Physical Power

Yesterday, I reached a milestone in my ultimate physical power outcome.
I ran non-stop for 5 kilometres in 35 minutes.

I've never run non-stop for 5 kilometres in 35 minutes in my whole life. This is my first ever! I set this goal earlier this month and expect to reach it by the end of April. I did it within 2 weeks.

I believe that this experience illustrates the power of goal-setting.

Apply What You Know!

"to know and not to do is not to know" - Confucius

I've been learning continuously and I think I know something. After reading the quote above, I realize that I really don't know much about anything because learning the concept is not enough, it is when I apply what I know, then I really know.

Have you applied what you have learned? If you haven't, please take the time and make the effort to apply those lessons in your life. You'll have more confidence and belief in yourself.

Courage and Fear

Courage or foolishness?

In my seminar, I often ask the audience what the definition of courage is. The answer is usually COURAGE = NO FEAR, which means that you are courageous when you don't feel any fear whatsoever. I believe that this is a poor definition of courage because it makes you feel that you don't have the courage to face new challenges in life that often come with fear of the unknown.

I think Mark Twain's description of courage - Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear - is more empowering. It is about understanding and accepting that a fear exists, yet you are willing to take action despite it. Susan Jeffers said "Feel the fear and do it anyway."

Lessons:
1. It is natural to feel fear when you are about to do something new. The feeling of fear is not meant to paralyse you but it is to prepare you.
2. Courage is not the absence of fear, but feeling the fear and do it anyway

Learn and Grow!
Inge Santoso

Dr. Stephen R. Covey - The 8th Habit

From left to right: Jakoeb Oetama, President Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Dr. Stephen R. Covey

Last Wednesday I fulfilled one of my lifetime goals. It is to attend a seminar by Dr. Stephen R. Covey's seminar. The title of the seminar was "Achieving Greatness in a Turbulent World".

Not only I could listen to Dr. Stephen R Covey in person, I also listened to a speech by the President, Mr. Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono himself. The President encouraged every one of us to cultivate a 'Culture of Excellence' in every fabric of our lives. He also said that although he preferred the world 'greatness' to 'turbulent', the two often went hand in hand. It is absolutely true in his case. Since he becomes a president, Indonesia has gone through turbulent times - tsunami, earthquake, rising oil prices, economic crisis, and many more. I hope the president can rise to the challenge of turbulent world and Indonesia can achieve greatness under his leadership.

Dr. Covey inspired us to develop the 8th Habit: "Find Your Voice; Inspire Others to Find Theirs". Voice has to do with:

• Talent (Mind) - What are you good at?
• Need (Body) - What need does it serve?
• Passion (Heart) - What do you love doing?
• Conscience (Spirit) - What is life asking of me? What should I contribute in this situation? (sense of calling)

He also motivated us to be A Trim Tab - a catalyst for change. By definition a trim tab is the small rudder that turns the big rudder that turns the ship. Everyone can be a trim tab. It is about deciding to be a trim tab and start to make a difference. He showed us a video about one high school principal who has made a big difference in her school by doing one small act, cleaning the school toilet, scrubbing the floor by herself. After that, everybody started to get involved and the school got better and better.

Lessons:
1. Choose to be a trim tab
2. Find your voice and inspire others to find theirs
3. Develop a culture of excellence

Learn and Grow!
Inge Santoso

We Take More Than We Give

I recently stumbled into Rustle the Leaf Environmental Comic. I think it is an interesting and fun way to educate people about the importance of saving our environment. We take so much from the Earth and what do we give back? Sadly we often give back rubbish, pollution, and other harmful things to the environment. I believe if each one of us can contribute a little to take simple steps to save our environment, it will make a big difference.

Remember these three simple steps to help saving our environment:
REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE

Learn and Grow!
Inge Santoso

Symmetry

Living Life in Balance

A Fly Story

A Fly in the Sky

This is one of the most interesting photos I took during my stay in Tawangmangu last weekend. This picture reminds me of a story I often tell in my Comfort Zone Seminar. It's a story about a fly that could see the vast sky but it couldn't fly there because it was confined by a glass window. The fly kept trying to fly through the glass but ended dying there because it never realized that there was a glass between where the fly was and where it wanted to go.

Sometimes the same thing happens to people. We may be able to see the opportunities out there, yet we are unable to get them. We often wonder why we are stuck in a rut despite our hard work. The key is to realize and be aware of the 'unseen glass', our comfort zone, that keeps us confined. We are frequently held back by our fear, guilt, anger, hurt, and negative beliefs that act as the boundary of our comfort zone. It's only after we break through these negative beliefs and feelings that we can expand our comfort zone and achieve the results we want.

What are the things that hold you back from attaining what you want?
Reach deep within yourself and find the real reason. Remember to be true to yourself and let the truth sets you free.

Learn and Grow!

Inge Santoso

A Journey to the Summit

The view from a plane's window during my last trip

I've been looking at my recent photo collection when this photo gave me an inspiration about a goal and the journey towards it.

Let's say that your goal is the mountain. It is far from where you are now and it will take time for you to get there. When you have a big vision, remember to keep your eyes on it and start to chart the terrain and plot your course towards it.

You may notice that the terrain is clearer and better charted within a short distance, but the further you see, the landscape is covered with fog. It means that sometimes you may be afraid of the unknown, of what lies beyond the fog, that it paralyses you and refrains you from taking short-term actions. It is natural that you may feel this way, but you need to face the fear and simply take the steps to move forward. You'll see much better once you are closer.

