Hi Everyone! I am so excited to share with you that you can officially follow me, Kenneth Kwan in social media. The reason why I use  the social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook is because its a great way to connect with people. I will also be able to follow up with questions in a faster manner and also share my personal thoughts about personal development and growth. Moreover, I recognise that people have different mediums in which they absorb information better. Some like to be engaged in facebook or twitter, while others just prefer email. Whichever suits you, its fine with me. I am just creating avenues to see how I can add more value to you.

In addition, when you LIKE my facebook page, you can download my Radio Interview with 938FM on “Does Motivational Programs Really Work?” (Its really good stuff!)

Its always been my desire to influence people to display excellence in all they do. I hope to be a constant positive influence to you and your team members. So, I hope you will follow me and LIKE my Facebook page. By doing this, I hope to be able to inspire you to reach your potential.

Here are my accounts (Just click on the images):

See you on the Social Media Side!

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The death of Steve Jobs rocked the world as he was considered one of the world’s most innovative men. Under his leadership, Apple has never been short of creating beautifully designed products that has wowed the world and also becoming of the world’s most valuable company (US $341 Billion as of 10 August 2011).

When I first heard the news that he passed away, in my mind I was asking my friends, “Are you kidding?” A quick search on the Internet yielded much talk about his demise and even apple website created a webpage for him.

Here are some life lessons that I have personally learnt from him:

1. Its not about how well you start in life

Steve Jobs was born out of wedlock and put up for adoption for birth. In fact, he mentioned in one of his talks that he was so poor that he had to sleep in the floor of friends’ rooms during his college days. In addition, he earned little money for food after returning Coke bottles. Furthermore, he had to walk seven miles every week across town to the Hare Krishna temple for the Sunday feast. If such a person like Steve Jobs could face adversity and still make it in society, what is our excuse?

2. Education level is not the most important.

For the man who ran the most valuable company in the world, interestingly, he actually did not finish his degree education. In fact, he dropped out of Reed College after only one semester. Steve mentioned that his short stint in college was an impactful one because “If I had never dropped in on that single calligraphy course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts.”

A little known fact about Steve Jobs was the fact that he was listed as either primary inventor or co-inventor in 338 US patents or patent applications related to a range of technologies from actual computer and portable devices to user interfaces (including touch-based), speakers, keyboards, power adapters, staircases, clasps, sleeves, lanyards and packages.

3.  It’s not what life throws at you but how you make out of it.

The experiences faced by Steve were also rather dramatic and could be a potential storyline of a soap opera. In 1985, two years after recruiting Apple’s new CEO, John Sculley, Jobs was literally kicked out of the company out of the company he founded. This was due to deterioration in Job’s working relationship with Scully and resulted in an internal power struggle that Jobs lost. However, Jobs claimed that being fired from Apple was the best thing that could have happened to him. He said, “The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.”

The time away from Apple also gave Jobs time to start a new company called NeXT, which was to develop high-end computers at expensive prices. The company did not do so well in sales but it influenced future software developments, particularly the MAC OS X.

In 1986, Jobs bought The Graphics Group from Lucasfilm’s computer graphics division for the price of $10 million. The company decided that it would give up selling its unprofitable Pixar Image Computer and concentrate its efforts into computer-animated films. This company was later renamed as Pixar.

Pixar’s partnership with Disney was a commercial success and it bought many great films such as Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, Wall-E and Toy Story 3. Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, WALL-E, Up and Toy Story 3 each received the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

None of this would have happened if he were not fired from Apple.

4. Live each day as if it was your last.

When he was much younger at the age of 17, he read a quote which affected him a lot, “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” Since then for the past 33 years, Jobs looked into his mirror every day of his life to ask, “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” If the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, he knew that he needed to change something.

He also mentions in his address to Stanford students in 2005, “Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

Jobs also reminded them that “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life” and “have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”

We are constantly being surrounded by people telling us what to do with our lives and also we may also at times in our lives, want to live the lives of other people. Live a life that you really want and have courage to live it.

