Author: Mush

Surviving the Recession…

Mush Motivation , , ,

A very comprehensive action plan to survive recession – adapted from Tom Peters’ blog:

I am constantly asked for “strategies/secrets for surviving the recession.” I try to appear wise and informed—and parade original, sophisticated thoughts. But if you want to know what’s going through my head, read the list below:

You work longer. You work harder. You may well work for less…
You volunteer to do more.
You always bring a good attitude to work. You fake it if your good attitude flags.
You literally practice your “game face” in the mirror in the morning, and in the loo mid-morning.
You shrug off shit that flows downhill in your direction…
You get there earlier. You leave later.
You forget about “the good old days”—nostalgia is for wimps.
You buck yourself up with the thought that “this too shall pass”—but then remind yourself that it might not pass anytime soon, so you re-dedicate yourself to making the absolute best of what you have now.
You eschew all forms of personal excess. You simplify.
You sweat the details as you never have before.
You raise to the sky the standards of excellence by which you evaluate your own performance.
You thank others by the truckload if good things happen—and take the heat yourself if bad things happen.
You behave kindly, but you don’t sugarcoat or hide the truth—humans are startlingly resilient.
You treat small successes as if they were Superbowl victories—and celebrate and commend accordingly.
You shrug off the losses, and get back on the horse and try again.
You avoid negative people to the extent you can—pollution kills.
You eventually read the gloom-sprayers the riot act.
You learn new tricks of your trade. You network like a demon.
You help others with their issues. You give new meaning to the word “thoughtful.”
You redouble, re-triple your efforts to “walk in your customer’s shoes.”
You mind your manners—and accept others’ lack of manners in the face of their strains.
You are kind to all mankind. You leave the blame game at the office door.
You become a paragon of accountability.
And then you pray.

Patience, Persistence and Positive Attitude!

Mush Motivation, Productivity , , ,

One of Sara’s odd jobs is to sell FM radios at Rugby matches around London. The company pays a fixed allowance of GBP40 for selling a minimum of 100 and additional commission for everything over. Last weekend Sara had a good earning of 50 pounds, but then she lost her bag at a shopping mall with all the earning and other valuables. That’s like losing a quarter of your monthly paycheck! She was obviously quite depressed, but only for a little while, until somebody reminded here that there was nothing in that bag that couldn’t be replaced. She hoped for another Rugby match to make up for the loss.

This weekend, the group was taken to a small Rugby match in Coventry. The company didn’t expect to sell many, so they offered a commission of 1 pound per radio – no fixed allowance, no minimum target. There were about 15 students in the group and everyone thought they’d be lucky if they sold 20. That’s what the company expected too. But Sara saw a real opportunity and aimed to sell 50. Just before they arrived at the venue, the weather turned nasty – rain, hail, snow and all! The turnout of the spectators was very low; nobody wanted to listen to a student trying to sell a 5-pound radio; the sellers were freezing with cold! The group ended up selling about 300 pieces, as opposed to a 1000 at regular matches. But Sara had sold 67 of these! That means the rest of the group had averaged 15 pieces each. This was perhaps the first time the company had paid a commission of 67 pounds to an individual at a match in Coventry! We can learn quite a bit from this 22-year old student.

Please feel free to leave your comments for Sara right here.

Calculate your BMI (Body Mass Index)

Mush Health ,

A good first step towards improving your health is to bring your weight to normal. And BMI is supposed to be the best indicator of whether you are ‘normal’, ‘overweight’ or ‘obese’.

Here’s a useful calculator to calculate BMI.

You can also download a ready reference table where you can match your height and weight to find out your BMI. There are other more accurate ways which take into account gender and frame etc. but this one is a good start.

How to achieve and maintain a ‘normal’ weight is another story 🙂

Problems vs. Situations

Mush Happiness, Life, Motivation , , ,

The idea that I am about to share seems too simple, but it has changed hundreds of lives, including mine: There are things you can change (problems) and there are things you can’t change (situations).

Most people seem to go through life fighting with, and agonizing over, things they can’t change e.g. weather, traffic, economy, their appearance, sickness, death, accidents. The result is frustration, depression, anger, anxiety, lot of stress and general unhappiness in life!

On the other hand, focusing on things we can change, improves the quality of our lives. We can change our attitudes, health, fitness, quality of our relationships, spending habits, level of our knowledge and skills, and many other things in life. Life is too short to try and change others.

