Look

To get over a problem, understanding it is important. The easiest way is to break the problem down and look at it through different angles. Come up with ways, perspectives that may not be heard of before. For example, I use the computer everyday.

My problem was pain in my right wrist. I am a right hander, therefore it is natural to use the mouse on the right hand. However, I do a lot of surfing and picture editing, 2 activities which includes a lot of clicks and mouse movement. For the first few months, I couldn’t come up with a solution to it. Then it struck me. I switched hands. It took me a few weeks to get used to the left hand. But once it became normal, I stuck to it. Somehow, my entire left hand moves along during mouse movements, minimizing the usage of wrists. That made my right hand pretty happy. =)

Imagine

Once, Albert Einstein was asked this question, ‘If you had only 1 hour to save the world, what would you do?’. His answer was, ‘I’ll use 55 minutes to think, 5 minutes to act’. Cool. He always found it necessary to formulate his subject in as many different ways as possible, including using diagrams. He visualized solutions, and believed that words and numbers as such did not play a significant role in his thinking process.

Productivity

Thomas Alva Edison failed hundreds and hundreds of times before achieving success. Did you know that he had a whopping 1,093 patents? His assistants were given idea quotas to ensure productivity. Dean Keith Simonton of University of California studied 2,036 timeless scientists and found that the most highly acclaimed ones produced not only amazingly useful products, but also many amazingly useless ones. The thing was, they braved through failure to arrive at excellence.

Mix And Match

Darren Rowse of problogger.net, was the first few bloggers to come up with making money online with blogs. Was he scared? Yes, he was. At the time when everyone was blogging out personal matters, he came up with the idea of blogging for money. What a cool idea.

Grego Mendel, an Austrian monk, combined maths and biology to create the base of the law of heredity. This new universal law came from his innovativeness of mixing 2 minimumly related subjects.

Relating The Unrelated

Da Vinci forced a relationship between the sound of a bell and a stone hitting water that enabled him to make the connection that sound travels in waves.

Samuel Morse invented relay stations for telegraphic signals when observing relay stations for horses.

Resembling Separate Things

Explaining through unrelated things like how Einstein used simplicity to explain his theories. Aristotle considered metaphor a sign of genius, and believed that the individual who had the capacity to perceive resemblances between two separate areas of existence and link them together was a person of special gifts.

For example, here’s a simple explanation of Newton’s second law.
If a truck hits a car, the car moves forward.
The truck provides the force, the car is the mass, and the acceleration is how quickly the car (mass) moves forward.
The larger and heavier the car (mass) is, the more force it takes to move it.
If the car is very light, it will move forward quicker than if the car is very heavy.
Thus, force = mass X acceleration

Luck

Luck = preparation + opportunity

For example, if there’s an opening for an accountancy job, it’s an opportunity. However, I am an IT graduate and can’t answer the advert. I could, if the opportunity was for IT related.

The first principle of creative accident says that failure can only be productive if we do not focus on it as an unproductive result. The question should not be “Why have I failed?”, but rather “What have I done?”.

The top 10 things that I forget most often are :

1. Birthdays before it’s too late
2. Washing, hanging and keeping my clothes before I sleep
3. Close the windows downstairs before going to sleep
4. Wash the dishes after I go out
5. Clean the air cond filter monthly
6. Daily deadlines for writing posts
7. Where I left my glasses, wallet, watch, phone
8. Feed my dog
9. Draw money from the ATM when I’m out
10. Forgetting to buy out of stock toiletries until I need to use it again

Thanks to mySociety.org, I can now set up reminders or as they call it ‘hassles’, to send to myself in the form of an email on intervals specified by me. This simple application is useful to people who read their mails everyday, like me. All that an user need to do to get things rolling is approve the confirmation email that is sent. You can even choose to have the ‘hassle’ publicly visible to other users who might find it useful. It might get listed in the popular hassles section.

I’ll be waiting for them to implement the application through instant messengers like Yahoo!, MSN and GTalk. Other notable future features include being more time specific, like in hours, days, weeks and months. However, their current daily reminder is already enough for me to get more things done.

HassleMe
Sometimes in life, you just need to be nagged

Have fun watching it!

