World Kindness Day - 13th Nov 2011

One of the main purpose of this blog is to spread the positivity around the community and hope to inspire it forward to as many people as possible. 13th Nov 2011 is the World Kindness Day, it's a global movement to promote and organize kindness activities and celebrate the day. Thus, I thought it's a great opportunity for me to promote this global event here. 

To me, kindness need to come from within and we must not only practice it on this particular day. Of course, we all are busy with life and thus occasional reminder on such global event does help to bring us back to the fundamental. Besides, I do believe that kindness is a 2-way process and everyone play an important part in making a true kindness community, a kindness city, a kindness country and a kindness world. Kindness is contagious and we all can Pay It Forward easily.

For more details of the World Kindness Movement (from Singapore), check out their official site at World Kindness Movement. Besides, to create more awareness among the community, I've created a Facebook Poll regarding this topic, if you are interested to participate in this personal poll, do check it out at My World Kindness Day FB Poll.
 
When talking about kindness, it reminded me of a story that I read sometime back (if I am not wrong, it's from the Chicken Soup series). The story goes something like this:

A man walking along the sea shore saw quite a number of starfishes being washed up to the shore by the wave, no too far in front of him, he saw a young man pick-up the starfish, one at a time, and throw it back towards the sea.  

Out of curiosity, he approach the young man and asked him why he did that since it doesn't make much difference as there are simply too many starfish scattered along the shore. The young man responded "at least I make a difference to THAT starfish" and he continue to throw the starfish on-hand towards the sea

My take of this story is "Everyone make a difference, the only different is how big or how small is the difference!".

Cheers!

Your Blue Ocean Strategy In Life

A few weeks ago, during the townhall meeting conducted by my company's CEO, he mentioned about the Blue Ocean Strategy in business context. "Blue Ocean Strategy" is a popular business strategy that aimed not to out-perform the competition in the existing industry, but to create new market space or a blue ocean, thereby making the competition irrelevant.

In short, in order to survive in the longer run, you need to constantly find or create new market(s) instead of "fighting" with the competitors on the existing market. For example, Apple's iPod or iTunes, Amazon's online business are some of the well known product of the Blue Ocean Strategy... This has set me thinking about our personal life i.e. can we not apply the Blue Ocean Strategy to our personal life?

I am aware that life is not like market whereby you can choose the familiar market to begin with (i.e. your choice of industry, products or services). We can't choose how/where to start our life, however, I believed that we are free to change the path/course of our life to our desired destination. So, if you equate the market of business = path/direction of your life, I am sure you can find some similarity in the strategy in preparing for your business as well as for your life!

Of course, Blue Ocean Strategy comprises of many tools, frameworks or methodologies that are applicable only to the business environment, but the key is we need to think out of the box, not only in business environment but also in our personal life! Open your mindset and not to be stereotyped by your experiences or existing knowledge... as my CEO always said "The best is yet to come".




So, why not create your own Blue Ocean (in life) instead of just living in a river or sea! I am sure you folks know what I meant! ;-)

Cheers!

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Next 5 blockbuster movies not to be missed before year end!

We are already in the very last quarter of the year 2011. Today, I am not going to touch on the serious stuff like the resolution etc... Instead, I am going to share about the entertainment stuff aka the blockbuster movies. If you are a movie buff like myself, I am sure you've seen many good and not so good movies throughout the year.

Usually, Hollywood is saving their best for the year end festive season, especially during the Christmas period. I am going to share my TOP 5 list of the forthcoming blockbuster movies NOT to be missed before year end! There are a mixture of animation and action movies genre which will guarantee to make you smile, laugh and hold tight on your chair!

I will not share too much details here, just look at the posters and the trailers below to decide for yourself which one(s) you are going to catch it in cinema too.

Stay tuned and enjoy...

