Are you a Boss or a Leader - rather, which do you choose to be?

This pic says it all does it.

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Genghis Khan, Learning How He Led To An Empire - Part 2

In a previous post, we talked about Genghis Khan and some of his philosophies on leadership, which ultimately led to him conquering half the world, literally!

Today, we are going to discuss about the 2nd and last part to this legendary leader of all times. 

The few points listed below are more of internal factors compared to the more external ones listed in the previous post; which i think are what leaders should be more focused on. Anyway, being able to move up towards a leadership role means you more or less have the external factors covered, makes sense?

Having a greater purpose / calling 

Genghis Khan had a vision of "Unity under One Empire" - as I call it. Not only for his personal ambitions or goals but for a greater good which he believed in. He also kept his triumphs to a certain degree of moderation; you know as you have more, you want more and you tend to lust after the luxuries more. He understood that chasing after these would make one no more than a slave and eventually, you will lose everything.

Be Humble

We have all heard the saying before; the higher you climb, the taller your pride, the harder you might fall. Genghis Khan frequently said "IF you can't swallow your pride, you can't lead"

Have a vision that would change the world, yet do it over time

Your people look to you, the leader to lead them; to bring everyone forward with a goal; and a vision of where the goals would ultimately bring them. It is no longer about yourself, it is about everyone onboard with you. It is the purpose of the unity of the people.

Genghis Khan also recognises that the changes he wants to bring about needs to take time; as the saying goes "Rome was not built overnight". As goals are met; the vision should still remain in sight, regardless of how long or what changes there might be to along the journey.

Are You a STAR Employee?

2 weeks back, I shared a Infographic on why would you want to be a Recruiter and how would you know if you have what it takes?

What if you aren't looking to be a Recruiter? 

What if you are a usual employee seeking to be the Star in your company?

I have created a new piece sharing what traits employers and of course, our own company looks for when hiring new staffs!

Right Click to view in new window for larger view

So now you know, next is to up your own ante and strive to be in these 5 stars zones.

You may also drop me a message on LinkedIn, or drop me a comment here!

Pardon I won't disclose my email address here, it's a safety precaution against spammers - As usual

So... You want to be a Recruiter?

In a previous post, I shared a day in the life of a Recruiter - Yours Truly. In this post today, I have created a infographic (3 hours of squinting eyes later ), sharing the reasons people become a recruiter and how you know if you have what it takes.

Hope it serves as a guide for anyone considering to join the industry.

Right Click, view in new window to zoom or save

PS: If you are interested to find out about joining our expanding team, drop me a message on LinkedIn.Pardon I won't disclose my email address here, it's a safety precaution against spammers.

The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday

What separates survivors from quitters in extreme challenges? When you look at the tactics used by successful SEALs, athletes and survivors of natural disasters, they are surprisingly similar.

In the case of BUD/s selection, the option to quit means that you get ring the bell. However you must then deal with the long-term pain of regret. In the event of a firefight, accident or disaster, the stakes are much higher.

Quitting is simply not an option there.

So how can you learn to treat every worthy obstacle with the same intensity throughout our life or career?

How can we train ourselves to make both minor and serious decisions with the same clarity and strength as when we are strong, but in our weakest moments?

A single bad decision, made in a moment of weakness, can have disastrous consequences.

Here are some of what we advocate to stay motivated, clear-headed and in control of our decisions, so we can stay in the fight when it gets really shitty.

Never give up on yourself. Quitting is simply NOT an option

Pain is temporary, quitting is forever.

Whether it is the pain of seeing a long, complex project til its end, or the pain of getting through hellweek, simply removing the quit option is the first step to ensuring victory.

I strongly encourage enduring through your darkest moments and not making serious decisions at night, when things are at their most difficult in ant scenarios. Wait until the rays of sunlight appear!

Never giving up means that you remove "quit" from your dictionary -FOR GOOD!, and do what is morally necessary to survive or accomplish a really difficult task.

20X Factor: you are capable of 20 times more than you think you are

During Hell Week when I was still training during my National Service; I heard this quote from an instructor. It stuck, and sure enough, by Thursday of Hell Week I was actually getting stronger and having fun.(Though most of the time, we were all in Zombie mode)

What was going on? Once the mind accepted the new circumstances, it adapted and started to work with it.

I found myself enjoying the humor of the crazy instructor staff, and I was astounded how my body, despite 100 + hours of no sleep and non-stop training, was getting stronger (though I admit there were moments of delirium as my mind struggled to deal with the lack of sleep).

Bottom line, this is the same experience ultra-runners and those who do extreme events have - a break down, then building back up as the body and mind adapt to the new, harsh reality of the circumstances.

Through this you learn that you are truly capable of at least 20 times more than you previously thought. You undergo a psychological and physiological paradigm shift.

After this experience, anything less than Hell Week looked easy.

Don't accept your self-imposed limitations. Dare to discover what you can truly accomplish!

The Positive Mind VS. the Negativity

In a previous post, I mentioned how setting micro goals is able to assist us in forging out mental toughness by focusing on the present.