Steve Jobs Excellent Speech
Stanford’s commencement speech of 2005

A habit is defined as an automatic behavior that was developed over time by practice. A bad habit is something deemed as unacceptable and repelling. Well, some of the common bad habits are :

• Smoking
• Over Eating
• Gold Mining (Nose Digging)
• Nail Biting
• Burping Loudly
• Excessive Caffeine
• Excessive Porn
• Wasting Food
• Pen / Pencil Chewing
• Sipping Noodles Loudly
• Swearing
• Ice Chewing
• Giving Your Right Leg More Exercise Than Your Left Leg

Hey, I admit that my biggest ones were gold mining and over eating. Gold mining was picked up when I was very young, probably around 7 years old. It never struck me as disgusting until one fine day, when I saw an old lady pick her nose and ate her stuff. Goodness gracious. That was the ugliest, most repelling scene I have ever seen. It truly motivated me.

Over eating is also the bad habit from childhood. Living in a Chinese family, I have been taught to clear whatever food that is put onto my plate. I was told before that the plate reflects my face. If there’s a single grain of rice found left on the plate, it will be reflected on my face as a scar. Damn, that was scary. Time passed by and I grew up to differentiate bs and fact. =P

Enough of me and on to breaking bad habits. Below are 4 simple steps to take to successfully break a bad habit.

What You Want



Life is revolved around ‘wants’ and not ‘cans’. You don’t stop smoking if you ‘can’. You’ll stop smoking if you ‘want’ to. As the saying goes, where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Choice



Realize that choice is the greatest gift of human beings. For example, my elders may say that leftovers on my plate at the end of dinner will reflect as scars on my face, but it was still my choice to believe them and do what they think is right. As I thought back, I realized that if I were to say no, no one would have the power to stop me. Same goes to any bad habit, be it gold mining, nail biting or smoking. Your friends and family may tell you the negativity of your bad habits and that you should stop, but if you still choose to continue, no one in this world can stop you. No one.

So before change can happen, you’ll have to choose for yourself and be REAL about it.

Substitution



This was the method I used to break the gold mining habit. Whenever my nose feels itchy I get the urge to stick a finger in to dig around. So instead of doing that, I rubbed my nose. Same goes to the other bad habits. Instead of smoking, chew nicotine gum. Instead of biting your finger nails, bite your finger. The goal here is to slowly shift the mind’s focus. At early stages, it is still okay to give in to the urges, but stop the bad act by substituting it. Once there’s complete control over the act, progress further to control the urge. As the saying goes, slow and steady wins the race.

Motivation



Look for motivation to help you. There was a time when my girlfriend stopped tolerating, broke her silence and told me about the disgustingness of gold mining and how it affects my attraction as a guy. It was because of ‘how it attracts my attraction as a guy’ that motivated me. I started to picture myself surrounded by 10/10 girls walking up to me, starting conversations and asking for my phone number. hahahahaha…. that was my strongest motivation. Seriously. Find something that will drive you. Something for your mind to focus on. It may be for whiter teeth for entering smiling contests, balanced legs, or preparation to spend the weekend at your partner’s parents’ home for the first time. =P

Have fun breaking and getting rid of your bad habits. Really. Enjoy yourself and stay happy. =)

Liposuction (Fat Reduction)



Benefits

What liposuction does is to generally remove localized areas of fat from common locations of the body such as the buttocks, tummy, lower abdomen, thighs and arms.

Risks

If too much fat and fluid is removed the body can go into shock.

An unnoticed careless mistake will lead to internal bleeding.

The skin may also be dimpled and saggy due to irregular surface.

Solution

The most healthiest natural way to reduce fat is to exercise. Jogging on a treadmill for 1 hour burns more than 600 calories. It’s the best.

Retin A (Wrinkle Reduction)



Benefits

Retin A is a kind of drug that causes the blood vessels beneath the surface to proliferate, which improves the skin texture and promotes collagen formation. This has the effect of plumping up the skin and filling out fine wrinkles.

Risks

The treatment leaves the skin susceptible to sunburn.

Too much Retin A causes redness and peeling.

It also leaves the skin susceptible to sunburn.

Solution

To keep facial lines from setting in around your mouth, over-exaggerate smiling, and then gnash your teeth together. Repeat each motion 24 times.

