Reflections - Part 2

Hi again friends.

Now, am finally back in Singapore, seated in front of my home computer. As promised, here goes the second part to my reflections.

Before that, I would just like to share with you hoWw my 2009 started. Well, what happened was my plane left Medan 20 mins before ETD. And arrived 30 mins before ETA. And there I was, happy that I could go back home earlier...And that's when "bad luck" struck.

As I waited for the luggage, I messaged Peter as to how many luggage and boxes I should retrieve. And that's when he replied that he was still in Medan. Flight delayed for close to an hour...and I was like, "Oh man...that means I have to wait for an hour!" What to do.

So, I took all the luggage. So, I went over to T1 from T2 and waited for him. And along the way, I told myself, "No matter what, I am going to start my year 2009 right." So, I changed my state immediately.

Decided to watch the DVD which I bought from Indon, Yip Man. Good thing, the show was great and I didn't feel my time wasted. haha. And finally, Peter came. And he was smiling away. We must be sharing the same thought as to how NYE was turning out.

So, in the end, I only reached home around 1230.

Well, interesting way to pass the NYE. But anyway, it was nice to receive many smses from Dea, DD and even my student from China. :) GREAT!

I picked up Martial ARTS AGAIN!!! WOO HOOO! Rediscovered my passion for the sports. And this time round, through Brazilian Jujitsu and Mixed Martial Arts. The adrenalin rush keeps me young. And I must say, the first few weeks of training, I simply couldn't sleep after the training simply because I was too excited. haha. But it was great.

Sept was the time I ran my first even, Exam Game Intensive. It was great and a program was created to allow students to finally see the "secrets" behind exams and what needs to be done to do well in it. I am going to run two more sessions again in Mar, and so far, the first session is already FULL. WOO HOO again!

Learnt about something really powerful through Ernest and Cecilia (a friend from Malaysia). And will be furthering into it as the potential it has is marvelous. Am sure with this new found Tech, I would be able to reach out to more people.

Went to Medan, and am glad that I have made some great contacts. Now, I will plan to proceed ahead with my 2 plans for personal and financial growth. Soon, my 2 dreams will come true. Am sure that it will materialise in 2009.

I bought a great phone, C902 from Sony Ericsson and WON a Playstation 3. haha. Going to collect it on the 2nd. :) Lucky!

2009 is going to be great. I just know it, and I will create it. I hope that all will be well. Most importantly, I hope that you would take some time to really think about who you want to give thanks to, and think about the magic moments ofr 2008. Attitude of Gratitude.

Before I go, HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL! May 2009 be a year of fulfilled dreams for you.

Cheers!
Ken

Gratitude - Reflection for 2009

Dear all,

If you have read my two other posts, you would have known that I would always take the opportunity to give thanks to the many people who had made the year special, or a difference in my life. Today, as I am sitting in a little cafe in Sun Plaza, Medan, I just thought that I should complete this before I fly back to Singapore.

Today, I would like to write about the a few special people and events that are of exceptional meaning to me. :)

People

1) I would like to thank my mom for all that she has done for me in the past. Even though she may never understand what I write here, and that she is suffereing from Dementia and that we may not have many more years to go, I am happy that she is still around NOW and that I have still this opportunity to take care of her when I can. Maybe she will not even know what I am doing, but I guess, being able to feed her, buy her her favourite food, helping her around, pushing her on her wheelchair...I still can count my blessing. I love her.

2) My dad has always been an impatient man, sometimes angry. But this period of time, he has shown his love for my mom and taking care of her wholeheartedly. I know that he feels the pain, just as the whole family. Through him, I learnt of the strength of true love and commitment for the other half. Though he may still get upset at times, but he means well.



Events

3) Resolving of personal matters. After 2 years, the problems has been cleared and I am moving ahead into 2009 with a huge and powerful plan. I am sure huge growth awaits. While challenges may arise, but we have also met with many people who are here to support us. 2009 will be GREAT!

4) Conducted a full year of great trainings. Have definitely hit the target of the number of people I want to reach to. Thanks to all the schools and students. Thanks to all the parents and children. Thank you for iving me the chance to working with you.

Well, I am sorry that I have to stop here. As I need to rush off now. I will continue with more.

Before I go, I would just like to ask, "What are your reflections for the year 2009? What were your MOMENTs of 2009?" If you like, blog about it, and let me know. I would love to read about it.

Let's all start the new year with the attitude of gratitude.

