be better persons, and to help them achieve their dreams. Be intentional in cherishing them – so that they will definitely feel the warmth of your cherishing heart.

Are we stealing our own joy?

I first heard of the term ‘foreboding joy’ in Brene Brown’s book, Daring Greatly. I’ve had that feeling before – when things are going well but I feel it won’t last long, or I will run out of my good fortune soon – but didn’t know there’s an actual term for it…!

It makes me wonder: why do we steal our own joy and deprive ourselves of those joyful moment or season of life? Least we get disappointed? Or we feel unworthy of such joy and/or good fortune?

Scarcity and fear drive foreboding joy. We’re afraid our feelings of joy won’t last, or that it won’t be enough… If the opposite of scarcity is enough, then practicing gratitude is how we acknowledge that there’s enough and that we are enough.

Daring Greatly, by Brene Brown

Next time you have that feeling of foreboding joy, don’t let it steal your joy – instead, be present and be grateful for your moments of joy, knowing that we are enough!

Do It Afraid

I started this year with Sheila Walsh’s book, “It’s Okay Not to be Okay: Moving Forward One Day at a Time”. To know that God’s grace is sufficient for me, and that He will redeem every drop of my suffering.

What struck me most was her advice: Do It Afraid. To be Present. To Show Up. To bring all my anxieties and what-ifs to God. To let God take control.

Do you have a wish or dream you’ve always wanted to start, yet for various reasons (excuses), have yet to do so? Now will be the perfect time to do it! Just do it Afraid!