Affirmations

What are affirmations?

According to online definition: “Affirmations related to your diet and lifestyle will help in changing you habitual patterns and thinking.

How do affirmations work?

When you want something badly, you need to remind and tell yourself constantly, say, several times a day if that helps.

Years ago, I was getting my professional coaching skills certified. And I was asked what did I want to do with my coaching certification. I searched in my heart and was sure that I wanted to use my coaching skills together with my technical background to serve people. This affirmation kept coming back to me during that period.

Within a year of completion of my certification, I was offered a position matching my affirmation.

Scott Adams used affirmations when he wanted something happen whole heartily. And things did happen the ways he did affirmations every time.

Affirmations may bring you:

  • Clarity on what you want for the time being
  • Focus on what you do for the same time being
  • Energy to do what you want
  • Realizing your affirmation: achieving your goals, or dreams

When you make your affirmations, be clear on what you want. Let your energy flow with what you want. Do this whole heartily. Be persistent, and you will get what you want.

Life happens

Both my parents were hospitalized for the last two weeks. I was in the middle of preparing some meetings when I heard the news. I cancelled my engagements and went to stay with them in the hospital till they were checked out of the hospital.

I had been calling them once a week and exchanging messages a few times a week before this incident.

I learned from the last two weeks that they need more conversations, that make them feel loved, understood, and connected.

I realize that taking time off to take care of people in your life may sound selfish, you may feel guilty for not doing your job. However, without taking care of ourself, people in our life first, we can’t take good care of what we do.

We live life once.

Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans.” – John Lennon.

We get to live fully and truly to ourself, live in present, embrace whatever happens to us.

Metamorphosis in leadership

Leadership means you initiate, lead, and do things that may be no one dares to start yet.

Leadership means you need to connect, earn trust, lead the way without a clear roadmap, and be fearless while knowing the fear in you.

Leadership means that you are agile, empathetic, and willing to be in the shadow while your team is in the spotlight…

A leadership needs metamorphosis.

When talking about leadership in a digital world, Charlene Li said:

This metamorphosis is not easy, comfort, or painless – if your palms are not sweat and your stomach is not churning, you probably haven’t really practicing digital leadership.”

This is also applicable to leadership in any situation.

Leadership with metamorphosis means:

  1. Having a proactive approach
  2. Moving on from things she can’t control
  3. Embracing everything coming to her way and making the best out of it
  4. Living her life
  5. Calculating risks
  6. No gossip
  7. Kindness

Your number one competitor

Who is your number one competitor?

You.

You are your number one competitor. No body else is your competitor, period.

If you can win the competitions, such as put it off for another day self, lying on bed for a little bit longer self, I can do this tomorrow, I can start it another day… you will be the winner.

We very often compare ourself with others, and admire other’s achievements. Many times we compare our shortcomings with somebody’s strength. There is no comparison for this. And you, like everyone else, have your strength, which is unique to you.

As long as you grow a little bit today, learn something today, have brought some insights to your life and your community, you are a better self today than yesterday’s self.

Other’s backyard is not greener. Your backyard has diamonds yet to be discovered. Live your life to your best, not live a life according to other’s standards.

As long as you are doing better things by being a better person, you are competitive.

The power of focus

We know we need focus to be able to achieve something.

Focus is actually a power.

If we can use the power of focus deliberately, we can discover unimaginable energy, drive and determination we born with. We can be empowered with clarity in life.

Something stupendous happens when you focus. Your vision narrows, and you see only the one thing that matters. Sounds and distractions fade away, and time slows way down. There is just you and the object of your focus. There is clarity in your purpose. You are all in.

— CHARLENE LI —

Knowing the power of focus, you can exercise and increase your capacity of focus. The driver of focus is have a plan on what to focus on. What will be the alternatives if the initial plan does not work. Test your plan and find the one you can focus on that gives you the all in energy.

Make a difference

Many of us want to make our own marks, put our labels, express our values to make a difference.

Actually, the thought to make a difference in the world already inspires many of us.

What does it exactly mean to you when you want to make a difference? What kinds of difference do you want to make?

You can not make a difference unless you recognize how different you are.

Take a moment to identify how different you are. What energizes you. What makes you feel free. What makes you felt growing and fulfilled and happy. What footprint you’d like to leave to the world.

Then you may be on your way to make a difference.

Real-time response, simultaneity = business

Nowadays, technology has developed so much. It interrupts our daily activities.

If we surf on a site checking for a movie or TV show or a particular content and can’t find the one we’d like to watch, we’d rather watch a lesser show in real time than wait two days for something better, or to pay for that.

Simultaneity trumps quality.

Real-time books, ditto.

Timely serve your customers is the key to earn your business.

Technology has changed the platform on how to do business, how to communicate with each other. Timely response is very crucial for your business.

Magic

Things happen in our life for reasons. Sometimes we are not aware what is the reason why it changes, occurs. We say it is a magic.

Actually, magic is no more than a change in consciousness.

It is the awaking awareness that create the magic change in your thinking, in your reasoning of doing things, in your behaviors. All of this process leads to your leap in exploring and stretching your possibilities and potentials.

To change your habits, to form a new habit, to be creative in your life, you get to raise your consciousness.

Your magic in life lies in your consciousness.

May you be healthy

I am in a hospital visiting relatives.

It’s not a good feeling when I see young, middle age, or seniors are suffering from their illness.

No matter what titles or roles you have: CEO, president, teacher, banker, athlete, handsome actor, beautiful actress, top salesman, prize winner… you may be sick. You may become vulnerable. You may loose your indignity in a hospital, no matter how strong you used to be. This is life.

You get to surrender to life, accept life.

Being in hospital it reminds me that we are all the same and want the same thing – be healthy and happy and being loved. Vanity and ego have no space in front of life and death choice. Then, why don’t we limit the role of vanity fairs and ego in our life? Why don’t we put more energy to the people we love, to the things we want to create, to the life we want to live fully?

Being in hospital it reminds me to appreciate our good health, appreciate we have our life, appreciate that we have good healthcare system to help us back to be healthy again.

This also reminds me that we get to call a stop from our busy schedule from time to time. No matter what happens, without life – health, you will not be able to accomplish much. During a stop, readjust your goal in life., reflect what you have been through.

I was asked a question long time ago: how do you rank career, health, fiancé? I have slight different order for the three during different stages of my life. However, be healthy never leaves from my top priorities. Health is the foundation.

May you be healthy.

Who is your competition?

If you are working in a corporate, who are you competition? Are other companies making similar products your competitors?

If you are writing a book, who are you competition? Are other authors writing similar books?

If you are a freelancer, self employed, who are you competition? Are other freelancers in the similar fields?

The real competition is yourself, your products.

The competition comes: do you have empathy towards your customers, do you have clear determination to walk forward facing challenges, do you want to fight “I’ll do it later” tendency, do you want to get up in the morning to do the hard work, or do you want to finish the reading and writing you get to do….

No matter what you do, you are valuable when you help other, when you produce something, when you do your physical or emotional labor. When you do, you will be competitive in your own way, unique way that has your label and your flavor.

Competition is a good thing. Competition gives you or your product a category, establishes your presence, gets you the recognition.

Competition is that we are entering into the same race, but we do it together. So we will need to open to each other. We learn from each other, we encourage each other, we are each other’s company on the way for a better future.

If you strive to do better, to be better, you are competitive.