Happy Birthday Singapore!

Tomorrow 9 Aug 2008 is Singapore's 43rd year of independence. I had the opportunity to attend a preview parade a few weeks ago as the hard working parade participants went through their dress rehearsals in preparation for the big day tomorrow. I must say that I am impressed with the organization.

Do you have any idea the amount of planning and coordination that is required for such a parade to go on like clockwork? Timing for the parachuters, F-15 jet acrobatics, parade contingent and fireworks is precision work. There wasn't a dull moment.

This is done on a large scale and the parade will be televised throughout Asia through Channel News Asia.

This has effectiveness written all over. Every individual needed to know the grand plan, his team's plan and his own personal plan for this parade to function with such precision. Moreover, planning on paper put into...ACTION! Were there mistakes? I'm sure there were. The team must have worked hard to change their strategy and actions to meet the overall parade goals.

Isn't this what we should also strive for? If we plan and take action in our daily lives, how much of our life will move in the direction we want. And we change our actions if things do not go according to plan and take action again and again.

I've posted a few pics for your enjoyment. Take this time to take one of your goals and write down three action items that you will execute in the next 24 hours. Do it now and feel the power of goals. Goals without taking action is only a dream that will lead to regrets and "If only..." syndrome.



"Parachuters landing with precision on a thin strip of tarmac"



"Parade formed up and ready!"




"Marching in of the regimental colours." Very impressive march in.





"Fly-by of Singapore's national flag". The flag is huge and it requires weights at the bottom of it to stabilize it while the Chinooks fly it past the audience.



"Audience simply enjoying themselves"

I wasn't able to capture the night fireworks that were spectacular.

This wasn't an easy celebration to organize and execute. My kudos to the organizing team and all participants who put in so much effort to make this show a huge success, despite the heavy downpour and sacrificing so much time every week in practice. Thank You!

All things require planning. All plans must be executed by taking action to have any impact. Don't be passive goal setter. Go and get what you want and what you are worth. Take one action at a time.

...and once again...Happy Birthday Singapore! Happy holidays to all in Singapore.

Bernard

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Friendship and love knows no boundaries

I found this video so heartwarming. It shows the love and friendship between two guys and a lion. Its amazing the animals remember and are able to reciprocate the love and friendship. Watch it. Enjoy it.






Bernard

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Effective change, now more than ever

The economic turmoil happening in the U.S and other parts of the world is truly saddening. I read about bank writedowns, mounting job losses almost on a daily basis. I think of those who lost their jobs and what is to become of their livelihood, their families and their way of life? My heart goes out to them and their families.

Things change. Change is constant. There is no such thing as an "iron rice bowl", or a "guaranteed lifetime job". THere is a need to continually upgrade ourselves to stay relevant. In fact, we need to stay more than simply relevant. We need to be able to add so much value to the organization we work for. If we own our own business, we need to add that much more value to our business for the benefit of our customers.

Effective change is needed. This is where goals play an important role. Every individuals goals add up to meet a greater goal, be it the organization or family goals. If we continue drifting in life, the world will pass us by. The world waits for no one. Its survival of the fittest.

Every step we make towards our goals helps us prepare for the future. We need to train ourselves mentally, physically and spiritually to be resilient in good times and in troubled times.

Effective change doesn't guarantee job security. Effective change enhances resilience, tenacity, perseverance. All qualities necessary to push on when times are tough.

As Rocky said in the movie "Rocky":

"Its not about how hard you hit. Its about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward" (See my earlier post on the video clip)

If I recall correctly Michael Jackson's song "Man in the Mirror", the lyrics say "Make that change". It starts with the man in the mirror. The world doesn't change for you. You are all powerful. You have the power to change, no matter how small. You have the power to take action.

Set your goals. Visualize it.Take action now!

Bernard

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Achieved health goal

Today, I achieved one of my health goals. I set my goal to swim 20 laps of an Olympic sized pool...and I did it.

I had set this goal a few months ago. I had not been swimming regularly. However, I had been exercising through practicing Wing Chun Kung Fu. Today, I went on swimming with ease for 20 laps, and it feels great!