A favorite prayer of mine: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference!

How not to sell?

Mush Work, Business , ,

Someone, we’d call Kevin for now, called me and asked if I remembered meeting him about a year ago at a particular event. I didn’t. He then described me and himself, then asked for an appointment. He wouldn’t tell me anything about the purpose of the meeting except ‘you were an inspiration, and I’d like to see you again’. I proposed the day and time and place; he agreed. I told him I’ll give him 20 minutes. He said ‘too short’ but agreed.

On the day, Kevin was about seven minutes late ‘due to traffic’. After a quick hello, he asked if I’d like to do something to help the environment. I said I’d love to. Kevin then told me I should go with him to the ‘Environmental Shopping Mall’ he works for – about 30 minutes commute from where we were. I asked him if it was some kind of network marketing, to which he said ‘no’. After a few minutes of probing, it turned out Kevin worked for a well-known network marketing company selling skincare, nutrition supplements and household products which were all supposed to be “good for me and the environment”! And his purpose was to recruit me or sell me some products.

I won’t tell you how the meeting with Kevin ended, but it shouldn’t be difficult to see the good, bad and ugly in this sales call.

Just what you need!

Mush Happiness, Life , ,

There are two ways of going through life: Gather everything in sight, just in case you need it. Or trust that you’ll find exactly what you need, just in time. Guess which one lets you enjoy life more, lets you really stop and smell the roses?

Oscar Pistorius – fastest man with no legs!

Mush Health, Motivation ,

PistoriusWhen Oscar Pistorius‘ lower legs were amputated at age 1, few would have banked on this South African challenging world-class sprinters. At 20, when he began to close in on Olympic-qualifying time for 400m, experts posited that his times were so good, he must have been getting an unfair advantage from his bladelike prosthetics. When he set his sights on the Olympic Games in Beijing, the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) ruled he couldn’t compete against able-bodied athletes.

Living with prosthetic legs was seen as a huge impediment, but he has turned this prescription upside down. His disadvantage has become the advantage. It’s too easy to credit Pistrius’ success to technology. Through birth or circumstances, some are given certain gifts, but it’s what one does with those gifts, the hours devoted to training, the desire to be the best, that is at the true heart of a champion.

(Adapted from TIME magazine, written by Erik Weihenmayer – the only blind person to conquer Mount Everest)

Pacific Coffee Company gives free coffee!

Mush Work, Business , , , ,

I’m a starbucks and pacific coffee addict. On one particular day, I was really craving a chilino from pacific and so without further ado I rushed to my nearest branch (where I happened to be a regular customer). I could already taste that coffee in my mouth before I stepped in. I went to the counter, placed the order, took out my wallet…only to realize that I was low on cash…and by low on cash I mean my wallet was empty. First thing that comes out of my mouth is ’shit!’ as you can imagine my extreme frustration at this point. The guy at the counter, who knows I’m a regular customer, smiles and asks me what’s wrong (he already knows). I show him my empty wallet, he tells me it’s not a problem and gives me a free grande chilino of my choosing on the house! Definitely WOW!

[Contributed by Hamza, Hong Kong]

Pacific Coffee

Luk Keng Village near Sunny Bay in Hong Kong

Mush Uncategorized , , ,

luk-keng-villageA hidden heaven in Hong Kong: Beautiful hike, clean and green beach and a nice barbecue area. Check it out on your own or with your family. Here’s how to get there:

Take Tung Chung MTR line to Sunny Bay station. Go straight from Exit A and turn left on the promenade that goes parallel to the railway tracks. After about 15 minutes, you’ll see a sign ‘To Luk Keng Village’ on the right. Follow this beautiful path until you see a small fishing village. Just before the village, there’s an almost hidden path going towards left. The sign ‘Barbecue Site’ faces the other side so you won’t see it. Take the path and within minutes you’ll find yourself facing a beautiful beach with trees and a barbecue area! Total walking time: 30-40 minutes. Calories burnt: perhaps 300. Check out the photos here.

Fernando’s in Macau

Mush Work, Business , , , , ,

It was the last day of our fantastic family vacation in Macau. We checked out and headed to the highly recommended Fernando’s on Hac Sa Beach on the Coloane side. The restaurant had very homely atmosphere, breezy backyard and friendly waiters. We had delicious finger-licking curry and fried king prawns. When we produced our credit card to pay for the meal, we were told, “Cash only”. Oops, we didn’t have enough. The manager said, “no problem, take the bill, mail us a check.” We couldn’t believe what we were hearing! There are actually people and places like that today? WOW!

