In Talent is never enough: Discover the choices that will take you Beyond your Talent, leadership expert Dr. John C. Maxwell tells it as it is - People are never successful by talent alone, because if talent is enough, why aren’t some incredibly talented people equally successful?

Dr. Maxwell argues that the separation between the highly talented and the truly successful is in making the right choices. He highlights 13 essential elements to help us maximize our natural talents and develop into “talent-plus” people.

Maxwell contends that Belief Lifts our Talent, Passion Energizes our Talent, Initiative Activates our Talent, Focus Directs our Talent, Preparation Positions our Talent, Practice Sharpens our Talent, Perseverance Sustains our Talent, Courage Tests our Talent, Teachability Expands our Talent, Character Protects our Talent, Relationships Influence our Talent, Responsibility Strengthens our Talent and Teamwork Multiplies our Talent.

I will probably touch on most of the elements in separate entries. For today, let’s concentrate on Teachability, an often overlooked topic in Personal Development. Continue Reading »
Talent is never enough

As promised, I will be sharing my recent experience of being a Vegan for 10 consecutive days. Now, the first reaction I get whenever I tell anyone about my vegan diet is surprise/shock/amazement and the common question “Why? Is it for religious or health reasons?” naturally pops up.

If you have known me for some time, you would most likely express the same sentiment. I was what you would consider a “carnivore”. I hated vegetables and would painstakingly pick them out from my food before I start eating. So you can imagine the look on my friends’ faces when I told them about the vegan diet!

My dramatic change came about due to a combination of compelling reasons. As mentioned previously, I was introduced to the Health Wealth Paradox and it was a wake-up call. I realized that in the pursuit of my financial goals, I was neglecting my health and subjecting my body to overwhelming stress and abuse. “You don’t love yourself!” my good friend, Jimmy said to me one day, after yet another gastric attack. That was when it hit me.

It was time for me to take massive corrective action. Continue Reading »
Detoxifying the body, My 10 day Vegan Diet Experience

“When we are young, we trade our Health for Wealth.
When we are old, we use our Wealth to buy back our Health.”

How many of us can relate to the Health-Wealth Paradox?

We work hard at our jobs till the wee hours of the night, sometimes skipping one or two meals, telling ourselves, “It’s okay, I’m still young. I must get this work done!” If we do this once a week, it is still not so bad, but what if we do it many times in a row and over a prolonged period of time?

Our health suffers and we end up with gastric pains, high blood pressure, migraines and what not. Our productivity falls. Over the short term, we may dismiss it but if we were to continue this way, chronic illnesses set in and we end up handing most of our hard-earned money to doctors! Continue Reading »
The Health Wealth Paradox, Why overpay your doctor?

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity and pleasure to speak with Stuart Tan, one of Singapore’s foremost Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) trainers and peak performance specialists. Stuart was personally trained by Dr. Richard Bandler, the co-inventor of NLP. He currently runs a successful motivational and personal development program called “The Patterns of Excellence“ with Adam Khoo, one of Singapore’s youngest and most well-known self-made millionaires.

SJ, Stuart and some participants of “The Patterns of Excellence” program

Stuart shared with me how he got started in NLP, his venture into internet marketing, the mindset of top achievers and his bestselling book “Secrets of Internet Millionaires”. Continue Reading »
Patterns of Excellence, An interview with Stuart Tan

“What is more important than being happy?” Andrew Matthews asked the audience in a seminar I attended 6 weeks back. He then started to draw funny little cartoons and continued “I learnt to draw in school during mathematics!”

Everyone bursted into laughter.

In case you don’t know who Andrew Matthews is, let me give you a little introduction. He is an international speaker on “attitude“, “being happy“, “success” and “prosperity” and the best-selling author of motivation and personal development classics like “Being Happy!” and “Follow your heart“.

Andrew is an extraordinary man and I would like to share with you what I learnt about happiness from him. Are you ready to know the 10 secrets to happiness? Listen up! Continue Reading »
10 Secrets to Happiness I learnt from Andrew Matthews