I read this email that arrived in my inbox today and like it very much. Read on and see if you have been quacking or have you been soaring.  

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Ducks Quack, Eagles Soar

No one can make you serve customers well.

That’s because great service is a choice.

Harvey Mackay, tells a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point.

He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey.

He handed my friend a laminated card and said, “I’m Wally, your driver. While I’m loading your bags in the trunk I’d like you to read my mission statement.”

Taken aback, Harvey read the card. It said, ”Wally’s Mission Statement: To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment. This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, “Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.”

My friend said jokingly, “No, I’d prefer a soft drink.”

Wally smiled and said, “No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.”

Almost stuttering, Harvey said, “I’ll take a Diet Coke.”

Handing him his drink, Wally said, “If you’d like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.”

As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another laminated card. “These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you’d like to listen to the radio.”

And as if that weren’t enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him. Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he’d be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts.

“Tell me, Wally,” my amazed friend asked the driver, “have you always served customers like this?”

Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. “No, not always. In fact, it’s only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day.

He had just written a book called You’ll See It When You Believe It. Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you’ll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, ‘Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don’t be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.’”

“That hit me right between the eyes,” said Wally. “Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.”

“I take it that has paid off for you,” Harvey said.

“It sure has,” Wally replied. “My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I’ll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don’t sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can’t pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.”

Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I’ve probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn’t do any of what I was suggesting.

Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.

How about us?

Everything happens for a reason. How true. If not for an incident which had happened, I would not realise how I can be like a serene island, remaining calm and composed in the middle of a stormy turbulence. In a battle of emotional intelligence, the master of his or her own emotions is the king. And a king wins battles.

Are you a King who wins battles or are you a mongrel, who fights to see who can shout the loudest?

I am thankful that while I am struggling to brave through a rough patch in life, I have angels around me in various forms, giving me moral strength to carry on. I want the angels in my life to know, from the bottom of my heart, I really appreciate and love all of you!

I woke up with a bad stomache today. Could have been the one-meal day I had yesterday. Could be the acid in the stomach flowing down to the uterus, causing more corrosion of the lining, which resulted in the contraction of the uterus muscle to discharge the blood.

It was terribly painful. Part and parcel of being a woman. I could almost feel the muscles contracting and it just couldn’t relax. Cold sweat broke all over me and I started feeling faint.

Hot drink. The saviour of the day. In 30 minutes, it was over. What a great relief. My housemate’s sister was there, to help me pour hot water into the cup. How grateful I was.

I popped her a question. What are the ways to stop the pain from coming?She looked deep in thought.

I offered eating well and never getting hungry as one of the ways. At least it worked for me.

Nah, I eat well, she said.

Then she offered being very busy and focusing attention on the important things to do as a possible way. Because as your attention is focused on something else such as work, happiness or laughter, anything other than the pain, hey presto! You would seem to have forgotten about the pain. As though, it is no longer existent.

A personal experience when I was much younger tells the same story too.

It was a school vacation trip to a beautiful holiday island, and I was the student organiser. And being the one in-charged, I had to take care of a lot of things and also to make sure everything went smoothly.

At the same time, it was due. Oh no.. I thought. I was really afraid it would affect me during such an important trip. But other more important things just kept coming and I had to divert my attention there.

It quietly came and went. And I was so surprised!

Throughout the whole duration, I was as busy as a bee, enjoying myself visiting places and at the same time taking charge of all my fellow students.

When I reflected on that event, I realised that, I had wanted that trip so badly. I had spent countless hours and effort in making it come true and I would not just let anything ruin it.

Even when nature threatened to spoil the fun, somehow, when you focus your attention on things that you really want, everything else that is negative would just dissipate into thin air.

Just imagine, how this universal law will affect our lives in the positive way. Think and experience it.

Serial addiction at work. Been on an emotional roller-coaster ride for the past few days, since I started watching the Hong Kong serial ‘The Ultimate Crime Fighter’ during the Hari Raya Haji and the Christmas holidays. 

The serial hooked me up from the the first episode and for the next three episodes, had me sitting gripping to my seats, eyes fixed on the television screen. The first few episodes are about a police officer being a spy in the gangster world, similar to the movie Infernal Affairs. Later on, the other elements of a great serial creeped in, such as relationships, career, friendship and family values.

What’s amazing about the main cast is that he could act all sorts of roles, projecting different identities very convincingly. From acting as a Thai national speaking with Thai accent, a spineless gigolo, a firm police officer, a romantic, a psychotic, a good guy and a bad guy, as well as displaying skills like ice-skating, blowing saxophone and humour. Amazing indeed. 

Not many good-looking actors in the serial though, and the one that can make it, is the bad guy.. sigh.. :p But the female casts are pretty though ;)Anyway, what I really want to write about is the lesson learnt from the serial.

