I was actually impressed by the broadcast of the final of The Voice France on 25-Apr-2015.  They invited one of the finalists from a previous year (but she did not win in her year of competition) as a guest.  After the competition, she went onto become a successful singer in her own right.  The program producers wanted to encourage all participants to continue to strive for their dreams even if they did not win this time.  Indeed, there are endless opportunities in life.  One should not give up even if he/she did not win yet.  Keep your chin up :>

By sheer chance I was in France to watch the final of The Voice France on TV. The winner Lilian Renaud was the one whose coach/judge Zaziesaid Lilian is an amateur in her concluding and final pitch for her protégée. Actually what she meant was Lilian’s passion for music. There were four established professional singers as guests on the programme. In my opinion, the main differences between an amateur and a professional are more practices and opportunities to excel.

Patience is actually more than a virtue in my opinion. In fact, it is a key element for success.
First of all, let me clarify that patience does not mean helplessly and passively waiting for something to happen.
For me, the latter is a mixture of laziness, wishful thinking and the like, but it is not patience at all.
Patience implies a certain stamina, self-control and persistence with a focus on the ultimate goal in mind and allowing time to achieve that goal.
For example, a farmer patiently waits for the harvest to come and in the meantime he/she needs to work very hard to cultivate the crops for that to happen.

Early this week on BBC Radio 2, Chris Evans reminded  listeners the importance of laying down a solid foundation through hard work and then reaping the fruit later. He said boredom before fun. It echoes with some of the key points of my book: “Hard work” (p.33-34) and “Invest the time to work on the basics” (p.34-35).

As a parting and farewell advice (as insurance coverage ran out), my physiotherapist told me that the only way that I can restore full mobility of my right arm is to STRETCH the limits.  Despite the pain and ache associated with it, I need to do it especially when normal daily activities don’t reach those limits.
Applying the same principle to personal development in general, we should also try new things that push us to our limits and expand our boundaries from time to time.   It is not easy but as it is said, “No pain no gain!”

2 weeks ago I blogged about my joy of receiving a notice regarding the purchase of an e-copy of my book in Canada.
This morning, I was notified of another purchase of one copy from Canada. As I said before, every copy counts and I am equally excited about this purchase like the first time.
I guess like a parent (though I am not one), every child is unique and precious to him or her (as least that is why my parents told me).
As for me, every sale of my book is equally and uniquely precious. 25 more copies to go before reaching my target of 300 copies :>

Tonight I mustered enough courage to attend a French meet-up (a conversational group made up of approximately 1/3 French, 1/3 British & 1/3 International) at a bar. After 30 minutes talking with a few people, I noticed that one new participant stood next to me. I politely said “bonjour” and he replied “RE-bonjour” meaning that I met him already during my first 30 minutes. I was a bit embarrassed and said “It must be my drink!”. He said, “But it is water in your glass” (which is true:>). Well …

I am proud that my 13 years old niece Cameron has recently become the volleyball captain in her volleyball class. Tonight we discussed via Skype on how to motivate the “weakest link” in her team besides telling her to practise more and work harder. I asked Cameron the following questions:
1) What are some other ways that you as a captain can do to encourage her?
2) Put yourself in her shoes, what can you do to motivate her?
3) What can the team do to support her?

I meant the cultural gap/difference.
I had a coffee with a friend yesterday and she told me that she did not do too well in a recent exam made up of case studies/situations with implicit cultural preferences on the correct answers. As a non-native British person, she did not fare too well. Fair or not is another issue, but the awareness of cultural difference is important and at times critical.

For someone with a quantitative and scientific background, I consider precision as something of great value.  However, in the British culture, ambiguity and subtlety are highly regarded.  For example, instead of an out-right no, the British prefer to say “I am not sure.” Or “Let me get back to you later” (but never intended to).

I call it a British “no”. “Reading between the lines” does require a talent that I am developing.