you heart will sense it

Some people enjoy impressing others; some enjoy connecting with others.

Some admire people who impress; some admire people who connect.

Some people play all the roles in their lives; some lost themselves in between.

Whichever type of people you are with, be yourself. Be what your heart wants you to be.

If you meet someone who's worth a real relationship, you heart will sense it.

idea evangelism, wordless...

Why does spreading ideas have to do with words? Why must it be in the form of speeches or writings or blogging or lyrics or conversations?

It doesn't.If you aren't a person who loves dealing with words, no point forcing it, just follow the guidance from your inner being.

The colours, the melodies, the shapes & patterns, the numbers & formulas, the real-world movies...all are perfect vehicles for idea spreading.

It may even go beyond ideas.

Then what you pass on, is a life-changing spirit.

music, unconsciously...

Music can change our lives.

Music that touches our souls; music with stories that move our hearts.

Music that unlock our unconscious minds; music that makes us cry.

Somehow. We just listen, and things happen.

Somehow. When we trust what we got inside, we live the freedom.

you wish...?

It was after an important exam, or contest, which you thought you totally screwed up. You wish you had put in a lot more efforts, you wish luck hadn't turned its back on you, you wish you could pass...

But you knew the chance was 0.01%.

Did you just let go and move on with your life? Had you been so disappointed with yourself you didn't even bother to check the results?

Chances are, you did check the results. And you might have passed.

Your brain, your rational judgment told you you wouldn't pass. But deep in your heart you didn't give up. When you said you wish, despite what other people think, despite what you yourself told others, your heart knew there was still chance... It could still happen, it was possible...

Your heart told you not to give up.

So when you started the sentence "I wish..." today, did you do that simply to feed the lunch conversation with interesting imagination or wild dreams? Deep in your heart you know the answer.

The question is, are you ready to pay the price?

what's your story?

A friend who's known for her seriousness just won a humourous speech contest.

Total surprise!

It's remarkable. It is the kind of story that people love to hear and love to tell and it's gonna be around for a while...

Doesn't it sound familiar? Hasn't something similar happened to your community or someone in your life? Or has it already happened to you?

If not, why don't just go create one?

financial wisdom (maybe not that financial)...

"You are most likely to exceed the budget when you have none,"

i repeat, Dive In.

Take your time to really figure out your Blueprint in life...don't rush, be patient, keep thinking, imagining...

When you're done, Dive In. It's how you get to know if you'll ever need any adjustment...

Learn to ignore the constant interruptions in this noisy world...with enough practice you can be really good at it...

...and allow me to keep repeating this...

Don't think, just Dive In.

confession of a bankerartist...

"I'm not proud nor passionate about my work. I didn't quit (and do arts full-time) because I still have something to contribute and I'm still learning. Plus I need to eat. Financial pressure will make my family and creativity suffer. The need to make money out of painting will pollute my originality. I compromise my time, my days in life, so that I won't have to compromise my arts"

you made the efforts to sketch your blueprint, now trust it...at least a bit longer...

Doing the things that you love, that you are truly passionate about, that you are born to do, may involve dealing with things that you don't like.

So you need lots of discipline to bring you where you want to go.

Over the months/years, you did the soul searching, you did the gap analysis, you identified your goals and determined the prices to pay, you made and revised the Master Blueprint of Life with detailed plans...then you plunge in to pay your dues day in & day out swimming towards your destination.

It's a tough run, it's not for everybody. You know what it takes.

Some days into the journey, things happen. They always do. It can be as trivial as a terrible mood after a bad day; or it can be someone or something that storms into your life story with the burning twister so authoritative it burns through your mind and turns your beliefs & plans upside down.

You feel like giving up.

It's like you're just enlightened/awaken to see all the flaws and stupidity and unnecessary plans that are just not going to make your dreams come true. The scheduled marathon training seems downright absurd given your calling as a physician...

There may be moments when you really believe your original Master Blueprint of Life is torn & crashed & destroyed and that it was wrong & worthless...

Not matter what or who they are, Don't let them do this to you.

Don't let them break your plan and discipline and hard-earned momentum just like this.

Just set aside some time in the weekend, or go to bed 30mins later each day for one month, or even take a vacation, to really scrutinize your Blueprint and your mind. Eventually you'll find the adjustments that your original Blueprint might need are no big deal.

