Thought 01DEC2008

THINK ABOUT IT
A study conducted by the US Department of Health, Education and Welfare, reported the following :
Learners retain :
10 percent of what they read;
20 percent of what they hear;
30 percent of what they see;
50 percent of what they see and hear;
70 percent of what they say;
90 percent of what they say and do.
Extracted from 'Speaker's Sourcebook II', Glen Van Ekeren, Prentice Hall, 1994.

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He who is afraid to ask is ashamed of learning - Danish Proverb

Thought 28NOV2008

ON MARRIAGE
Typical macho man married typical good-looking lady and after the wedding, laid down the following rules: "I'll be home when I want, if I want, and at what time I want - and I don't expect any hassle from you. I expect a great dinner to be on the table unless I tell you. I'll go hunting, fishing, boozing and card-playing when I want with my old buddies and don't you give me a hard time about it. Those are my rules. Any comments?"
His new bride said, "No, that's fine with me. Just understand that there'll be sex here at ten o'clock every night ... whether your're here or not."
Source Unknown

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Anger is the only thing to put off until tomorrow - Czech Proverb

Thought 27NOV2008

THE SEVEN C's OF SUCCESS
by Brian Tracy
After having studied top achievers and peak performers over the past 25 years, I've concluded that these unique men and women, have in most cases, mastered what I call the Seven C's of Success.
(1) Clarity - Eighty percent of success comes from being clear on who you are, what you believe in and what you want.
(2) Competence - You can't climb to the next rung on the ladder until you are excellent at what you do now.
(3) Constraints - Eighty percent of all obstacles to success come from within. Find out what is constraining in you or your company and deal with it.
(4) Concentration - The ability to focus on one thing single-mindedly and see it through until it's done takes more character than anything else.
(5) Creativity - Flood your life with ideas from many sources. Creativity needs to be exercised like a muscle, if you don't use it you'll lose it.
(6) Courage - Most in demand and least in supply, courage is the willingness to do the things you know are right.
(7) Continuous learning - Read, at the very least, one book a week on business to keep you miles ahead of the competition. And just as you eat and bathe, organize your time so you spend 30 minutes a day exploring email, sending messages, going through web sites, because like exercise, it's the only way you can keep on top of technology. If you get away from it, you'll lose your edge.
This Message was submitted by Brian Tracy of BRIAN TRACY INTERNATIONAL

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Do not protect yourself by a fence, but rather by your friends - Czech Proverb

Thought 26NOV2006

THE KEY TO SUCCESS
The key to success is not what you do, it is how you feel about what you are doing. It is possible to take a simple idea and create a huge success. We think people who accomplish this work hard or have others to support them. We believe they are smarter, richer or in some ways more endowed than we are. What we cannot see and do not measure is people's attitudes about what they do. Success begin with a positive attitude, it is the most valuable asset we may own. The people at the top did not fall there. They were willing to do whatever it took, taking the ups and the downs, asking for what they really wanted and staying focused until they got it. Success is not bought or inherited. It is a product of what we put out. Success begins with a good feeling about where we are and a positive attitude about where we want to be.
Iyanla Vanzant

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Cheese, wine, and a friend must be old to be good - Cuban Proverb

Thought 25NOV2008

I WILL
I will think of better ways.
I will develop ways to achieve positive attitude.
I will keep reviewing my goals.
I will accept what I cannot change.
I will learn from my mistakes.
I will start living.
I will smile.
I will relax.
I will be happy.
I will enjoy.
I will be honest to myself.
I will remain humble.
I will put myself in the other person's shoes.

extracted from 'Management Thoughts' by Promod Batra, Golden Book Centre Sdn Bhd, reprinted 1995

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A love that can last forever takes but a second to come about - Cuban Proverb

