Decisions you make, when all the stars in the universe align and a cup of coffee!

What a day! It began like any other day. Within one hour, it was as though all the stars in the universe were aligned. The decisions my wife an I made early in the morning caused the stars in the universe (my universe) align.

Decision #1
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My daughter had classes really early this morning. I decided to drive her to school at 6.40am, and head to Starbucks by the beach. I had decided to have Bagel and coffee for breakfast with my wife before getting started on my work.

As luck would have it, we were too early. Yup. At 7.30am, Starbucks was closed. We were sorely disappointed. We stood outside Starbucks for 10 minutes, deciding where we could go to fill our growling hungry stomachs.

Decision #2
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Between going to a hawker centre and a McDonald's by the beach, we decided to have breakfast at McDonalds.

Decision #3
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While at McDonalds, we took 5 minutes to decide on our breakfast. It was a difficult choice because we were set on having bagels. As we were about to place our orders, a voice behind me said, "Why aren't you in Korea?".

Conrad, an old school mate and buddy of mine, had also just dropped by McDonalds for breakfast with his wife after sending their kids to school. He is also one person who would kick me if I did not complete writing my book "How to rescue failing software projects", which I eventually did and got it listed on Amazon! (Believe me, you don't want to be kicked by Conrad!)

What a coincidence. We had a really nice chat, catching up on the latest happenings in his field of work and compared notes on family tips.

It wasn't long before Conrad's sister, Gwen, came roller-blading by. Another coincidence. She teaches in an education centre that my son attends. She also mentioned that another common friend of ours was having breakfast with his wife at another coffee joint.

Adam, the other "common friend", and his wife, came by McDonalds and we all sat around a small table, sipping on coffee while catching up with each other. Adam is the other person who gave me the inspiration to write my book.

While we sat around a table sipping coffee, we didn't talk about business. There were no expectations placed on any of us. We were relaxed and comfortable, sharing our experience and insights freely

What are the chances that a group of friends can get together by being at the same place, at the same time and doing the same thing? All the stars in the universe must have been aligned!

What has this got to do with effectiveness and project management? A lot. It may seem like a simple get-together, but the same concepts learned from this simple setting can be very powerful.

Observation #1
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Simple decisions can determine the outcome of major tasks. If my wife and I hadn't made the decision to have breakfast together at Starbucks, this chain of events wouldn't have happened. It takes one decision to get the ball rolling.

Observation #2
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When one door closes, another opens. If we hadn't made the decision to have breakfast at Starbucks, we wouldn't have had the opportunity to make an alternative decision to have breakfast at McDonalds. If we didn't have breakfast at McDonalds, we wouldn't have met Conrad and Adam with their wives, and Gwen. If my wife and I had breakfast just 10 minutes earlier or 10 minutes later, we wouldn't have had the gathering. A closed door or failed opportunity leads to another open door, provided a decision is made to take action.

Observation #3
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Not all get-togethers or meetings need to be about business. In managing projects, project managers and team members are up to their necks with uncompleted tasks. It does pay to have small breaks, or small celebrations on milestone completions. These breaks and celebrations are just that...real breaks. It should not be done on a pretext of having a break, and end up having a meeting about the project over coffee. It is about building rapport. It is about understanding each other in the team. It is about building camaraderie and friendships. People relate best when they are relaxed and not have expectations put upon them. Especially in project teams where there is always a tight schedule and endless number of tasks, these friendships help the project team to have a higher morale and thus, leading to greater productivity.

I have personally experienced observation #3 when I was in the midst of rescuing projects. No matter how tired we were, we remained a cohesive team, We understood each other better, we could relate to each other's challenges better and we were willing to help each other out. There was a strong "give-and-take" attitude that enabled us to successfully turn projects around. Boundaries and walls within the team were chipped away naturally.

So, do not wait for all the stars in the universe to align before having a cup of coffee. Make that decision to enjoy a simple, freshly brewed, steaming hot cup of coffee with your family, with your team, with your boss, or just by yourself. You never know when and how the stars will align for you.

Bernard



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http://mrbolt.blogspot.com

Do you believe in luck?

IMG_3384
Originally uploaded by bernong1

"Boy, you're lucky". "I wish I was as lucky as you".

Is there really such thing as luck? Is luck given out to certain people and not others? Can we make our own luck?

I do believe there is luck. It is also another name for opportunity. Opportunities abound everywhere and anytime.

What we do with this opportunity determines our "luck". I believe we make our luck. We make our opportunities. Luck and opportunities do not mean 100% guaranteed success. It is simply a chance given to you to take action and make something out of the situation or need. Whether it succeeds or not depends on the actions you take or not take.

Every single action we take every single minute makes our "luck". We make our "luck" and we make it come true. The one factor that contributes to our success is a passionate and prudent use of time.

Use your time well. Every step you take should move you closer to your goals.


Make you own luck!

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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.
All Rights Reserved
http://www.bernard-ong.com
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.
All Rights Reserved
http://www.bernard-ong.com
http://mrbolt.blogspot.com