And you'll be glad you did discipline yourself to still go run the marathons.

Encounters in Oasis

The caravans come, the caravans go. People come from the horizon, then disappear to where they're from. You shared the laugters, your shared the tears. You sing the songs of desert, you carve a moon in souls. And tomorrow, you're off on the road alone.

Go north.

You left nothing behind, you expect nothing beyond. The wine in the sand, the moments euphoria flamed; the endless silver horizon, the ancient dancers' ghosts. Yesterdays buried in sandstorms, forever gone.

Go north.

When the wind brings back the scent, the stars picture the oasis.
You craft your heart to melodies, drift 'em in the memory of eternity.

LET YOUR IMAGINATION RUN WILD!!!

I've probably said this many times already, allow me to shout it out again: LET YOUR IMAGINATION RUN WILD!!!

On the path to making dreams come true, we refer to successful people as references. When we see people who made it big have background, or character, or beliefs, or choices made that are similar to ours, we felt so much more confident and convinced about our odds of getting there.

On the path to making dreams come true, we refer to successful people as models. We try to figure out what they believed, how they acted, so we can copy and get the same results.

But sometimes you just can't fit in and align with those role models that you studied. Over the years you explored and figured out and adjusted your values, your character, your models, your strengths, your goals & ultimate missions in life...and they simply don't jive with what you got from those proven people.

You're so unlike anyone of them. It's so frustrating, it's so unfair...

It's not. It simply means you have to stop copying those authorities and beat out your own path. It simply means you're destined to be a leading pioneer who opens up a whole new paranoma for others. It means you've got to stop looking back, stop finding comfort and confidence from other people's stories; you just have to trust your guts and charge forward.

Nobody can tell you what's like out there, nobody can show you a neatly sketched road map, not a single billionaire life coach can tell how far you can go. You're on your own, you got to paint your vision from scratch, you got to LET YOUR IMAGINATION RUN WILD, then try & experiment & find your own route, 'cause you are the chosen one. No one's ever been there.

You Are.

5-min Tango drill...

This post is about Focus and Consistency.

It's better to do a mere 5-min Tango practice for 3650 days in a row, then to participate in a one-week intensive workshop and put it away after 3 months of enthusiastic dancing.

If you're not living in an island alone, there're way too many things that can distract you from your plan, whatever it is. And these distractions make you feel busy and less guilty about giving up on your scheduled practice/study/whatever...

Then just make it a stressless 5-min daily practice, make yourself comfortable with the notion of effortless "daily commitment", watch the momentum built up by your consistency (and enjoy the sense of accomplishment)...

You will become unstoppable.

think about africa...

Seriously. It's not a damn sarcastic joke.

When someone really got on your nerve, when you had a sh***y day, when you got the 1003th rejections or setbacks...think about Africa.

Think about those children who were born into rain of bullets and made child soldiers, think about innocent people that were raped and killed, think about people who destroy themselves and the innocent without really knowing the reason...

And think about people who profit from the civil wars.

Think about how easily we can choose to ignore the horrible things happening around the world...

why were you so into it...?

...have you ever been into something, some projects (like a performance, a competition, etc), that haunt you 24 hrs a day, sucking out all your energy, distracting you from all other things in life, making you excited and scared alternatively...until everything's done and finished...

...then you feel relieved and happy with what you've accomplished. Or you feel upset if things didn't work out. Or you regret all the sacrifices as the project literally turned your life and relationships upside down...

Either way, it captured your passion. It should have (at least) touched upon what you really really want out of life. Don't rush to shovel the experience out of your memory in your new-found relaxed days; carefully review it. Think hard.

we can all change, it's just the nostalgia...

...of the old days.

Nowadays there are all sorts of techniques out there that can help you change. There are lots of success stories too, about how a shy introvert was turned into a charismatic superstar, etc, etc...

It definitely makes things easier for us, compared with our ancestors who needed superior will power and lots of struggle in order to be what they aspired to be. On the flip side, it can also help us get over emotions like guilt, which we might actually deserve sometimes.

The guilt that can make us better persons, that makes us really go Earn what we've got.

But that's another story, I digressed. What I wanted to tell is the story of an introvert who successfully changed himself into an extrovert, and let's call this guy You. You made more friends and contacts, went to more parties and made more money and 'had more fun' in life...