Thought 24NOV2008

90% AND 10% FACTS OF LIFE
(1) 90% of punctures happen in the last 10% of tyre life.
(2) 90% of the things in our lives are right and 10% are wrong.
(3) 90% of the financial worries are due to 10% of overspending.
(4) 90% of your friends will hurt you and only 10% will give you support when chips are down.
(5) 90% of your work can be done by your subordinates and you get paid only for 10%. (Those who follow this deserve what they get)
(6) 90% of your work is routine, it is the balance 10% that requires thinking.
(7) 90% of the decisions can be taken immediately on the basis of past experience and only 10% require in-depth analysis.
(8) 90% of your customers are reasonable, it is only 10% of them that require tactful handling.
(9) 90% of our members repay their dues in time, it is only the balance 10% that makes us spend sleepless nights!
(10) 90% of the overdues become so only recently, it is only 10% that continue to be overdue for a long period.
(11) 90% of tension is created by 10% each of carelessness and laziness.
(12) 90% of the old records and letters are never referred to again.
(13) 90% of the errors in typewritten letters can be hand corrected; only 10% of such letters need to be retyped.
extracted from 'Management Thoughts' by Promod Batra, Golden Book Centre Sdn Bhd, reprinted 1995

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If you don't want anyone to know, don't do it - Chinese Proverb

Thought 21NOV2008

WOULD YOU?
A group of friends went deer hunting and paired off in twos for the day. That night one of the hunters returned alone, staggering under an eight-point buck.

"Where's Harry?" he was asked.
"Harry had a stroke of some kind. He's a couple of miles back up the trail."

You left Harry lying there and carried the deer back?"
"Well," said the hunter, "I figure no one was going to steal Harry."
Source Unknown - Extracted from 'Bits & Pieces', The Economic Press, Inc., Fairfield New Jersey - From the Library of Puan Hajah Zaihani Abdul Hamid

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If you bow at all, bow low - Chinese Proverb

Thought 20NOV2008

ON EXAMPLE
A Chinese general put it this way :
If the world is to be brought to order, my nation must first be changed. If my nation is to be changed, my hometown must be made over. If my hometown is to be reordered, my family must first be set right. If my family is to be regenerated, I myself must first be.
A Purnell Bailey - Extracted from 'Speaker's Sourcebook II', Glen Van Ekeren, Prentice Hall, 1994.

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I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do - Helen Keller

Thought 19NOV2008

WE'RE RAISING CHILDREN, NOT FLOWERS
I was buying a sport coat a few weeks ago and Mark Michaels, the owner of the store and I were discussing parenting. He told me that while he and his wife and seven-year-old daughter were out for dinner, his daughter knocked over her water-glass. After the water was cleaned up without any recriminating remarks from her parents, she looked up and said, "You know, I really want to thank you guys for not being like other parents. Most of my friends' parents would have yelled at them and given them a lecture about paying more attention. Thanks for not doing that!"

Once, when I was having dinner with some friends, a similar incident happened. Their five-year-old son knocked over a glass of milk at the dinner table. When they immediately started on him, I intentionally knocked my glass over, too. When I started to explain how I still knock things over even at the age of 48, the boy started to beam and the parents seemingly got the message and backed off. How easy it is to forget that we are all still learning.
Jack Canfield - extracted from 'A 2nd helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul' Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, Health Communication, Inc., 1995

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Not until just before dawn do people sleep best; not until people get old do they become wise - Chinese Proverb

Thought 18NOV2008

BE ANGRY
Anyone can become angry - that is easy
But to be angry with the right person,
to the right degree,
at the right time,
for the right purpose,
and in the right way - that is not easy.
Source Unknown

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Vision isn't enough unless combined with venture. It's not enough to stare up the steps unless we also step up the stairs - Vance Havner

Thought 17NOV2008

SIX SINS OF MANAGING YOUR EMPLOYEES
1) Doing things more to be liked than to be respected.
2) Failing to ask for advice.
3) Failing to develop a sense of responsibility.
4) Failure to keep them informed.
5) Failure to keep criticism constructive.
6) Failure to solve problems and complaints.
extracted from 'Management Thoughts' by Promod Batra, Golden Book Centre Sdn Bhd, reprinted 1995

