if you dream enough...

When I was little, my mom always told me this - if you dreamed enough of Mickey Mouse, and Donald Duck and the likes, I would be able to go to the Disney land. I believed her so much that I started seeing Mickey and Donald in my dream every single night. It was beautiful. I even dreamed that I became the Prince for Cinderella one day... :P

Ok, I never did go to the Disney, but surprisingly, after a week of dreaming, my aunt gave me a Micky Mouse doll. A school friend of mine gave me her Donald Duck doll. I never did ask them for those dolls. 'Spooky' eh?

...and yes, you can figure that out, I am still not the Prince for Cinderella yet, ... and I am not sure I will ever be one... :P

Let's say, if I did beg my parents hard enough to take me to the Disney land, do you think my dream would have come true? If I had done my best to seek out the Cinderella then, do you think I would finally become a Prince?

Those are no longer my dreams anymore. Now, as I am fortunate enough to be on the earth, I just want to fulfill my life purpose to walk my journey.

Do you think that particular dream of mine will come true, if I dream enough and actually do everything I can to pursue it?

Is it too late?

I was speaking to my Professor in the University (Warwick University). A very intellectual and kind gentleman - Professor John Flower. He is coming to 70 now I think, but he is still very active in giving his service to the university.

I remembered when he took me on as his research student, he was just stepping down as the Head of the Department. I was quite honoured actually to have him. I do miss him. Without him, I can honestly say that I would not be who I am today.

The reason about this rambling is that I felt emotional when John said to me over the phone
"Colin, I feel like I have very limited time now to do what I want to do. I wish I can see the opportunities before so that I can help more people"

I didn't believe it initially as it comes from somebody who, to me, has achieved a lot for himself and given a lot to others.

This conversation confirms further my appreciation of "Live your life to the full as it is too short to be wasted... It is time now to get up everyday and do the things that you are destined to do rather spending times on something that you are not meant to be doing as nobody knows when life is going to end!"

Do You Talk to Strangers?

"Talking to Strangers" may sound weird to a lot of people, but do you know by doing that you may make a positive impact on somebody's else life?

On my way back today from Hertfordshire. I met a girl on the train. Got talking to her. She told me that her goal in life is to become a Top Horse Trainer/Rider. During the conversation, I gathered that she is very knowledgeable about horses. To be honest, I think she can write an encyclopedia about anything on horses! Now, a way to become an expert is to write articles. All the experts do that. Thus, I suggested to her to write a few articles and books on horses. She never knew she could do that, and now she is all motivated. She, her name is Stacy, BTW, became alive when she talked about horses, and she is waking up everyday looking forward to her day, as she works as a horse trainer. That is what I call living your life - doing something that you love to do!

On the platform - Liverpool Street Station, I was standing next to a 20+ man. He was reading a book on "How to Write a Winning CV".

I asked him, " What sorts of jobs are looking for?". He said "I am looking for something similar to what I am doing now. I do not like my work place. My boss is not a nice person. People in the office are very political". I asked him again, " Are you going to find a job that there is no politics, and maybe working for a good boss?" Guess what his answer was? "Oh well, it is like gambling, isn't it? You don't try, you don't know."

In my head I said to myself "Bingo!". Then I asked him again, "Have you thought of running your own business while you are still in this job?" Now, guess again what did he say? "I don't think I can do that though I love to work for myself." I said to him, using his language "Isn't that like gambling too? You never try you never know. Since either way is like gambling, why don't you gamble on something that would help you get to where you want to go instead of gamble on something that would lead you away from your dream?" He looked at me into the eyes..."ggeeee I never thought of that!" He continued, "Can I talk to you again?" I said "Sure, give me a ring anytime"

Now, tell me this? Why we human keeps repeating something that we do not want? Will it get us a different result? Why? Because of fear? Or because of comfort? Sometimes people said to me that life is a constant grind from sun up until sun down. Is that yours too?

However, we have a choice to change that! We just need to make a conscious decision ourselves, and follow through the decision that we make. I am not saying life would be easier after that! No... it may be even harder. To me, I feel more fulfilling doing something that I love doing. Life is too short to be wasted.

Then later on, I spoke to another 30+ lady at the later part of my journey. I just asked her a simple question " How was your day?" "Thanks goodness, it is Friday!", she said. Now, you and me would know immediately that her working hours are definitely not her favourites! I am not going into details about our conversations. Basically I asked her questions again to let her go for her dream. Before we part, she asked me what do I do. I said to her that I help people discover by themselves what their life purposes are. She asked for my number too.

Don't you think we would live a more fulfilling life, if we live with a purpose? A purpose that is only applicable to you. Everybody is here for a reason. I can guarantee that yours is different from mine.

I feel satisfied, because I know at the end of the day, I have made a positive shift in helping them thinking about their life goals. That is what I am here for...

So when is the last time you talked to the strangers to help them discover their life purposes? Have you discovered yours?

How long do you have?

You wake up. You go to work. You finish work. You find a bit of evening entertainment. You go to bed. You wake up. You go to work...

Is that your life style at the moment? Is that what you truly enjoy? Is that what you were born for? Is that your true gift?

I just heard that a great Internet Marketer Corey Rudl passed away at the age of 34 in June this year... That was a blow for me. For those who are not familiar with Internet marketing, Corey was a very very successful online entrepreneur. He started his business from his kitchen table just a few short years ago selling a homemade booklet he had written on how to get the best deal on a new car. From that modest start Corey built an internet marketing empire that has generated $40 million dollars in revenue in just a few years.. But he died in a car crash in June this year...

Once again I am reminded of my own mortality... It crosses my mind that we all only live once, and nobody knows what is happening in the next minute. Reading the story of Corey, some of us may say what is the point to be so successful as we all face the same destiny anyway - death. Some of us may say life is short, we better live it to the full.