Only that at some point of the journey, when you feel everything is great and finally you are enjoying the success & popularity that always seem so elusive when you were quiet and contemplative, something or someone triggers a nostalgia that makes you miss the old days when you paint alone in the room richly filled with winter sunlight and tranquility, or those moments when you learnt about human nature by being a quiet observer...

The nostalgia bites.

Then you wonder if it's possible to really change one's personality. Then you wonder if the sacrifices were all worth it. Then you wonder why you thought being an introvert or extrovert really have anything to do with your success and fulfillment in life...

No right, no wrong. It's just the nostalgia. It might never emerge in your life, or it might catch you by surprise. And it bites.

Advice? Before commiting yourself to any major "personality change", make sure you know what you're getting yourself into.

why profit seeking prevails...

Against what or whom is your prejudice?

Women? Gay? Muslims? Quants?

Prostitution? Gambling? Politics?

Traditionally, if we go learn about the stories, talk and connect with those people, get a behind-the-scene view of what they do, and why they do it, we'll have a good chance of changing our original perspectives.

With the advance of neuroscience (or the techniques of tweaking our minds?) changing our views & beliefs becomes much easier than ever before. If we care to spend time and energy, we can change our views on almost anything, anybody, without having to learn their stories first-hand. You know what I mean.

Which means we have the ability to Decide what we believe is 'right', whatever it is. It's no longer about figuring out what is right; it's about deciding what is right, then figuring out how to make ourselves believe it.

This can be a powerful tool. A powerful tool can be a destructive weapon.

Since we can make ourselves believe anything we want, whatever we do we're able to make ourselves believe it's right. When right or wrong is no longer a question, what drives our decision and action?

How about material benefits?

the Rockers in the concert...

The rockers are the leaders.

They make music, their fans listen; they sell records, their fans buy 'em; they hold concerts, their fans gather; they rock on stage, their fans join them down the stage; they tell a story in the song...

Their 20,000 fans tell 20,000 different stories when they sing along.

don't judge a book by its cover...

who deosn't know this?

Only that in practice, interestingly, we tend to ignore golden advices from great respectable figures.

This again proves that: Ideas are Worthless, Action is King.

This may also imply that we all have to realize, no matter what we think we are, we're often subject to weaknesses of the mass mediocre.

It's hard not to judge, it's hard not to have an opinion. And when opinions come, so are those stereotyped associations. What do you expect from people who are gross and sloppy and simply can't stop boasting?

You never know.

Until you take the efforts, despite the prejudice or preconceptions, to find out more about their stories.

it can be just another wild guess but it's important...

...the end of elite-led mechanism design/social reform or experiment , dawn of the Great Co-Coreation (now every human being is a synergizer of his own experiences in life and a co-creator of the System...the social structure/order is formed not by a large group of experts, not by numerous groups of communities..but everyone in it..)

then what's the role of those experts? what's the role of everyone of us? does the new order reward people whose synergization contributes more to the System? how are we going to distribute the rewards & resources? would there be a new kind of minority? would there be a totally new definition of competitive advantage and radically different definition of rich and poor?

when every unique individual contributes her/his unique tweak to the new System, contributes to the constantly-evolving new world order, how do we (or the System?) decide who gets more of the merit, money, respect..? what'd help us survive & what'd bankrupt us?

i feel scared, with slight excitement, when i'm writing down these questions (i'm afraid they'd slip away from my mind)...this seems like total chaos...yet we know you're more likely to be right when you feel scared...and unpredictable chaos is exactly what we should expect & embrace in this era...

the era of crowds, heading steadily to The Great Co-creation. Welcome.

a war in silence (heretics beware)

world-changing innovation does not come from a miraculous night when you are struck by a voice from heaven and turned into a genius. At least not for most people. It comes from consistent hard work and numerous failures, day in day out, that people don't notice (or refuse to take seriously), for a long long time. Till finally you got enough momentum to make visible impact, they line up against you, trying to crush you and restore the status quo.

We all know this too well. Truthful visionaries punished just because they're too ahead of their contemporaries.

There's something more dangerous: you quit long before your stuff is visible enough to challenge the status quo, even when it's rotten. You gave up on your calling and you are not aware of it.

Your success is built piece by piece, it depends on years of consistent hard work.

So are your opponents'.