1. Happy Feet Two (Animation):

2. Puss In Boots (Animation):

3. The Adventures Of Tintin (Animation):

4. Sherlock Holmes - A Game Of Shadows:

5. Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol: 

Before we part for the day, following is my original quote for the sharing:

"Keeping your dream alive is the extraordinary element in an ordinary life!"

Cheers!

SPECIAL : Roulette Number

As the saying goes, life is a gamble by itself, every action (or inaction) bring along it's corresponding risks and fortune. The key is to work hard (or smart) to find an option that will have high probability of success. That explain why gaming and gambling (either online or offline) have so many devotees.

Talking about online gambling, recently I've chanced upon an online roulette system software called Roulette Number which is quite interesting. Thus, just like to share my roulette number review here (as you know, I will share anything under the sun as long as I find it interesting ;-)).

Roulette Number is an online casinos software with punch! I was intrigued by it's detailed analysis/report that examining the secret of casino systems as well as showing you important tips in choosing the winning number in online roulette systems.

There are a vast number of online casinos to choose from and this software seems to find a proven formula/logic to beat the game, repeatedly. So, if you are interested to know more about the Roulette System (and it's secrets), feel free to check it out.


Cheers!

P/S: I am not an ardent online casinos player and are not promoting excessive online gambling here, the above information/resources are meant for information sharing only!

Dream is no easy DREAM!

The other day, had a great chat with a newly added facebook friend* from Malaysia (my hometown), he is a very cheerful and self-motivated young man. The best part is that we are communicating in dual language out of efficiency i.e. he is using Chinese and I am using English. We started to share about our hobby, work, interest etc.. and out of sudden, he asked me about my dream.. What a coincident, dream is also the subject of my last blog post : Can You Still Remember Your Childhood Dream? So, I thought I would just continue to write something about dream today.

I replied him that actually I do not have any big dream now besides hoping to stay happy, positive and healthy... He corrected me that these should be done even on daily basis and thus should not be considered as dream. it set me re-thinking about the meaning of dream...Hence, my blog title today: Dream is no easy DREAM.

Let me explain, the second DREAM in the title is an abbreviation of:
Doable
Reachable
Easy
Available
Measurable

Thus, in order to suffice as a dream of your lifetime, it should not be something that easily Doable, Reachable, Easy, Available and Measurable. It needs to be something long term (i.e. for a lifetime) and  will create a huge advancement to your life experience. In short, it MUST BE something that you have not done or achieved before!

Realistically, not everyone will achieve their dream(s) ultimately, but it is important to keep your dream quietly alive as ultimately it is the dream that set us moving forward and keep going! All the best to you, dreamers!

"Dream starts with the visualization in your inner world (mindset) and end with the actualization in the physical world. Thus, you need to SEE it through your mind!"

Cheers!

PS: *My friend is called Rawangboy and he is quite a famous author/book publisher in Malaysia, if you can read Chinese, do check out his blog at Rawangboy.

Can You Still Remember Your Childhood Dream?

When we were at tender age (aka during childhood), I am sure we have been asked many times about what we want to do next when we grown-up, either at school or at home. Can you still remember your childhood dream(s)? Are you doing what you dreamt of then?

I like to liken all those childhood dreams as bubble dreams as they are like bubbles, majority bursts as fast as it is formed... 

For me, my bubble dreams changes over time (I am pretty sure many of you does the same too!). Briefly, they can be chronically categorized as follows:

• Primary School      : Comic Artist
• Secondary School  : Book Author

As you can see, I didn't make it to be either one of it. But I do noticed that my hobbies and passion (e.g. reading, movie going and writing) are directly or indirectly mold by my childhood dreams, of which they are my lifelong intangible asset now! (P/S: at least I am a blogger now, not so far off from my dream actually!)

Thus, everyone should not forget about their dreams and most importantly must be dare to dream! Ultimately, the dreams might or might not comes true but at least we have purpose in life to looks forward to. Also, it will definitely form a meaningful part of our journey in life. 

My original quote of the day:

"Dream is like bubble, it bursts as fast as it is formed unless you keep holding on to it!"

