Tuesday, March 27, 2018

8 Actions Plans To Be Better - by Chris Hogan

As I listened to Chris Hogan's Retired Inspired Podcast, I jotted down 8 actions plans to be better. These are very applicable for any situation that we want to improve. Whether it's for family, relationship, work, or any goals, these tips are useful and can be done starting today!

1. Do be clear on what options available to you.

2. Do understand the amount of effort your decision will require.

3. Do be ready and willing to sacrifice.

4. Do know that your daily decision matter.

5. Don't squander the chance to be able to improve.

6. Don't waste time you have to be wishy-washy.

7. Don't miss the opportunity that's available to you.

8. Don't look back with regret. This is the time.

Thank you for the tips, Chris! Another great podcast! :)


Sunday, March 25, 2018

The Secret of Happiness (Kunci Kebahagiaan)

Do you sometimes see some people that no matter whatever bad things happened to them, they still laugh and seems so happy with life as it is? Call it bad luck or being less fortunate, but they can lift up their chin and smile back at you.  Do you ever wonder what is the secret of their happiness?

Maybe they have a different point of view from you and I. Maybe they don't realize that it's a bad thing. It seems that nothing is bothering them and they still moving forward.

The key is : to find what's going right.

Take notice of what are things that going right in your life. In any situation, whether good or bad or nothing happen, try to find beautiful things that makes your day. Birds are singing, it's not raining (or even it's raining, it's still wonderful too), quiet moments, noisy moments, doesn't matter what it is, try to appreciate how colorful your life is and I bet you'll feel better.

Yes, gratitude is important. But if there is one thing that we all can do to be a little bit happier, I think it will be to find what are the things that going right, instead of wrong.

So many of us are being trained to notice what's wrong, and thinking of how to fix it right away. I mean, the first question you'll ask someone that looks bothered is, "What's wrong?". There is nothing wrong with that, but it can take the focus away from all the other good things that going on with our life.

By the way, there's a survey by the Ten3 Global Internet poll about the key of happiness. Not surprising to see that 56% of the key of being happy is the mental attitude. Love takes the next place by 25%. Money, success, and creativity are only a little part of the key of happiness.


Instead of thinking of the things you don't have, start counting with the things that you already have. Not only things, but people too. Instead of hoping someone new come in your life to rescue you from the miserable life surrounds you (and I do hope you DON'T feel that way btw), start loving people next to you that might face a hard life already. You'll be surprise to see their reaction with the love you extended to their world.

Instead of wishing this and that, start appreciating of everything that had happened to you.
Don't say "I wish..."
Say "I will!"

Instead of feeling hopeless and stuck in the rut, start thinking of the blessing that have been given to your lap. Start with your family, your friends, your health, your wisdom, your strong personality that keeps you going no matter how many challenges you have been through.

Even start with your senses! How lucky we are if we can still see! No need to worries about cataract surgeries or was not born blind. There are some people out there that would trade place with us just to see the beauty of a rainbow. But even for blind people, they are lucky too because they have a skill that most of us don't have : they can read in Braille. They don't have to see some horror things in the world that we wish we never have to see it.

To sum it up, whatever your condition is, whatever century you were born, in every situation, find what is right and be happy about it. Don't linger on what's wrong. Try it! After we all, we can use a little bit of happiness in our daily lives, right?

Have a great day!



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Pernahkah kamu melihat ada orang yang sudah jatuh tertimpa tangga, tapi masih bisa tertawa dan kelihatan bahagia akan kehidupan ini? Mungkin lagi sial atau memang kurang beruntung, tapi tetep aza mereka bisa angkat dagu mereka dan bisa senyum balik pada kita? Apa sih rahasianya?

Mungkin mereka punya sudut pandang yang berbeda dari kamu dan saya. Mungkin mereka nggak menyadari bahwa hal itu jelek. Kelihatannya nggak ada yang menganggu perasaan mereka, dan mereka maju terus pantang mundur.

Kuncinya adalah: cari apa yang berjalan dengan benar.

Coba deh perhatikan akan hal-hal benar yang terjadi pada hidupmu. Dalam situasi apapun, baik bagus maupun buruk atau mungkin saja nggak terjadi apa-apa, cobalah untuk menemukan hal-hal indah yang membuat harimu. Burung-burung bernyanyi, nggak hujan (atau bahkan kalau hujan sekalipun, masih tetap indah juga), momen sunyi, momen bising, nggak peduli apapun itu, cobalah untuk menghargai betapa dinamisnya duniamu dan aku yakin kamu akan merasa lebih baik.

Ya tentu saja merasa berterima kasih itu penting. Tapi kalau ada satu hal yang bisa buat kita lebih hepi, aku pikir itu adalah usaha kita untuk menemukan hal-hal yang berjalan dengan benar, bukan salah.

Banyak dari kita dididik untuk menemukan apa yang salah, dan berpikir untuk mengkoreksinya secepat mungkin. Biasanya pertanyaan pertama yang kamu lontarkan pada seseorang bermuka keruh adalah, "Ada masalah apa?". Sebetulnya sih nggak ada yang salah dengan pertanyaan itu, tapi ini bisa saja mengalihkan semua fokus dari hal-hal baik yang sudah benar dengan hidup ini.

Ngomong-ngomong, ada survey dari Ten3 Global Internet poll mengenai kunci kebahagiaan. Tidak mengagetkan untuk melihat bahwa 56 persen kunci untuk bahagia adalah sikap mental.  Cinta menduduki peringkat berikut dengan 25%. Uang, kesuksesan, dan kreativitas hanyalah sebagian kecil dari kunci kebahagiaan.