Everyday they try to convert you. Piece by piece, signal by signal, through words and actions and design, implicitly or explicitly, everything in the system is just so conveniently organized, so they can show your efforts are stupid and worthless and you're all alone. It's not violent, it doesn't make headlines, it never stirs the public's emotions. It's a war in silence.

And it's way more dangerous. Beware.

When they attempts something radical and inhuman to trump your challenge to the status quo, it means they failed to convert you. You won the first battle, the most crucial one.

Now March On.

have trouble finding a market for your passion?

...maybe you should not have assumed there's a market in the first place. even if there is, it probably won't present itself to you when you're still hesitating whether or not to put in the 10,000 hours and create something meaningful...

Don't think too much, don't force yourself to come up with some good reason or justification that your passion has a place in the market. Just do it. Have the time of your life. If you need to provide labour in return for survival in the society, if the only thing available to you right now is a nasty job, so be it. Don't imagine and take for granted your 'entitlement' to make a living doing what you love.

Learn from life, learn from the nasty work you are doing, as well as your passion and your consistent selfless contribution to the world. Don't overthink, don't try to cash up on your pure simple/noble passion.

Never give up, though. Just go working, living, meeting people, listen, learn from them, learn from life, do at least as much as you think/plan. And for sure you'll see your market somewhere down the road...

Get busy; be patient. You'll be there.

unplanned adventure

Make yourself a blueprint of life, with clear plans and tasks plus crystal-clear visualization.

These are the right things to do, no doubt. They make your goals and vision so real they build inside your mind a sense of inevitability and resilience. Seriously it's something we should take time to do and practice...

But always leave some room for your creativity.

Everyday is an adventure, everyday you've got something to learn, everyday there's a possibility that someone something out there would turn your outlook on life upside down. And often, life changing moments originate from unexpected sources.

Travel with you map, focus on the big picture. Just don't simply rule out every path that happened to escape your imagination.

On Specialization II

My other guesses...

Specialization is meant for technical stuff, and technical stuff only. Somehow because of the economic structure (division of labour) or some other reason, we are made to believe we also need specialists (or experts) in arts...a field where measure of excellence is so subjective and unpredictable...

...then we have specialists constructing a system of rules & standards telling us how to determine whether a piece of art work is beautiful...so we can "learn" how to appreciate arts...then base our valuation or appreciation of a painting on specialists' opinions...

Every once in a while some rule breaking genius would create a turmoil in this system, we would marvel for 3 seconds then move on like nothing has happened. It's like, "what are we to doubt the rules & standards? they were created by those experts...they've been around for centuries..."

Maybe it's exactly the reason we should question the system.

On Specialization

It seems to me people take specialization really seriously. Yeah specialize, it's where the money is. Generally it's how you can efficiently make it as a participant in economic activity nowadays. And if your personal identity hinges heavily on your economic role, specialization can mean a lot more than making a living.

But is it really a must for you to make a life?

Specialization is just a rule (or rather, a popular & less risky strategy) of the game. If you are creative and imaginative and innovative, or lucky, enough to bypass this rule and get to the hilltop that you're aiming, why not? Fix your sight on the hilltop, always, look for different paths, and be careful not to be blinded or cajoled or intimidated by what people think you should agree on.

another reason to be really opionated (or not)

Being really stubborn and opinionated can either make you or break you. We can never easily come to a conclusive agreement as there're too many other variables at play.

One thing you might be interested to know, though, is that strongly opinionated people like you (yeah i make lots of wild guesses & assumptions in this blog) are less likely to be the targeted candidates of terrorists' recruiters. It'd take them way too much resources to convert you.

Which means you get a bit less distraction when building your career with an extremist's fervor.

sheepishly, innocently, or gracefully (should I include proudly)?

Wrong statements or wrong timing or wrong action that make you feel and look stupid? We all experienced that, it happens. Inevitably.

But wait, were you really "wrong"? Perhaps it's just some stupid customs that shouldn't have existed at all? Or maybe those folks were just too 19th century to grasp your ideas? Or too scared to embrace your bold vision? Or too narrow-minded to appreciate your perception of beauty?

Well there's also a good chance that you did screw up. In fact, it doesn't really matter at all.

The question is, how do you deal with it?

Very often people just smile. Depending on how seriously they take the "mistake", they give you a smile sheepishly or innocently or gracefully.