Cheers!

SPECIAL : You Are the Apple of My Eye (那些年，我們一起追的女孩)

If you have been out of the school life for quite awhile and are looking for some inspiration to relive the sweet memories of your younger years, You Are the Apple of My Eye (那些年，我們一起追的女孩), the movie, is here to do just that.

This Taiwanese film is a true reflection of popular author Giddens Ko's (九把刀) teenage years in Changhua, Taiwan. It showcases all the stupid and crude jokes/acts that most of us came across when we were younger and ignorant. It's real, it's hilarious, it's funny and it's SWEET!

Following a are a few pictures from the film: 

Hope you enjoy the show like I do and managed to re-kindle those days.

"When you looking back your life, you can hardly remember which item you spent the most money on, but you can surely remember who you missed the most. So, start to appreciate people more than stuff from now on!" 

Cheers!

Inspirational Sharing - Inspire It Forward (#15)

Yet another Sunday blogging night (Singapore time). Just came back from a relaxing stroll with my wife along the Punggol Promenade Riverside Walk near my home (see pictures on the left and right). 

In life, most of the time it is filled with small little things or daily routines that we didn't pay much attention to. However, to truly enjoy every moment of life, we need to embrace and appreciate every such little things. For me, I enjoyed the simple thing like this, especially the quality time with my loved one. I hope you folks have a great weekend as well. 

1. Inspirational Song: Today My Life Begins, by Bruno Mars (This is not a new song but definitely one of the most inspired song that I came across thus far):



2. Original Inspirational Quote:

"At times: To go faster, you need to slow down; To reach higher, you need to go lower; to get more, you need to cope with less"

Cheers!

Take Stock!

Time flies, third quarter of 2011 is coming to an end and the last quarter of the year is just around the corner! What have you achieved so far? How many 2011 resolution have you completed so far? It's time to take stock of your achievement and start to plan for year 2012 and beyond.

For me, I've achieved a number of new online ventures, like started this blog (in Mar 2011) and gone into the space of internet marketing learning etc...even though none of these are part of my original 2011 resolution! As age is catching up fast, I need to speed up my learning curve and hope to be able to contribute more on the online space. So, stay tune! 

By the way, next week (to be exact, on 5th Oct 2011), Apple is going to announce the launch of the highly anticipated IPhone 5. Can't wait to see the real new model, hope that it WOW me once again with it's new features and the missing flash player (not so hopeful for the latter though!).

It has been awhile since my last inspirational quote sharing, here come the latest one, fresh from the oven:

"The further you go, the closer you are towards your goal; The harder the decision, the easier to obtain appreciation!"

Cheers!

P/S: Just catches the Gala Premier of "Real Steel" yesterday. It's an awesome movie with right mix of robots, action, laughter, tears and loves. The casts are great, the story line is simple yet inspirational. Highly recommended to everyone, young or old! Click on the image below to check out their official Facebook Fan Page:

Real Steel

Don't worry, I am not going to share with you how to differetiate the real steel from the fake steaal! In fact, the steel is not even the main focus here. What I am going to share is the upcoming highly anticipated blockbuster movie entitled "Real Steel".

Synopsis of the movie Reel Steel is as follows:

A gritty, white-knuckle, action ride set in the near-future, where the sport of boxing has gone hi-tech, “Real Steel” stars Hugh Jackman as Charlie Kenton, a washed-up fighter who lost his chance at a title when 2000-pound, 8-foot-tall steel robots took over the ring. Now, nothing but a small-time promoter, Charlie earns just enough money piecing together low-end bots from scrap metal to get from one underground boxing venue to the next. When Charlie hits rock bottom, he reluctantly teams up with his estranged son Max (Dakota Goyo) to build and train a championship contender. As the stakes in the brutal, no-holds-barred arena are raised, Charlie and Max, against all odds, get one last shot at a comeback.