I am not a passive person. My ideology in life is to go for my dream. The death of Corey made me even more aware that the time is ticking away. There are only two choices for me - to live each day like the last day or to waste each day like I have 100 more years to live. If you were me what would you choose?

Would you want to live a life that when you look back at the very last minute, you know you have done something good to the mankind even though just that tiny amount or the opposite?

I truly believe that we don't come to the earth for no reason. We were made human for a purpose by the Lord. Yours is different from mine.

Are you content with a life that is so wasted that you would be able to tell the Father proudly that you have lived to glorify Him when you see Him?

Maybe you would, but certainly not me. I am fearful to live a useless life. I am fearful to live a life that somebody else wants me to live. I am fearful to live a life that is so conforming to the rules of our culture that I bury my own dream. I am fearful to live a life that does not let me unleash the power within that is given to me by the glory of God...

To me there is only One Life One Journey. You either walk the journey or stay still...

"...I lost again..."

Last evening, I went to the Toastmaster Humorous Speech Competition to watch all the humorous speakers trying to outwit each others.

Undoubtedly, there were some excellent speakers. Their delivery, humors, facial expressions and so on are as good as Jack Dee's if not better! The difference is Jack is a comedian, while those contestants are speakers.

Personally, I know this veteran speaker for a few years now. He is a very respected figure in the industry. Claiming the crown of Champion has always been his dream which it is the ultimate goal for all the contestants, I am sure. When the results were announced, I saw a glimpse of disappointment on his face as he was not placed. I knew he was saying to himself "Oh dear, I lost again!"

Watching his performance, you can tell tremendous effort has been put into it. Speaking to him, he could tell you exactly how many words he was going to deliver and he did. That is what I call precision! However, it just was not his evening!

Have you been through that? You tried your very best to do something - be it preparing for examination, attending job interview, working hard for your boss, making your relationship work etc... But the end results go against you? No matter how hard you tried; no matter how confident you were; no matter how much positive thinking you engraved in your mind and soul; no matter how determined you were; you just fell flat on your face. Can you see yourself now when you were once in the situation or numerous situations like that? Can you feel what you felt then? Was it hurtful? Disappointing? What was the voice inside you telling you then? Can you listen to it again now?

I had been through these countless of times. There was once that the situation was so so bad that I wanted to end my life - that was about 9 or 10 years ago. Thanks Lord, He stopped me from doing that. After that, do you think I am spared from all the adversity? Yeah Right!

During all these ups and downs, I learn one valuable lesson - we are all flesh. We bounce to go through down times, and it is OK to have a bad moment. It is OK to have a bad day or even a bad week.

Everybody has a down moment. The question is how strong you are to pick yourself up; How determined you are to fight against the odd to go after your dream. You may fall again ... before reaping your success.

Everybody is at least once a loser in their life time. I can guarantee you that. May I urge you though, be a loser who continues to fight; be a loser who takes heart of what you believe in; be a loser who will never ever give in; be a loser who is determined to rise to excellence!

...Got Right to be Wrong...Joss Stone

Somebody is playing Joss Stone's "Right To Be Wrong"...

Hey, don't you think it is so true that

"I've got a right to be wrong,
My mistakes will make me strong,
I'm stepping out into the great unknown,
I'm feeling wings though I 've never flown,
I've got a mind of my own,
I'm flesh and blood to the bone,
I'm not made of stone,
Got a right to be wrong,
So just leave me alone

I've got a right to be wrong,
I've been held down too long,
I've got to break free,
So I can finally breathe,
I've got a right to be wrong,
Got to sing my own song,
I might be singing out of key,
But it sure feels good to me,
Got a right to be wrong,
So just leave me alone...

You're entitled to your opinion,
But it's really my decision,
I can't turn back I'm on a mission
If you care don't you dare blur my vision
Let me be all that I can be
Don't smother me with negativity
Whatever's out there waiting for me
I'm going to face it willingly...

It is too long to type...just realised that Blogger disables the "Copy and Paste"
function!!!

Anyway...isn't it better to be wrong than not to take any action at all?

The Winners' Mindset

Have you come across anybody who is an expert in finding all sorts of excuses when things do not work out? Everything and everybody is at fault except they themselves?

Accountability is one of the very important attribute that you must possess if you want to be a winner in life.

Man... I remember, I used to keep blaming my circumstances for everything. If I did not want to do anything, I would just come up with excuses like "Somebody must have done that already; nah, it is too risky; nah...I am not sure if I can do that..." Because of all these baseless excuses, I had wasted my life in the past...

You may say that it is what others always tell you when you want to do something new...

ha! You think you are alone? No. Even, Henry Ford faced the issue. Look at the life of Christ. How many times, the Satan tried to tempt Him away from His mission? He never swayed because He knew what His end Goal is!

Sometimes, I feel that the world is a lot like making it through a jungle. It's going to be tough at times.

People may laugh at you.
People may tell you you're crazy.
People may tell you you'll never be successful with it.
People are going to turn you down and at times it's going to hurt your feelings.

Those people are the naysayers in the jungle that will try to pull you down. The people who will try and stop you from completing your journey and will try to keep you from achieving your freedom that lies on the other side. These people may not do it purposely. It is just the way we all were brought up!

To make it through, you have to start to take resposibility of your own life. Find out what really excite you. What is the thing that you would love doing day-un and day-out the moment you wake up if nothing is a barrier.

When you find your passion, you need to keep your head up - you need to be focused on your goal and you need to have your sights so laser focused on what you want that nothing will get in your way. You have to become a RHINO! You have to be so tough that nothing is going to stop you!

Then here comes a day ... Bing Go - you are there - the journey may be tedious, but you know you will get there eventually.

That is the Winners' mindset!