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The end result of kindness is that it draws people to you - Ken Rockwell, Your Camera Does Not Matter, 2005

Thought 13NOV2008

LITTLE THINGS
Most of us miss out on life's big prizes.
The Pulitzer. The Nobel. Oscars. Tonys. Emmys.
But we're all eligible for life's small pleasures.
A pat on the back. A kiss behind the ear.
A four-pound bass. A full moon.
An empty parking space. A crackling fire.
A great meal. A glorious sunset. Hot soup. Cold drinks.
Don't fret about coping life's grand awards.
Enjoy its tiny delights.
There are plenty for all of us.
A message as published in the Wall Street Journal (1982) by United Technologies Corporation, Hartford, Connecticut 06101

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If you really want something you can figure out how to make it happen - Cher

Thought 12NOV2008

TIME
Time is the one thing we all posses. Our success depends upon the proper use of our time and its by-product, the odd moment. Every minute that you save by making it useful or more profitable is that much added to your life and its possibilities. Every minute lost is a neglected by-product - once gone, you will never get it back. Think of the odd quarter of an hour before breakfast, the odd half-hour after lunch. Remember the chance to read, or figure, of think with concentration about your own career, that presents itself now and again during the day. All of these opportunities are the by-products of your daily existence. Use them and you may find what many successful companies have found - that the real profit is in the utilization of the by-products.
Among the aimless. unsuccessful, or worthless, you often hear talk about "killing time". Those who are always killing time are really killing their own chances in life. Those who are destined to become successful are those who make time live by making it useful.
Arthur Brisbane - Extracted from Bits & Pieces, The Economics Press, Inc., Fairfield, New Jersey, USA - From the Library of Puan Hajah Zaihani Abdul Hamid

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A year from now you may wish you had started today - Karen Lamb

Thought 11NOV2008

MARRIAGE ADVICE FROM 1886
Let your love be stronger than your hate or anger. Learn the wisdom of compromise, for it is better to bend a little than to break. Believe the best than the worst. People have a way of living up or down to your opinion of them. Remember that true friendship is the basis for any lasting relationship. The person you choose to marry is deserving of the courtesies and kindness you bestow on your friends. Please hand this down to your children and your children's children: The more things change the more they are the same.
Jane Wells (1886) - Submitted by Carol Abbs; extracted from 'Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul', Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Jennifer Read Hawthorne & Marci Shimoff, Health Communications, Inc., 1996.

Achievement seems to be connected with action. Successful men and women keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit - Conrad Hilton

Thought 10NOV2008

DREAMS
All men and women are born, to live, suffer and die; what distinguishes us one from another is our dreams, whether they be dreams about worldly or unworldly things, and what we do to make them come about ... We do not choose to be born. We do not choose our parents. We do not choose our historical epoch, the country of our birth, or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing. We do not, most of us, choose to die; nor do we choose the time and conditions of our death. But within this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we live.
Joseph Epstein

Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing - Theodore Roosevelt, Speech in Chicago 3rd April 1903

Thought 07NOV2008

IT'S UP TO YOU
One song can spark a moment, One flower can wake the dream, One tree can start a forest, One bird can herald spring, One smile begins a friendship, One handclasp lifts a soul. One star can guide a ship at sea, One word can frame the goal, One vote can change a nation, One sunbeam lights a room.

One candle wipes out darkness, One laugh will conquer gloom. One step must start each journey, One word must start each prayer. One hope will raise our spirits, One touch can show you care. One voice can speak with wisdom, One heart can know what's true, One life can make the difference.

You see, it's up to you!
Author Unknown - extracted from "A 4th course of Chicken Soup for the Soul", Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Hanoch McCarty and Meladee McCarty; Health Communications, Inc., 1997.