Rhinoplasty (Nose Perfection)



Benefit

The nose is the most obvious feature in a person’s face. So a better-looking-than-before nose will improve looks a lot.

Risks

Thinning of the septum of the nose which can lead to a small hole inside the nose.

thinning of the lining of the nose.

Difficulty breathing and the need for secondary surgery.

Solution

Many Jewish girls have large noses that aren’t Aquiline and they are hot as hell. A lot of people think that Sarah Jessica Parker is beautiful and she has an ugly nose. So does Julia Roberts. Barbara Streisand was considered beautiful and she had an ugly nose.

Blepharoplasty (Eyelid Lift)





Benefit

Remove bagginess around the eyes.

Tighten loose skin of the eyelids.

Risks

Infection.

Dry eye problems.

Decreased tear production.

Bleeding.

Blindness.

Damaged nerves and blood vessels.

Muscles within the eye.

Solution

Avoid all the risks involved by using make up. Safe yet effective.

Rhytidectomy (Facelift)



Benefit

Tightens the loose skin of the face and neck.

Risks

Damage to the VIIth nerve that controls movement of the face.

Solution

Use make up. Safe yet effective. Smile everyday. Allow yourself to age with grace.

Mammoplasty (Breast Enhancement)



Benefit

Firmer, perkier, rounder, better looking breasts.

Risks

Hardening of the capsule around the breast.

Leakage of the implant.

Solution

Wear push ups. Get pregnant. Actually, there are other non surgical ways like using hormones. But you’ll need a specialist on that.

Considering Plastic Surgery
Cosmetic surgery pros and cons

Well, it’s true that nothing lasts forever. Only moments. So go and do what you want to do. Learn to play the guitar. Dance. Live life as you want it to be. I’m actually on the path of happiness since last year when I left my 9 to 5 job for full time blogging. It was the best decision that I have ever made in my life. I feel happy for myself and so should you. =)

The Arrow Of Time
Diego and his family’s private ritual

Super Mom
Making it without hands

Below 7 of the most easily identifiable facial expressions besides frowning, pouting, sneering and snarling. Being able to read them well and react properly will help improve situations.

Anger



The face above is a response to threats like conflict, injustice, negligence, humiliation or betrayal. It’s normal to feel angry at times cause our brains have this thing called the amygdala (sounds like Star Wars’ Queen Amidala) which is responsible for identifying threats, and for sending out an alarm when threats are identified. So, the only thing that cans top anger is wisdom. Not one including my parents, friends or mentor can stop me from feeling angry except me and myself. The restructuring of my thoughts and beliefs will help me to bring about a causal reduction in anger. Here’s a brilliant ten step program for anger management that I wrote under ‘Wrath‘. An angry face is repelling, and no one feels like helping an angry person.

Fear



Fear on the other hand is a powerful, unpleasant feeling of risk or danger, either real or imagined. A person feeling fear will have blood rushing to big muscles (like legs) to allow the person to run faster. Also the body freezes up just an instant to give the brain an instance to decide if another reaction would be better (like hiding). For example, I have this phobia on cockroaches. When ever I see one crawling up the sink, I will instantly pull my mother from whatever she is doing to my bathroom to settle the cockroach. I’ll just have to say,’Mom, please come up for awhile’ and by just looking at my facial expression, she knows. =P As humans, we can sense a lie from fear in the facial expression and words.

Happiness



Feelings of enjoyment and satisfaction. Happiness is the result of well-being, delight, health, safety, contentment, and love. This is the result of self-reported positive affects during the day by 909 employed women in Entrez Pubmed’s Survey. If being with friends make you happy, be with them more. The facial expression of happiness is the most attractive among all and it should happen as often as possible.