Daripada mikir akan hal-hal yang tidak kamu miliki, coba deh hitunglah hal-hal yang sudah kamu punya. Nggak cuma benda, orang juga. Daripada ngarepin ada orang baru datang untuk menyelamatkan kamu dari hidup sengsara ini (dan aku harap kamu TIDAK berperasaan kayak gini), mulailah dengan mencintai orang di sekitarmu yang mungkin aja sudah punya kehidupan yang berat. Kamu akan tercengang begitu menyadari reaksi mereka dengan cinta yang kamu ulurkan ke dunia mereka.

Daripada berharap gini gitu, mendingan kita belajar menghargai segalanya yang terjadi atas diri kita.
Jangan bilang,"Andai..."
Tapi bilang,"Aku akan!"

Daripada nelangsa dan merasa terjebak akan keadaan, coba deh pikirkan berkat-berkat melimpah yang jatuh ke pangkuanmu. Mulailah dengan keluargamu, teman-temanmu, kesehatanmu, kebijaksanaanmu, kepribadianmu yang kuat yang membuatmu terus maju nggak peduli berapa banyak badai cobaan yang sudah kamu hadapi.

Bahkan mulailah dengan panca inderamu! Betapa beruntungnya kita masih bisa melihat! Nggak perlu kuatir akan operasi katarak atau nggak dilahirkan buta. Banyak orang di luar sana yang mau tukar tempat sama kita hanya untuk melihat indahnya pelangi. Tapi bahkan untuk orang buta, mereka juga beruntung karena mereka punya satu keahlian yang kebanyakan dari kita nggak punya: mereka bisa membaca dalam huruf Braille. Mereka nggak perlu melihat hal-hal menyeramkan yang terjadi di dunia dimana kita berharap kita nggak pernah melihatnya.

Kesimpulannya, apapun kondisi kita, nggak peduli abad mana kita dilahirkan, dalam segala situasi, temukanlah hal-hal yang berjalan dengan benar, dan berbahagialah karena itu. Jangan terus mikirin apa yang salah. Coba deh! Bagaimanapun juga, kita semua bisa menggunakan lebih banyak kebahagiaan dalam hidup kita sehari-hari, kan?

Semoga harimu menyenangkan!


Saturday, March 24, 2018

Hard Work and Work Hard

People say that we should work smart instead of work hard. But no matter how you say it, it will still required some work to achieve success. How I see it, almost all of successful people in any field, they possessed a special quality that makes them accomplish their goals.

They work hard.

The don't stop until they finish (unless if they need to eat or sleep, and sometimes they even sacrifices sleep!). They focus. They push themselves to the next level. It's hard work and work hard.

After some deep thinking, I concluded that there are five shades of working hard attribute. There might be more. But here are some that I could think of (so far...)

1. Don't be complacent.
Aka don't be lazy. You are only as good as your last sale. Keep moving forward. Being lazy (sloth) is one of the seven deadly sins, right?



2. Daily discipline.
Develop a good routine. Build a consistent habit. Small improvement can lead to big changes.



3. Follow the process.
Trust the process. Don't skip or jump around. Be consistent with your flow and eventually you'll gain speed. Perfecting your work until you can finish it faster.



4. Learn to control the person in the mirror.
Stop complaining. Stop regretting. Start working. Chop chop.



5. Maximize opportunities.
Every single time.


You've heard what Vince Lombardi had said:


So let's start today by working hard and finish the day with your hard work!

Have a great day!

Sunday, March 04, 2018

2018 Resolution

Usually people make New Year's Resolution around the new year's time. But I guess it took me 3 months and 4 days to finally make my 2018 resolution. It took me a week off from my work and some quiet time in the swimming pool to finally make me realize that I need to make some positive changes if I want to live longer, ... and happier.

So here we go. Here's my 2018 resolution. This year I vow to...
1. Eat healthier.
2. More positive thinking.



Eat healthier for me means :

  • no red meat,
  • no cheese (or choose to not have cheese if it's up to me), 
  • no fried stuff, 
  • no chips and unhealthy snacks, and 
  • portion control. 

My goal is to lower my cholesterol. I admit it, I do have a high cholesterol. But during the past few years I have been able to lower it bit by bit, so I knew I can do it. I just have to make health-conscious decision whenever I plan to eat. Goal must be SMART, right? So by the next check up time (Jan 2019), I hope my cholesterol level will be down to 250 (I know it's still over 200, it's still high, but my level now is at 279, so not bad for a start!).



More positive thinking means in every situation I'm in, I choose to be happy. I choose to accept life the way it is and not get overworked in the details. For me this is not easy, because I'm a melancholic person. I like details and sometimes got obsessed in tiny little things. When I peel my shrimps, I lined them up one by one in a neat row, so it's tidy and don't look like a mess. Some people might say I got OCD, but yep, that's me.  I learn that sometimes details doesn't matter because things could change again. I mean... the shrimp eventually will be cooked together in a frying pan anyway, so there's no need to line them up, right? But meh, I still like my line-up shrimps! Hahaha!!

Anyway, positive thinking is also means to enjoy life as it is. Don't futuring so much because it could still change. I need to practice more positive thinking. Instead of looking at the downside of things, I need to push myself to be grateful and look at the bright side. Practice empathy when encounter other people that less fortunate than myself. Do not be envy to other people that more fortunate than myself, instead, be happy for them! Always be kind and do the right thing. Always be excited for new things in life! Always looking forward. Move forward, not backwards.

These are my two resolutions. Better late than never, so I'm starting one in March now! :)