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October 21, 2005
No posting until November 1, 2005
I am traveling to Singapore to continue my training and will be back to more entries on November 1.
Have a great time, whoever you are, my dear reader. And don't forget:
Make your life a real WoW
Posted by Andreas at 01:26 PM | Comments (0)
October 18, 2005
Willpower - congratulations Nicol
Willpower - how much can we manage when we just get the mental mindset right?
Malaysia is a country thirsting for success in the sports arena. The moment some sport athlete "fails" to meet expectations, the whole nation is in uproar. Actually, it is tough to succeed in such environment. Or, may be I formulated this wrongly. It has to be a strong mind to win in such situation. How much easier is it for athletes to go out to the press before the tournament and say, "yeah, I try, yeah, may be I win, and yeah, if I lose, well, participation is everything." What I want to say is that it is the attitude of a nation that can make or break you. Besides, of course, your own inner attitude. I remember the world soccer championship back in 1974. At that time, it was a long time back that Germany won the world cup. Initially, nobody believed in the team but their attitude, their will to succeed increased from game to game. And they made it, and in the end, the whole nation was behind them.
Malaysian Nicol David claimed the Dunlop British Open, the first Malaysian and the first Asian to ever claim the trophy, against all odds, or better, against expectations. 55 minutes for a 3 games of squash - it must have been intense.
I believe that she can become a trendsetter for Malaysia. It is the mindset after all, that really can determine if you want to be a winner or just a runner-up. Can it be that this is the beginning of a Malaysia that gets better again in all the disciplines where it was strong before?
Posted by Andreas at 01:20 PM | Comments (2)
How to sue God?
An incredible piece of news - people really have funny ideas.
A Romanian prisoner is suing God for failing to save him from the Devil. The inmate, named as Pavel M in media reports, accused God of “cheating, abuse and traffic of influence. The inmate argued that his baptism was a contract between him and God who was supposed to keep the Devil away and keep him out of trouble."
Hm - what to do with that one?
Posted by Andreas at 08:29 AM | Comments (3)
October 16, 2005
My addiction to books
It is still happening. I buy way too many books. Also, honestly, while I am a book collector, I am using them. Read my books over and over again. Flip through them. Get sucked in, walk with the book open to the sofa, sit down, and read. Sometimes a chapter, sometimes just a few paragraphs.
It is interesting to see, what I underlined earlier, when I read the books. I scribble at the side, underline in different colours, but hardly ever sit down and write down what I actually see or learn from a book. Something that I need to do next year, I guess.
I also discovered in the meantime, what drives me to buy books, what my buying strategy is. When I enter a bookshop, I get this elated feeling of happiness. I like the smell. It triggers something in me. I like to flip through books, and feel the newness of them.
I like to read something that is new to me, that sounds fantastic in a first read. Then I buy - 1, 2 or 3 books at once. Pity (or lucky?) they are expensive in Malaysia. If the government would want to instill a reading culture in Malaysia, they should reduce the taxes on educational material or books dramatically. But then, I would probably need more bookshelves.
Posted by Andreas at 12:41 PM | Comments (6)
Fasting - a second thought
I wrote the other day that fasting can assist us in personal change. We are running on mental programs all the time. So could it be that the brain has been trained to expect this period in a year, where we don't eat and drink? The first few days are tough, of course, but then, when the neurons lit up and the connections get stronger, it becomes easier.
The signal in the evening - food, water - restarts the parts of the brain that runs our usual self. Could it be that easy and fasting explained that way?
Posted by Andreas at 11:32 AM | Comments (0)
October 13, 2005
Goals for 2006
I like the idea that Todd carried forward over at his Business Thoughts blog.
We are human and as such, we are bound to rush on New Year's Eve to come up with some goals for the next year. The drunkard says it will be his last beer, the smoker says, it will be her last cigarette. Lose weight, get a health checkup, work less, take that holiday, write this book - only to realise in the end-of January, that the plan wasn't well planned after all.
Why not starting to think through it now? There is plenty of time to develop actionsteps. What to do, how to do, when to do. How to measure success. Write it down, refine it, do it again, add a bit here, and reduce a bit there. Why not? What holds you back?