Which category are you in (I hope it's Proudly)? Are you responding like you are "supposed to"? Are you showing the world your invincible confidence? When these stupid moments inevitably come, how exactly do you deal with it?

I hope you dance to celebrate like no one else's looking.

price, little wishes, casually

It's easy and harmless to casually talk about what we want or what we wish to be. Without commitment or accountability, there's no risk. In fact it's so easy it almost becomes a conversational habit for some people. They casually think and talk and sigh about their little wishes, without considering the price and taking 'em seriously.

That's why they never got there.

The first thing to do is realize that there's a price, an opportunity cost, for any goal or dream or wish, small or big. Be realistic about it.

Be conscious of the price you need to pay.
Take time to think it through, make a decision.

Be conscious of the price you decided to pay.
Don't regret.

price, little wishes, scarcity

There's a price for everything. Not always in coins-and-notes sense though.

Just think about little wishes like being elegant in your words and behaviour, or having a respectable character. (not to mention those visible goals like being better public speakers or dancers, etc.) There's a price to pay for all these.

Let's just take a closer look at those little wishes.

Typically they require more of your physical and mental energy. They want you to go an extra mile on daily basis but never prize you with a candy on the way. They make you exhausted for something that no one seems to care...

That means you need to create the motivation yourself.

Sometimes the desired outcome is like reputation. It takes a long long time to build but can easily be ruined. It's as invisible as oxygen but as fragile as crystal. It's frustrating. That's why most people don't bother to take these little goals seriously...

...so when you do, you are special; when you take time and efforts to get there, you create scarcity. This doesn't pay right away, it doesn't always pay in notes-and-coins sense, but it pays.

the stage ethics (or is it?)

A speaker is more relevant if she had first-hand experience of her topic. She's more likely to know what she's talking about.

A mere theory disseminator risks jokes or mean responses. Or the sin of misleading her audience.

This creates a little bit of problem for unproven speakers. Does it mean you have to keep what's in your mind until you got the experience or age or title to qualify for people's attention? So that you will be more credible and your chance of making mistakes lower?

You know the answer. Go for it.

But be humble.

No matter how convinced you are about your theories/ideas, no matter many stories supported them, no matter how many people (other than yourself) already proved that you are right, no matter how much credit you've got...you never really know.

Remember you never really did it. Be humble.

And for the audience, don't look down on these theory people. Try to get whatever morsels of value from what they say. The most dramatic inspirations come from the least expected place. Like your cousin's five-year-old, for example.

It's not the answers. It's possibilities.

It's about exploring & testing & cocreating with people you are lucky (or unlucky) enough to meet in your life. Outside the professional seminar hall, there's always a whole lot more to learn, from life itself. You create your own story, after all.

If you think you already got, or some guru already granted you, the final answer, you almost always find yourself wrong afterwards.

Or am I?

We never know till we try.

hang out with the best people...?

There's one saying:

"Put yourself into the most competitive environment, work with the best people, then you will see yourself improve fastest..."

Pretty much truth, I guess, only that you should also bear in mind this: this tip works best for skills, and skills only. Not life.

Many people are so obsessed in the race to the top environment they forgot why they're in the race at all. Or they're made to believe it's the only thing that matters.

They missed so much beautiful things in life.

Try your best to get into the best environment, be relentless if necessary, but always remember why. No matter what you boss or your coach tells you, it's just the trade/skills that you are striving to perfect, not your life. You've got to decide how much price you are willing to pay for it.

If you decide it's worth your life, fine.

However if living a meaningful life happens to matter to you, it can be achieved more easily than most people choose to believe. A bit more mindfulness can go a long way in saving you unnecessary price and sacrifice.

And maybe, less people unnecessarily hurt.

Factor in the price & benefits

Budget your time like you budget your money.

Really, count the cents and pennies. Be realistic. Then you see the roadmap in hi-fidelity. The reason to believe and the sacrifice to make.

A frequently neglected factor in goal-setting practices is the real Price you're ready to pay.

The opportunity cost. The things you really really love but come second in importance.

A frequently ignored element in change exercises is the benefits you've been enjoying for staying where you are.

Things you always want and enjoy and take for granted. The satellite TV that you want to bring along when climbing the Everest.

Dream vs reality. They'll look so alike if you choose to be honest when you begin.