Sometimes the straight line from where you are now to your goal is not the easiest nor the fastest way. You must prepare yourself to navigate the terrains with its ups and downs, its twists and turns. Be flexible and adapt quickly to the situation.

Remember to keep your eyes on the mountain, focus on your goal along the journey so that you won't get lost. You'll get there sooner or later. Never give up! The journey may be the hardest when you are climbing the mountain. Don't quit until you reach the peak of the mountain!

When you arrive on the summit and see the breathtaking view, you'll simply forget about your tiredness, your mental and emotional exhaustion. You'll feel glad, excited, and fantastic. You'll be grateful and appreciative of what you have become because of the journey.

At the end, what really matters is not the goal nor the achievement, but it is discovering who you really are and what you are capable of.

Finally, I'd like to invite you to set your goal, start your journey, see the view from the summit and discover your true potential!

Learn and Grow!

Inge Santoso

Warning: Disgusting Intestinal Worm

Warning: Please do not read this post any further if you can't stand disgusting things

Since I live in a country which is considered to be high population density with low sanitation, I am recommended to have a bi-annual treatment, so two days ago I took Combantrin. Combantrin is said to be effective against threadworm, roundworm and hookworm. It contains pyrantel embonate that works as a "neuro-muscular blocking agent" - effectively paralysing worms. When worms are unable to move, they are passed out in the faeces.

Yesterday morning, I saw one pink roundworm as thick as LAN cable, about 25cm long being passed out in a stool. Here is an illustration of a roundworm:


It was a shockingly disgusting sight. I still haven't been able to get the picture out of my mind. The more I search about roundworm on the internet, the scarier it becomes. It's said that up to approximately one hundred roundworms can infect a single human host! One is scary enough, imagine 100. Eugh!

According to WHO, about 25% of the world's population are infected with roundworm...that's one in four people. The question is: have you taken steps to ensure that you are free of intestinal parasites?

Learn and Grow!

My Mother and Her Mobile Headset

Last Friday morning, my mother borrowed my Nokia headset because she'd like to try using it to make and receive phone calls. Just before she left the house, she plugged-in the headset and put the mobile phone in her bag.

At about 9AM, I got a phone call from her. When I picked up the phone, I could hear only crackling noise and she didn't seem to hear me saying, "Hello...hello...." I thought perhaps she accidentally pressed the call button on her mobile, so I put down my phone. In less than 5 minutes, my phone rang again and the same thing happened, only this time I could hear her saying, "Hello...." but the voice was distant and she still couldn't hear my voice. At last, I realised that my mother used her mobile as usual (pressing the mobile to her ear) and the connected headset was in her bag. No wonder she couldn't hear a thing!

I tried to call and tell her that she had to use the headset to listen to my voice, but it was to no avail because she couldn't hear me. Finally I sent a text message telling her that while the headset was connected to the phone, she needed to use it to listen and talk.

In a short while, she called me again and this time I could hear her voice loud and clear. When I talked to her, I could hear that she was a bit embarrased by the whole affair. It was that "how silly of me...bla bla bla" thing. At the end, we just laughed about the whole thing...HA HA HA.

My beloved mother has finally learned to use the mobile headset :) Well done Mum!

Lessons:
1. Learn a bit about a new gadget you are going to use.
2. You seldom do something perfectly on the first try. It is perfectly natural to make a few mistakes.
3. Don't be afraid to make a few mistakes and learn from them.
4. It's never too late to learn something new.

Learn and Grow!

A False Sense of Security

On 1st October 2005, the company I worked for announced that it was operationally non-active. All of its employees and distributors were quite shocked by this surprising news. All of a sudden, we were forced out of our safe haven of comfortable and secure employment...out of our comfort zone.

How do we react to this news? There are all sorts of reactions but this time I'm going to blog one interesting phenomenon.

At first, most of the employees were afraid of losing steady source of income. Therefore, some quickly scoured the newspaper looking for job opportunities and started sending out resumes. A few others began looking for new entrepreneurial business opportunities. Basically, the majority of people took rapid actions to replace their income. However, this phenomenon of taking actions did not last long! After they received their sizeable retrenchment benefits, the majority did not feel the rush to get a new source of income anymore. Some of them even stopped looking for a new job and decided to take a long vacation instead.

Are they falling into a false sense of security?

Have you ever observed this kind of behaviour in people around you? What do you think about this kind of behaviour?

These are some lessons I've learned from this event:
1. Be aware of falling into a false sense of security
2. Expect changes to happen as a wise man once said "Change is the only constant"
3. Be prepared and adapt quickly to changes
4. When people are out of their comfort zone, they start taking action to get back into their comfort zone. Once they think that they are back inside, they stop taking action.

Learn and Grow!

The Legacy of Tanah Lot

Panoramic View of Tanah Lot (Earth From Sea), Bali, Indonesia

During Entrepreneur Business School in Bali, Roger Hamilton told us the story about the 500 year legacy of Tanah Lot.

The questions for you and I:

• What kind of legacy are we leaving for the next generations?
  
• How are we going to be remembered by our descendants?
• Are we making a positive difference in life?
• What are we going to do to ensure that we will leave a lasting legacy?

When you focus on leaving a legacy, you'll see a lot of your actions in new and proper perspectives. We often see our problems today to be very big and we tend to over-react, but when we view them from a longer and bigger perspective, these problems may be just small stuff. We need to focus on the important things...things that really matter.

What would you do differently today if you are going to leave a lasting legacy?

Learn and Grow!

Inge Santoso