5. Connect the dots in life.

Jobs reminds us to connect the dots in life. Every thing that has happened in our lives happened for a reason. We have to “trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.” Perhaps you have gone through many things in life and wondered why it had to happen? It could be repeating another semester in school, studying the wrong course, wasting 3 years in a company that didn’t improve your career or getting a lousy boss that treated you like dirt. All these ‘negative’ incidents in your life could actually be the turning point of your life from that point on!

It is my firm belief that every thing that happens to us right now is to prepare us for the future. In one of my blog articles, I mentioned about how at the age of 17, I started off as a volunteer of a youth organisation and did a lot of program planning and emceeing. I wouldn’t dare to say that every program I ran was incredibly successful but learnt a lot from the ones that failed or didn’t generate interest from participants. Later did I know that all these were necessary to prepare me for the role as a trainer and then much later to transit into being a public speaker.

Everything happens for a reason, the only thing we need to do in our lives is to make sense out of our experiences and try to connect the dots.

6. To be a trendsetter, you can’t rely on focus groups.

Steve Jobs was one of the few people that didn’t really believe in focus groups. This was contrary to most business philosophies that you had to ask people on what they wanted in their products.

“None. It’s not the consumers’ job to know what they want.” – Jobs responding to whether he did market research for the iPad.

However, most people in life don’t know what they want, especially if they have never seen it or even conceptualised a new product before. Steve relied a lot on his intuition about how people liked things and the way they operated them. This sense of intuition that he had was really ahead of his time as he could see into the future and helped created demand for products that were in his head.

For example, before the launch of iPad, most people were skeptical of Apple’s ability to compete in the market and its lack of experience in producing such devices. Even the internet was flooded with comments on the name of the iPad. However, when it was launched, it created a storm of people who wanted to own a piece of  it. It was one of the best selling products Apple has ever created and is believed to dominate the market share for the next 5 years.

7. Always acknowledge the work of your staff in front of the rest.

In most of the Macworld keynotes of Steve Jobs, I recall watching many times where Jobs will usually ask everyone in the hall to give a huge round of applause for his staff who has worked so hard to make things happen. He even thank their families, loved ones, spouses, partners for being there to support his staff in their work.

In a lot of the team building activities that I run with my corporate clients, I ask members of the team to publicly acknowledge and give each other praise. This meaningful activity has helped team members to express what they always wanted to say but yet have no opportunity for it. This also created a moment where some people actually cried and hugged each other. It created a sense of belonging and appreciation for the work that they have done.

8. Show passion in what you are doing

Steve has always showed passion in what he does. In all his keynotes, he always  talks about Apples products and “hopes that you will love it as much as we do”. You realise that they are not sharing just a product, but a labour of love that resulted in a product.

9. Set out to change the world

“I want to put a ding in the universe.” – Steve Jobs

 

“People sometimes have goals in life. Steve Jobs exceeded every goal he ever set for himself.” - Steve Wozniak, Apple co-founder, on Steve Jobs

 

“Here’s to the crazy ones,

the misfits, the rebels, the trouble makers,

the round pegs in square holes.

The ones who see things differently.

They’re not fond of rules,

and they have no respect for the status quo.

You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them,

because they change things.

They push the human race forward.

And while some may see them as the crazy ones,

we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world,

are the ones who do.”

Apple’s 1997 ‘Think Different’ ad

I believed that Steve completely managed to fulfill his wish of changing the world. Many of us today are living so much differently with how much he influenced society with its gadgets.

My question to you is whether you have found your purpose in living and made up your mind to change the world. Well, if you think you are crazy enough to think you can, you might just be the one to do it.

Change the world, one step at a time.

Popularity: 11% [?]

What are your core values?

When an organisation becomes bigger over time, it needs to have systemic ways of engaging the different functions each individual staff. That is why we have policy and manuals. This helps to ensure a proper way of doing things and also how each department communicates with each other.

While many organisations tend to focus on technical competencies and software that improve performance, most of them tend to neglect one of the most overlooked components of a structure that governs the behavior of the organization, its Core Values. Some companies call it principles, beliefs or philosophy of values. This in my opinion is a strong binding adhesive that will hold the company together and also determines how each department or colleague will communicate with each other.

