Sunday, February 28, 2016

Disconnecting is not as easy as it seems

“If there was one single factor that helped this team to perform to the level they did at Atlanta, it was the recovery program that was put in place…and monitored throughout our 1996 program.” Barry Barnes Head Coach, Australian Men’s Basketball, 1996 Atlanta Olympic Report 
 

According to The Nest, stars like Maria Sharapova uses progressive muscle relaxation techniques between points, games or sets. It's not their experience or ability that sets these sports stars apart...it's what they do between points.

How often do you check your mobile phone after leaving work?

Staying connected is addictive. In "Happy, healthy, and productive: The role of detachment from work during non-work time" the American Psychological Association pointed out that when we can't fully log off, we can't fully recover and when we deny ourselves the opportunity to recuperate, our performance invariably suffers.

In my previous lives, being available around the clock was an unspoken expectation. When the boss sends a curt email, it can spoil a dinner or ruin a weekend.

When I started out as a sales leader millenniums ago, it used to be the case that I had to push my team to work harder. Today, I find myself trying to protect my top talent from working nonstop. I know they will be able to achieve unprecedented performance if they disconnect.


Sunday, February 21, 2016

We must try rest, exercise anjd nourishment

"Over the past 6 years, I've had a serious heart attack, kidney problems and now uric acid issues," Billy declared. "But I can't slow down. If I slow down, I won't be Billy anymore."

Stress wears down the body. It is a proven fact that stress always tends to shut down the immune system. Stress also lure us into a telescope trap. Everything begins to look and feel oversized.

My knee surgery was a blessing in disguise. That was the beginning of my career as a gymer. I started out with light exercises twice a week and am not religiously doing an hour four times a week. Nowadays I find that the best remedy for tiredness or weariness is a workout in the gym. Inaction tends to make us sluggish. I increase my energy supply by exercise. I also find that stress and tension are greatly reduced by regular physical exercise.

In addition to exercise, a good psychotherapist recommended a program of rest and nourishment. Without this care, he said, the quality of our lives are greatly reduced. The world just doesn't make sense, and life begins to feel like a painful treadmill.
 

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Everyone wants to make a difference, but nobody wants to be different

Netflix has arrived in Singapore. Hooray!

Way back in 1998, instead of having a customer go to a store to rent a DVD, Netflix had the customer order DVDs online, delivered by mail. Their 90,000 titles, software for queuing and recommending movies and differentiated process made them a highly competitive player in the DVD market.

Business strategy has been defined as "the intelligent allocation of limited resources through a unique system of activities to outperform the competition in serving customers."

Everyone wants to make a difference, but nobody wants to be different. We simply cannot have one without the other. At our kick off meeting last Friday, we'd decided to be a little different in our approach this year in order to accelerate personal and professional growth.

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

The real expert is not really an expert at all

Chinese New Year is a time to catch up with friends and relatives.

We have become a nation of "experts". Everyone has an opinion about something - experts on movies who have never made one; experts on politics who have never run for office; even experts on war who have never been under fire. They assume they can predict how successful you will be.

Society is constantly analyzing and evaluating us and drawing conclusions about what we can do without really knowing the intangibles about us.

The only true expert on us is - us.

The real expert is not really an expert at all, but a support system - like a coach or mentor. They are there to facilitate your progress and thinking. They never make judgments of us.