Enrich your Image

It was a whole day workshop and even though I had an early Friday night (thank god) I woke up feeling rather tired. It was an interesting workshop where one gets to know what color type are they and learn to dress according to the color suitable for them. What was interesting about the whole thing was the two session by Elaine Daly and another guest speaker. Elaine talked about herself and how she has gotten to where she is today and how even she faced challenges that we "normal" people face. I say normal because one would never imagine someone as confident as Elaine having issues with speaking in front of a crowd but suprisingly she does. She still has butterflies whenever she speaks in front of a crowd but she manages to pull herself together and take up the challenge and come out a better person. Though I don't know much about her but listening to her speak about herself and her life made me realise that those who dare to take up the seemingly "impossible" challenges are the type that sets us apart from the crowd.

There was an author who wrote a book about Stallone and Rambo also present. It's amazing how his passion towards the character Rambo and how he drew a connection between Stallone and Rambo and how he took the lessons and quotes from the movie and relates it to Stallone and his own life. His dream which began 10 years ago when he started writing the book and to the point where he finally get to meet his idol Stallone was just an inspiration. Goes to show that when you do something you're passionate about you don't expect things to happen and when it does actually happen you're just left amazed and mesmerised.

The other speaker talked about internal happiness and how confidence and happiness are projected from within and no amount of makeover or makeup can change the person who we are within. To be truly happy we need to be happy within and he helped us to do a few exercises to see what are the things in life that makes us truly happy. Suffice to say I was pretty surprised with my list and I realise that my happy things are not exactly found in the job I'm currently in. Hmmm how am I suppose to enjoy myself at work if it's not alligned with my internal happiness ?? Obviously that's something I need to start working on. This workshop definitely left me with a lot of questions and I definitely need to start finding answers to them soon to ensure that I truly enjoy whatever time I have left in this "vessel".

The Society of Others

Not knowing anything about Wiliam Nicholson or the work he has done before I picked up this book in a book sale and just finished reading it and now that I've done reading it and finally got down to finding out more details about the author and the work he has done before.

He was involved in movies like Shadownlands, Gladiators and others so obviously Society of Others should be an interesting read right ? Well even after finishing the book I'm still left in confusion as what actually happened because it ends in such an abrupt manner.

So much time was spent introducing the main character who recently just graduated college but find no thrill in life and finds it meaningless. After much nagging from his dad he decides to take the money given to him and head on a road trip with no known destination and plan.

Hitching a ride with a philosophical truck driver he finds himself somewhere in Eastern Europe and just as he was getting used to the land he finds himself fleeing for his live when a group of men stop the truck. Before dying the truck driver passes and envelope to him stating he should never let it get into the wrong hands.

Before long the narator finds himself being pursued by government officials who thinks he's part of a movement labelled as terrorists by the government. With all the chaos and being in a different land with different cultures he soon begins to ponder the meaning of his own existance.

He examines the relationships he had with his parents even while on the run from the police and soon get caught and cuts a deal with the government to save his own life. The dramatic ending left me with many unanswered questions but it was a good read nonetheless.

Technorati Tags : society of others, william nicholson, book review, changeiam, change.i.am, 2007

The Myth of You and Me

I finally got around to finish reading this book after a few months. The Myth of You and Me is basically a story about a special friendship shared between Cameron and Sonia and how they became good friends at the tender age of fourteen. They were practically almost always together and shared many firsts together like best friends do. Everything seems perfect and they had a special relationship that only few are lucky enough to own.

So what could possibly happen until Cameron hates Sonia so much until years later even after receiving a letter from Sonia informing of her marriage she refuses to reply. Oliver Doucet a famous historian for whom Cameron was working for had secretly been corresponding with Sonia and had to force Cameron to take on a final task to hand deliver a gift to Sonia as stated in his will when he passed away.

So begins the adventures of Cameron in her quest to find Sonia and deliver the present to her. What draws me into the characters is how they are never honest with themselves and how incidents around them have changed them for better or worst. It also potrays how Sonia and Cameron are able to hide their flaw from the rest of the world except each other in fear of people not accepting or liking them.