I feel really good about myself. It isn't simply the exercise nor endorphins. Its the satisfaction of achieving a goal I set for myself, the execution steps that I took each and every exercise session. The real satisfaction is looking back at the small steps I took to achieve this goal.

As I had written several times, its each small step that makes a whole lot of difference. No one can achieve any goal without taking the first small step. Having a goal without the first small step and hoping to achieve the goal is simply a dream. It takes effort and focus to achieve goals. Anything worth doing always requires effort.

This is not the be-all and end-all. My next goal is to swim 40 laps by 30 December 2008. Having a goal and achieving a goal is not an end point. The larger picture is to lead a healthy life. I use martial arts and swimming as my avenues to achieve this overall objective.

Its a journey and I'm enjoying every bit of it!

Bernard

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Protect your dreams - part 2

As a follow-on to my earlier post on Protect your dreams (Effectiveness, Wealth and Health: Protect your dreams).

I managed to get a clip from youtube of a scene from Pursuit of Happyness. Check this out.



This is so true. How many times have someone told you that you cannot, you can't, you shan't, you shall not, you never. When you were a child, how many times have you told yourself "I can", "I will", "I want to be", "I am capable of". We have let others point a finger at us to tell us why we can't. Check out this clip from Rocky. I find this inspirational.




I have set my goals and slowly working towards it. Yes there are difficulties. Yes there are sacrifices. Anything worth doing is worth sacrificing for. I am now taking this to another level. I have started to write a wish list. A piece of paper that will contain all my dreams. No constraints. No boundaries. No goal too big, No goal too small. And I'm committed to work and achieve each one of them

I will. I will achieve, and I believe you will too. All it takes is one small step. One small step at a time and we move closer to our goals.

Bernard


(All copyright and ownership of the videos belong to the original owners. Videos from youtube)
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Copyright © Bernard Ong, 2006-2008.
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http://mrbolt.blogspot.com

Practice makes perfect!

We've all heard of "Practice makes perfect". Do we really believe it? To me, this was simply an overused phrase. I never paid much attention to it, until now. While goal setting is important, execution is equally important. Why do some of us achieve our goals, and many drop out half way through the race?

Its execution. Sustained execution requires tenacity and applied effort. Goal planning and execution takes practice. Yes, practice. We have to practice executing until it becomes a habit. We are all creatures of habit. When execution becomes a habit, we can accomplish many things in life. Take a look at this video clip of advanced Wing Chung practitioners doing ChiSao blindfolded.




Such advanced skill does not come from 1 day of practice or theory or reading a book. It takes years of study, assimilating concepts, putting theory into practice, getting knocked about, learning from unsuccessful experiences to be better. With each practice, sensitivity is built and the mind and body perform reflex responses like habit.

This is the same in achieving anything we want. We must form habits of success. We must form habits of executing, sustained execution. It does take effort. That is why the majority always sets goals at the beginning of the year without any sustained follow through. They wonder why they didn't achieve their goals.

What about me?

One of my goals is to sell 2 books on ebay. I've already sold 1.

Another of my goal is to write a book. I've already done the planning and begun writing. I've got about 30 A4 pages done already. I've spoken to a best selling author to understand the process of writing and publishing a book.

Another of my goal is to spend time with my family on a holiday. I'm going for a short holiday this week to do just that.

And I feel good as I execute step by little step, closer to my goals for this year.

Practice does make perfect. There is truth in that.

Bernard

Copyright for video belongs to the owner and author of the video. Video from YouTube.

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Copyright © Bernard Ong, 2006-2008.
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http://www.bernard-ong.com
http://mrbolt.blogspot.com

Wing Chun Masters in action

This video clip from YouTube shows GrandMaster Ip Ching (who is Ip Man's son) doing Chi Sao with Master Samuel Kwok. Its a very highly skilled ChiSao. You can see each manouvering themselves to control the other's advances or intentions.




Just thought I'd share more about Wing Chun.

The ownership and copyright of the video belongs to the creator of the video, or the participants in the video.

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Copyright © Bernard Ong, 2006-2008.
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http://www.bernard-ong.com
http://mrbolt.blogspot.com

Protect your dreams

I recently watched the movie "Pursuit of Happyness". Its a heart wrenching, yet very powerful movie for me. I was inspired by the sheer strength, pure determination of steel of the character Chris Gardner to create a better life for his son and himself, and to honour his commitment to his son. Chris withstood formidable odds that many would have simply given up and taken an easy way out.