Pure gold does not fear furnace - Chinese Proverb

Thought 06NOV2008

GOING THE RIGHT WAY
In 1939, in a small town in Oklahoma, a young couple had been married a few short and disappointing months. He never dreamed there were so many ways to ruin fried chicken. She couldn't imagine why she ever thought his jokes were funny. Neither one said aloud what they were both thinking - the marriage was a big mistake. One hot afternoon, they got into a terrible argument about whether they could afford to paint the living room. Tempers flared, voices were raised, and somehow one of the wedding gift plates crashed to the floor. She burst into tears, called him heartless and a cheapskate. He shouted that he'd rather be a cheapskate than a nag, then grabbed the car keys on his way out. His parting words, punctuated by the slam of the screen door, were, "That's it! I'm leaving you!"

But before he could coax their rickety car into gear, the passenger door flew open and his bride landed on the seat beside him. She stared straight ahead, her face tear-streaked but determined. "And just where do you think you're going?" he asked in amazement. She hesitated only a moment before replying, just long enough to be sure of the answer that would decide the direction of their lives for the next forty-three years. "If you're leaving me," my mother said, "I'm going with you."
By Lynne Kinghorn - from A Second Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul, Copyright 1998 by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Jennifer Read Hawthorne and Marci Shimoff

The beginning and the end reach out their hands to each other - Chinese Proverb

Thought 05NOV2008

ALL IN A DAY'S WORK
He was admitted to emergency receiving and placed on the cardiac floor. Long hair, unshaven, dirty, dangerously obese, with a black motorcycle jacket tossed on the bottom shelf of the stretcher, he was an outsider to this sterile world of shinning terrazzo floors, efficient uniformed professionals and strict infection control procedures. Definitely an untouchable.

The nurses at the station looked wide-eyed as this mound of humanity was wheeled by, each glancing nervously at Bonnie, the head nurse. "Let this one not be mine to admit, bathe and tend to ... " was their pleading unspoken message. One of the true marks of a leader, a consummate professional, is to do the unthinkable. To tackle the impossible. To touch the untouchable. It was Bonnie who said, "I want this patient myself." Highly unusual for a head nurse - unconventional - but the stuff out of which human spirits thrive, heal and soar.

As she donned her latex gloves and proceeded to bathe this huge, very unclean man, her heart almost broke. Where was his family? Who was his mother? What was he like as a little boy? She hummed quietly as she worked. It seemed to ease the fear and embarrassment she knew he must be feeling. And then on a whim she said, "We don't have time for back rubs much in hospitals these days, but I bet one would really feel good. And it would help you relax your muscles and start to heal."

The thick, scaly, ruddy skin told a story of an abusive lifestyle: probably lots of addictive behavior with food, alcohol and drugs. As she rubbed those taut muscles, she hummed and prayed. Prayed for the soul of a little boy grown up, rejected by life's rudeness and striving for acceptance in hard, hostile world. The finale was warmed lotion and baby powder. Almost laughable - such a contrast to this huge, foreign surface. As he rolled over his back, tears ran down his cheeks and his chin trembled. With amazingly beautiful brown eyes, he smiled and said in a quivering voice, "No one has touched me for years. Thank you. I am healing."
Naomi Rhode - extracted from 'Chicken Soup for the Soul at Work', Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Maida Rogerson, Martin Rutte & Tim Clauss, Health Communications, Inc., 1996.

The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones - Chinese Proverb

Thought 04NOV2008

CHILDHOOD INGENUITY
When Johnny arrived home from downtown with an ice cream in each hand, his mother queried, "Did you spend all of your allowance?"
"Nope, I didn't spend anything," he responded.
"Did someone buy the ice cream for you?"
The little boy shook his head.
"You didn't steal them, did you?"
"Oh, no, I wouldn't steal," said Johny. "I just put a chocolate cone in one hand, vanilla in the other. Then I told the clerk she could get the money from my pocket, but please be careful for Franky my pet frog."
Extracted from 'Speaker's Sourcebook II' by Glen Van Ekeren, Prentice Hall, 1994

In all the world, things are two and two - Uganda

Proverbs 03NOV2008

Unless you take change by the hand, it will take you by the throat - Winston S Churchill

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When anyone tells me I can't do anything, I'm just not listening anymore - Florence Joyner

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The price of greatness is responsibility - Winston S Churchill