I had a beautiful garden during Chinese New Year. Many who came to my open house marveled that I, a busy mom and entrepreneur had the time to take care of it, and the flowers that were blooming were indeed impressive. I was of course very proud of my achievements and told anyone who would listen that ‘it’s nothing, just takes a little determination.’
A few weeks later, to my horror, I noticed that a big chunk of plants from my garden is missing! Gone were the beautiful flowering shrubs. The big leafy plant of which I was so proud of was yellowing and one of the small trees has died!
It turned out that my well-intentioned maid decided to help me weed out the garden. She said that the weeds were growing wild, and she took up a changkul (hoe), and the rest is history!
Aaarrrgghhhhh! To tell the truth, I talked to my maid ‘loudly’ (err… VERY loudly), telling her to LEAVE MY GARDEN ALONE!!! She mumbled an apology saying that she was only trying to help, since I was too busy to tend to my garden.
A sudden realization came to me. How many of us, in our quest for more success, and in our everyday ‘busyness’, have yet again neglected to tend to the most important garden we own?
Our mind is just like my garden. It needs tending to on a consistent basis. And if we don’t do it ourselves, sometimes some well-intention friend or relative will ‘tend our garden’ for us.
Thank God it was only a small part of my garden that my maid destroyed. What would have happened if I allow someone else to destroy my hard-earn self confidence and leadership qualities due to lack of care?
So, what I did was… got myself some quiet time, did some ‘weeding’ (reflections on my successes and failures). I reviewed my goal-list and made some adjustments. I also picked up a half-read book, promising myself that I will finish it without being way-laid by busyness.
All in all, I feel more positive, more determined that this year, I would have yet another bouquet of achievements to share with those whom I love.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
My Garden
There's a small garden plot in front of my house. Once upon a time (when I first moved into this place), I diligently planted some flowering plants and weeded it often. It gives me a lot of pleasure to see the flowers blooming so well.
After a while, with the demands of life and work, I stopped tending to my garden. Soon, grass and weeds overwhelmed it. One day I decided to pull out the grasses and weeds, and in the process of doing so, I pulled out the flowers as well. Getting fed-up. I decided clear the whole garden of flowers, weeds and grass and start all over again.
After such tiring work, I decided to take a break, buy some flower seeds and start planting the next time I'm free. Then it started raining almost everyday, and so I can't work in the garden. Then it became too hot. And the haze was back! Then I was too busy. The next time I have a bit of free time, I was surprised to see that all the weeds and grass has grown back!
And so, I started to clear the weeds and grass again, which is back-breaking work, having to squat and bend my back. Big giant ants were also crawling all over the place and there were big fat worms too!! Yucks! All these happened a few cycles in more than 1 year.
One fine day, I was again hacking away at the grass, telling myself that I'll get this garden blooming by Chinese New Year. An elderly lady walking a dog stopped to chat with me.
"I noticed that you keep clearing this garden, but didn't plant anything," she said. I explained that the garden was most uncooperative. It kept growing weeds before I have time to plant my flowers! The old auntie smiled and said it's because I should have planted the flowers immediately after I cleared the weeds. Otherwise, the weeds will keep growing back no matter how many times I clear it. Auntie also instructed me to plant my flower seeds in a small pot first, let the seeds germinate and grow into a small plant, then replant it into my garden.
It occurred to me that our mind is exactly like my garden. We had big plans and dreams to make it beautiful, but after a while, the stress of life overcrowds us. And weeds started growing. And whatever flowers we had were choked to death.
I realized that if we want change in our lives, we must start by clearing the weeds from our mind, and at the same time start planting seeds of `knowledge', `self-motivation', `encouragement', `happiness' and as many good seeds as you could find. And where can we find these seeds? From reading books, listening to good CDs and tapes, yes, even watching great movies, (my favourite is "In Pursuit of Happyness" starring Will Smith).
Other ways? – choosing to spent time with positive friends, getting and spending quality time with a mentor, and taking the time to plan and write down our goals. Attending seminars and talks is one of my favourite ways. Very soon I will have a great bouquet of flowers to share with all those I love.
After a while, with the demands of life and work, I stopped tending to my garden. Soon, grass and weeds overwhelmed it. One day I decided to pull out the grasses and weeds, and in the process of doing so, I pulled out the flowers as well. Getting fed-up. I decided clear the whole garden of flowers, weeds and grass and start all over again.
After such tiring work, I decided to take a break, buy some flower seeds and start planting the next time I'm free. Then it started raining almost everyday, and so I can't work in the garden. Then it became too hot. And the haze was back! Then I was too busy. The next time I have a bit of free time, I was surprised to see that all the weeds and grass has grown back!
And so, I started to clear the weeds and grass again, which is back-breaking work, having to squat and bend my back. Big giant ants were also crawling all over the place and there were big fat worms too!! Yucks! All these happened a few cycles in more than 1 year.
One fine day, I was again hacking away at the grass, telling myself that I'll get this garden blooming by Chinese New Year. An elderly lady walking a dog stopped to chat with me.
"I noticed that you keep clearing this garden, but didn't plant anything," she said. I explained that the garden was most uncooperative. It kept growing weeds before I have time to plant my flowers! The old auntie smiled and said it's because I should have planted the flowers immediately after I cleared the weeds. Otherwise, the weeds will keep growing back no matter how many times I clear it. Auntie also instructed me to plant my flower seeds in a small pot first, let the seeds germinate and grow into a small plant, then replant it into my garden.