There was a scene in the movie where Chris told his son to protect his dreams. Those who can't achieve those dreams will tell you the same thing. Learn to protect your dreams and not let anyone distract or dissuade you from it.

When we were young, we had many dreams...to be an astronaut, a fireman, a soccer star, a kung fu master, a scientist, an inventor and the list goes on. Do you notice we had many dreams when we were younger?

What happened to us as we grew older? Why did the number of dreams decrease? Are these dreams absurd? In my opinion, NO! Every dream is precious. Every dream is our innermost desire to make something of ourselves, to do something that we believe we will enjoy and make a difference. Along the way, we've been told not to waste our time on such trivial pursuits and focus on the real bread-and-butter matters. Study hard, get a good job. This is of course a good path. We can also have alternative paths that help us achieve our dreams, either later, or earlier. Dreams become reality. Its a matter of effort and sheer determination

Continue to dream. Dare to dream, for dreams take us to where we sincerely want to be.

Protect your dreams.

Bernard

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Copyright © Bernard Ong, 2006-2008.
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Inspiring speech by Steve Jobs

This is an awesome speech by Steve Jobs. Inspiring indeed! Stay hungry, stay foolish!



Copyright of the video belongs to the creator of the video. Video from YouTube.

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Copyright © Bernard Ong, 2006-2008.
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What is Wing Chun Kung Fu?

Wing Chun Kung Fu is a fantastic, thinking, scientific martial arts. As the legend goes, it was developed by a nun in China after the destruction of the ShaoLin Temple. It is a soft martial art that uses the opponents strengths to your advantage. Hence, a Wing Chun exponent will be able to "handle" larger, stronger opponents. It was also Bruce Lee's first and only martial art he was formally trained on.

This is the reason I had searched for a teacher for a long time. I'm currently training and still have so much to learn and experience. Its a simple art, but requires a high degree of skill and sensitivity development.

Words cannot express the art. Have a look at this video. THe Wing Chun practitioners are doing "sticking hands", which is a practice where arms are in contact and sensitiveity is developed. The movements (attack and defence) are not choreographed. It is free flowing. This is very close to a real fight. It helps to hone your skills and build confidence. Don't be fooled by the slow smooth action. Just imagine if these two are executing their moves in double quick time. It would result in severe injuries.

Experienced Wing Chun practioners are able to do "Sticking hands" blindfolded.






Copyright for the video belongs to the creator of the video. Video is from YouTube (C).

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Copyright © Bernard Ong, 2006-2008.
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Cyber wellness

I recently attended a talk on Cyber-wellness. The Internet has made this world of our much smaller, more convenient, quicker interactivity. However, the cyber world mimics the real world.

This talk is about the dangers that the web pose to children. We were shown blogs and websites that contained pornographic material, blogs that used vulgarities and promoted vulgarities as fashionable. Guess what? These sites have a very high number of hits per day.

Children and teenagers use the Internet to do research extensively. Its part and parcel of school life in Singapore. These young minds may and probably will inadvertantly surf to these undesireable sites by clicking on a well masked link from a search page. They may not know how to respond to what they see and read. These young and impressionable minds begin to form ideas and perceptions of the world as to what is generally accepted, which may be morally or ethically wrong.

There is no way to stop anyone from writing or posting anything. The web has become an inexpensive but powerful way of getting noticed and having your name/thoughts/writings published for a world audience. This is really freedom. However, in my view, freedom comes with responsibility and accountability.

Know your intent. Publish responsibly and be accountable for what you write, for there is nothing private on the Internet.

Why not use this medium of collaboration for the good of mankind. Why not use this medium to supercharge your readers with positive messages, giving your readers hope, inspiration and the determination to make a difference. It only takes one person to change the world. It takes only one simple act of kindness to change the world.

I remember a saying from the movie "Schindler's List". The PoW Stern quoted that "He who saves one life, saves the world entire".

As we continue our pursuit of our dreams and ambitions, let's empower those around us to also reach for their stars as we strive to reach ours.

It only takes one responsible act of kindness.

Bernard

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