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The Magic of Focus

Posted by You Teck - 28/10/09 at 10:10:13 am

Focus is a simple 5 letter word that has adverse effects. A focus objective could reap you big rewards while a lack of it will most likely cause your downfall. Many times I’ve being asked why project TradersCabin failed to take off and I could always offer a few underlying cause.

It wasn’t until recently when I really focus on the main issue that the reason became so crystal clear. The keyword was focus. We tried to do too many things with too little resources. Ideas were popping everyday and we always wanted to implement these new ideas into our project. Point in truth was that we should have looked at what was the core business we were into and focus 100% of our energy into it. Since our initial objective was to sell consumer electronics, we should have focus on building up the business before thinking about setting up another project.

Take the simple analogy of the picture of the magnifying glass above. Suppose you want to use use the magnifying glass to burn a hole through a paper. You would most probably focus the light spot on the exact spot of the piece of paper for as long as you could. Reason being the intensity of the light spot will generate enough heat to burn through the paper as fast as it could.

Imagine for a moment what would have happened if you moved the magnifying glass around constantly instead of focusing the light spot on a single spot. Do you think you will still achieve the burned hole?

What is “No Choice”?

Posted by You Teck - 27/05/08 at 09:05:55 pm

Although it has always been said that we are master of our destiny, it’s definitely not surprising for us to come across people who often say “No Choice”. So, what is no choice? Does it mean that you’ve lost all your choices even when you’re threaten at gun point?

As far as I can tell, the answer is a big no! That’s right, even when you’re threatened at gun point, you still have two choices. Either you don’t agree or agree to the threats of the aggressor. In this sort of situation, we would normally agree to the threats simply because it’s a better choice.

What is most infuriating to me is the majority of the people who have many obvious choices available to them choose to think of no choice instead. Take the example of one man (close to 40) whom I happen to chat up with in a networking session recently. He works as a senior position in one of the big firms.

For about 50% of our short conversation, he mentioned that he haven’t being able to attend networking sessions for quite some time. As I have an extremely high curiosity level, I decided to probe further and ask why. Here’s his reply, “Well, too much work on the plate and I can’t even clear them if I work on the weekends.”

Upon receiving his reply, I asked my favorite question of all time. “Well, surely you have a choice to change all this right, don’t you?” To keep things simple, his reply to my question was in the following sequence, rising cost of living and inflation, got to earn a living and he ended with “what to do?”

What a big walking target for retrenchment! In 10 short minutes, my conclusion of this man is boring and he’s definitely going to stagnate for years to come unless he shifts his paradigms of thinking dramatically.

In the spirit of comparison, I shall site the example of another man whom I’ve met in the same networking session. A brief summary of this man is that he holds several businesses and the two most prominent ones are in manga training and web development.

At the point of our conversation, he was actually involved in a new set of business that deals with high power supplements. I was particularly Intrigued because of the diversity of his interests and I asked what’s the factor that made him want to go into the wellness industry. His reply was short and sweet, “It’s a great product and it doesn’t take a lot to test it out in the market.”

An average man will only think about no choice while a great man will always create a choice for himself whatever the circumstances. Once you understand and acknowledge the laws of cause and effects, you will be able to accept the fact that where you are now is a choice made by you several years back and where you want to be in 5 years time is the very choice you choose to take this moment.

Even in your darkest hours, you must always you believe that you still have a choice and that choice is to make your way slowly and steadily back into the light. No choice is just a very lazy man’s way of pushing off all their responsibilities. Start eliminating the words “No Choice” from your life today and I’m quite sure that your life can only progress for the better.

The Magic of Deadlines

Posted by You Teck - 20/05/08 at 08:05:02 pm

Have you ever wondered about how you will always automagickally (just like scaffold) get things done just before a vacation? It’s an easy answer isn’t it? That’s because you’ve got a flight to catch the next morning and you had to get everything done before you can leave with a peace of mind.

Take another example of a library book. Do you find that you’re more likely to finish a library book than the one that you’ve bought? For me, that’s certainly the case because if there was a deadline attached to it and I don’t finish it, it would have defeat the purpose of borrowing it in the first place!

Now, think about this, "wouldn’t we be a lot more efficient if we set a deadline on the tasks that we plan to complete?". Think about the business project you plan to start or the room you’ve wanted to clean for a very long time.

The whole paradigm of not having enough time to complete the task will change because once it has a deadline attached to it, there can be no excuses and not matter what, you would have to find a way to get it done. Of course, you can always choose not to honor the deadline but wouldn’t it put your personal integrity into question if you choose to do so?

So, here’s a short summary on what was discussed above:

1. Find the one task that you’ve been putting off.
2. Set a deadline on when you want to complete that task.
3. Leave no room for excuses and starting completing it!

Personally, I’ve find that setting deadline is an extremely useful technique on getting my things done. Ordinary tasks that would normally seem boring would suddenly become exciting when I set a particularly challenging deadline to it. If you doubt my words, experience the technique yourself and you’ll definitely not regret it.

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