Love,
Ken

How You Love Your Other Half Is How You Love Yourself

Recently, a strange idea got me really excited and I sort of came up to this phrase "How you love your other half is how you love yourself". It is just my thoughts and I would like to ask for some comments and feedback. So, please feel free to voice your opinions here. Thanks first!

Okay, here I go.

Many of us have experienced this before, or have "committed" such an act before in our lives. When we are interested in a certain person of the opposite sex, we start to treat the person really well, taking care of the person's needs, being really sensitive to the other person's moods, almost all the time. It usually happens during the dating period.

BUT then, things start to change once you become attached. You think that you are treating your other half the "same" way, but your other half starts and keeps complaining about you, gets upset at you for small little things that you didn't do, and you two end up fighting or having cold war. Sounds familiar?

Well, for most of the people I know, it seems to be the case. And recently, I thought about it and in my own opinion, the reason is because, you have started to treat the other half as part of you, and therefore, you treat the other person the way you usually do to yourself.

Yes, it may sound alittle crazy, but let me do my best to explain to you what I mean.

Before you are attached, you are two separate entities, and you do your best to please the other person (at least for most people). You would even do things which you never thought that you would do. You would even do things which you would never even do for yourself! It is quite normal. You are "in love" and the chemical reactions in your brain sort of make you do all those crazy things.

BUT when you get attached together, things change. Things sort of stagnate alittle, and you are not as "romantic" as you were during dating. Reason, I feel, is because, you feel that your other half is a part of you, or is YOU (whether consciously or unconsciously). And because of this, you don't do those "special" things for your other half anymore, BECAUSE, you don't do those "special" things to yourself in the first place.

To make things easier to understand, maybe this would help.

A person who always hurt himself would end up hurting his other half.
A person who is stingy with herself would usually be stingy when it comes to her other half.
A person who has no drive for a better life would not have high expectations of the other half.
A person who cannot love him/herself, can never love his/her other half.

And the same goes for people who usually have a relationship that works out wonderfully.

A person who splurges on himself would usually be able to splurge on the other half.
A person who is able to spend time with himself is usually able to spend time with the other half.
A person who is able to be open to herself about feelings and emotions is usually able to be as open to the other half.
A person who is able to love him/herself, can truly love his/her other half.

(Please pardon me if this sounds confusing. I am just voicing this out here, haphazardly. So please help me by providing comments. I want to clear this in my head too. :S It is a strong feeling that I am onto something really big here, and I want to get it right.)

This is usually the case, or rather, this IS THE CASE for everyone. Before we are in a relationship, we treat the other person as different, and that the other person has a different expectations. So, during "courtship" and dating, we change and adjust to match to that expectations.

BUT, when we become attached, Two Becomes One...or rather, Two Becomes YOU. And that is when, if you don't see this fact, the problem arises. You start to treat the other person the same way you treat yourself. You start to thing that, that person's expectation is actually your expectation of yourself. You start to treat that person the same way you treat yourself, thinking that person will not mind (and boy, are you wrong about that!).

That is when the challenges of relationship come about. And unless you are able to resolve this part, the problems will just keep mounting.

So what's the solution for this? My suggestion is, rather than working on the relationship, the focus of work should be on ourselves instead. The "war" is not with the External world (your other half), but rather is in the Internal world.

Do you truly care about yourself? Do you truly take good care of your own wellbeing? Do you feel good about yourself? Are you honest with yourself? Are you open to your emotions, whether negative or positive? Do you accept yourself, your strengths and weaknesses? Do you love yourself?

When was the last time you even had a conversation with yourself ABOUT yourself?

Your answers to the above question will determine the sort of relationship you will have.

If you truly care about yourself, your health and takes care of your own wellbeing, you would be able to take care of your other half's health and wellbeing.
If you feel good about yourself, you would be able to feel good about your other half.
If you are honest with yourself, you would be able to be honest to your other half.
If you are open to your own emotions, you would be able to be open to your other half about emotions.
If you are able to accept yourself, strengths and weaknesses, you would be able to accept your other half, strengths and weaknesses.
If you are able to love yourself, you would be able to love your other half.
If you are able to have a close, heart to heart conversation with yourself about yourself, you would be able to have a close, heart to heart converstaion with your other half.

I came to realise that whether a relationship works out or not, it is a choice of whether you want to work on yourself first, and never on what you can work on the other person. It is a choice whether you are willing to take responsibilities and take charge of yourself, and not on the other person. It is YOU first, before the other. You are the cause.

So, if you are always in a relationship where you get hurt, or where there are huge problems, it is because of YOU and only you. You created those problems.

BUT, if you are having a fulfilling relationship with your other half now, good for you! It is also because you have CREATED the results.

