Updates on 2010

The past month has been a much looked forward to time. January. The month where all the plans for the year are set and of course the much anticipated Empower U 5-day! A week in Australia has done a lot to wake me up again to the world of personal development and all the things that I want to achieve. I made new promises to myself and set some new goals. The camp was by far the best thing that happened to me for the last 5 years. I can’t really describe how happy I am to have set the intention and commitment of being there.

I’ve met a lot of great friends who were committed to getting more out of their lives and helping each other to do so. It’s a fantastic experience. Therefore no amount of words can describe what it was like for me. I feel I grew to another level never known to me. For some reason I chose not to share my experiences on this blog but I wrote them out on a journal I was given at the camp. (: If you haven’t been to 5-day you have to go there!

Other exciting updates about my life include the excitement of my network marketing business. For the first time in my life now I’m committed to spending time and effort and pride to make some real passive massive residual income. Also as well, I officially launched my first blog shop with my friend!

www.fervee.blogspot.com

I’m really happy with the outlook and design of the blog. There are other shops that agreed to link us which were great and we already sold our first shirt! Do support us by getting the news out to your friends(:.

Still exploring new businesses that I can start with little or no money as well.

Need to keep reminding myself to set aside time to make chocolate! >.<

I’m also looking forward to publishing my book this year. It’ll be fantastic. I’ve been learning more and more about public speaking and how to inspire other people with words and I feel I’m really getting better at it from the response I get from the audience.

Yes. January has been a great month to begin with. Next week (which is also next month), I’m flying to Jakarta with Hafiz to do Empower U for the first time in Indonesia! This is like living the life I always wanted. What more can I ask for? Much more actually lol. (: Hope all is going well with you. I pray God Bless you with his wonderful goodness and grace. Till next time! Take Care!

Virgin Marathon

There are a whole lot of things to say about my marathon run. It all started 6 months back when i decided to tell all my friends that i was going to run a marathon. And because of that, there was no pulling out of it. I had no prior knowledge about running such a long distance and how much energy, determination and endurance it would require. Me being me told as many people as i could possibly tell about the marathon.

The opportunity came for me to sign up and i did. At that point in time, i felt excited and unsure at the same time. I imagined the thrill of finishing the run and also visualized the pain that it might put me through. One of my friends shared with me that if i have never ran a marathon, my leg muscles will definitely cramp. I clinched at the thought :s. The last time i felt a cramp was when i was swimming and it was not enjoyable at all..

As the day drew nearer i started doing little jogs in the bedok stadium. 30 rounds around the stadium was about 12km worth of jogging. Without any proper planning, i would always just jog whenever i had the time which would be either a 12km jog or a 3-4hours jog. 12km Would be the times when i could spare only an hour plus on jogging and when i had the time i'll jog non-stop for as long as i could. Somehow i believed i was ready.

The day drew nearer and nearer. I asked Thaddeus, a good friend of mine to give me some tips for running and what i should do. Thaddeus had ran marathons 3 times and just recently finished a 250km race through the Sahara desert. He was somebody whom i thought would be the best person to help me survive this run. We met up for lunch and he bought me a whole bunch of things including: power gels, blister powders, recovery drink packs, abrasion lotion. He is so generous and so nice to have not only met me for lunch to give me some advice but also gave me so many things! These items helped me a lot during the run. I really can't imagine the amount of pain i would have gotten through if i didn't have the lotions and the powder. I'm filled with great gratitude for this guy. Thank you Thaddeus!

THE MARATHON

In the morning i had to wake up at 3am because a special chartered bus was planned to send me to the start point from bedok stadium so i had to wake up shower and make sure i was there by 4am in the morning. I ate a power gel, got prepared and went out.

The first thing i did when i reached the stadium was i went looking for a toilet. My morning dump had to be taken care of! And everyone was all over the Raffles City looking for open toilets but they were all closed!!! We finally settled with the portable toilets rented to the organizers of the marathon, i didn't quite enjoy its "cleanliness" and the flushing function was no where to be found :s..

It was really amazing to see so many people there at 5am in the morning. I knew there were runners in Singapore but i didn't know there was so many runners. There was about 15,000 people running!!! My Goodness. It took me about 10minutes to walk to the start line! But before that i found a place to sit down and prepare myself, using the blister powders that Thaddeus gave me and the abrasion lotion on my body. I carried on myself nothing except two packets of power gels, everything else i left at the baggage drop off point.