Hmmm... just thinking out loud and wild, if I've got one of such steel robot, what function would I want it to have?? I would want it to be able to run/fly at high speed so that it can fetch me to whereever I want to go (bearing in mind that the car and petrol cost in Singapore is ever increasing..).

Joke aside, I hope this movie will wow me with inspirational speeches and interesting plot (it reminds me with the movie, Rocky actually) so that I can come back here once again to write a positive review of this movie at a later stage.

Catch Real Steel in cinemas this 6 October 2011 and like the Official Real Steel Singapore Facebook Page!”

Cheers! 

Up Your Service; Up Your Spirit!

How would you usually rate a service that you received from say a waiter/waitress of a restaurant, cashier of the supermarket etc? I believed you will usually rate them as "Good", "Excellence", "so-so" or "terrible" etc... These are common adjectives associated with services. However, there is a problem here, the subjectivity of these terms. As all these adjectives are very subject to interpretation and thus one person's "good" might be another person's "so-so" and vice versa. That's where the common language of service come into picture

I've just attended a service quality training course provided by Mr Ron Kaufman over the weekend called "Stepping Up Your Service!". I must say that it's an very interesting and participative training program, it should be a fundamental training course for any company who want to inject the service DNA in their company culture. Also, with the highly energetic and explosive style of Mr Ron Kaufman, I guarantee you will enjoy every minute of it. If you like to sneak preview his delivery style, just type "Ron kaufman" in youtube and there is a list of his training video clips for your viewing pleasure. He is also an author of a few service related books, some of them are:
 


Just a brief highlights of what I've learned:

6 Levels of Service (This is the common language that I am talking about):

• Unbelievable (Best: Wow factor)
• Surprising (Something special)
• Desired (what the customer prefer)
• Expected (Average)
• Basic (Bare minimum)
• Criminal (Worst: below minimum)

The concept of Levels Of Service is a downwards escalator whereby we need to constantly stepping up the levels. Or else, the service that deemed Unbelievable today might be just surprising or even desired in 3 or 6 months' time.

The concept of Perception Points, The Big Pictures and the Service Styles (Direction, Production, Education, Motivation and Inspiration) also play an important part of the overall service delivery.

So why is the topic of service appear in the inspirational blog like this? I do agree and believe that whenever we are receiving an unbelievable service, we will feel upbeat and happy and positive energy will be spreading around. It is a chain reaction and the people around you will feel upbeat and happy as well in no time.

Also, service is a two ways process (yes, you hear it correctly), we (as a customer) can influence the level of service that we received by practicing some "service" back to the server e.g. by addressing them by name whenever possible (waiter/waitress at the restaurant usually do wear name-tag on their uniform) and treat them as a "profession" and not "servant"! So, everyone play a part in ensuring providing/receiving unbelievable service.

I've learned quite a lot from the course and viewed that this common language of Levels of Service is applicable to all kind of business (online or offline, service-oriented or non-service oriented industries) and even for non-businesses.
 
Just curious, basing on these 6 levels of service, how would you rate my blog? (you can rate it from the angle of my writing style, the graphics/photos used, user interface etc...). Feel free to rate it and be honest! ;-)

Cheers!

Copyright, Ron Kaufman. Used with permission. Ron Kaufman is the world’s leading educator and motivator for uplifting customer service and building service cultures. He is author of the Uplifting Service and founder of UP! Your Service. For free customer service training articles and video, visit UpYourService.com

Food For Thought!

Sorry, reversed pun intended! I am not really going into the "Food For Thought" per se but rather the real food here! First, I would like to congratulate my lovely wife for joining the blogsphere by creating her very own blog recently! It's HOT FROM OVEN!

As a hardcore foodie, she is very much into foods, cooking and baking (especially bread, cookies, pastries etc...). Hence, the born of petit-dejeuner-maison blog! I must say that she writes better English than me and also has her own style of writing animating content... For a sneak preview, check out the image below:

If you are also a foodie, do drop by her blog and provide her your valuable comments, after all, she is still a newbie in blogging.

Cheers!