It is all you.

So my last question to you is this, when is the last time you have had a honest conversation, about your own life, about your own future, about your own happiness, about your feelings, with YOURSELF?

Regards,
Ken

(Pardon me too, if there are any spelling errors or grammar. So I can amend.)

How To Ace Chemistry?

This Article is for those students whom are asking about how to do better in "O" levels Chemistry. I hope to share some insight on what you can do to improve on your Chem.

One important key that all Chem students must know is that, this is a subject whereby you need to build a strong foundation before moving up to the next level. It is a subject whereby the earlier topics are more important as the latter subjects. Without the basics, you would definitely have difficulties. DEFINITELY.

So, it is of the utmost importance that you must review your notes and textbooks of Chem for Chapter 1 - Chap 8 (up until Atomic Structure, Electrons, charges, Reactivity series and why certain element are more reactive/less reactive, Periodic table arrangement, etc).
Now, while this may sound like a lot of work. BUT, once this portion is done, the rest of the chapters will become soooo much easier. So, it is definitely worth your investment of time and effort.

Now, why is it that Chap 1-8 is important? Let me give you an example.

In the latter chapter of Ionic bonding and Covalent bonding, what is it actually talking about? It is talking about the reactivity of the metals and non metals, and how they will bond together. BUT, if you chunk down further, it is testing more of your understanding of the periodic table arrangement and electrons . It is because of the lack or additional number of electrons which causes the instability, which explains the reactivity level (Cation / Anion).

(Just an interesting note for you, reactivity can be equated to the insecurity of human beings. The more things (in Chem, it will be electrons) that a human (elements, metals or non-metals) is missing, the more this human wants to bond (either sharing or taking of electrons) with others. But if this human has extra, then, this human will only feel secure through giving aways or share with others all the extra things. See if this helps you to understand Bonding better.)

So, imagine if you don't even know how the periodic table is arranged, what electrons are, what is missing, whether is it a metal or non-metal, do you think you can answer the questions properly? Obviously no.

Another example would be Oxidation and Reduction. One was of seeing whether it is Oxi or Red is whether there is loss or gain of electrons. So, what is the basic topic of this chapter again? Back to Chapter 1-8 again. If you don't understand the electrons, and how to identify, you would definitely face challenges.

To score an A for O Levels Chemistry, is very easy, and you just need to do your work on a daily basis. Take the next 8 days, focus on doing well in your basics, in the first 8 chapters (or up until Atomic structure, depending on which text you are using). Upon completion of this part, you can be sure of easier path ahead in your studying of Chem.

Now, if you are keen to know how you can guarantee an A for your Chem, drop me a message here.


Ken Koh is the Co-Trainer and Consultant of the highly successful Super Teens Holiday Camp and Smart Kid Training workshop. He has positively impacted the lives and personally coached over 15,000 students from Singapore, Malaysia, China and Indonesia. Ken is one of the rare few in Singapore to be personally trained and coached by Dr Ernest Wong. For more information, please visit www.learningmastery.com.

Success Without Fulfilment Is Failure.

Recently, one of my students came up to me, and gave me a note that really means so much to both him and me. While I can't share with you about the contents of the letter, I can only say that it sets me thinking about, "how we can live a full life?"

As the saying goes, "It is not the number of breaths you have, but the number of breath taking moments you have."

And this is so true. We have heard about this before that just before we die, we will see our own life flash before our eyes. While that cannot be proven, I believe that it is not our whole life, BUT RATHER, special moments in our life that will appear instead. Moments that have a strong significant emotional meaning.

It could be the day when you took your first step, first fall, first crush, first kiss, heartbreak, loss of a dear one, gain of a new one, hurt, tears, joy, ecstatic moment, etc. Those, I believe, are the moments which you would see. (From hereon, I shall use moments for ease.)

Moments are important to us. It can be likened to the quality of the life we have. It can determine the state we are usually in. It is your life!

And interestingly, if you read my previous articles, you would know that we can create the types of moments we want in our lives. For this article, I choose to guide you to use moments to create a more fulfilling life for yourself.

So, if you want to live with lesser regrets (heck, it is IMPOSSIBLE to have zero regrets), all you need to do, is follow these steps.

1) At the end of each day, spend 15 mins recalling the Moments of the day.
2) Write them out in your Moments Book.
3) Detail it, clearly describing your feelings, the special emotions you encountered.
4) Give gratitude, and say thanks. From the bottom of your heart.