It occurred to me that our mind is exactly like my garden. We had big plans and dreams to make it beautiful, but after a while, the stress of life overcrowds us. And weeds started growing. And whatever flowers we had were choked to death.
I realized that if we want change in our lives, we must start by clearing the weeds from our mind, and at the same time start planting seeds of `knowledge', `self-motivation', `encouragement', `happiness' and as many good seeds as you could find. And where can we find these seeds? From reading books, listening to good CDs and tapes, yes, even watching great movies, (my favourite is "In Pursuit of Happyness" starring Will Smith).
Other ways? – choosing to spent time with positive friends, getting and spending quality time with a mentor, and taking the time to plan and write down our goals. Attending seminars and talks is one of my favourite ways. Very soon I will have a great bouquet of flowers to share with all those I love.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Believe
"All things are possible for the One who Believes" (Jesus, Mark 9:23)
That is powerful!
All things – good….. and …… bad…… Our beliefs have the power to create and to destroy!
There is no other more powerful directing force in human behavior than ‘BELIEF’.
Heard of the saying "You are what you eat"? It is also true that "You are what you think yourself to be"
It is our belief that determines how much of our potential we will be able to tap. So we better examine some of our beliefs minutely.
For example, do you believe that you can excel in whatever you do? You will!
Do you believe Rich People are crooks? Then most likely you’ll not get rich because you don’t want to be a crook OR you’ll get rich and become a crook!
Do you believe that the product you are selling is the best? If yes – it’s the best and everyone will want to buy from you. If No – you better look for another product, (or simply change your belief)
Do you believe life is full of problems? You’ll be having one problem after another
What are your beliefs about people?
A belief is either empowering or limiting.
A belief is nothing but the generalization of a past incident.
A friend of mine was bitten by a dog when she was small. She ended up believing all dogs to be dangerous.
A millionaire I know came from very humble beginnings. She shared with me her secret to her success is her observation of rich and successful people from a young tender age of 16! This led to her strong belief that she too will become rich and successful. Because of that belief, she took the necessary actions – continuous learning from successful people, studying investment opportunities, networking with the right people etc.
How I feel about myself, positive or negative, is entirely up to me. How I handle matters and life’s ups and downs that will determine the level of my success.
"What Ever The Mind Can Conceive and BELIEVE, It Can Achieve." -Napoleon Hill
"Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right." - Henry Ford
That is powerful!
All things – good….. and …… bad…… Our beliefs have the power to create and to destroy!
There is no other more powerful directing force in human behavior than ‘BELIEF’.
Heard of the saying "You are what you eat"? It is also true that "You are what you think yourself to be"
It is our belief that determines how much of our potential we will be able to tap. So we better examine some of our beliefs minutely.
For example, do you believe that you can excel in whatever you do? You will!
Do you believe Rich People are crooks? Then most likely you’ll not get rich because you don’t want to be a crook OR you’ll get rich and become a crook!
Do you believe that the product you are selling is the best? If yes – it’s the best and everyone will want to buy from you. If No – you better look for another product, (or simply change your belief)
Do you believe life is full of problems? You’ll be having one problem after another
What are your beliefs about people?
A belief is either empowering or limiting.
A belief is nothing but the generalization of a past incident.
A friend of mine was bitten by a dog when she was small. She ended up believing all dogs to be dangerous.
A millionaire I know came from very humble beginnings. She shared with me her secret to her success is her observation of rich and successful people from a young tender age of 16! This led to her strong belief that she too will become rich and successful. Because of that belief, she took the necessary actions – continuous learning from successful people, studying investment opportunities, networking with the right people etc.
How I feel about myself, positive or negative, is entirely up to me. How I handle matters and life’s ups and downs that will determine the level of my success.
I shall review my beliefs periodically and find out which ones are empowering and which ones I need to change. You can (and should) too!
"What Ever The Mind Can Conceive and BELIEVE, It Can Achieve." -Napoleon Hill
"Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right." - Henry Ford
Monday, April 6, 2009
Go Get It! Period!
One of my favourite movie is "In Pursuit of Happyness". It’s a great movie starring Will Smith as Chris Gardner.
Always hard working and tenacious, a series of circumstances in the early 1980’s left Gardner homeless in San Francisco and the sole guardian of his toddler son. Unwilling to give up Chris Jr. or his dream of financial independence, Gardner started at the bottom. Without connections or a college degree, he earned a spot in the Dean Witter Reynolds training program.
Often spending his nights in a church shelter or the bathroom at a Bay Area Rapid Transit station in Oakland (that scene moved me to tears!), Gardner was the sole trainee offered a job at Dean Witter Reynolds in 1981.
"You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People can't do something themselves, they wanna tell you that you can't do it. You want something? Go get it. Period" Chris Gardner to Jr.
I urged you to go get a copy of this most inspiring movie. You'll understand....
Always hard working and tenacious, a series of circumstances in the early 1980’s left Gardner homeless in San Francisco and the sole guardian of his toddler son. Unwilling to give up Chris Jr. or his dream of financial independence, Gardner started at the bottom. Without connections or a college degree, he earned a spot in the Dean Witter Reynolds training program.
Often spending his nights in a church shelter or the bathroom at a Bay Area Rapid Transit station in Oakland (that scene moved me to tears!), Gardner was the sole trainee offered a job at Dean Witter Reynolds in 1981.
"You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People can't do something themselves, they wanna tell you that you can't do it. You want something? Go get it. Period" Chris Gardner to Jr.
I urged you to go get a copy of this most inspiring movie. You'll understand....
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
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