thedailyreflection

[thedailyreflection]

My philosophy of life

I was wondering what does it mean to have a life philosophy... 

Some sort of mission statement? 

So I spent some time thinking of what my life should mean. 

“I will live a life that is in pursuit of the finest, freest, realest form of my self. I will dedicate myself to the growth of my physical, emotional, mental and spiritual being. The decisions that I make daily will reflect my values of integrity, courage, freedom, wisdom and inspiration. I will be one with the universe so that my ‘truth’ will be emitted and shine on the world paving a lighted path for the people I love.’

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Disruption of industries

Today i want to talk about disruption. How old businesses are being disrupted and displaced by newer, more innovative businesses. One good example is the telecommunications industry. Truth be told, I have never been a happy customer of telcos because of their poor customer service. I have never managed to call through their hotline without waiting a good 15 minutes at least. Even so, the receiver will have a relatively poor command of english and will often put me on hold while he/she ‘check the system for my details’ or transfer me to another relevant department that cost me another precious 5-10 minutes. I have since given up on calling them even if I was over-charged for roaming (sounds familiar I bet!) 

With the entry of newer telcos offering better services and better prices without tying you down with 2 year contracts, it is no wonder why these big telcos players are slowly dying. A good recent example is the delisting of M1 and the possible sharing of network of Starhub. 

The lesson here is that good times don’t last forever. There are golden times where businesses can enjoy prosperity. But the moment they take it for granted and stop thinking for their customers - that will be the start of their demise. 

[thedailyreflection]

What are your priorities?

Straight off the bat, we tend to think about family, friends, career, finance, relationship and self.

I think it’s then safe to categorize our priorities into

SELF and RELATIONSHIPS

SELF consists of your personal priorities like career, finance, health while RELATIONSHIPS consists of family, friends, lover etc.

I believe they work like a two-way channel.

Focus on your self to become a better HUMAN

That is also becoming,

A better Son, A better Friend, A better Colleague, A better Lover A better Sibling,

Which gives you better relationships

And these relationships then blossom into a constructive one that can further help develop your SELF.

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WIP

Every day when I wake up, I try to be the best of myself; knowing that I will never be, so i keep trying. After all, I’m just a work in progress. 

[thedailyreflection]

Starting with Why

Why are you doing what you are doing? Ask yourself this question every day.

We can only inspire people when they believe why you are doing what you do.

When I started my company many years ago, I’ve never come across Simon Sinek’s ted talk on ‘Start with Why’. Honestly, all I wanted to do was to make my business a side hustle to make money. For the record, we did make a lot of money. In his book he spoke about how people and companies can be successful if they understood HOW to do it better than others. But those who know WHY they do what they do are the ones that really impact and change the world.

As I got exposed to the Golden Circle, I invented our WHY and spun a story around it. But without really starting with why, any attempts at authenticity will almost always be inauthentic. When the leaders do not have a WHY, you can totally forget about the employees knowing why they come to work. In essence, people are just working for the pay check. 

Promise myself that whatever I do in my life, I will start with WHY. 

[thedailyreflection]

A conversation with a blind man.

It was past midnight and I was roaming the streets of Phuket searching for food. About 50 feet away I saw a lighted signage and made my way there. There was a young lady and an old man, they greeted me warmly and I went about ordering my food. Minutes later, the old man served me the food and sat down. He asked where am I from and I said Singapore. That began the conversation as he was a Thai-Chinese from the same province that spoke the dialect as I did. He went on to talk about his experiences he had in Singapore, and how much Phuket have changed over the years. I was listening attentively but I couldn’t help it but to notice his eyes that was abnormally grey in one side. So, I asked him what happened, and he told me it was a simple cataract surgery that went wrong. It’s ironic because I’m an optometrist and I know that cataract surgeries have little to no complications. First thing that came to my mind was ‘did you receive compensation from the doctor?” I was shocked when he said he didn’t pursue the case and accepted it as what it is. I asked a second why, and he told me if he had done so the doctor will be in a troubled state thinking about the legal complications and monetary compensation – that would have deemed him unfit to perform at his best; and maybe more patients might suffer the same fate as him. I was at a loss of words because deep inside I felt a wave of shame rising. It’s a story to remind me not to take everything ‘an eye for an eye’. 

[thedailyreflection]

Done. My first one way ticket. Nope it’s not the sq business class picture.

Been a long stretch of sleepless nights till now. Some nights I imagine myself broke and miserable having to return back to Singapore and ask for help. Some nights I get so excited picturing myself lying on the beach doing absolutely nothing, I swear I could even smell the seas.

I am fearful and I am fearless now. Not sure if it makes sense? But it’s really just mixed feelings. Fearful of the uncertainty but fearless in seeing it through.

What am I going to do is the first question that people including myself ask. To that, I have no answer. What I do know for sure is what I do not want to do and that’s enough for now...

The past 6 years was awesome.

Built a pretty decent business using a capital of $1000. Till date, had revenue more than $2M. Moved out of home since 22 and I get to travel as and when I like. Been to 12 countries in 2018. Booze, good food and lots of fun. Practically enjoyed every bit of goodness and nothing short of comfort.

Life was like a never ending party.

Why stop the party?

On the outlook, everything looks “good”. So why give the high up?

Because on the inside, I knew that it’s not the “truth” for me. It’s not what I’m looking for.

Then the next question people ask me is “what do u mean?”. For the past year I have been spending a lot of time on myself. While people had FOMO, I have JOMO (joy of missing out). When you are alone and retreat to your deepest self, you start to hear your own voice. I start to realize what I want. I know that the work I do should have an impact - small or big and I believe in inspiration. But I struggle to find inspiration even in myself. So if the work I do is not inspiring me how can I even inspire or impact others? That’s when I know something needs to change. (You know it when someone asks you how are you hows things and for that split second the truth kicks in before you reply everything’s good blah blah.. lies lies.. anyway how are you too?) Pls hear what your voice is telling you and don’t run away.. anymore! Letting go is never an easy choice and it was not an overnight decision for me. Doing what I was doing regardless whether it’s done well or not didn’t matter if it’s unfulfilling. I felt like a living dead. So what if I founded a few companies. It’s time to find myself. So fast forward today, I’m here on my one way ticket to Thailand. Why Thailand? My answer to that is Eat Pray Fight. Good food everywhere, I get to pray in this Buddhism capital and not forgetting my passion for Muay Thai which is really a beautiful art form to me. Sorry for the goodbyes that I couldn’t say. I never liked saying goodbyes anyway but goodbye ❤️

[thedailyreflection]

Timing

In life, everything is about timing. The worst thing is meeting the right person at the wrong timing. There’s no right person, there’s only the ‘right person at the right time’. We all sit on various scales of time, at any point we can only wish for everything to be aligned for two persons. If it doesn’t, it’s okay. Just focus on being the right person for yourself and when the right time is here, someone will meet you there.

[thedailyreflection]

Knowing who you are.

Every morning when I wake up, the first question I ask myself is ‘who am I?’. Sometimes, I have no answer. But it’s okay because at least I know the truth and strive to search for the answer. Most people don’t even know the truth. That’s why a lot of people in the world is lost. I think the most difficult part is not that you do not know who you are. The problem is you already knew but you lack the courage to be you. The word courage originates from the latin word ‘cor’ which means “To speak one's mind by telling all one's heart.” Only you know who you are.