That's all! That's all your need to do for a more fulfilling life. You can be assured that by the end of a week, you will get a momentum to want to do more for life. By the end of the month, you will feel a refreshed outlook towards your own life. And by the end of the year, you will find that you have had a great year and looks forward to a even better year ahead!

Remember, Success Without Fulfilment Is Still Failure...You only deserve your best.

Power To Change.

Dear friends.

Something that I learnt today which I felt I must share. One of the biggest reason to make positive changes in yourself is simply just...Being Honest To Your Self.

The changes I am talking about refers to every aspect of life. But for the ease of explanation, I shall use fitness.

Say, there is this one person who is obese, fat, with arteries clogged to its ream and suffering from all sorts of ailments like heart pain, breathlessness, high blood pressure, dizziness, etc. While this person may not have deliberately caused himself to be in this state, you can be sure of one thing, deep down inside this person, would there be a part of him that is unhappy and depressed about the current state. A part that wants to change, but just "can't". (Note, the "can't") That's human nature. We just can never accept ourselves to be in such a state (or at least, when we choose not to avoid it.)

Now, for most who are in such a state, they usually end up in a vicious spiral. They get upset or frustrated, suffers from even more rejections from society/self, and more hurt/pain. So what happens, they seek solace and temporary escape through eating food, resulting in them getting fatter. And the situation just gets worse and worse. (Hey, trust me, this happens. I was like that once. That, is a story to be told in future. :D)

If intervention is not done immediately, this person would really be in trouble. BIG TROUBLE.

So, what is the best way for this person to start to WANT TO CHANGE, is simply. You may even laugh at what I am about to say. But it is really that SIMPLE.

It is simply HONESTY. Honesty with self.

All this guy needs to do is strip (YES, STRIP) himself in front of the mirror and look at every part of his body that he has been avoiding all these while! Now when I say look, I mean, literally SCRUTINIZE to the finest details. The enormous thighs, flabby arms, double chin, 2 thickly -layered waist line (that makes the michelin tyre mascot pale in comparison) and not to mention the sagging breasts. Imagine, what sort of emotions would this man go through? This guy would most probably break down, cry his heart out and finally want to do something about it.

Of course, this is just the first part. There are alot that this guy needs to do, BUT, he will never be the same again. He will finally want to do something about it. No more avoidance, no more lying to himself, no more built up anger, no more hurt but FORGIVENESS. Yes, forgiveness.

That is the first most important step.

If you ever want to make a change in your life, be it in your relationship, health, finances...First be honest with yourself.

When was the last time you looked into mirror of honesty?

Sincerely,
Ken Koh

Delayed Gratification

Dear all, This is an article which I gathered from Wikipedia. It is about Delayed gratification. Please read it first.
"The marshmallow experiment is a famous test of this concept conducted by Walter Mischel at Stanford University and discussed by Daniel Goleman in his popular work. In the 1960s a group of four-year olds were tested by being given a marshmallow and promised another, only if they could wait 20 minutes before eating the first one. Some children could wait and others could not. The researchers then followed the progress of each child into adolescence, and demonstrated that those with the ability to wait were better adjusted and more dependable (determined via surveys of their parents and teachers), and scored an average of 210 points higher on the Scholastic Aptitude Test.

Another famous impulse control test is the "gift delay," in which children were shown a nicely wrapped gift but told they must complete a puzzle before opening it. Researchers then calculated a "delay score" based on how long the kids hold out. When independent examiners interviewed the test subject years later, they found that boys who had not delayed were "irritable" and that the girls were "sulky." In contrast, the patient boys were "attentive" and the girls "competent."

Isn't that interesting? The fact is, please understand that Delay Gratification is a trait which is proven to help one succeed in life. And more importantly, know that it is also a trait which we can develop in ourselves.

How to do that?

Possibly one of the best way to develop this is just focus on the process and enjoy it. Whichever tasks which is given to us, whatever job we are given, focus on the process and just simply make it enjoyable. Chances are, the outcome will be what you wanted initially, or better.

Isn't there a time in your life, where you worked really hard for something, completed the tasks (delaying the reward), and when you finally accomplished it, the celebration and joy is simply just ecstatic? Well, that is also part of D G. The reward is much more heart felt and remembered.

So, practice this. You will see a great difference in your life.

For students, this is possibly what you need to do now. Just delay playing the computer games for a few days (or a few months), just delay chatting on the MSN chat, just delay going out with your friends for movies, just delay your bad habits. You will find that, the results at the end will be more than worth it!


Simply note, if you can do something like Studies, Discipline yourself for this 6 months (til your final year), you can be sure that you will DEFINITELY be able to achieve great results in life!