1st time parents

After 6 years in primary school preparing for this, ACE finally completed 2 out of his 5 PSLE papers today.

For the past 12 years, as a 1st time parent, I would find myself automatically doings things my parents had done. Some things were good, others were less effective, and some were clearly not good at all.

I am very thankful to my parents for their love and support, which helped me enormously, but in many ways, in spite of the love, I was wounded by some of their mistakes. Healing those wounds has made me a better parent. I know they did their best with the limited knowledge they had regarding what children needed as I, too, was their first child. When parents make mistakes in parenting, it is not because they don't love their children, but because they just don't know a better way.

The portrait of a good coach

"Patrice has mentored many people over the years. She has brought those people higher and higher," Gail announced proudly

No matter what level of leadership we're on, we need a peer, mentior or confidant whom we can trust implicity.

The world is full of people telling other people what to do or thinking they know what's right for others. Great coaches don't tell people what to do.

So how do we find someone to trust? We want someone with whom we can relax and be comfortable. That personm who should be nonjudgmental, must offer absolute integrity of confidentiality and understand our business realim and the demands of leadership.

That person must be a skilled listener.

A good coach ultimately helps us discover the answer within ourselves.

Count blessings - not troubles

"I had the blues because I had no shoes; until upon the street I met a man who had no feet" This inspirational quote was on a laminated poster in Book World Dubai.

We seldom think of what we have but always of what we lack. I have recently begun to count my blessings - not my troubles!

Go out and get 'em

"I will be joining a new company next month," Xiao Hua announce.

Dream jobs don't come to those who sit and wait. The name of the dance is "attitude". It's that positive and active attitude that lands jobs and enhances careers.

Total immersion in our jobs

"My boss doesn't support me. I fear if I continue on, my health will suffer," Nguyen confided in me.

My friend, take it from me: if you don't like the work you're doing or the company you are in, you are headed for trouble. You will eventually transfer that dislike to others and to yourself.

Having a job most suited to our needs and capabilities is improtant. A total immersion in our job is also important. I always try to learn all I can about what I am doing. I also learn all I can about why I am doing what I do.

I am not content just to do my job day after day. I keep reaching toward achievement. My greatest happiness comes from knowing that I have done a good job.

The shocking opening price

"I have worked out the pricing and it looks high," Lay Ling started. In Lay Ling's view, the greater the shock of the entry price the more effective the tactic.

I love every minute of a negotiation.

For some people, if they are buying, they go in low -really low and going in high - really high - if they are selling.

It is a fact of negotiating life that the majority of us will not persist with what we come to believe are unrealistic demands. We will sooner back off than persist. But in general, if our shocking or tough opening is credible it has a good chance of forming the basis of the negotiation, so we should open with the toughest credible opening we can think of.

without purpose, life has no meaning

"People ask, What does it mean to be a hero? I define heroes as those who do ordinary things but in an extraordinary time,"reflected Joseph Pfeifer - Chief of Counterterrorism and emergency preparedness, NYFD. "That's what the fire fighters did. They went up and did ordinary things. Ordinary things, but it was at this extraordinary time."

He who has a why to live, can bear with almost any how.

Without purpose, our life has no meaning. it is all but impossible to be fully engaged. To be extraordinary. With purpose, people do amazing things: good, smart, productive things, unprecedented things.