As i was walking along the running route to get to the starting line, there were people in front who started going wild and clapped and cheered. I was wondering what in the world is happening.. On the other road on the other side of us were the competitive runners flying past.. It was in fact the professional runners. These guys ran like its a 2.4km run! My goodness i really wondered how they are going to maintain that speed for the entire marathon. Well, they are professionals. Suddenly i remembered what Brent always said: "Professionals Create, Amateurs Compete".

When i finally reached the start line everyone started jogging. And because there were so many people, it was a slow jog. (: i was just happy to get started. Making my way through all the little gaps i could find and passing many many runners. i felt great. Until..

Someone farted in front..

It stink real bad :s. The smell lasted for about 5 seconds. I was suddenly very inspired, innervated, roused and provoked to overtake as many people as i can and to do it quickly. (:
So i learned: Inspiration does not always come from the beautiful, the nice, the fragrant and the perfect.

Even though i was quite highly motivated to overtake people. There was always someone in front of me! There were so many people, it felt like i over took a hundred people and there were still a ten thousand i front of me. I decided to settle into cruising speed if not my fuel won't last me. I was reminded about Thaddeus advice about not "hitting the wall". Hitting the wall happens to some runners when they over exert and then they cannot run anymore.

After what seemed like 2 years of running i came to a sign that said "16km" I was shocked. It didn't occur to me that this was going to be dramatically different from when i am running on the track. My beautiful soft track.. argh! 16km only!!! The energy started depleting in me. I started breathing shorter breathes and my paced reduced even further.

Just at the 20km mark both of my legs cramped. It was so painful i had to stand still for a moment before i started jogging again. The only reason i could jog again is because i always believed that i was superman. It was painful. Every pace threatened another cramp. I learned how to relax my leg muscles while i jogged. This was an important time for me and i didn't want to start walking. Yes I'm crazy. I ran as my legs cramped again and again.

This brought back memories of the time i did expeditions with the Boys Brigade. We were walking for kilometres and kilometres. One of my friend's legs cramps up and he sat on the floor. My officer took him by the hand and asked him to continue walking because he said the only way to get over the cramp is to keep on walking until the legs get over the tension.

And so i applied that theory. I jogged and relaxed my muscles. After about 15minutes it started to work. My legs stopped cramping. Only the occasional muscle aches was because of the first few cramps. I was elated. No walking.

When you do a marathon, other than the beautiful sights that you might get to fully take in and enjoy, you will also be doing a lot of thinking. I thought about my goals and dreams. I thought about the amount of effort was i putting into my life. I thought about the promises i made to myself. I thought about the times when i have failed and the times when i have succeeded. But one thing i saw made me so emotional..

Every runner had a choice to put up a tag at the back with the encouragements of their loved ones and their friends. I didn't because before the marathon i was just so busy with so many other things that i didn't get anyone to write for me (excuses). But i enjoyed reading what other people wrote for the runners..

There was the occasional..

"My daddy is the fastest runner Go daddy!"
"Don't give up! All the way!"
"You can do it!"

And there were the funny ones like..

"Please only over take me on my right, do not tail gate, or I'll get annoyed"
"After you finished running come home for dinner!!!"

There was one particular one that made me cry. What! It made you cry?! Yar i started little sniffles because of this.

You see at this point in time it became quite tiring already. And i wanted to believe that i could do it but the difficulty was escalating. I thought about the problems in my life and how i was still unable to solve some of them. Then i read this on someone's back.

"Finish what you started."

Finish what you started period. A flood of memories came back. I didn't complete a couple of things that i began and i realized that this was going to be one of those things that if i didn't give up it would give me so much mental muscle, so much positive reference, so much strength to get up and complete all those things that i said i would do. I was not crying because i couldn't do it. I was crying because i was going to be reassured about the milestones in my life and I'm just going to stick with them until i succeed.

There were many guys running but there were a few girls running as well. And i just like to say: GIRLS ARE NO WEAKER THAN GUYS! They were all as serious and as motivated and as strong as me! In fact towards the end, there was at least 2 girls who overtook me! Kudos to the girls who ran the marathon! You go girls!