May be now is also the time to write out a plan that reaches a bit further into the future. Where you want to be in 3 years time, 5 years time.
You will be somewhere, for sure. But are you sure you end up where you actually want to be? How often do you look back and say - hm, I should have changed that, or, how I wished I could be back to do things differently.
Why not planning your future?
But, whatever you plan, write it in positive terms. The mind can't actually distinguis between negative and positive, do you know that? So if you say - I will stop smoking - well, believe me, you won't. Why not writing - I want a healthier lifestyle!
Write it as well in a sense that it is ecological for you, and your environment. Because, if you change, you change your environment. Like - when you say you want to work in a way that is more beneficial to you - what does it mean to your career, to your family, to your company? Speak - think of the consequences.
All set?
Write it down now! And tell me about it, okay?
Posted by Andreas at 07:53 PM | Comments (4)
October 11, 2005
Tagged by Emily
Adoh - I have been tagged by Emily - just to satisfy her curiosity. Tagging appears to be the spam of the blogging world. At least it comes from friends, even so she didn't link her entry to my webpage.
Okay - let me get started - I shortened the tag a bit because it appears that there are repetitions. Also, to make it easier for those that I am tagging.
Seven things you plan to do before you die
1. To become a person that leaves a legacy in everything I am doing
2. Open my own business - okay, I am too serious in starting this tag, but whoever followed my blog will know that this is my dream;
3. Raising a great child
4. Have a happy family
5. Have unlimited knowledge and remember everything I want to. I am working on it and I know it is possible
6. To continue my current quest for training and upgrading my skills
7. To hold my child's children in my arms, and I hope he has many
Seven things you can do
1. Think - ha, it is as easy as you think
2. Hypnosis, Hypnotherapy and Timeline Therapy - I learnt it recently, and hey, it is great for personal development. Or, if you are inhibited by any limiting believe, send me a mail. I am happy to help
3. Helping and coaching others to bring out the best in them - my hobby and future job
4. Having and providing fun - make my life a WoW. I guess this is self-explanatory
5. Sharing - there is nothing better than sharing with others. Give and you will receive
6. Laugh, laugh and laugh one more time. Nothing better and healthier than laughters
7. Easily connect with other people Wow, one thing that I really like to do
Seven celebrity crushes
1. Jack Nicholson (sorry, it is a guy)
2. Jennifer Lopez (okay, okay, okay)
3. Keanno Reaves (spelled correctly?) - because of Matrix, a movie that is really great
4. Freddy Mercury - The Queen. Okay, he died but he was and still is the best singer of the best group that ever existed (sounds like a teen, lol)
5. My wife (lol) - she is my star
6. My kid - he is my star
7. Myself - finding out my real identity
Seven often-repeated words
1. WoW
2. Lol
3. Adoh
4. Interesting
5. Great
6. Shush (instead of s...) - for the sake of education
7. Wah
Seven physical traits you look for in the opposite sex
1. Eyes - nothing better than a great pair of eyes, full of life
2. Lips - hmm, I love full lips
3. Humour - I want someone to laugh with about nothing, anything and everything
4. Tolerance - I am crazy sometimes, so, well, please bear with me
5. Nice voice
6. Going the extra mile
7. Good figure (however defined by me)
Three names you go by
1. Andreas
2. Andi
3. Nothing else
Three screen names you've had
1. Alwayswow
2. Andreas
3. Andree
Three physical things you like about yourself
1. My thirst for knowledge
2. My ability to connect with others
3. My passion
(what? only three?!!!)
Three physical things you don't like about yourself
1. I sometimes have a twitch, especially when I am nervous, tired, overworked, or stressed. Like in the moment, and I have it since a month!!!
