The Dash by Linda Ellis

Mush Happiness, Life, Motivation , , , ,

This poem continues to be one of the most inspiring pieces for over ten years. It’s been published in many forms. Here’s part of it:

I read of a man who stood to speak
at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
from the beginning…to the end.

He noted that first came the date of her birth
and spoke of the following date with tears,
but he said what mattered most of all
was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time
that she spent alive on earth…
and now only those who loved her
know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own;
the cars….the house…the cash.
What matters is how we live and love
and how we spend our dash.

Read the full poem here. And watch a short movie here.

American Express and Mandarin Oriental get it!

Mush Work, Business , , , , , , ,

mandarin-bdayMost hotels are very particular about getting their guests’ date of birth upon check in. Whenever I am asked to fill in mine, I ask, “Are you planning to send me a birthday card?” I usually get a sheepish smile in response.

Out of the hundreds of hotels that have collected my DOB during the last ten years of my traveling – including some of the biggest chains and brands – only Mandarin Oriental in Macau sends me a birthday card every year. And it comes with a special offer of a deluxe room for two at almost half the price for any two nights during my birthday month! That’s WOW!

amex-bdayThis year, I also got a birthday card from American Express. And this included six discount coupons on meals at some of the best restaurants in Hong Kong! Another WOW!

If you are in any kind of business or sales, remember that one of the easiest ways of enhancing the relationship with your customer, or with anyone in your life for that matter, is remembering their birthday. And then following up with a gift or a personalized card or a phone call or even an SMS – anything but a link to one of those electronic greeting cards!

I know you can’t help thinking what to do on Mush’s birthday 🙂 Forward a link to my blog to somebody who could benefit from the information and inspiration. Also, any feedback, good or bad, on my blog through comments on Why I Write? page would mean a lot to me.

Randy Pausch’s last lecture

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

I am sure most of you have heard or read about Professor Randy Pausch by now. But just in case you haven’t… his work is not to be missed!

Randy Pausch (Oct. 23, 1960 – July 25, 2008) gave his last lecture at the Carnegie Mellon University on Sept. 18, 2007. In his moving presentation, “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals. His book, “The Last Lecture” which was based on this presentation was also a bestseller. You can watch that lecture here. It’s about an hour, but very inspiring from beginning to end:


Great day or lousy day?

Mush Happiness, Life, Motivation , , , ,

It was one of those days when I was able to notice most of the good things in life – big and small.

Waking up to a new day – alive and healthy! Running water, hot and cold! Nice clothes to wear! Fresh juice to drink! A job to go to! Beautiful weather – neither hot nor cold! Train station close to home! Train that’s always on time! My favorite corner seat! An hour of thinking and reading time! Nice office – with a sea view! The old cleaning lady who cleans with a passion and greets with enthusiasm! Clean pantry with filtered drinking water! Lots of work to do – mostly enjoyable! A Mac that’s always reliable – no virus, no spam, no hanging up! High-speed Internet access! An email from Hamza recommending another productivity software! Lots of people who trust me with their problems and impossible deadlines! An unexpected lunch meeting in a nice and quiet restaurant with the most divine tempura! New things to learn! Central air-conditioning to keep us cold, and a portable heater under the desks when it gets too cold! Lots of things to laugh about! Coming home to a loving family! Still being in love with the same person after almost 30 years! Kids (many) that we are proud of! Amazing home-cooked food for dinner…WOW!

What kind of a day do you think I had? Amazing, exciting, wonderful, of course! There were some problems for sure and a few challenging situations, but somehow they all looked small and insignificant! On any given day we all have more good things than bad things. But when we fail to notice and acknowledge them, even small problems and challenges look big and we end up having a lousy day! If our days make up our life, we can pretty much control the quality of our lives, can’t we?

Make Today Count by John Maxwell

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

maketodaycountI was just looking; I wasn’t going to buy anything. Until I saw this little book with a bold red and white cover and an interesting title. In fact, I liked the subtitle even better. I read it on the flight back from Singapore last month, and started re-reading it this week. Here’s a piece from the Introduction:

You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. You see, success doesn’t just suddenly occur one day in someone’s life. For that matter, neither does failure. Each is a process. Every day of your life is merely a preparation for the next. What you become is the result of what you do today. In other words… you are preparing for something. The way you live your life today is preparing you for tomorrow. The questions is, What are you preparing for? As my father used to tell me when I was growing up, “You can pay now and play later, or you can play now and pay later. But either way, you are going to pay.”

The book has twelve chapters – a dozen to focus on daily: Attitude, Priorities, Health, Family, Thinking, Commitment, Finances, Faith, Relationships, Generosity, Values and Growth. I’ll be happy to give my copy to the first person who asks.

Favorite Quotes – Dreams

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It is precisely the possibility of realizing a dream that makes life interesting. (Paulo Coelho)

When you really want something, the whole universe conspires to help you realize your dream. (Paulo Coelho)

Some men see things as they are and say, “Why?” I dream of things that never were and say, “Why not?” (George Bernard Shaw)

Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men. (Goethe)

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. (Mark Twain)

The most pitiful among men is he who turns his dreams into silver and gold. (Khalil Gibran)

Health Calculators

Mush Health , ,

Thee very useful links for anyone concerned about calories in our food and other health indicators:

Calories Burned provides a calcalutor where you input your weight, activity and duration. A 76-kg person can burn 44 calories while sitting and blogging for half an hour, or 153 calories by swimming for the same amount of time!

Calories Calculator is a helpful tool to measure the amount of calories and fat in what we eat. E.g. a medium size banana has only 0.6 gm of fat and 105 calories, while half a cup of banana chips have 16 gm of fat and 239 calories!

Health Calculators is part of Medindia.com that offers many useful calculators e.g. heart rate, blood pressure, stress meter, drugs directory, calories in Indian food, teeth chart and even world population and death clocks!

If you want to control your weight but find calorie counting too complicated, stay tuned for the next post on easy steps to better health and fitness.

Sixth Sense Mobile device!

Mush Productivity , , ,

This demo from Pattie Maes’ lab at MIT, spearheaded by Pranav Mistry, was the buzz of TED. It’s a wearable device with a projector that allows interaction with our environment. Imagine “Minority Report” and then some:

Time Management: do less, get more done!

Mush Life, Productivity , , ,

We are all so busy. We have so many things to do, and so little time. We can’t get everything done. And even if we do, we don’t always get the sense of fulfillment. Most time management books try to teach you how to do more in less time. I think the secret to fulfillment is doing less, not more, but doing it with passion and attention and focus. To do less, I use the “4 D’s Principle”:

  1. First D is for ‘Drop it’. Some things don’t need to be done at all. E.g. what would happen if you don’t take that call while having dinner with your family? What if you don’t go to pick up that friend from the airport? What if you stopped washing the tub before and after every shower? What difference would it make?
  2. Second D is for ‘Delay it’. You notice your car is dirty. Do you have to wash it right now, or you can do it tomorrow? That email doesn’t have to be answered right now; you can do it after completing the proposal you are working on. You don’t have to open all the mail as soon as it arrives. Are there things you do every day that can be done once a week? Or things you do every week that can be done once a month?
  3. Third D is for ‘Delegate it’. So here’s something that can’t be dropped or delayed e.g. Your child needs to be taken to a doctor. The air conditioning needs to be fixed. The customer needs a product replacement or a refund. Ask yourself if you have to do it yourself, or whether you can get someone else to do it for you. You’ll be surprised how many people are willing to do things for you, only if you ask (nicely).
  4. Fourth D is obviously ‘Do it’. Your daily exercise. Time with your kids – reading, talking, playing, helping them with their school work, or just listening to them. Being with your loved one – the dinner, movie, walk or just being together. That course you have been wanting to do. That customer you need to call. That paper you need to write. The books you want to read. The friend you want to call. The vacation that you need. These are some of the things you won’t have to drop, delay or delegate if you follow the 4 D’s.

Look at all the stuff you do and see what can be dropped, delayed or delegated. How much more time you’ll have to do the things that really matter – that are important, as well as urgent! Please share your own examples.

Health Facts

Mush Health , ,

Some useful facts from Women’s Health (April issue):

  • Increasing your water consumption by one liter a day for a year can result in five pounds of weight loss.
  • Obese people are more likely to develop age-related macular degeneration – AMD, a disease that destroys part of the eye responsible for seeing detail.
  • Eating red meat increases the risk of malignant tumors.
  • How much more likely you are to be overweight if you eat quickly and until you feel full: 3 x

Favorite Quotes – Attitude

Mush Happiness, Motivation , , , ,

“I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.” Martha Washington

“To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you’re not, pretend you are.” Muhammad Ali

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Please share your favorites through comments.

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.