One other thing i learned about marathon was that you needed your food no matter how superhuman you think you really are. Thinking about this in the context of gaming, like playing warcraft, no matter how powerful a character you are, you need your marna. Some way or another you need to regenerate your Marna. At the marathon there are stations that appear quite frequently with water supplies, 100plus and even one with power gels. I drank water when i needed it and had my two packets of power gels at the 15km mark and the 30 km mark respectively. No matter how great i thought i was i still reminded myself to take care. It was so important.

I was jogging quite slowly during the last few stages of the marathon. My body was giving me all kinds of signals to stop running. The muscles in my legs started cramping again. I couldn't get into the flow of my rhythm of run. My chest started to hurt. My arms were heavy and shoulders tired. I did hit the wall. By that time i was at the 39km mark.

Thinking back now, it is so easy to say its only 3km away just run for it! But i remember how it felt at that time. It was not easy at all. The sun was shining proudly in the sky, everything was heavy and slow and almost everyone was walking by now. In addition, my jogging speed were equivalent to some people's walking speed already. A little while after the 39km mark i slowed down and walked. Firstly because my legs cramped up quite bad and i had to limp and secondly the electrolytes in my body had not been replaced as fast as i would have liked them to.

40 km mark..

41km mark..

i started to jog again. I recovered a little from my cramp and started to jog slowly again. By this time i drank as much 100plus as i could from the last drink station already..

Someone from the organizing group shouted to me and said, "only 1km left come on!" With that
the chariots of fire started. I spread my legs like a cheetah would stretch out forward when it was running. After about 5 minutes of running i saw the 1km left sign board come up -_-'. I was devastated. I thought it was only 300 metres left.. i slowed down a little. The person lied to me :'(. It really became a fight to the end. I was passing many runners but it was slowly killing my will because the finishing line was still no where in sight..

Finally from about 200 metres away i saw the finishing line. I almost just closed my eyes and reached for it..

I did it. It felt great. -_-' no one clapped. I guess you so have to come up a little earlier to get the more excited crowds. 5 hours 32minutes and 10 seconds.

I love my medal. I bring it everywhere to show it to everyone (:. I wear my finisher shirt as often as i can (:. It is a fantastic experience. This is such a big reference to my beliefs about what i can do if i only stick to it and not give up. If i only would keep at it. And in everything preparation and training is so important. I am proud of myself.


What is my next goal in running? I would like to run another marathon and i would like to run it under 4 hours. (:

A force that never gives up.

I recently entered into a bit of a business venture buying and selling a product. It didn't go well. at least not for now. But as i was coming home today, i was suddenly so inspired...

As the wind blows against my face i started to think about forces. The power that anyone holds for success. The power that anyone holds for fighting till they get it. I was so inspired because i came to the understanding that even if i fail today, make losses and become less trustful of the world, it will not hold me down. What is there to stop me from picking myself up again and starting over? Moreover, i have a great life now. Great job. Great relationship with family. Great lifestyle. Fantastic time with friends. A little bit of setback won't crush me.

Then i began thinking. How much set backs can i actually take? That was the moment that became scarily clear to me.. There never be any setback too big for me. As long as i'm alive. Nothing can stop me from giving it another go. As long as i'm alive, i promise to show the world that has despised, cheated, and time and time again tried to kill my enthusiasm for success. How scary is that? Nothing can stop this force. I felt the power and intensity of this idea then and it inspired and frigthened me as well. I could in fact be the bull that charges through the thick and trecherous forest. When i hit a tree, i might step back for while, choose another route and charge again. When i gain momentum, you wouldn't want to be in my way.

How inspiring.

In a team one of the most important aspects to get in place right at the start is trust. This might sound mundane but increasingly I can start to see how much of trust can make or break a team. If you don’t trust someone in a team how can you work together? How can there be leverage on people in the team when everyone is trying to do everyone’s job because people don’t think each other is good enough or trust that anyone else can get the job done? Worst if there is distrust then we start worrying about sabotage. Also in personal relationships, I now understand how important it is to trust and be trusted by the people you share your life with, your family and friends. Just some thoughts I had. I trust you’ll come back again to read : ) hehe.

1) Edit Chapter 3 and 4

2) Come up with a business curriculum

3) Go Jogging for an hour

4) Make 5 flavors of chocolate

5) Pass a book to some new.

YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS RIGHT? n_n

Having said what I said in the last post I want to just state that I also think that it is the individual’s responsibility to choose his or her references (things that we allow to hold up or destroy our beliefs whether internally or externally).

Here’s an update from my last post on things to get done:

1) Edit chapters 1 and 2 for my book

2) Find a tailor to fix my pants! (two of my pants spoiled)

3) Go jogging for at least an hour (tummy is coming out)

4) Come up with what to teach for Bernard (my own business)

5) 5 Recipes of chocolate!

Here’s what has been done (finally):

1) Chapters 1 and 2 is edited

2) Both pants are fixed

3) I haven’t went jogging yet :s

4) I haven’t met up with Bernard to discuss and teach him some stuff

5) I did start making chocolate but it was not successful :s yet.

n_n

One morning that I was utterly disturbed by a TV show. This show basically brings doctors and specialists together to discuss about some medical issues. The part that really shocked me was when they brought in a 12 year old kid (I think... don’t quite remember the details). This kid was a little overweight, not really in the obese category. The reason that he was put on the show was because of his habit of playing computer games for hours and hours and not wanting to move around. And of course when you start to have that kind of lifestyle its bad because you end up with not having much exercise and you become very lazy and it’s like a downward spiral. So they were talking about all the bad things of why he should get up more and maybe go out for a bit of exercise.

Pardon me for my comments but this is just a personal opinion.. I think his situation was not that serious to be put on national television. Now his mother was also on the show as well and at the start, they played a video, sort of like a video in reality TVs where they have a short talk about people. And the mother gave this really worried and sad face and talked about the problems as if she was going to die soon. She was a scrawny sad bespectacled woman probably in her late 40s who thinks the world is going to fall apart. I mean how can you think that of a 12 year old!

The point is she doesn’t know the kind of beliefs she is passing to that young kid. If I were that little kid I don’t know how I’d feel when I grow up! Don’t get me wrong, I think all that advice about exercise and getting up and out was great but can’t you see how you are plastering a tape on the young kid’s head! He is 12 for pete’s sake.

I think many parents do not know the very fundamental issue here. How you perceive someone will eventually shape that person especially if that person is not having many other people around him to build his beliefs. If you think your child is in trouble tell him he is in trouble and then to fix the problem; not him. For that to happen, you cannot hold a perception that he is that way. Studies have now shown that even if you talk to water, it responds metaphysically. Can you imagine how you are shaping your child if you already think he cannot?

Here’s what I would have done if I was his parent. (Again this is personal opinion) no right or wrong only outcome. If there was a requirement to scold him, I would. If there was a requirement for a really great argument to be thought out, I would. Then I’ll make sure I’ll bring him out to exercise with me. I spend time showing him how. I believe that he in fact can. I would take full responsibility on the shaping of his beliefs his ideas and his motivations. I would know when to give him a break if he needs one.

Here’s what I will not do. I will not agree to put him on a show and get someone else to fix him in front of millions of people. Only because it will firstly (if it works that is) it will show him that if anything is wrong, don’t worry, don’t tell your parents just work it out with the real experts, your parents don’t know anything anyways. Secondly, I will not show how I’m willing to put him on the show to let someone else change him. If need be I’ll put myself on the show, if I was that incapable and then learn the skills required to built a healthy lifestyle and a great relationship with my son. Can’t you see that the mother took an easy way out? “Oh I’ve tried everything nothing seems to help.” What utter rubbish. You simply gave up on your child, just admit it.

Like seriously, I was so much fatter than the kid when I was in primary 6. GIVE HIM A BREAK. So disturbed about the parents nowadays... Imagine the kind of references people are giving to their children? Where did the “don’t worry son don’t worry daughter, mummy is here daddy is here” philosophy go to? Have we gotten too comfortable? Have we become so weak? And we wonder why there are so many troubled people around. There are less and less role model parents who are willing to pick themselves up and keep fighting.

I’d like to conclude this really soon before my emotions get out of hand. But just remember that as parents you need to view your child first as they are. If they are in a mess, tell them they messed up. Then don’t leave them in the mess. Help them out of the mess. Then you view them as more than they ever can be. You’ll find that in fact they will be bigger than your belief of who they will become, because you first believed in them. Get them to see themselves more than they can ever be and before your eyes you’ll see what magic really is- that they’ll become all of that and more…