People don’t tend to remember their company core values. It’s because these values tend to have zero meaning to them. They tend to be reserved for management talk, where department heads talk about once in a while during speeches but is not usually translated down to the operational level. In fact, most organisations hire for competency, rather than for core values. They are not able to see the link of how core values can add to the bottom line of their organisation.

Core values are important.  Without values, there are no clear guiding principles to how people will base their decision making process. When that happens, decisions are made based on what they feel is right. This is also pretty much subjective compared to the kind of staff your company has.

If you have a group of colleagues that place a high value on maximising profits, all their decisions will be made to support that value that they hold on to. Alternatively, if you have another group of colleagues that places a high value on environmental sustainability, your company might be spending a lot of your efforts and time in ensuring that your work will reduce the waste generated and impact to your environment.

However, if you put these two groups of people together with a different set of values together, what do you think will happen? Decision-making might be slowed. Arguments might arise because of differing values. One side might want to maximise profits at the cost of the environment, while the other side wants to reduce profits by taking care of it.

Therefore, it is important for an organisation to be clear of its values. To let it be a binding force that will help everyone in it to make the right decision in the face of differing views. Values should be clear and must give clear principles to make the right decision. This is even more important especially when situations are dire and difficult decisions have to made.

Being clear about your core values is sometimes a challenge. Being consistent in following through with them even when it threatens your financial success is even a bigger challenge.

Can you recite all the core values of your company?

Let’s examine  a case study on Johnson and Johnson’s Tylenol crisis and what we can learn from it.

Case Study- Johnson & Johnson’s Tylenol Crisis  

In 1982, Johnson & Johnson’s Tylenol, the leading painkiller medicine in the United States commanded a 35% of the over-the-counter analgesic market share. It contributed almost 19% to the company’s profit during the first three quarters of 1982. In October 1982, seven people in Chicago were reported dead after taking extra-strength Tylenol capsules, and a widespread panic ensued about how widespread the contamination might be. It was reported that one individual succeeded in lacing 65 grams of the deadly cyanide into Tylenol capsules, 10,000 times more than what is needed to kill a man. Immediately after the incidents, the company’s market value fell by $1 billion dollars.

Suddenly, with no warning, Johnson & Johnson found itself with dilemma of the best way to deal with the problem without destroying the reputation of the company and its most profitable product. James Burke, the chairman of Johnson & Johnson at that time, reacted to the negative media coverage by forming a seven-member strategy team immediately, and their strategy guidance from Burke was first “How do we protect the people?” and second “How do we save this product”.

Although the company knew they were not responsible for the tampering of the product, they assumed responsibility by ensuring public safety first and recalled all of their capsules from the market. They alerted consumers across the whole nation not to consume any type of Tylenol product, which is about 31 million bottles and a loss of more than $100 million dollars (Lazare, Chicago Sun-Times 2002). In fact, when similar incident happened in 1986, Johnson & Johnson immediately removed all capsules from the market permanently until the company done something to provide a better product protection. The cost was a high one.

However, the company quickly won praise for its swift and appropriate action. Along with nationwide recall and alert, Johnson & Johnson established relations with the Chicago Police, the FBI, and the Food and Drug Administration, which allowed them to play a part in searching for the suspect and preventing further tampering. The company was given much positive coverage for their handling of this crisis.

After the crisis, Johnson & Johnson unleashed an extensive marketing and promotional program to bring Tylenol back to its number one position. Burke said: “It will take time, it will take money, and it will be very difficult; but we consider it a moral imperative”. Within five months of the disaster, the company had recovered almost 70% of its market share for the drug – and the fact this went on to improve over time showed that the company succeeded in preserving the long term value of the brand. In fact there was some evidence that some consumers who were so reassured by the steps taken by the company, they switched from other painkillers to Tylenol.