2. My little tummy (very, very little!!!!!)
3. When I was young, I didn't like my nose, especially after I crashed it against a car after a snowball fight. I got used to it now
Three parts of your heritage
1. There is only Germany
2. Before the unification in 1989, there was East Germany
3. Before the unification in 1989, there was West Germany
Three things that scare you
1. Not being able to earn money anymore
2. Not being able to use my body anymore
3. Being alone in this world
Three drinks (alcoholic or non)
1. Ionised, alcaline water
2. Coffee
3. Beer
Three of your everyday essentials (besides the common human needs…)
1. Books
2. Internet
3. Brain
Three things you are wearing right now
1. Shorts
2. Underwear
3. Spectacles
Three of your favourite movies
1. The Matrix
2. The Wall
3. Lord of the Ring
Two truths and a lie
1. I am lazy
2. I am hard working
3. I am passionate about everything I do
Three physical things about the opposite sex that appeal to you
1. Eyes and lips/ mouth
2. Communication skills
3. body
Three careers you are considering, or have considered
1. Urban planner
2. Judo trainger (I worked as a trainer for 3 years, when I was young)
3. Male nurse (I worked in a hospital for 2 years)
10 years ago...
I got married, moved on to Indonesia and found a new job. My newly found boss at that time said, that these are three things a normal human would take one after the next, and never all at once. Well, I guess I am not that normal.
5 years ago..
I joined the company that I just left.
Yesterday..
I had a great time at home, hynosising myself
5 snacks I enjoy
- Nuts
- Chips
- Chocolate (okay, not a real snack!)
- Dun know
- dun know
5 songs I know all the words to
- We are the champions by Queen
- Fat by Violent Femmes
- We are heroes by Tote Hosen (a German Band)
- Saturday Night by Cure
- Twinkle Star (a song I sang 1,000s of times to my kid)
5 things I would do with 100 million dollars
- Travel
- Work care-free
- Donate a lot
- Buy all the books I like
- Buy some properties to place all the books I bought
- Sleep longer
5 places I would run away to
- Anywhere beautiful - and there must be five places in the world
5 things I would never wear
Skirts
A real red shirt (well, I have some that are great, but the one I mean is in my mind and you cannot see it)
argh - I don't know
5 favorite TV shows
Rockstar
The apprentice
Jay Leno
And others, that entice me
5 bad habits
- Drive my car too fast
- Talk too fast, sometimes
- When I am passionate about something I start to lecture
- Need to listen more
- Work too much
5 biggest joys
- Learning something new
- Reading a book
- Playing with my kid
- Having fun
- Others, that I cannot mention here
5 favourite toys:
-My PDA
- My computer
- My webpage (s) and blog (s)
- PS2 together with my kid
- May be telvision
5 fictional characters I would date
- That's a ..... one. I wouldn't date fictional characters
5 songs I currently love
- Plenty - but no one would know them. Songs from the Red Indian Tribes. I brought CDs back from Germany and they just blow me away
Five tags go to
1. Ah Pink - because she is one great woman that I don't meet often enough
2. Mack - because I haven't heard from him for a long time, even so I read his blog daily
3. Sashi - because he is quiet, thoughtful, funny and interesting
4. De Bookworm, because she is one smart woman
5. The one and only Silencer, because he is such a nice sould
Taken out, before he did it earlier:
Totoro - because he started to visit my blog, and I haven't met him yet and would like to know more about him
Posted by Andreas at 08:52 PM | Comments (6)
October 10, 2005
Fasting - or the destruction of mental programs
It's Ramadan or fasting time in Malaysia, and across the Islamic world. Muslims are suppose to abstain from anything related to food, drinks, and "bad" thoughts from early in the morning till sunset. A long time for many. In addition, they are required to do good deeds to those around them and far away. A major task indeed.
Let me outline my thinking around this.
We are all running on mental programs. When you think you think and act consciously, think again. It is said that the moment you do more than one thing at a time, you run parts of it unconsciously. I would say that more than 90% of the time, we are running our own little mental programs.
Don't believe it?
Check, when you get up in the morning. With whom you go for lunch, diner, have your coffee. How you brush your teeth. When you stroke your hair, clean your teeth, have your cigarette, coffee, or chocolade. How you drive, how you react to your boss approaching your desk, when you watch TV and how and so on. Over time, you will see that there is repetition - you have created your own mental program.
Nothing wrong with that - it helps you to get through the day. To change, you need to change your program. And it is here where the fasting sets in.
I drink way too much coffee - about 6 big cups a day. Now I don't. Of course I miss it. Miss it dearly at 9.00 AM, 11.00 AM, after lunch, at 4.00 PM, at 5.30 PM and the ones in between, not accounted for.