Sadness



The opposite of happiness. Depression is defined as the deeper and longer version of sadness. It is a result of feeling hopeless and discouraged. Major examples are a change of residence, marriage, divorce, the break-up of a significant relationship, the death of a loved one, graduation, or job loss. Just like anger, only we can stop ourselves from feeling sad. Like for example, when I broke up with my first love, I was pretty sad. Everyday when I look up at the sky, it felt dark and cloudy. I was lonely, desperate and moody. Not even time could help. Not long after that I went to cousin’s party and my uncle saw my facial expression and asked me. I told him what happened and he told me 3 things that made me think hard. He said, ‘Relax, Chris. People never change, people only grow. And no matter what, no matter what, the sun will always rise tomorrow’. It took away my worries and I grew up. =)

Surprise



Surprise is a feeling of shock due to something perceived as unexpected. I recently saw a lot of this expression in my friends and relatives’ faces after not seeing me for some time. Why? Cause I was working out regularly at the local gym and loss weight. It’s actually complimenting for me. It’s happiness on my side. =P When your partner tell you that she is pregnant, that will be a hell of a surprise on your face. When you find out that your partner is cheating on you, that will also be a hell of a surprise. When you find out that you’ve finally made it to the job of your dreams, imagine the look of your face. =) It usually results in either a positively or negatively obvious facial reaction.

Acceptance.

Being happy doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. It simply means that a decision was made to look beyond the imperfections. Below are elaborated points of how to accept and be accepted. It’s more of how to make friends easily.

Harry was my housemate who would take at least 45 minutes to take a shower. Neither my housemates nor I know what in the world he does in the toilet. During days when almost 12 of us have morning classes, we would wake up at the same time to eat and bathe. I wanted to tell Harry off for his inconsiderateness for taking up the time that could be used for others to get ready in time for class. I realized that it would be to no avail to complain and instead told him nicely about the delays he caused us during days where we need to use the toilet at almost the same time. Soon enough, we could see him waking up much earlier in the morning so that he could enjoy his shower and we could have enough time for ourselves to prepare for class.

A year later, 6 of my housemates and I decided to move to another house. However, the house could only take 6 people. Someone was bound to be left out. Terence was sort of the cast out one because he had things to do and couldn’t move in until 4 months later. Terence was trying to point out that the kitchen could be made into a room and someone could stay there. He was trying hard to be accepted into the house, to the extent of offering a washing machine out of his own expense, just to get a spot. However, I told him nicely that no one would want stay in the kitchen. I told him that he would not stay there either, and he couldn’t afford a washing machine. We all knew that his words were empty promises and he accepted the fact in the end.

Mandy was a person who had soul. People close to her knows that she would one day want to learn to play the bass guitar. So during her birthday, more than 30 people contributed to her brand new bass guitar. She was elated and so lost in words that she almost cried. Happiness is what happens to us when we try to make someone else happy. I believe that every time she holds the guitar, she would think of her friends.

How to Win Friends
Fundamental techniques in handling people

Guy Kawasaki, author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, is a venture capitalist who was partly responsible for marketing the Apple Macintosh way back in 1984. Kawasaki has a B.A. in psychology from Stanford University and an MBA from University of California, Los Angeles. He is Japanese American and a native of Honolulu, Hawaii where he attended the prestigious Iolani School.

He is currently CEO of Garage Technology Ventures, a venture capital firm which specializes in high-technology startup firms located in Silicon Valley, California.

Recently he did an interview with the ‘ultrapreneur’, Donald Trump, who gave assertive answers to every question asked.

1. If you, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Herb Kelleher and Larry Ellison got marooned on a desert island, who would end up running the place and who would end up as dinner?

We would find a way to order in and have a productive meeting at the same time.

2. How long would Larry and Sergei, the co-founders of Google, last on your show?

That would depend on whether they were good team players and if they had an original idea or two.

3. Would you fire your son or daughter?

Yes, if they deserved it, but fortunately they are well prepared for their positions, so I doubt they would ever merit being fired.

4. What do you do to chill out?

Playing golf provides me with my version of chilling out, plus I develop golf courses, so it’s a productive way to spend my chill time.

5. At the end of our life, what do you want to be remembered for?

As a builder who has enhanced the cities and communities where I have built and/or developed.

6. What’s the difference between the Donald Trump on “The Apprentice” and the Donald Trump in every day business meetings?

Business meetings are more about negotiation skills whereas “The Apprentice” falls into the job interview or audition category. I have business meetings with people who are looking to do business, not people who are looking for a job. My attitude on “The Apprentice” is as an employer looking at possible future employees. I don’t look to mold any of my business associates.

7. If you could apprentice with anyone in history, who would it be?

My father was a great mentor. He’d be hard to replace.

