Nothing in Particular

Some of the best discourse I have heard are about trivial matters. Whilst non-substantive, they can provoke thought.

• Society's increasing insensitivity towards extremes. 
• Poetry's subtle germination of unrelated visualisations.
• Predisposed human nature such as self-bias and risk aversion. 
• The rise of misguided political correctness. 
• The beauty of nature exhibited on a quiet dusk sky. 
• Questioning why such as why is there a tree or why the lack of divine happenings in recent history. 
• Food being disaggregated into ever-smaller nutritional components to design for an individual's genetic makeup. 
• The never ending quest to break previously set records.
• Rise of political correctness
• Struggles of travel (starving at time, unhealthy meals, waking up early, crappy tourist sites, carrying luggage around)
• Frequencies in the body that may lead to illness, softening in the body of hard areas

Happiness

Of late countless research studies have been conducted into happiness. It seems that people the world over are seeking happiness.

Every happy person has close, supportive relationships - without exception. You can build those relationships by being grateful, by helping other people, by taking care of them and they are going to take care of you.

Essentially, there are three pillars of happiness: pleasure, engagement, and meaning. I have compiled a list of happiness drivers based on the research. The brackets denote the number of research articles the driver is mentioned in.

• Good close relationships and socialising with happy people (including marriage) (16)
• Good healthy bodies and diet (9)
• Spiritual practice or belief entailing support, purpose and acceptance (8)
• Random acts of kindness, doing good, generosity, giving, community volunteering (7)
• Active leisure pursuits for both mind and body (as opposed to passive indulgences such as watching TV) (6)
• Enough money (6)
• Realistic and clear goals (6)
• Optimism and pretend happiness, smiling and laughing, counting blessings, positive outlook, resilience and bouncing back from problems, set aside stress (5)
• Living in the now and enjoying the present, mindfulness, accept and appreciate pain, acknowledge sadness (4)
• Focus on controlling your own actions and activities (4)
• Sound sleep and rest (3)
• Rewarding, meaningful, and challenging work, mastery of skills (3)
• Buy experiences, not possessions (along with the anticipation of the experience) (3)
• Sex (2)
• Playing with children (2)
• Self-esteem (2)
• Learning and growing, education (2)
• Frequent small pleasures (including renting something you enjoy)
• Don't chase happiness
• Emphasise strengths
• Read newspapers
• Meals out
• Play sports
• Outgoing personality
• Balance sensory pleasures and achievement activities
• Forgive oneself and others
• Gratitude, loving kindness
• Meditation, prayer, surrender
• Byproduct of other activities
• Sunshine
• Connect with supervisors

Tragedy in Zimbabwe

The rising death toll from the latest mishap to strike Zimbabwe has turned the once comparatively economically developed country into a full scale international emergency. The cholera and anthrax outbreak compounds a country already in abject poverty.

The facts are bare. Zimbabwe's cities and towns have gone without fresh water for months. People are dying at an alarming rate. The outbreak comes at a time when Zimbabwe is facing government mismanagement, hyperinflation, drought, and disease.

Other equally tragic events occurring across the world. The systematic raping of seven out of ten women in the Democratic Republic of Congo has left many HIV-positive and pregnant. Agencies estimate that 75 per cent of all rape cases worldwide take place in Congo. Similarly, Sudan, Iraq, and Somalia are gripped by war which has left hundreds of thousands of casualties.

Me Today

What do I really want in life? I have experienced it all. The smarts, jobs, investments, faith, health, friends, girls, and now the most unbelievable speech. There was the confidence, the body language, the executives, the occasion. The speech I gave today filled me with jubilation. I felt incredible. Sheer joy.

But it's not just about the achievements. It's about the deep happiness within. This is what matters at the end of the day.

Update (28/6/2010): I have many attractive attributes. I am the complete package. I am confident, happy, tall, fit, intelligent, ambitious, rich, honest, open minded, adventurous and fun. I have achieved a lot of things I wanted to achieve. Sure, there are many more still to be achieved, but what I have done is great.

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Some points of interest:

Climate Change. The majority of climate scientists agree that global warming is primarily caused by human activities such as fossil fuel burning and deforestation. The conclusion that global warming is mainly caused by human activity and will continue if greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced has been endorsed by at least 30 scientific societies and academies of science.