Succeeding at fasting means changing my mental progam, initiating change, destroying and rewarding myself by being grateful that I am able to change. That, for me, is one of the essence of Ramadan as well.
Posted by Andreas at 01:51 PM | Comments (2)
October 06, 2005
Nagging customers or - how to create change?
Now this is a toughy for me. I am preaching the ultimate customer satisfaction or customer engagement. I write, that one needs to go beyond what is required to meet the customer. To excite the customer.
I want to live this, really, really live this. Hack, this is my belief.
On the other side, I believe that there needs to be a value alignment between customer and employee (so to speak). That means, there must be an excitement for both to work with each other to get to a win/win solution and to move on, together.
If this doesn't work, than fire the customer - that is what David Maister says and I am absolutely for it. Why should I waste my energy, MY POSITIVE ENERGY, on someone who doesn't deserve it? How can I create value, if my energy is drained by customers that are. But, how can you fire a customer, when you are just an employee? When you head one of the largest account of the company?
Okay - let me explain. I am heading this account and the client team is pretty demanding. Pretty is way too gently expressed. VERY demanding. Nothing against this, and there were a lot of mess-ups earlier, and the team and I are struggling to clean up. But anything that we send to the client, anything that we do is, well, criticised, dismantled, and issues are found with it. This is not something that is needed that much, going forward, but something, that is heritage from the beginning of the year. We are currently starting a new adventure with the client, and need to be focussed on the current task. Okay, there is a relation between the old one and the new task/ project - still.
It is not that I don't see the points of the client. I understand. But, how can I change client to think more positive about the different initiatives and the work that we are doing? How to get the negativity out from their feeling, their voice, their attitudes, out from their system? To make them see, that we are moving fast, in a great team, and that it is really demotivating to work with someone who isn't positive?
I am only 3 or 4 weeks on this huge project, but wow, I tell you, this client is an energy sucker, really!
More to come....
Posted by Andreas at 12:02 PM | Comments (1)
October 05, 2005
The Party Pixies that don't smile
Last weekend, my boy celebrated his birthday party - he has turned 8 the week before. Okay, he earned the party, because he worked hard for his studies, it is fun to see him having fun, and to meet the parents of other children.
It was something like a last minute planning and organisation - we weren't sure if we would have the party or not. My wife, however, is fantastic, in executing what needs to be done. I am kind of hopeless at that, thus, we harmonise quite nicely in this regard.
I am better in doing the "real stuff", like being on the ground, entertaining the parents, organising the kids.
To help us, we had food caterers, a friend who took care of cakes and cookies (this deserves another great entry), and the Party Pixies. Party Pixies are those who organise the fun part of the party for you. All costs some money, but the list they sent to us was impressive, impressively long and affordable. Moreover, they promised to come in on a short notice.
So far, that is the positive news. What they lacked was an understanding of the children. Okay, may be it was just the two people that came to organise our party, but well, I would expect a smile on the face when it comes to dealing with children. It might be an excuse that they are lawyers since may be lawyers don't usually smile. Are lawyers slow in the courtroom? I don't know. What I know is that the two ladies at our party did a good job when it came to the rain last Sunday and they were flexible enough to entertain the kids in the function room of the apartment area. But when it stopped raining, it was me who had to remind them that we have to move to do our games, before all the kids jump into the pool. We had planned for some great games, and I didn't want the kids in the pool shortly after food. Our games also involved a lot of water, and hey - the kids were ready. When I organised them to move on to the tennis court to organise a waterbomb battle, they were ready. Who wasn't ready? The organisers. Thus, I took the initiative and started to play the game with the kids - and got wet and drenched in playing the game.
Overall, the party was great. Everybody enjoyed it. The kids, and the parents. The Pixies are okay - and the main point really is that they didn't smile. Aren's pixies suppose to smile?
Posted by Andreas at 02:39 PM | Comments (4)
A grumby enty
Hm - remember, I had this great list about how and where to save money, so that "people" don't need to complain anymore about rising costs?