[Contributed by Altaf, Hong Kong. Oct. 2007]

Lance Armstrong – an inspiration for all

Mush Happiness, Health, Motivation , , ,

lanceThere’s no one else quite like him. And there probably never will be. The best cyclist ever, Lance won the Tour de France, an almost incomprehensible seven times from 1999 to 2005. But before he could do that, in 1996 he had to beat back a cancer that was supposed to take his life. Testicular cancer had spread to his abdomen, lungs and brain. Doctors told him he had no chance. But no chance were not words that had meaning for Lance.

He spearheaded the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which made a yellow plastic loop a statement of resistance and strength across the entire planet. It advocates for those living with cancer, funds research, inspires the cancer community to support each other.

Lance took a minor sports in America and turned it into a great national passion and pride. And he did it by struggling for years, alone on his bike, often in unforgiving weather, over terrain that most of us would view as hostile, when no one was watching, no one was cheering.

He inspired all of us who face a cancer diagnosis to search out the doctors who believe that we can live, to hold on to friends and family that stand beside us – and then to fight to prove the faith of those. After Lance, no one could ever again say it was too hard, the odds were too high, the fight already lost. Watch one of his recent interviews here.

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Mush Happiness, Health, Life, Motivation, Relationships , ,

tuesdaysA true story of a dying professor who shares his wisdom with the author. Very inspiring and thought-provoking stuff on life, death, family, money, emotions, love and more. Here’s an excerpt from the Tuesday they talk about money:

“We’ve got a form of brainwashing going on in our country. Do you know how they brainwash people? They repeat something over and over. Owning things is good. More money is good. More property is good. More is good. More is good. We repeat it – and have it repeated to us – over and over until nobody bothers to even think otherwise. The average person is so fogged up by all this, he has no perspective on what’s really important anymore.

“Wherever I went in my life, I met people wanting to gobble up something new. Gobble up a new car. Gobble up a new piece of property. Gobble up the latest toy. And they wanted to tell you about it. ‘Guess what I got? Guess what I got?’ These were people so hungry for love that they were accepting substitutes. But it never works. You can’t substitute material things for love or for gentleness or for tenderness. I can tell you, as I am sitting here dying, when you most need it, neither money nor power will give you the feeling you’re looking for, no matter how much of them you have.”

Excuses for Not Exercising

Mush Health , ,

Some excerpts from an article in this month’s The Oprah Magazine:

“I am already too busy – I can’t deal with one more thing I’m supposed to do.” Too many women put their jobs, obligations, and the people they care for before themselves. Most women wouldn’t say out loud, ‘I am not as important and I don’t deserve the time’, but that’s exactly what their actions say. Try justifying regular trips to the gym by reminding yourself that unless your needs are met, you’ll have trouble meeting the needs of those counting on you.

“How can I exercise when I am always tired?” First you have to realize that there are two types of energy – physical and mental – and they feed off each other. Chances are, you’re mentally tired from sitting at your job all day, and you need to get your blood circulating to rev your engine again. Tell yourself, I will do just ten minutes. And call it quits if you are still slogging after ten full minutes.

“I’ll start out gung ho, but I know I’ll get bored and quit.” Predicting failure is a classic way of protecting yourself. Rule out success, and you don’t have to try. If you are put off by the thought of setting up an effective program, consider spending a bit extra on a personal trainer to get you through the challenging first few weeks.

Tom Peters on Recession

Mush Motivation , , , ,

An excerpt from one of Tom Peter’s recent posts:

Don’t think of our current economic crisis as a recession. Instead, think of it as a recalibration. Everything is different now. If you think of it as a recession, you may be tempted to “hunker down” and wait for the economy to cycle back. If you think of it as a recalibration, you will be motivated to focus on what you have to do differently, since everything is different now.

  • The way your business generates results is different, now.
  • Your customers think differently, now.
  • Your customers care about different things, now.
  • Your customers act differently, now.
  • Your customers may actually be different people, now.
  • Customers aren’t disposable anymore; more than ever, you have to create sustainable customer relationships.

So, what can we do differently?

Pizza Hut in Jakarta offers WOW customer service!

