Meaningful Living

Studies show that the odds of saving a goal in a penalty kick in soccer is about 17.4%. Why is the odds so low? Experts also suggest that the best strategy for the goal keeper is to stay central during the penalty kick. Then why, do we almost always see goal keepers diving left or right side when the shooter kicks? Many goal keepers, when interviewed, said that they dived one side because (1) if they guess the direction correctly, that would increase the chance of saving the goal; (2) if they did not save the goal, no one will blame them for "doing nothing". Point (2) above, is an example of the concept of "Perception is Reality".  No matter how good a goal keeper is, if the fans perceive him to do nothing and hence lost the goal, then that becomes a reality, that "he did nothing and hence lost the goal".  The fear of this perception can lead one to choose a less strategic option, as in this case. Another example : You have some very good products in your ...

Recently I have episodes of pain in one of my toe joints.  Saw the doctor and had blood test done.  It could be the start of gout, although the blood test showed that my uric acid level is normal. I did some research on gout, and want to share it here.  Let's start with Purine.  It is a substance that our body produces, as well as can be obtained from food we eat.  Our digestive system breaks down purine into uric acid.  But when we consume high levels of purine, uric acid will build up and form crystals.  These crystals reside in the joint areas, and cause pain.  This leads to Gout and other health problems like diabetes and kidney stones.  Gout is common in people between 30 and 50 years old, but older people can start getting it too. The joint pain is easily treatable in my case, with NSAID (Non-steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs like Diclofenac) or with Colchicine, and an application cream called Diclogel. High purine foods to avoid, or no...

Decision Making is affected by our attitude, as mentioned in a few earlier posts.  Here, I will attempt to explain my thinking process in terms of decision making, which has served me well so far. What is a good attitude then?  Basically, our attitude reflects the way we think .  A good/positive attitude is when we believe in something or someone, and we do our best to make sure the outcome is good/desirable, usually in a win-win manner.  A negative attitude is when our prejudice, biasness, laziness, dislike or perception for something or someone affects our effectiveness/enthusiasm, hence the choice of our actions, which often result in a less-than-desired outcome.  Sometimes, there is no right or wrong, because there are many other people making decisions at the same time too.  Whether our decision made is a good one, depends on the combined effect of these other decisions and hence the final outcome.  For example, we do the right thing by waiting fo...

An episode of the TV series Desperate Housewives ended with this comment: " It is not hard to die, when you know you had lived ". I agree.  For people who have done their fair share in  contributing to this world/society , they can leave this world with their head held high.   Many young people spend most of their time enjoying the current moment, and not preparing for the future.   Many grown ups spend most of their time being caught in the rat race (earning money, spending money, worrying not enough money, quarrel over money, earning money, spending money, worry about money, and the cycle goes round and round, just like running on a rat wheel).  Our life can be happier if we shift our focus, say from chasing money to wanting happiness (or happy family).  But the topic of shifting focus will be in another post as this is not easy to achieve too [note: shifting focus doesn't mean we do not work hard to earn money].   Here's a simple list...

Quite often on food shows on television, we hear food stall owners say things like: Style 1: "we use only the freshest ingredients in our sauce,  unlike other stalls  who use dried stuffs....." "the noodles we cook are just right,  other stalls  normally cook until very soggy....." "..... 外面的不一样...." Style 2: On one programme I watched, one of the food stall owners said: "When I came to Singapore, I saw many fish and chips stalls.  But I noticed their fish and chips are  done differently  from the way I do it.  So I set up a stall here to let Singaporeans try something different....."   There is a big difference between the two styles of commenting.   To cut the long story short, when we want to say nice things about ourselves,   focus on what we are good at .   There is  no need to run others down , which may be an unfair or is inaccurate.   Possible application in our life: When we need to tell people what our ...

Colon cancer is one of the top cancer diseases in Singapore citizens.  Reasons include insufficient intake of fiber (fruits and vegetable), plus other unhealthy habits.  Those above the age of 50 are encouraged to go for screening/colonoscopy.  Briefly list the process here for your info. Few days prior to procedure (colonoscopy) : Bowel preparation starts.  Follow the diet given by the doctor.  This is to ensure the colon is clean for the doctor to scan. Evening before procedure (my procedure was 10.30 am next day): Take a few types of medicine for the purging of the colon.  No more food allowed after 7.00 pm.  Needed to dilute the three packets of FORTRANS in 3L of water and drink 250ml every 15 minutes.  The taste was salty but bearable. No more drinks allowed after midnight. 7.30 - 11.30 pm : Need to keep going to the toilet every 15 minutes or so.  Hence, do not go out after drinking those medicine. Let the colon purge until we do not se...

I attended a course on communications.  Since the course content is trade-marked, I wont be naming the course title here. One of the topics was knowing who our audience is, and saying the right things to them in order to obtain the expected results.   To cut the long story short, I am summarising using the story below. The Story A cruise ship was sailing in the North Seas, hit an ice berg, and was sinking. There were not enough life jackets on the ship. The captain wanted only the women and children to have the life jackets. So he needed to speak to all the guys on the boat to persuade them to jump into the water without the life jacket. He first came up to a group of  British  guys, and said: "Gentlemen, it is an  honour  to give up the life jackets to the women and the children."   Without hesitation, the British guys yelled: "For the honour!", and  all jumped into the water without the life jackets. The captain next found a group of...

Self-fulfilling prophecy  ha s a very powerful psychological effect on us.  Eg:  If I believe I am stupid, I predict I will not do well in the future.  I therefore don't have the motivation to study hard, because I think that it makes no difference. Because I never study hard, I don't do well in my exams. And because I don't have a good certificates, I struggle in life. So, my believe and my prediction came true! This is self-fulfilling prophecy. On the other hand, if I believe something will work, I will find all means to get it done.   In the end, it gets done.   To cut the long story short,  Stay close to people who are positive.  Avoid listening to people who are negative.   The more negative things we listen, the more negative we become in our attitude and thinking.  This is bad for us.   That is why the rich-poor gap becomes wider and wider.  The rich believes they can, they seek possibilities and keep...

  I was at a Design Firm to discuss some matters with the Design Director.   During the break, he told me this: "The younger generation now are really  not employable .  Their attitude is very different, and they think very highly of themselves........  No matter how good a designer is, he will still not be able to meet exactly what the clients want.  So we need to listen and make changes where required.......  They take very long to learn, and are not keen to remember what was being told......"   Sounds familiar.   So what he does is he hunts for experienced designers from other companies instead of employing young people.    To cut the long story short, d o our best to  stay ahead   of other people. Find out how to make our boss wants to keep us, and other bosses want to poach us.   Discipline our mind, control our temper, watch our attitude. Thank you, I and D, for the picture.

I once heard someone asked : "Do you want to LOOK rich, or do you want to BE rich?"   He was advising others on ways to reduce unnecessary expenses.  Things like, not buying branded stuffs, not changing mobile phone every year, and that the biggest depletion of our wealth is owning a car (in the Singapore context).  I would think that he was advising normal people like us, not those with tons of money which cannot finish. What he was saying is, do we choose to spend a lot of money to make us look rich (and not leaving much money in the bank), or do we choose to be careful about our spending and actually have money with us. "We don't bring money into the grave. We work hard to spend it." We so often hear people say this.  Yes, I agree we work hard so that we can have a better life, but that's precisely why we should not spend money on things that make us look rich, but spend money on things that make us feel comfortable (not necessarily branded stuffs). The ...