Let me ask myself: what worth is my list when I am standing two hours in the traffic jam from KLCC to my place in Taman Desa? And nothing moved? It emptied my fuel by nearly half! All I could ask for is more public transport availability. Safe and secured, frequently arriving and please, on schedule.
Posted by Andreas at 12:38 PM | Comments (0)
October 03, 2005
Where to save money in times of rising prices - my list
The Prime Minister urges Malaysians to stop their wasteful habits.
Here are some of my observations. Those who fall into the categories should not complain about rising prices, however, this is me, okay. You don't need to agree with me, but if you want, add on to the list:
- Don't complain about rising prices when you smoke;
- Don't complain about rising prices when you drink more than the usual share of alcohol;
- Don't complain about rising prices when you can afford to have your whole house airconditioned 24 hours a day;
- Don't complain about rising prices when you let the car engine run, when you stop an extended period of time;
- Don't complain about rising prices when you drive the shortest distance with your car;
- Don't complain about rising prices whn you use your mobile phone, while the recipient is just a few meters away;
- Don't complain about rising prices when you pile up your plate with food and throw half of it away;
- Don't complain about rising prices whn your main weekly entertainment is shopping, shopping, shopping;
- Don't complain about rising prices when the lights in your house are constantly on;
- Don't complain about rising prices when your TV runs 24 hours a day and no one is watching;
- Don't complain about rising prices when you buy a new mobile phone every 6 months;
- Don't complain about rising prices when you go to the most expensive hair dresser every other week;
- Don't complain about rising prices when you need to have the newest of the newest because your friends have it as wellr TV runs 24 hours a day and no one is watching.
Is there more? Sure, there is more. Am I petty? Of course I am. But then, all of those together adds up to a lot of cash, over time.
Posted by Andreas at 04:09 PM | Comments (9)
Personal development - a workshop with Dato' Lawrence
I am now busily engaged in my new company and what they try to achieve is change in the company's setting and doing. Basically, the company is already pretty large, split into various departments and spread across different floors. The HR department has great plans in getting the different departments in the section I am working in, together and therefore planned a teambuilding workshop over a weekend. This is a great initiative and apparently, the first time this has been initiated.
For this purposes, they hired "Personal Development Leadership Management Corporation" or PDL-MC, run by Dato' Lawrence. For me, this was a first with him, and well, I was in for some surprise.
The workshop started off with singing. The National Anthem, and some songs that were suppose to bring us together, set us up for a great mood and spirit. It might be okay, if you would have known what came up to you in the beginning. Can this be seen as change? It is change, because it throws you in a situation that one is normally not really used to.
We did work over the two days - did some exercise on thinking skills, and had to read together statements from the board. It is okay, I understand the procedures. Reading those statements pushes the message harder into the brain, into the subconscious mind. It is good to have something on thinking skills.
What I didn't like was the emptiness of the conclusions. When it was said that one need to have "innovative thinking", "needs to be motivated", "think differently or creatively". Those are empty words, because they don't help. Everybody has an own inner picture of what this means - but it doesn't tell anyone, how to think creatively, how to be motivated. What do you do to think innovatively, how to initiate the process.
Additionally, Dato' Lawrence's jokes were a bit at the bad side. At least that was what some of the women in the course mentioned. He also had an ongoing sales push in his sessions. Showing pictures of CEOs here and another one there. Nothing against this, and for him, this was to establish credentials. But it was a bit too much. In addition, there were plenty of newspaper articles hanging at the wall and letters from clients that praised him. Sure, he can be proud of it, and I am happy for him. Again, Dato' Lawarence wanted to show the credentials, but then, this is training and not a sales session.
The best part of the whole weekend were the games that we played to build the team. Those were entertaining and challenging. It was good that PDL build in team reviews. We needed to check, what we did well, what went wrong, and how we can strategise the next time around. Fine by me.
There was more to it and well, I appreciated the time that it allowed me to meet those colleagues that I didn't know before. The exercises were great for those who did something like this for the first time, and there were plenty.
For me, well, brain development, change management, motivation and neuroscience is nothing really new. This is my hobby, and with all my earlier and ongoing training in these areas, this training by PDL-MC was, well, not worth the money spent.
Posted by Andreas at 12:10 PM | Comments (0)