There is a reason I do not usually watch serials, and when I watch, there is always something to learn.Just like in this serial, I would recommend it to anyone, because there are indeed a lot of good values and messages embedded in it.

I’m sure different people will gain something from different areas of the serial. To know what messages you will get, you will have to watch it yourself. Different people will get inspired with different scenes and situations projected in the serial. 

As for me, the main message I get from it is to cherish and appreciate whatever that we have right now. To realise it much later, would be too late. And how we live our lives all depends on what we think. If we think life is beautiful, life will be beautiful. If we think everyone is kind-hearted, everyone will be.

The reverse is also true. If we think others are out to get us, no matter what the person does, will also be bad, because in our eyes, we only see the negative things. But if we give others the benefit of the doubt, and look at it in an objective way, not everything is as bad as we thought. 

What we need, is just to look at it from a different angle, from a different perspective. Stand in another person’s shoe, think and feel like the person and you will understand what is going on in the person’s mind. 

Human being is such a weird creature. We usually take things for granted until we lose them. And by then, it is too late. What we can do, is to cherish whatever we have right now.Count our blessings and be grateful for all the little things in life.

Sometimes, in the hectic lives we live chasing after somethings, we neglected some little things that we thought we will always have. It could be something very simple, such as good health, eyesight, a pair of hands, a roof over the head, family, friends, a job and others that we might have overlook in our daily lives. 

Would you have realised that, the more you are grateful for what you have and for the good things others have done for you, you would get more of it? Have you ever given someone something and the person is very happy and grateful for it? How would you feel? Wouldn’t you want to give even more? Because you feel that everything that you have done, is really worth it?

Think about it. Since the new year 2008 is coming soon, take this time to reflect on our lives and be thankful for everything. With this, I would like to wish everyone, a very happy new year! :D Cheers~!   

The past few days have been an amazing and awesome experience. An experience that is heart-warming, fulfilling and one that floods your heart with love. And I too felt that, I’ve stretched and grown to be a better person, someone who makes a difference being who I am.

As I relive the experience here as a first time coach for Patterns of Excellence (POE) Module 2 by Adam Khoo and Stuart Tan from Oct 3-Oct 7, I could still feel the exhilaration and the warm, fuzzy feeling I felt.

Initially, it didn’t start off quite well for myself. I did my best to complete my job at work and then rushed to AKLTG. As I reached there, I was just right on time for the Milton Model language patterns game.

It was really fun having a conversation with each other using the language patterns. I would remember how Robert used that to strike a conversation which means a lot to me, something that I felt the same way too.

I wouldn’t not deny that initially I was a bit lost, just like the feeling when I first coached for POE Module 1. I’m so thankful to have Tracy Tan as my co-coach for Mod 2, and also Uncle Yew Soon for Mod 1, who guided me through. Thank you Tracy and Uncle Yew Soon! Who you are really did make a difference!

After a while, I began to get the hang of it and I told myself that I will do my best to be the best coach I can be and at the same time, carry out the tasks assigned to me and also to help others out.

There were times when I do feel fear inside me, and it means a lot to me when I’ve conquered them! Just like how I see lives transformed up there, with soft breeze on my face and wind beneath the wings of eagles, bringing them soaring through the sky.

I would always remember the way the eyes lit up with joy when the participants have achieved their goals! I could feel a sensation of warm feeling rushing through me, and I could also feel as though my heart is smiling together with them. I was ecstatic, and at the same time, feel so happy to see breakthroughs in their lives! I will always remember these moments

I would also remember how one of them kissed his goal so many times and not willing to let go, how the tears of joy spouted from another girl’s eyes after she had conquered her fears and how another participant could finally enjoy the time she has with her son.

I’m also very touched when one of them wrote to me, saying my smile had meant a lot to her. I’ve never known I would mean so much to others. And as I realised that I could help to transform lives and helping others achieve breakthroughs in their lives, I vowed to myself to always give my best, to be the best person I can be.

All the challenges and fears that I’ve overcomed and conquered for the past few days, only means that I am now a more confident person, a more flexible person, a more loving person, a more capable person, a better communicator as well as a more resourceful person. And now I know, I can survive and remain energetic with only two to three hours of sleep a day

Thank you all for stretching me, and for allowing me to stretch you too. Thank you for giving me a chance to be the best coach I can be.

To fellow coaches - Pete, Lukas, Tracey, Tracy, Yew Soon, Robert, Tim, Dave, Eldhi, Jack, Jacklyn, Peter, Meng, Meng Chew, Iris, Winnie, Ee Yan, Ben, Ken, Alice, Ann, Adrian, Rachit, Jun De, Jing, Freddy, Linh, Woei Tang - thank your for being a part of my life, for your friendship and for brightening up my life. I felt so fulfilled with all the love I felt, answering to a part of me which has been yearning for it. I’ll remember all the hugs and kind words said to me, thank you all.