The reason Tylenol reacted so quickly and in such a positive manner stems from the company’s mission statement – a credo written by Robert Wood Johnson in 1940s. He stated that the company’s responsibilities were to the consumers and medical professionals using its products, employees, the community’s where its people work and live, and its stockholders. Johnson & Johnson’s responsibility to the public proved to be its most efficient public relations tool. They have showed themselves to be prepared to bear the short term cost in the name of consumer safety, and this has undoubtedly established a strong trust relationship with their customers – which became the key to the brand’s survival.

From the example of Johnson and Johnson, we can derive that making principled decisions based on your values can actually yield financial success and high trust among your customers.

Values should be something that all leaders should consistently share about in their daily decision-making. It is something that must be caught, rather than taught.

Recruiting people based on values

In my work with companies, there are some of them who also make hiring decisions based on values. This is interesting as most companies basically just make their decisions based on what I mentioned earlier, skills and knowledge. They view that skills and knowledge can always be learnt, however, having a staff that is aligned with their corporate values is indeed difficult to find.

In the book “Good to Great”, the companies listed as going from good to great have a common attribute, that is they are consistently disciplined in waiting the right person to come aboard their company. They do not hire people when there is an urgent need for a replacement but are willing to wait, even for many months, for the right person to come along.

Should ‘profits’ be a part of your core values?

Before you start thinking that values have got nothing to do with earning money and profits, let me assure you that profitability and sustainability is important as well. Unless you are a charity or non-profit organisation, most companies are called companies because they exist to serve a need and also make money in the process. There is absolutely nothing serving people and earning money from it (or even tons of money from it).

In some companies that I work with, I usually observe what their core values are. If there is no hint of earning profits as one of their core values, I might question the importance of the values of the company.

In one group of companies that I worked with, I talked to the Group Director and found out that their core values meant little to them. This is because profitability was not one of their values. When most of the time they are talking about an important value that is not listed down onto their values statement, I start to question what is the relevance of the other values. She confessed that the values were there simply because it was a ‘company’ thing to do and that business consultants constantly asked them to include them. Is this common in your company?

What would you do?

1.  You realised that some of things you need to do are not consistent with your core values. What will you do?

2.  If one of your core values is to create mutually beneficial relationships. However, your project has overrun its deadlines and incurred cost along the way. Your boss asks you to ‘squeeze’ your suppliers by asking them to reduce their claims to you. What will you do?

3.  How will you help a new colleague understand your company’s values? What if they say that its only management talk and is not people to everyday living?

4.  How do you hire a person who exhibits the values of your company? What kind of questions will you ask?

ACTION STEPS:

1.  Get your team to start memorising the core values of your company. Seek to find relevance in making decisions based on your company’s core values.

2.  Make your core values practical in your work. Find linkages on situations that happened in your country and ask your colleagues what should have been done using the framework of your core values.

3.  Ask your colleagues whether do they see you demonstrate the core values of your company at work? Do they see you living up to it?

NOTE: If you strongly feel that everyone in your organisation needs to live by its Core Values, do ask how Deep Impact can help you to make a impact in creating highly experiential activities that will help them to remember them.

Popularity: 12% [?]

I came across this very interesting video on whether you have a strong sense of situational awareness. Are you able to spot the 21 changes that are in this short video?

Popularity: 5% [?]

In my previous blogpost, I mentioned that I was featured as an invited speaker over the Radio Channel 938LIVE on the topic of “Do Motivational Talks Really Work?”

Honestly, I have been engaged to speak/train in over 6 countries to thousands of people so far and there have been mixed responses. There are basically 2 camps of people, one group saying that it works big time and really changes their lives, while there is the other side where they say all the motivational fluff does not work at all.

Anyway, despite which side you are, let me share with you what I think and also the motivational theory behind it. It will really make a difference once you understand its concept.

Here are some photos that I have taken during my time in the Mediacorp, the leading media station in Singapore. The best part is that I have recorded what I have said over the air and is made available to my loyal subscribers like you. The link is below. Enjoy my conversation with Show Host, Eugene Loh.

