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.

Today the subject of formatting a text message was raised and debated. The writer said it is the content of the message that is most important and the format of the message is of little significance. I agreed on the importance of the message content but disagreed on his point regarding formatting.  It is because actually if the message is not formatted and outlined in a user-friendly way, it is difficult to read and may be conveniently ignored given we are in the age of “information overload”.

There is definitely a difference between sending out a message and aiming at a message being read and then understood by a reader.

As a result of quite a heated discussion with a friend over the weekend, we finally agreed that there is difference between making a judgement and passing a judgement.
Making a judgement is usually a necessity in life as it is part of a decision-making process.
On the other hand, passing a judgement onto others (imposing your view or taking action that affects others) is a much more delicate and socially-sensitive matter.

Feedback is a double-edged sword in the sense that it must be utilized with caution; otherwise it may be backfired with undesirable results.
A few initial thoughts on this subject:
• Try to find someone as objective as possible when you seek feedback.
• Differentiate if the person is giving you “expert” feedback (meaning the person is knowledgeable in that area) or as a friend. Understand the perspective of the person.
• Avoid “selective” listening but at the same time, don’t take all feedback at face value. Analyze it when you are objective and calm.
• It is not a debate. It is alright to clarify the feedback received but leave it as that. “Sleep” on it and you don’t have to agree or disagree on the spot.

Some people were wondering how I looked like when I was young(er).

I made a somewhat “fatal” mistake of showing an old picture of me to some colleagues. They cracked up and laughed so hard that I was “slightly” annoyed.

So I won’t repeat that mistake, but for the record, it is not far from this image.