Until now, I still could not forget that look that a little boy had on his face. This boy, which is about 8 years old, wanted something very much which comes up to about $20. But then, the little boy only had $1. He was very persistent that he only want that thing, and not others, even though the others were cheaper and his $1 would be able to have bought them.

However, despite asking the boy to consider other things, he was still persistent. And refused to budge. At first I ignored him. But then, as time goes on, he was still standing at the same spot and I noticed that his eyes and nose were getting redder. And after some time, the tears started to tumble down. I didn’t know what to do; my heart pains to see him like that. I almost wanted to take my own money out to buy it for him. But something was holding me back.

I told a mother of three about it. Initially, she also felt that it’s no big deal, probably just some kids trying to use tears as their weapon to get what they want.

But after a while - I think she has been observing the little boy too - she went up to the boy and told the boy sternly that if he wanted the thing badly enough, to go back to save up and come back and buy. She asked the boy to speak up, say what he wanted. But the boy just looked insistently at the thing and pointed, without saying a single word. But she was stern with him and insisted that he speak up. However, he still didn’t. By now, the boy was already crying. Then she talked to him in a softer way and sent him back.

There’s one thing I learnt from her. It was how to be stern with children, even when your heart almost break by being so. I could almost feel the pain that the little boy was feeling - you wanted something so badly and yet you can’t get it. I almost succumbed to my soft heart and give it to him as a gift. But luckily I didn’t.

As I reflected back on the incident, I was glad that I didn’t submit to his pleading eyes, for his own good. If he were to be able to get it easily by crying, what would happen next time? Will he be using the same way to get what he wants and in the end end up a useless and spoilt person? At least now, I’m comforted to know that he will have an even stronger desire to save up, and along the way, learn the importance of prudence. I believe, this little boy will grow up as a successful person, because I can see from the determination and focus he had, and with this hunger in him, he will definitely strive to be successful one day.

“Incredible things happen when you are open to new possibilities”

A photographer for National Geographic said this in a video titled “Celebrate what’s right with the World”. Uhh.. need to find out his name..

I was fascinated when I saw the video. From a boring looking piece of landscape, he could think of impossible possibilities, turning that mundane-looking piece of soil into the most awesome picture of colours, hues and vibrancy. Impressive.

A picture speaks a thousand words. Let me see if I can get my hands on his photographs.

Life has been pretty good recently. I realised how incredible it is, with a slight shift of your attitude and mindset towards the positive and empowering side, things start happening. Great things are finally happening and there has been some new changes in my life. Finally I feel more alive!

There’s additional responsibilities at work and there has been new work additions to my schedule too. Actually quite happy with it. Hmm.. am I a workaholic? Hahaha.. Well, at least I know I’m putting my time to productive use.

Going to be pretty busy for the next few weeks, and maybe going to be having less sleep too. Better zoom out to bed now while I still can enjoy late mornings.

I heard of a story today, about a can of Coca-Cola.

How much does a can of Coke cost in NTUC Fairprice? $0.65 probably.

How much does a can of Coke cost in a restaurant? $2.00-$3.00 probably.

How much does a can of Coke cost in a five-star hotel? $10.00 probably.

Why is it that a can of Coke, a similar can of Coke, can have such different value?

The environment. The environment the can of Coke is in, determines its value.

Do you want to be a can of Coke in NTUC Fairprice or a can of Coke in a restaurant, or a can of Coke in a five-star restaurant?

just a quick one, on quotes, things i’ve learnt today, before i forget.

1. If you quit now, you are going to quit every single day in your life

2. coach, without a long list of background, but his confidence win over everything.

3. Persevere, despite difficulties, hurdles, being looked down upon, jeered at, and even doubt from loved ones… he persevered. because, it is no longer just a game. winning represent something more - to create history, for dignity, for the main purpose, why the players are there in the first place.

4. What separates winning from losing? Just two minutes. What REALLY matters, is what is going on during the final moment.

5. Empowering team mates, is more powerful than blaming them.

6. What is the difference between “Go, win the game, make ME proud.” and
“Nobody is going to give it to us. We got to go and GET it!”

7. I’ve never been a star player, but my hard work wins them. I’m not the best coach, but my hardwork wins even the best coach.

8. Stand firm on your grounds.

Very empowering. Very meaningful, very moving. Can’t explain my feelings now, I felt reborn, I felt light, I felt burdens in my heart, has lessen, a lot. VEry very enlightening! Jia YOu!

I saw a very meaningful quote today which got me thinking.. hard…

“The pessimist blames the wind,
The optimist hopes the wind will change direction,
The realist adjusts the sails.”

can’t remember the name of the person who came up with this quote.

Are we a pessimist, an optimist or a realist?

Which one do we want to become?

A realist takes action and make things happen.. that’s what changes everything!