Eugene Loh and me talking for a few minutes before the radio interview

Getting ready to speak just before the traffic news segment

The interesting thing about going on this segment is that Eugene prefers not to have the session scripted. I was rather surprised that there were no prepared questions before hand since he wanted it as natural as possible. So the radio segment what you hear will be pretty much me speaking from my heart and mind on how you can make the most out of motivational programs and also how you constantly stay motivated in your life, especially when the daily problems of work plague you.

Do Motivational Talks Really Work with Kenneth Kwan

Popularity: 5% [?]

I will be interviewed over Singapore’s 938FM LIVE on 19 Apr (Tues), from 2-3pm. My topic will be on “Do motivational talks really change you?”

Since I have been invited to speak in many companies on such topics of motivation and personal growth, I hope to dispel some wrong ideas about motivational seminars! I hope to be able to record the talk and share with my subscribers after the radio show.

Popularity: 2% [?]

I noticed that a lot of people around me tend to get mixed up with what is the difference between talent and strength. They sometimes use these words inter-changeably. However, I would like to clarify the main differences and how it will help someone to clarify what they can really do in life. Once you can be very self-aware, you will tend to do things that will make you more happy and successful.

If you are ready to find out what is the difference, do read on.

First of all, let’s define the terms.

Talent is the ability to quickly pick up a certain skill compared to the majority of the people. You have an ‘unfair’ advantage and can learn it faster. This means that you are naturally predisposed to learning a particular skill at a faster rate.

Strengths are basically what you can do really well. If you have strong vocals and can sing in front of people well, you can consider that singing is one of your strengths.

However, remember that having talent does not equate you to being strong at it. Let me explain further.

If you wish to be a professional athlete in running short distances, you will first need to have talent. Having talent means that you should be able to run fast naturally and qualify to be in the selection process. However, you will need to work on extremely hard on your talent and be willing to take the long grueling hours of training to make running your strength.

You will notice that professional athletes tend to work very hard and strive for excellence in their training. They keep wanting to beat their previous timing and will put in the time and effort to be the best of their field. They gradually be strong in their skill and people finally consider that particular skill to be their strength. I wish to highlight that nothing ever becomes your strength; if you do not put in the necessary hours of hard work.

The interesting thing about being strong in a particular skill is that it has some transferrable skills that will help you pick up other skills related to it. For example, if you know how to play the guitar well, you will tend to pick up other instruments quickly.

The good news is also if you are not naturally talented in doing something, you can compensate it with a lot of hard work to eventually make it your strength. However, this takes a lot of determination and constant practice.

Let me share with you my life example on this:

I knew from a very young age that I had a ‘little talent’ in speaking from the stage. Actually the truth was that I was extremely chatty. In primary school, I was considered to be an outstanding student and this meant that I was usually punished to stand outside the classroom because of my excessive chatting.

When I was around 17 years old, I was served as a volunteer in a youth organisation that constantly ran indoor and outdoor programs. Somehow I was always given the role of planning the program and also emceeing it. It took about nearly 10 over gigs before I started becoming a better emcee. It was only after 60 over programs then I started to be very good. I learnt that emceeing is not about speaking from the stage, but about entertaining people and creating high energy. I moved on from emceeing in front of small crowds to doing dinner and dances, events and beauty pageants to 700 over people.

Kenneth emceeing Paul Mitchell's beauty contest

Over the years, I did nothing much but to constantly grabbed whatever opportunity to speak in front of the public. It was then I realised that I was actually pretty good in speaking and entertaining.

People said that I was rather talented, but I beg to differ. I really worked hard on it. While people were staying at home or going out with their friends, I was working hard in ensuring that I will be really good in my skills. Inspirational speaking became my strength. When I finally understood what my strengths were, it really helped me to decide what I was going to do in my life. I knew that it had to be a role where I was in constant contact with people and somehow had to be in-line with educating people.

My Decision to be a Trainer

It was because of knowing what I was really strong in and then asking myself what I was really passionate about. It took me a long time to figure it out but finally I knew that I wanted to become a trainer. If you looked around, most trainers in the professional services were usually older, usually in their 40s. However, I decided that I had this unique talent and was willing to work hard on it. I gave it everything I had and I started at the age of 27. I was one of the youngest trainers around in this particular market.

