Monthly Archives: October 2015

Tonight I attended my very first Halloween party dressed as a nerd (I know it is not a long stretch of imagination) with broken thick glasses and a long-hair wig. My British friends asked me why a nerd was scary. I said Halloween costume was not supposed to be scary only because in the American […]

I saw the latest Bond movie last night. My personal rating on it is 8 out of 10. The acting in general ranged from good to competent. The cinematography was breath-taking – such stunning camera work. A friend asked me why it was not 9 out of 10, I said because Monica Bellucci only got […]

Yesterday I had lunch with a group of friends and one of them is very precise in his speech. Being a person that appreciates a certain degree of precision, I can relate to him though other people thought our conversation was a bit strange as it usually took a few rounds of questioning and confirmation […]

This weekend is the start of the half term (1-week school break) in the U.K. As a result, London is filled with young children with their parents visiting museums and other attractions. I adore children and we can learn from them at least the following aspects: 1) Curiosity – Children love to explore and have […]

As the clock will be moved backward for an hour this weekend in the U.K., some people have started worrying about the fact that it will get dark earlier in the afternoon. Well, a few thoughts from me. 1) We will gain an hour extra sleep this weekend (just once, not every day). That is […]

Last week I had tea (yes, this is England) with a friend and he told me that he had read my book while he had been on vacation this summer. He mentioned, in particular, that he had similar experience in life (as a mature person) that he needed to persevere and bounce back from tough […]

Last Friday it was a rough day for me as it was one of those days that things were not working as “efficiently” as they should have been. Despite the fact that I still value efficiency and productivity, I decided to “retune my mind”, in particular, my concept of timeline. I reminded myself that different […]

I spoke to an instructor on presentation skills last night and she pointed out that it is very important for the speaker to believe that the subject you are presenting is INTERESTING to the audience. That mindset makes a huge difference on the effectiveness of conveying the message and its impact. It makes perfect sense […]

Yesterday my Pilates instructor came back after her surgery. During her absence, we had a substitute instructor for 6 weeks. I realized that the class went much more smoothly (not just for me) with the regular instructor who returned. It suddenly dawned on me that one key difference is the quality and volume of the […]

Sometimes we make causal comments (“careless whisper”) that can be destructive and discouraging to the listener unintentionally. For example, when I told a friend of mine that I had passed the interview to be a business mentor of a major UK charity, she casually said, “Ok, it is only just charity.” The response in itself […]