Emotional intelligence. Unlike normal intelligence, emotional intelligence can be repeatedly taught but difficult to draw upon when the situation arises. Although like normal intelligence, practice makes perfect. A person's emotional state is communicated throughout the body via the brain and the heart.

Feeling emotionless. There are times in life where feelings are inexplicable. This is the time where you are most vulnerable and the answers you come up with will need to be carefully analysed later.

Being influenced. Any event large or small can influence you. Like the song that is playing or a meal that you are eating. Small things that can trigger a change in mood for good or bad. These events and situations may subconsciously affect your mind, your disposition and your self worth.

Clarity. It is beneficial to voice what is on my mind and put pen to paper when evaluating a decision. Voicing the situation makes things clearer. On the other hand, being on the computer can easily distract.

Freedom. People who are free do what they want. They do not necessarily conform to society's bounds. They move unhindered by popular opinion. What is important here is the ability of these individuals to stand up for what they believe in despite what others may think.

Innovation. Although, these concepts are nebulous and mean different things to different people, they are essentially about improvement. Google Street View is a tribute to the continuous pushing of the envelope of imagination.

Invention. Electricity, the greatest invention. It has absolutely transformed the world as we know it and enabled many other inventions to follow. Other notable inventions include the wheel and computing.


Memory. Memory is our essence. Without memory, it is as being unconscious. Memory gives us a being.

Organisations and You

Organisations have visions.

Effective organisations lay out mission statements, targets, and objectives in their corporate and business plans. They set goals, develop measures, and identify challenges. Each year they review these in annual reports.

I raise the question, if people work so hard in developing an organisation's future, what are they doing for themselves? Do we set the same targets and objectives in our lives? How much effort are we putting into developing and reviewing ourselves when our life is our most important asset?

For The Love Of Quotes

This year I have developed a love for the art of quotations. Quoations are simple, eloquent ways of capturing an ideal, an essence, or a whole movement. This entry will list notable quotes I have come across.

• "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless." - King Solomon
• “Those who have knowledge don’t predict. Those who predict don’t have knowledge.” - Lao Tzu
• "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss / Bernard Baruch
• "Be the change that you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi
• "Life is short, break the rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably, and never regret anything that made you smile. Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain
• "Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich." - Lao Tzu
• "Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny." — Mahatma Gandhi
• “Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.” ― William Shakespeare
• “People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway. If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway. For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.” ― Mother Teresa
• "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett
• "I was never afraid of failure, for I would sooner fail than not be among the best." - John Keats
• "Never look back in regret but to move on to the next thing. The amount of time people waste dwelling on failures rather than putting that energy into another project always amazes me. I have had fun running all of the Virgin businesses, so I never see a setback as bad experience; it is just a learning curve." - Richard Branson
• "Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have. Life is now. There was never a time when your life was not now, nor will there ever be." - Eckhart Tolle
• "Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle." - Abraham Lincoln
• "The only thing I must remember is my self worth (and that my time is my most precious and least renewable asset)."

All About Confidence

Confidence is the magic word. It is a key ingredient in success but missing in a lot of people. It is essential to climb the corporate ladder but difficult to apply. It is a powerful trait. It is masterful.

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To understand something well takes research. One of the first steps is understanding the definition.

According to the Collins, Oxford, Merriam-Webster, Webster, American Heritage, Encarta, and Wiktionary dictionaries, the most often mentioned definitions about confidence are self trust and assurance.

What is confident behaviour?

1. It is doing what you believe to be right, even if others mock or criticise you for it.
2. It is being willing to take risks and go the extra mile to achieve better things.

These can be measured by:

1. Willingness and comfort to make a point that may draw attention to yourself.
2. Willingness and comfort to step outside your comfort zone or try new situations.

How do you become confident?

1. Emphasise strengths: look at your achievements, strengths, goals, and commit to them
2. Take risks: build knowledge, focus on the basics
3. Self talk: manage your mind by positive thinking
4. Self evaluate: set goals and achieve them, celebrate successes

Importantly, you gain confidence from doing (experience) by not being afraid to go outside your comfort zone, make mistakes and learn from them.