Forcing our monkey mind to pay attention to what is happening right now, rather than what it hopes to happen in the future or what happened in the past. Collapse your focus to the near present, such as making it to the next yummy diet meal or through that miserable exercise and you achieve victory where it is at - right here, right now.

The wandering mind is the devils playground. The nature of the outer, conscious mind (the 12% brain) is to dwell on the negative and obsess about it. Often that which is the obsession becomes the reality. Once you begin to focus on the present, the requirement then is to keep your mind in a Positive State. 

We call this Positivity.

Positivity can be likened to an electrical charge. Are you positively charged, or negatively charged? How big of a difference would it make in your life if you learned to keep your mind and body positively charged all the time? My guess is a big difference. 

Back to basics. Ensure that the mind is focused on the present and propelling us forward with Positive Self Talk. Positive Self Talk is similar to a battery that positively charges your energy, emotions and the very air around you; so that you attract the positive success you seek. At the basic level, it keeps you feeling good, strong and able to set a "positive example" for your teammates (who draw strength from you and vice versa).

First, you must learn to pay attention to your energy, whether it is positive or negative. Use a simple question to draw focus to this: "what dog you are feeding?" This question refers to the two dogs we have in our outer mind vying for feeding: The dog of FEAR and the dog of COURAGE.

Our minds are energized with either courage (positive) or fear (negative) which manifest their influence in our lives in different ways. Our basic emotional "feeling" states can be generalized into these two broad categories. We could actually replace "courage" with "love" but for this discussion courage is a more powerful descriptor.

Fear is the dominant energy in most because the outer monkey mind is generally negative in nature. It is constantly filled with negative programming from numerous sources - friends, family, news, TV, and our own self talk. By paying attention to what dog you are feeding, you will start to notice the patterns.

Next, as soon as you notice negative patterns, you must use a pattern interrupt to immediately stop and re-direct them. Use Power-statements as pattern interrupts for this purpose. Power statements we use include some classics such as: "Hooyah," "Easy Day," "Get some," and "Aint Nothin but a thing."

These power statements interdict negative thinking and replace it with a powerful and positive mood.

Finally, power statements are not enough to do the job alone. Our bodies must also get in the game. A Power Posture reinforces the power statement. Saying "I am going to crush this" while slouched in a defeated, slouching position just doesn't work! Your subconscious mind will call it bullshit and continue to feed the negative pattern. You need to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and mirror the power statement with a power posture.

Often in the middle of a grueling workout (In the past when i was running my training company and also currently when we are having our training - Hey, we still try to keep in shape!), I or one of my coaches will shout power statements, coupled with powerful gestures, when we notice the fear crawling at the trainees. Everyone's mental attitude and bodies respond immediately as if jolted by a bolt of positively charged electricity. It is great to watch and be part of. Soon we are all laughing and cranking away at the workout, having left the worst behind us. We have learned to allow positive self-talk and powerful body postures to condition our minds for positive outcomes.

One final comment about Positivity: the mind will easily slip in and out of negative situations based upon external stimuli. You must trick your conscious mind to remain positive by reciting Powerful Mantras. A mantra is simply a short statement that has positive meaning to you.

When I was in Class 2 Diver's course, on long runs I would recite over and over "feeling good, Hooya!" Corny as hell but it worked. The power of positivity cannot be underestimated and I highly recommend you start practicing these techniques now if you are not already.

Are You Making These Interview Mistakes?

Forging Mental Toughness

Be it throughout our career, be it in sports, in work or in anything that requires a certain amount of effort (and by certain amount, it usually means huge!); the "quit option" always seems easier to choose BUT is more complicated than it appears.

It is easy to tell yourself "no way will I quit" when in reality your belief systems driving your subconscious mind are telling you quite the opposite.

This would have us looking at the comparison of short term pain of suffering VS. long term pain of regret. 

In short, the higher the risk and the stakes, the higher the suffering required to prevail. Also the higher the regret associated with failure. (This is another topic which i would cover in another post)

As with Aaron Ralston who chopped his arm off after 127 hours of being stuck between a rock and hard place, quitting is simply not an option. I highly recommend you see his movie "127 Hours" or "Into the Void" to observe outstanding psychological profiles of mental toughness. We also looked at how our belief systems limit our physical performance, something we call the 20X factor. We are capable of at least 20 times what we think we are. The only thing standing between us now, and the 20x us, is our "knowingness" of this fact. Again it is our subconscious mind, not our "thinking" mind, which either supports or torpedoes a belief such as this.

During a seminar that i attended about 2 years back, i found that research shows that 12% of our brain-power is handled by our conscious "thinking" mind while 88% is handled by our subconscious mind.

Wow! I want to know how to tap into that 88% don't you? (I call the conscious or thinking mind our "monkey mind" because it is always grabbing for the next thought or stimulus and doesn't take time to pause or digest what it is already chewing on!) Here are some more tactics to help guide us. Set Goals the right way

Yes, I know. Goal setting is mundane isn't it?

Have you reviewed yours today? Have you worked on the #1 thing today that is going to move you closer to your major goal tomorrow? What happens when your goals fail to be realistic? Do you have a method for checking it against reality? Are you tracking them?