8. Not many people make billions, lose billions, and then make billions all over again. How did you pull this off?

To me it was a blip, not a catastrophe. I knew I was destined to succeed, and I kept focused on that belief. I’m very tenacious…and I don’t give up.

9. If you graduated from Wharton in 2006 instead of in the 1960s, what industry would you go into?

Real estate. I love it and it still exists as a career and as a viable passion.

10. What do you think of two guys in a garage showing amateur videos selling out for $1.7 billion?

I’d say they had a great idea—my hat’s off to them.

11. TV is TV, real life is real life: What’s the most important real-life advice you can give to an entrepreneur?

You have to love what you do. Without passion, great success is hard to come by. An entrepreneur will have tough times if he or she isn’t passionate about what they’re doing. People who love what they’re doing don’t give up. It’s never even a consideration. It’s a pretty simple formula.

Ten Questions With Donald Trump
Interview with Donald Trump

Lust

Lust is excessive desire for sexual release. Seeing others as a “means to an end” for the fulfillment of our desires turns others into objects, which is bad. Why? Cause it’ll make us fake, selfish and break the feeling of community with others in a human relationship. You may not keep your clothes on long enough to figure out whether you have anything in common. You’re also unsure if the future brings true love. However, there’s a way out. Turn lust into love.

• Relax, shift a gear lower

“Lust has to do with hormones and requires no work. But there is no safety net with lust,” says relationship expert Bonnie Eaker Weil. “Love takes time to develop, so go slowly. Don’t give into your lust if you can avoid it—that is, if you want more than a booty call”. To avoid overly charged environments, go for lunch dates, a morning walk in the park rather than dinner or night meetings involving alcohol that may lead back to someone’s apartment.

• Taking it up one notch

After a few outings, you might find your date interesting. When dating, you’ve enjoyed yourself very much and have thought of bringing things up one notch. “Let this person know where you stand, instead of trying to fish around and find out where he or she stands, which never works,” says Sharyn Wolf, author of So You Want To Get Married: Guerrilla Tactics For Turning A Date Into A Mate. “Say something like, ‘The level of chemistry here is intense, and that makes me curious if there’s something more here.’ That way you’re just throwing it out there rather than putting on the pressure.” If your date responds with “I feel the same way,” then you may well be on your way to a relationship.

• On saying ‘I love you’

You’ve spent a lot of time with this person, you feel happy and you are sure you wanna spend a long, long time in a long, long relationship with this person. It’s time to say those 3 words. But when? The general rule of thumb is to say it when you’re doing something passionless. Separating ways after an afternoon lunch or sitting around watching lousy comedies. Why? Cause these are the moments when a solid relationship is really built.

Gluttony

Unnecessary and unreasonable overindulgence in food and drink. Reflects a lack of belief that all of tomorrow’s needs will be met. Mollifies the fear of not having enough with a trust that all needs will be satisfied. So how do we know if we’ve been glutonious? Our bodies will let us know, by getting sick and by getting overweight.

• Exercise

Use the stairs instead of the elevator. If the destination is at the 20th floor, stop the elevator at 15th and walk up to 20th. Go for morning/evening walks during the weekends, join a gym or get friends together and play sports like badminton, tennis, etc. What does exercise do? Reduces the risk of developing and/or dying from heart disease, high blood pressure, developing high blood pressure, high cholesterol or the risk of developing high cholesterol, developing colon cancer and breast cancer, developing diabetes and etc. That 30 minutes each day will improve your life’s mileage.

• Be in command

Your body belongs to you. Make sure things are taken in moderation. I tell myself that I can only have potato chips when I’ve successfully done 4 days of gym work. I reward myself by choosing one weekend as a reward to my weekday success. This act encourages discipline. Also when eating, quit before feeling stuffed. When snacking, quit after a while.

Greed

Defined as a selfish desire to obtain money, wealth, food, material possessions or any other entity more than one legitimately needs. Arises from a need to compare with others in order to feel good. For example, peer pressure during my school days have pressured me to keep up with friends. For the fear of not feeling accepted, I found means and ways to get that pair of Airwalk, Levi’s and Samsung handphone. Thanks to the internet, I’ve found ways to make giving a habit.