Mush Work, Business , , , ,

pizzahutThis is the Pizza Hut right after the tollgate on the highway to Bandung. And there’s something different about this one. Besides the fact that the staff is very happy and enthusiastic, they love to entertain kids by making balloon animals for them. There’s a huge basket in a corner which is filled with long balloon tubes. Kids come and select a color and one of the staff would make an animal or something for the kid. Kids love watching the transformation of balloon tubes into different shapes. And these balloons are easier to keep. It also makes their parents happy because the whole process keeps their kids away for a while. It seems to make the staff happy because they get to interact with different kids and spread some cheer in between taking orders and serving pizzas! The balloon hat in the picture is my contribution to the shapes now available ☺ What a simple idea! And so much WOW!

J.K. Rowling talks about the Benefits of Failure

Mush Happiness, Life, Motivation , ,

JK Rowling, the author of Harry Potter, gave an inspiring speech at the Harvard University Commencement Address. She talked about the fringe benefits of failure and the importance of imagination. Here’s a part of it:

“You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.

“Failure gave me an inner security that I had never attained by passing examinations. Failure taught me things about myself that I could have learned no other way. I discovered that I had a strong will, and more discipline than I had suspected; I also found out that I had friends whose value was truly above rubies.

“The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more to me than any qualification I ever earned.

“Given a time machine or a Time Turner, I would tell my 21-year-old self that personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a check-list of acquisition or achievement. Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet many people of my age and older who confuse the two. Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone’s total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes.”

Read the full speech here.

Cathay Pacific goes from Wow to Shit!

Mush Work, Business , , , ,

Cathay has been my favorite airline since 1997 when I first started traveling on it, up until recently when I finally made up my mind that I don’t like it any more. And it’s the little things that seem to be slowly disappearing – like the genuine smile at the check-in desk, the passion and enthusiasm of the cabin crew and the real care for the passenger.

I have had faulty AV systems on my seat twice in the last six months – they say, “Sorry sir, would you like to change your seat.” I don’t, because I am sitting on a first-row aisle seat – the only comfortable seat in the plane for someone who is tall and suffers from back pain.

Most cabin crew don’t hear English very well, so you almost always have to repeat yourself if you ask for anything other than water. People making cabin announcements often sound like kids who have just learnt how to read.

What peeves me the most is when you press the call button and nobody bothers. I have often had cabin crew pass by without stopping, even when they see the call light turned on above my seat. One of my colleagues often tells the attendants who show up after a long time, “If I had a heart attack, I’d be dead by now”. Most of them don’t seem to understand what he means by that.

So yeah, Cathay is consistently moving from WOW to SHIT on my scale. So why do I still travel Cathay? For it’s convenient connections from Hong Kong, where I (mostly) live. And for crew like Athens, who still care and love what they do. Today he recognized me and remembered that few months ago, I had given away my favorite seat so a mom and child could sit together. He treated me really well today.
[Written during a Cathay flight from Hong Kong to Karachi on Oct 19, 2007]

Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport is WOW!

Mush Work, Business ,

What comes to mind when you think Indian airports? Old, dirty, busy, crowded and dimly lit; rusted baggage trolleys with slow noisy luggage belts. But the new airport in Mumbai will change that image forever. It’s big, beautiful and very functional. With its white marble floors, modern look, currency exchange and rent-a-car counters, uniformed staff, clean toilets and shopping areas, it compares well with some of the best airports in Asia. When you come outside, the organized lanes for cars, auto rickshaws and taxis further surprise you.

The entire departure area has free wifi internet access for Airtel (India’s leading mobile network) subscribers. And there are cyber cafes, bookshops, coffee shops, restaurants and a few branded goods shops. The air-conditioning actually works unlike the old airport. This revamp is part of a mega project to be completed in 2010 when international and domestic terminals will be combined into one, current domestic terminal will become a dedicated cargo terminal, and the airport will cater to 40 million passengers and one million metric tons of cargo per year!

A big sign at the entrance to arrival halls reads: “Be the change you want to see” (Mahatma Gandhi).

The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

Mush Happiness, Health, Life, Motivation, Productivity, Relationships , ,

secret.jpgA great motivational book about the power of our thoughts and how to apply it in our lives. A superb team of authors, teachers and speakers bring you The Secret to health, wealth, relationships and happiness.

Tony Robbins talks about Motivation in Tough Times

Mush Motivation , , ,

A short video clip from The Today Show featuring Tony Robbins giving advice on how to stay motivated in these tough times: