Inspiration

You DON’T need New Year resolutions!

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201212 Laos

That’s right. If you are happy with your life and don’t need any changes then you don’t need New Year resolutions. If you want to change or improve certain things in your life, you don’t have to wait for the New Year. And certainly New Year resolutions alone are not going to get you the results you want.

The most popular New Year resolutions seem to be:

  1. Health related: lose weight, get healthy, get fit, quit smoking, quit drinking…
  2. Money related: earn more, save more, get out of debt…
  3. Relationships related: find a soul mate, improve relationships…
  4. Other goals: job/business related, travel, learn something new, contribute…

And here’s why I believe most New Year resolutions fail:

  1. No commitment. Interested but not committed. Nice to have but not a must. If not this year, there’s plenty of life ahead.
  2. No belief. Goal setting doesn’t work for me. I am beyond any diet plan. I am not talented, skilled or lucky enough for…
  3. No knowledge/skill. You don’t know how to go about achieving that goal. For weight loss, you need to know/learn about food and exercise. To get out of debt or to invest wisely, you need to know/learn the basics of finance. If it’s a sales goal, you need to improve your selling skills and so on.
  4. No action. Procrastination. Excuses. I am going to start from Monday. It’s too cold/hot to go out running. Just one bite can’t make me any fatter. This is often due to reasons 1-3 above.

If the above sounds familiar, try something different this year. Don’t make any New Year resolutions. Instead, pick one thing that you really really want to change. And follow the tried-n-tested, never-fail, 4-step method for a few weeks/months. Once you have learnt and mastered that method, you can start on the next goal. Want to know about the 4-step method? Coming up in Sunday morning post!

[Photo of Tad Yeuang in South Laos. One of the things on my 2012 to-do list was to see the beautiful waterfalls of Laos and live in a village for at least two days. Check. See some more spectacular photos here, and a short video here.]

The amazing story of Cliff Young

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Cliff Young pictured in 1996 at age 74
Cliff Young pictured in 1996 at age 74

The year was 1983. In Australia, the long-distance foot race from Sydney to Melbourne was about to begin, covering 875 kilometers—more than 500 miles! About 150 world-class athletes had entered, for what was planned as a six-day event. So race officials were startled when a 61-year-old man approached and handed them his entry form. His name was Cliff Young, and his “racing attire” included overalls and galoshes over his work boots.

At first, they refused to let him enter. So he explained that he’d grown up on a 2,000-acre farm, with thousands of sheep. His family could afford neither horses nor tractors so, when the storms came, his job was to round up the sheep. Sometimes, he said, it would take two or three days of running. Finally, they let Cliff enter, and the race began. The others quickly left him way behind, shuffling along in his galoshes. But he didn’t know the plan included stopping each night to rest, so he kept going.

By the fifth day, he had caught them all, won the race, and became a national hero. He continued to compete in long-distance races until well up in his seventies. He was an inspiration to millions and a great encourager of younger runners.

In his honor and memory, in 2004, the year after his death at age 81, the organizers of the race where he first gained fame permanently changed its name to the Cliff Young Australian Six Day Race. What was the key to Cliff Young’s success? It goes by various names: determination, perseverance, persistence, tenacity. It means keeping one’s eye fixed steadfastly on a goal, and not stopping, no matter the difficulties or the obstacles, until that goal is achieved.

[From the Best of Success by Simple Truths]

My notes: I continue to believe there are only four reasons why people don’t go after their goals, or give up too soon:

  1. Not committed enough to the goal
  2. Don’t believe it’s possible
  3. Don’t know how
  4. Too lazy (often because of #1)

Find more inspiration in my book, Dhinchak Life.

If you only had one month to live…

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201212 iCard13

 

Check out some more iCards and my free ebook here. And read about my book Dhinchak Life here.

An extremely inspiring video: Janine Shepherd’s limited body, unstoppable spirit

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Cross-country skier Janine Shepherd hoped for an Olympic medal — until she was hit by a truck during a training bike ride. She shares a powerful story about the human potential for recovery. Her message: you are not your body, and giving up old dreams can allow new ones to soar.

Buy Nothing Until 2013

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From ZenHabits, one of my favorite blogs:

Today is one of the worst days of the year: overconsumption day (or Black Friday as some call it). Or you could call it one of the best days of the year: Buy Nothing Day.

I prefer the latter — it means we waste less, consumer fewer resources, stop looking to shopping to solve our problems and make us happy, and instead find simpler ways of finding contentment. And so today I extend a challenge to all of you, and the world: Buy Nothing Until 2013. Yes, I’m taking Buy Nothing Day and extending it through the end of the year.

Why the hell would you want to do this challenge?

Do it as a protest against consumerism and corporate influences on our lives. Do it as a tool for contentment, for simplicity. Do it to reclaim the holidays as a time of connection and love, not of buying and debt. Do it just to see if you can.

And yes, you can still do it if you’ve already done some Black Friday shopping. We’ll forgive our past sins and start afresh. 🙂

The Manifesto

Buy Nothing Until 2013 is about freedom.

Freedom from consumerism. Freedom from corporations (or a little bit of freedom, at least). Freedom from debt and overspending. Freedom from the need to shop to be happy. Freedom from the use of shopping as therapy or stress relief. Freedom from shopping as a way to connect with others. Freedom from buying to show our love for others. Freedom from sales and holiday madness and malls and huge chain stores and crazy shoppers. Freedom from overuse of resources, from wasted packaging, from wasted fuel to ship all that junk to the store.

Freedom from crap we don’t need. We are more than consumers. We don’t need to buy gifts to celebrate the holidays with each other — we can get together, make delicious food, go outside and do something fun, play games, talk, tell jokes, tell stories, give hugs.

We are alive, and don’t want to waste the hours we have in chain box stores and malls buying things we don’t really need. We know that just because stores have massive sales doesn’t mean we need to buy what they’re selling. Sales don’t mean we’re saving money — it means we’re spending it. We used precious life hours earning our money, and we want to use that to live, not buy.

We are free from buying, and free to live. Join us, and Buy Nothing Until 2013.

The Challenge Rules Continue reading →

Monday morning inspiration: starting now!

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These iCards (inspiration cards) are made with my own collection of photos that are un-copyrighted (free to use). Dhinchak Life is my first book. You may read about it here. More iCards and a feee ebook here.

What if?

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What if…

  • we start being a little more grateful for everything we do have?
  • we complain a little less and compliment a little more?
  • we accept everything and everyone exactly as they are?
  • we wake up half an hour earlier every morning?
  • we read something positive and/or useful every night?
  • we focus on the most important tasks, instead of just the urgent ones?
  • we exercise just 10 minutes every day?
  • we replace just one unhealthy meal with a healthy one every day?
  • we add just one healthy snack to our daily diet?
  • we dedicate just one day of the week for our loved ones?
  • we tell them just once a day we love them?
  • we sometimes just listen without passing judgement or advice?

Each of these seemingly small actions have the potential to significantly improve our level of happiness, productivity, health and relationships… and improve the quality of our lives and the lives of people around us. Too difficult? Let’s start with just one of the above, just for this week!

“Just do it! First you make your habits, then your habits make you!” -Lucas Remmerswaal, The A-Z of 13 Habits

[A new day dawns over Shek’O in Hong Kong – courtesy Sara Mush]

Happy New Week! Monday morning inspiration

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More iCards (inspiration cards) here. And the full story on ‘happy new week‘.

‘Dhinchak Life’ launched at Dymocks in Hong Kong today!

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My book, Dhinchak Life, has been selling at over 30 online stores, including Amazon, for about six months now. And from today, it’s on the book shelves of Dymocks in Hong Kong! The whole experience of talking about the book to an audience, watching them review and buy, then signing copies… was just something else! Thanks to all the supporters, participants and sponsors…

Thanks again to my wonderful family, friends and readers of this blog for the support and encouragement! [Photo of the organizers with the Store Manager] See some more photos here.

Do dreams come true?

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A post by Sara Mush on her blog: Do dreams really come true?

A question that every human being must have asked themselves at least once in their lives, and only very few people that I know have actually lived out their dreams while alive! It’s never easy… because it takes an insane amount of motivation, inspiration, determination and most of all passion and very few people can wake up every single day and wholeheartedly feel ready to take on a new day with that kind of optimistic mindset! Well, I know one person who does that for sure, the only person I know who preaches what he truly lives by!

My Dad has been dreaming about publishing his own book for years now, and he’s finally done it! He has been running his motivational Blog for around 2 years now, and once he had enough people telling him to compile his posts into a book, he decided to finally go ahead and do it! So the book Dhinchak Life; is a compilation of his best, most popular blog posts! Now you may be wondering, what is that word Dhin-Chak?! Well, it would be no fun if I was to give it all away here would it? [Read more…]

[Dhinchak Life book launch in Hong Kong today!]

Monday morning inspiration…

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More iCards (inspiration cards) here.

4 behaviors that kill

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80% of premature heart disease, stroke and diabetes can be prevented! Common, preventable risk factors underlie most non-communicable diseases. Most non-communicable diseases are the result of four particular behaviors:

  1. Tobacco use
  2. Physical inactivity
  3. Unhealthy diet
  4. Harmful use of alcohol

These behaviors lead to one or more of the four key physiological changes:

  1. Raised blood pressure
  2. Overweight/obesity
  3. Raised blood glucose
  4. Raised cholesterol

And these are the causes of heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

Everyone dies, but not watching what we eat, not exercising, and the use of tobacco and alcohol are equivalent to killing ourselves!

[Most of the above information is taken from World Health Organization website]

Happy New Week: thought for the week

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What’s the difference between problems and situations, or responding and reacting? Related post.

Why ‘Happy New Week?’ Related post.

Did you read about the official launch of my book: Dhinchak Life?

 

What’s your story?

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Whether or not you are a great storyteller or not, you surely are a great story-maker. In fact, most of us are!

  • He didn’t call me because he doesn’t care… why should I call him now…
  • My boss didn’t notice my work… no appreciation… why should I bother…
  • She is late again… not even picking up her phone… so inconsiderate…
  • Look, how this idiot is driving… let me show him…
  • This guy has no idea what he is doing… no sense of customer service…
  • Nobody understands my problems…

You get the idea? These are all the beginnings of great stories – mostly fiction. Question is, why do we mostly choose to make stories that make us unhappy, sad, depressed, angry, frustrated or disappointed? And the problem is, our stories affect our beliefs and actions. Negative stories usually result in negative actions.

If we are going to make stories, why not make positive ones that make us happy, smile, laugh, and feel good about ourselves and other people e.g.

  • He didn’t call me… he must be busy… let me call and find out…
  • My boss didn’t notice my work… perhaps I need to do better…
  • She is late… must be stuck in traffic… phone must be out of battery…
  • The way he is driving, he must have a serious emergency…
  • This guy must be under training… under-paid… tired… on a long shift…
  • Everyone trusts me with their problems… I must be really good…

Try giving people the benefit of doubt. Try to make positive stories, and see if they result in positive actions – yours and others’.

“Some call it a blind spot, other naivete, but Mandela sees almost everyone as virtuous until proven otherwise. He starts with an assumption that you are dealing with him in good faith. He believes that, just as pretending to be brave can lead to acts of real bravery, seeing the good in other people improves the chances that they will reveal their better selves.” -Richard Stengel writes in Mandela’s Way.

Happy New Week: An inspiration card for you…

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These iCards (inspiration cards) are all un-copyrighted. Please feel free to download more from here, and share.

Paleo Diet works: lost 3kg and 2 inches in 4 weeks

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Dinner of grilled fish with vegetable salad

In a post last month, I wrote about my introduction to Paleo and the 30-day challenge. Well, 30 days are over and here are the results: lost 3kg and 2 inches from the waist.

If you don’t want to read the book, here’s the summary: The basic theory behind the Paleo Diet is that our bodies are evolutionary and genetically designed to thrive on Paleolithic era. You choose foods that were available during the caveman-era, such as meat, fish, eggs, roots, vegetables, berries and mushrooms. And you give up on all processed foods and everything that came along after agriculture and animal farming were adopted such as sugar, added salt, dairy, grains and all processed or fast foods. You drink water and eliminate all beverages, except green tea and coconut water.

My challenge was to cut down on lentils, yogurt, fruits, home-made roti (bread) and the afternoon latte, while introducing eggs and meat back into my diet. Here’s what my diet looked like: Continue reading →

Shift your mood in 30 seconds or less

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We all have those moments when we feel low, unhappy or a bit depressed. Somebody said something that hurt. Someone didn’t notice your good work and you felt bad. Your actions didn’t produce the desired results, and you got depressed. The problem with such feelings is the negative cycle they create, so it’s important that you quickly reverse the emotions. There are many ways to do that, but the one that takes the least amount of time and effort is gratefulness.

Sit in a quiet place, close your eyes and think of 30 good things in your life that you may be taking for granted e.g.

  1. Waking up alive in the morning – thousands die every day
  2. Seeing everyone else in the family also waking up alive and safe – no disasters
  3. Having running water for brushing, shave and shower – millions in the world don’t
  4. Having a choice of hot or cold or warm water for shower
  5. Wearing nice clothes, with lots of choices and matching shoes and bag and jewelry
  6. Eating breakfast and other meals – millions are starving to death
  7. A job to go to – how many are jobless in your city/country? Continue reading →

3 questions before you buy it

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Here’s another very useful shopping strategy to keep life simple and uncluttered. If it’s anything other than the basic necessities, it must do one of the three things:

  1. Will it be a source of information or inspiration?
  2. Will it help simplify or un-clutter my life?
  3. Will it save me time or money?

If it does, I allow myself the pleasure of impulse buying. The following wooden stand that I bought today is such an example. It helps keep the coffee capsules organized and tidy, replacing the boxes. The photo shows before and after.

Do you think the three questions can save you some money, time or space?

Related post: 3 rules for guilt-free shopping

The power of three words or less

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All of us have experienced the positive feeling when someone says something nice to us and we know they mean it. A genuine compliment or appreciation often takes 2-3 words but can result in instant happiness and an immediate shift in your mood. Here’s a list of some of those 2-3 word phrases that can change somebody’s life, even if for a few hours or days – of course, you can’t use all of these with everyone:

  • Thank you
  • Appreciate it
  • Great job
  • Fantastic service
  • Excellent idea
  • Nice shirt / shoes / bag…
  • You look gorgeous / pretty / young…
  • You’re so kind / thoughtful / amazing…
  • You’re the best
  • I love you

I think someone’s quality of life and level of happiness can be measured in the number of compliments they give and receive. What was your last compliment?

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” -Leo Buscaglia

Your body language affects your own mind and behavior too!

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Did you know: Our body (how we sit, stand, walk, and our facial expressions) changes our minds; our mind changes our behavior; our behavior changes our outcomes.

It’s something I first learnt from ‘Awaken the Giant Within’ by Anthony Robbins – more from his talk than from the book. I’ve been applying, and teaching this principle in all sales/motivational training programs. It’s not only relevant at work, but in all communications with others and ourselves. And now Amy Cuddy’s research on body language reinforces the concept further: that we can change other people’s perceptions — and even our own body chemistry — simply by changing body positions. Whether you are familiar with the concept or not, please stop and watch this inspiring video from TED…