Those who have lost a close friend either by drifting slowly apart or a sudden break caused by some incident will definately be able to relate to both the characters in this book but what caught me offguard was how the author decided to end this book. There definately isn't a fairy tale ending waiting to tell you that everything will be okay and that life goes on but the funny thing while I was reading this book was the amount of questions I was asked by my female colleagues as to why I was reading this book when it was about the friendship between to females and who asked me to read it. Hahahahah

Technorati Tags : leah stewart, myth of you and me, book, review, changeiam, change.i.am, 2007

The Introvert Advantage

So I finally finished reading this book which I bought some time back and felt that I had to share it with all my fellow innies. Since young I've always felt alone in a crowd, preferring to linger around quietly in a corner while observing the others. As I grew up it became even more obvious and at time people think of it as me being shy or even antisocial. Well to overcome it I tried to become more outgoing and try to fit in as much as possible but soon realise that I'm often tired and grumpy and not truly enjoying myself no matter how hard I tried. So what's so great about this book ?

Well the back cover claims that it's "Filled with Aha! moments of recognition" so what more could I loose than a couple of hours reading it and by the time I was done it struck me like lightning. I was truly amazed as to how much I could relate myself to what was being said. Everyone seems to vaguely know the difference between an extrovert and an introvert but what actually makes a person an innie. Being a person we certainly have moments where we were one or the other but apparently we are already hard wired to be just one majority of the time.

Was I glad I found this book to only realise that I'm normal and the select few innies in the world of extroverts. The thing that really hit me was how the author explains situations in which I have many times found myself in. An example would be how I hate to be disturbed by phone calls when I'm concentrating on work and often get irritated and moody when interrupted. It drains quite a bit of my energy to shift my focus on the call and then to get back my train of thoughts where I left them often having to start all over again which makes me even more irritated when the phone rings again the next time.

This is some of the general points that seperate introverts and extroverts though I'm sure there will some overlapping

Introverts:

Enjoy time alone Consider only deep relationships as friends Feel drained after outside activities, even if they were fun Good listener Appear calm and self-contained Think then speak or act

Extroverts:

Like to be in the thick of things Relish variety Know lots of people, considers lots of people friends Enjoy chit-chatting, even to strangers Feel stoked after activity Speak or act then think OR think while speaking

Introverts need to recharge their energy and take care of their unique temperament in many areas of their lives. Check these tips out.

Recharging

• Take short rests before you are tired
• Write in time-outs on your daily calendar
• Include nature every day, sit in the yard, go for a walk, look at trees or set a soothing outdoor picture on your table
• Create down time to store energy before any big event
• Remind yourself its OK to be introverted

At Work

• Since you may not speak in meetings, write a memo to co-workers/boss afterward with your comments and suggestions
• Tell your boss you need to think before you can discuss your thoughts
• Say thank you if someone gives you a compliment
• Include yourself by coming early to meetings to help set up or clean up afterwards
• Say hello to people, smile and say thank you to presenters at the end of meetings

Relationships

• Leave notes for those you care about
• Talk about your differences based on your temperaments
• Discuss how to clear up conflicts
• You have the capacity to enjoy private time
• Plan for couple and friend time

Socializing

• Choose which events you want to attend, it's OK to decline invitations
• Remind yourself you may feel overstimulated at social gatherings and that is OK
• Stay on the side-lines and observe before you enter festive occasions
• Decide when you will arrive and leave, you can always stay longer if you feel peppy enough
• Wear an interesting piece of jewelry or tie (usually guys) as a conversation starter

Dealing with Introverted Children

• Explain introverted qualities to your child
• Never correct your child in front of others
• Let them watch before entering an activity
• Encourage breaks to recharge
• Realize they need time to think before responding to questions

So innies unite and be proud of being special in the sea of extrovert people

Technorati Tags : introvert, the introvert advantage, book, changeiam, change.i.am, 2006