I truly hold on to the view that we just need to be good in doing one thing well, in fact it must be pursued with so much excellence that people will actually pay you money for it. It was then I became extremely good in running team building programs. By constantly working on my strength, I was actually getting better and better at what I was doing. This further increased my fierce motivation to be even better at training. If you can recall from an earlier blog post, I wrote about my decision that changed my life.

After years of hard work, I became a platform speaker on the areas of motivation and building high performance teams. Even right now, I am paid a lot of money to give keynotes and educate professionals and executives on my speciality. I have travelled to six countries so far to provide trainings and talks. If you asked me if this was what I ever dreamed about, I honestly want to say that I have never dreamed that I could get so far.

Kenneth speaking to 60 HR professionals in a Learning & Development Conference

Its about you now

If you constantly work on yourself and ask what kind of role you could do to play on your strengths, I believe that you definitely become better and successful in what you do. Even in your job, you have to ask if what you are doing is helping you to stay in your strength zone and growing it?

Work on your strengths, not on your weaknesses.

Popularity: 17% [?]

© istockphoto.com/ Urban Cow

I see dead people every day in my life.

They are dead and they still walk among us.

I am not joking and really mean it.

The living dead that I am referring to are people who just exist in today’s society with no aim or purpose in their lives. They are living, but yet dead at the same time (ironic isn’t it?). When you ask them what makes them excited or passionate, a large number of people have forgotten about it. They cite reasons that when they were younger, they had dreams. Some even had ambitions. The sad thing is that after many years of working and climbing the corporate ladder, they looked back and asked themselves “Am I happy and is this life?”

In the book Halftime, it describes that for most people in the first half of their lives, they really work hard to pursue success. Everyone has a different idea of what success looks like. For some it will be money or career, while others it could be about places they have travelled or people they have met.

However, when they enter the second half of their lives, they look back at the work of their hands and ask the following fundamental questions:

“What have I done so far?” and the usual “Am I contented with it?”

They realise that their lives are no longer about pursuing success, it is about pursuing significance.

Image from freelanceapple.com

Here’s my story and journey of how I started my entrepreneur journey:

I started off my career working in an engineering company that was extremely established in Singapore. I was into building automation and served as a project engineer handling building projects. It was something that I could do, in fact, it was something that I was trained well for. I mean, my early years in life was spent on preparing for a job in the engineering sector.

Until something happened.

At the age of 26, I started to ask myself a question which all adults actually ask at one point in their lives and that is “what do I really want to do with my life?” It was astonishing simple but yet, it could not be answered at all. I was dumb folded.

This question kept ringing in my head. I actually ignored it, thinking that it will go away. It did go away, only to resurface again a week later, then another week and a couple of days later. It just kept coming back. For some adults, they ignored it to a point where their dreams were drowned by the immediate concerns of providing for the family. I acknowledge that all of us have a responsibility to fulfill to our families, but what has happened to our dreams in the process? Can there be a way to fulfill both at the same time?

It took me a year of soul searching and to constantly ask what I am passionate about? And I finally found it. I discovered that I really love to teach and inspire people towards fun, loving and supportive relationships. Not only I found it, I took massive action towards it. I started asking myself how can I do more of what I am passionate about? Are there groups that I can join to do just that? Is there a career decision that I have to make for that to happen? Can I change my attitude towards life and start taking personal responsibility for all the results that I have been getting? Will I make a firm decision to change my life right now?

Fast forward into the present now. I have traveled to 7 countries so far, conducting training and giving talks on motivation, mindset change and building teams. At a young age, I have spoken to CEOs, directors and people twice my age. I have given keynote speeches in conferences and learning seminars. I have personally trained or spoken to 5400 people. Everything started because I started to find out what makes me excited and alive.

So, my question to you is what makes you excited? What makes you feel alive? Will you take some time to list them down? Don’t do it for me, but do it for yourself!

Do read my questions that I have posted earlier here and reflect on it.