• Selflessness

I gave away my time to be the backstage crew of a play during my days in university. Lending my ears to a friend when he needed me most, although exam is just a day away. Selflessness can also be practiced by being more concerned about the success of a joint activity rather than on yourself.

• Generosity

The Christians encourage generosity when it comes to the giving of tithes. Practicing generosity weekly keeps greed away. Being generous pays in the long run as we become less and less attached to objects of our desire, especially money.

• Contentment

If you are not contented with what you have, you will never be contented with what you would like to have. Learn to smile and accept that most things in the world are out of our control. Accept that it is our choice to be content with what we have. Of course there is no objections to enjoying and sharing the beauty, pleasures and objects of the material world. Problems with greed only arises when we mistakenly believe that the source of happiness is external rather than from within.

Sloth

Defined as avoiding work or exercise. Doing nothing produces nothing and can create a lot of harm. So how we spend our days is how we spend our lives. Wasting time is like having fertile land and not planting anything. As a result, there is nothing to harvest. It takes a decision to change. Once it is decided, here are steps to take to be productive.

1. List it

List down what we need to accomplish every day. Cross it out once it’s done. Also, keep tasks in modular, manageable sizes. For example, if I have to write 3 blog articles a day, I’ll separate each item so that I can feel a sense of accomplishment after completing each article.

2. Reward Yourself

Make activities that you enjoy such as watching tv or playing PS2 as a reward for completing a small pile of work. For example, if I’ve done an article, I can play my PS2 for 20 minutes. Approach your parents and teachers to help you. Show them your goals and they may reward you for completing them. That should be inspiring enough.

3. The place

Find a place that is appropriate and desirable for us to achieve the goals. For example, if I’ve found a place to always study, then just sitting there will make me feel like studying. A quiet place in the house or a spot in the local library should do it.

Wrath

Extreme anger. An emotional response to disagreement, dispute or conflict. Being unable to bear the object or having the intention to cause harm is also anger. It is a destructive emotion that brings confusion and misery rather than peace, happiness and fulfillment. Emotions are structures in our brains and anger will always be there. The only way out is successful anger management.

Here’s a ten-step process to anger management :

1. Accept that most things in the world are out of your control.
2. Accept that it is your choice to get angry about those things.
3. No one makes you angry.
4. Life is unfair. Waste no energy lamenting or trying to change that fact.
5. No one likes to be around an angry person. No one feels like helping an angry person.
6. So why be angry? Maybe you really don’t want your problems solved. Maybe you just want to complain and wail and gnash your teeth.
7. Take stock of yourself. What do you want?
8. You should smile more. Your face won’t break.
9. Anger is a weed; hate is the tree. -St. Augustine
10. Anger makes a rich man hated and a poor man scorned. -Thomas Fuller

Envy

An emotion that happens when a person lacks another’s superior quality, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it. Do keep in mind that both jealousy and envy are not the same. Jealousy is fear of losing something to another person while envy is the pain or frustration caused by another person having something that one does not have oneself. It’s bad because we’ll ignore our blessings and focus instead on others’ status.

• Materials

The most important thing in life is to love yourself. Understand that happiness is from within. Money can’t buy happiness. We may believe that possessions have the power to change our lives but actually they give us only a moment of elation.

• Physical Impermanence

Nothing physical in this world lasts forever. A person lives and dies. So does a car, house, etc. Invest the time we have in making a difference in ourselves and the lives of people around us. Great people die but their spirit lives to inspire forever. For example, the way of life and living through Buddha’s eyes lived since fifth century BCE till today.

Pride

Pride is the refusal to be humiliated as well as joy in the accomplishments of oneself or a person, group, or object that one identifies with. How do you identify arrogant poeple? Henry Ford says, “Money doesn’t change men, it merely unmasks them. If a man is naturally selfish or arrogant or greedy, the money brings that out, that’s all.”

• Be Humble

Charles de Montesquieu, a French politician and philosopher, once said “To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them.” Humility is the beginning of knowledge. For example, admitting that I do not know how to give a speech publicly and would like to learn about it, I’m already on my way to gaining knowledge. I will feed my mind and I will be grateful for that knowledge and I will seek more knowledge.

Seven Deadly Sins
The classification of vices