Why men don't listen and women can't read maps

So the other day I got myself another book even though I still have some book which I haven't even started reading yet and some are read only halfway. I'm going on a shopping spree ... weeeeee ... hahahahahThere was a list of books recommended to be read and one of them on the list was Why men don't listen and women can't read maps.A very interesting read and recommended to anyone that wants to understand the other sex better. I haven't read men are from mars and women are from Venus yet so I have no idea if they have any similarities. This book basically explains how we are wired differently in the brain itself and how our thoughts between different sexes are different. It really explains a lot the problem faced by men and women in today's modern world. It explains how men have tunnel vision and women have wider peripheral vision. The examples given in the book are very funny and witty as well. For eg when men looks at another women they most of the time get caught because men have tunnel vision and need to focus their gaze at one direction where else women with their wider vision tend to catch men just as they start focusing on the other woman.

This all happened long time ago during our ancestors time. Men usually went out hunting and usually needed to focus their view to a target to catch and bring back for dinner where else woman who usually stay at the cave will have a wider view to detect any predator or danger that approaches them. That's why sometimes guys can never find something that is right in front of their nose and blame the women from hiding it from them.

After finishing the book it really has opened me eyes as to how different men and women really are and how with the changing of roles in today's modern world ie women who also work tend to make things even more complicated then they already are. After reading this book I tend to reflect back the moments in my life where arguments occurs with the opposite sex especially a significant other. Simply misunderstanding each others need be it emotionally or physically can cause many happy relationship to suffer in the long term.

Another funny chapter in the book is how often when women talk they just want to share their problem with someone and most of the time the man being the problem solver will receive the signal that their woman is in trouble and immediately switch into their problem solving mode and try to analyze and come up with a solution to the issue that is being faced. Most of the time the poor women just needs to unload her frustrations and anxiety and instead of listening the man try to solve her problem on the spot which more often than never end up in an argument with each other instead.

Maybe the next time I'm at the bookshop will go through a copy of the men from mars book and see if it's worth buying. If it's anything remotely enlightening as this book I'll definitely grab a copy.

Monday blues

So Monday came and went in such a rush that I didn't even have time to sit and grumble about it being a Monday haha. It was a friends birthday and we went out for lunch together and he then later bought a cake (chocolate mousse) which was sinfully good !! Had a few small pieces, lucky I was planning to head to the gym today or else would have felt guilty.

I still haven't done much on the assignment but I did manage to get hold of the book that will help out in doing the webml part. At least something got done. Tried to tidy my table but stopped halfway because I was just plain lazy. Change is hard but change i am :D

Today is the due date for the books I borrowed from the library and I only managed to renew one of them. The other one has been booked and I'll be collecting it from the photocopiers today so I'll have to return it tomorrow and pay the fine.

Manage to submit my KPI to my manager even though I have no idea what is expected from us. Suppose to have a one to one session with him today and we'll just see what he says. Really doesn't affect me that much so no matter how good/bad I do during the appraisal as long as all my work is complete.

Manage to head to the gym after work yesterday and honestly speaking I think it's the longest time I've spent there. Reached there about 6:30pm and immediately enrolled for the RPM (cycling) class which lasted about an hour. It was bloody tiring but the odd thing was I still felt energetic after that. Rested a while and I went and got on the stairmaster thingy. Initially wanted to do 1/2 hr but managed to only do 20 mins as my legs were truly killing me but yet I felt energetic so decided to try out the Bodyjam session. It was fun and entertaining. Met a friend there as well and after a lenghty discussion with him on how to eat properly and doing a proper workout with the intention of loosing weight looks like I might be heading to the gyms in the morning for a 1 hr workout instead. We'll see how it goes.

Also started reading one of the books I got the other day called If life is a game, these are the rules. A very interesting read and I've only done the first chapter where the first rule was You will receive a body Then talks about how we should accept our body for what it is but at the same time doesn't mean that we should not take care of it ie having a healthy diet and exercising regularly. Also talks about self esteem and how our body does not define who we are and should not be a limiting factor to the things we want to or ought to do in life. In the end it also talks about how we should take time off from our hectic life and enjoy the wonders of being alive. So I guess the old saying all work and no play makes you dull is true after all.