Take time to clear the clutter off your mind and another 30 minutes to reflect upon it. Do share with me on what you have discovered!

Popularity: 15% [?]

Source: http://www.sesc.k12.in.us/

Last night I was walking pass a shop and I saw the words, “Seize the Day!” or “Carpe Diem” (in Latin). I joked with my wife that many people have heard of this phrase, but most end up saying “I will start tomorrow!”

My question is that if it is really worth doing right now, why wait?

Most people want to succeed.

Most people want to do something they like to do.

But really, a few will actually get to do it. Why? I like to suggest that most of them think of starting tomorrow and that’s where the issue is.

What’s wrong with tomorrow? Before I start, let me first explain that it is perfectly to start the next day, however what I am actually cautioning against is the idea of “I will do it when the time is right”.

Honestly, there are many times I don’t know whether the time is right or not. It just comes with an intense desire to see change and the willpower to see things through. To start seeing results, it starts by making a firm commitment to what you have said and the willpower to see it through. The right time to see change is usually NOW.

I remember fondly telling my audiences in my talks that one good way to achieve your dreams is to first WAKE UP! It is only when we wake up, we can get to take action in what we dream about.

Here are some things you can do to seize the day:

1. Do something that you have always procrastinated.
2. Work on that thing/project that you have always been talking about.
3. Spend time with people that you have always wanted to do.
4. Do something Crazy that you have never done before.

So… remember to Seize The Day and oh, by the way…. start Today!

Kenneth eating a cricket in Cambodia

Popularity: 12% [?]

Kazakhstan is located in Central Asia and is a previous Soviet Union state. It is literally the world’s 9th largest land mass (for a country) in the world. Just to give you an idea how big it is, the distance from one end of Kazakhstan to the other is the same as from London to Istanbul. This country has one of the most beautiful mountain ranges in the world and from Almaty, I can see the mountains surrounding the city.

Location of Kazakhstan

The people are mainly Kazakhstanis and they speak their own Kazak language and Russian as well.  My assignment was to conduct a public talk for a few companies and also a management retreat to Nurai Company, one of the largest travel agencies there.

It is simply amazing to witness how the people are resourceful in getting things done with whatever equipment they have. There was a time when the car I travelled in could not be used further and someone offered to take us to the destination for a price. Taxis are rare there, but you can just hop into anyone’s car provided if you are willing to pay for it.

The people there are pretty hungry to learn and very energetic in the way they speak. I was also amazed by the manager’s ability to sit down for many hours and share about their experiences of leadership. One of the trainings that I covered was on creating dynamic teams and a good work environment. It was really an eye opener for most of them because it was most of the managers realised that they did not have to be the best in everything but to create strong teams to help them through.

A display of strength is also important in that culture as well, it is interesting  to note that whoever is the most domineering and aggressive tends to get their way first. I believe it might be because of the previous Soviet Union culture they were exposed to.

Here are some photos to share with you.

Translator, Roslan and me

Seminar on Service Excellence

Teambuilding Program for Management Staff

Management Retreat in the Mountains

Food

Kazakh food is generally very meaty and they love to eat meat! Vegetables are secondary and it was my first time eating horse meat and drinking Camal and horse milk. Both milk (shubat and kumys respectively) are really horrible to drink (although the men there totally disagree with me)! They taste very acidic and sour. I was commenting that it actually tasted like urine, but one of the managers asked me whether I tasted urine before? I told her that after this experience, I might just want to taste it just to compare the difference! (In case you were wondering, I didn’t drink urine after that).

Beshparmak (on the right)- Meat Meat and More Meat

Beshparmak (called “five fingers”, in the manner it is eaten) is a traditional Kazakh dish and it made of chunks of meat! I heard that they had sheep’s head cooked in some of the Beshparmak and is usually served to guests. I was pretty thankful that all I saw was just meat and no head!

Traditional way of eating, which is on the floor

Horse meat being served

Conclusion

Kazakhstan is a place filled with many beautiful snow capped mountains and has an old rustic feeling of the 1980s. If you are game enough to try different types of meat, Kazakhstan is the place you will want to be!

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