Goal setting is a very powerful tool, and it is useless when done in a silly way. Goal setting helps us to maintain a positive and forward momentum, a way to track our progress, and a way to focus our efforts on the important, rather than just the urgent, things. Proper goals are stated in precise and positive terms. They are measurable and have a modest time frame associated with them. Too short and either they are not meaty enough, or you are setting yourself up for failure. Too long and you lose the urgency and they fall off the radar.

Goals must be achievable, in that you have the potential to accomplish them with the skills and resources available. Also they must be realistic, even if achievable, are they realistic for you to even go for it?  When the going gets tough, goals take on a whole new level of importance.

In Hell Week, we were not setting our sights on "being a Naval Diver" or even "getting that badge." Either of these is a SMART goal when I was preparing for Class 2. But during Hell Week or any arduous situation, we require a different method.

In the tough spots I recommend to collapse your goal setting to the very near term. I call these "micro-goals." The great thing about micro-goals is that they lead to "micro-victories." You stack up enough micro-victories and pretty soon you have achieved a huge milestone! Back to the Hell Week example. A terrible goal would be to "make it to Friday." When you are in the depths of despair on Monday morning at 4am, sleep deprived and depressed, Friday seems a very, very long way away.A better goal would be to make it to sunrise. The sun has a remarkable ability to both warm you up, and cheer you up. Things suddenly don't look as bad at 7am as they did at 4am. Micro Goal. Micro Victory. Next. The hidden secret with micro-goal setting is that it forces our monkey mind to focus on what is happening right now, rather than what may happen in the future where it wishes to be. Focus on the next meal, the next event, or even the next footstep. These short and achievable goals help to enlist our monkey mind to be an ally versus enemy in our fight.

IF They Must Leave, Make It a Smooth One

Moral of the Story: Learn from past exits, find out WHY your stars leave and prevent it from happening again!

What Makes A Freelancer Tick?

Genghis Khan, Learning How He Led To An Empire - Part 1

Name: Genghis Khan
Originally born as Temujin

The founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire

Lived from 1162 - 1227

We all know who he is, the great Genghis Khan, the one who united most of the Nomadic tribes in Northeast Asia which led him to found the Mongol Empire, leading to conquering most of Eurasia, to modern-day China, Korea, the Caucasus, Central Asian countries, and substantial portions of modern Eastern Europe, Russia and the Middle East.

Beyond all his military accomplishments, there are certainly lessons we can draw from this great leader of his time; how a single man blew a storm across the lands he crossed and kept his subjects in awe.


Tough times don't last, tough men do

This is a story very often told in link to Genghis Khan as a child; running up and down mountains with mouthful of water. Over time, he had developed the ability to run up and down mountains breathing only through his nose. ( Try walking up the stairs of your office breathing through just your nose )

• Commitment – A sense that you are giving your best
• Challenge – A sense that obstacles are challenges and not threats
• Control – A sense that you are in control of yourself and what happens to you
• Confidence – A sense that you can achieve your goals

These 4 qualities are inevitably formed when you develop your own sense of perseverance / endurance


Being good at what you do

Genghis Khan and his army built their empire on horseback and archery; back in the days, in their turf, having the mastery of arrows and bows on fast riding horses were one of the keys to succeeding in battles.

• Cultivate the strengths within you — Especially those you don’t know yet
• Collaborate with your chosen partners — Understand the organization or people with whom you work
• See what no one else sees – Use it for mutual advantage

Focus on your Purpose

This is one of the universal trues many know, yet fail to do. Focusing on what you are supposed to do and what you want to do.

Genghis Khan had no desire for the materialistic as he rose to power. He only had one sole purpose to see those who did his family injustice - leaving his family to starve in winter, brought to justice.

• Convert your wounds into strengths
• Uncover your passion by asking a question like, “What am I good at?”
• Follow that passion to a possible path of purpose
• Take action. The discovery is exciting

The Path to Success Is Never a Straight Flowing Process

Appraisal VS Resignation - just for laughs

Something I came across on the Internet, pretty interesting ain't it?

A day in the life of... Yours Truly

Many friends have asked about what we as recruiters do on a daily basis, well... The list is long filled with interesting stories and i can't speak for all; however I can share a typical day in the course of work


6 am - I usually wake up for a workout in the gym / at home or go for a run, while at the same time watch the news and any other reads which I can get my hands on related to our field of work, as well HR, leadership, people development etc, as they say, learning and knowledge is power! And we shall never stop learning ( hope you too! )


7.30 am - a hot shower to freshen up and head off to the office


8.30 am - stop by the coffee shop for a quick cuppa and beeakfast to go up the office


8.45 am - start up my workstation and a quick rundown of the daily tasks / follow ups. I refrain from checking mails and picking calls during this period to settle down. I'll also wander around the office to catch up with colleagues to see if I may be of help in anyway or how they are doing.

10 am - the real work starts: calling candidates and clients, replying emails, doing checks etc

12 pm - usually, I work through lunch. Sometimes I'll attend lunch appointments with clients or friends to catch up. We take away lunches and eat in office most of the time, as the saying goes "those who eat together, stay together".

1 pm - work starts again: sourcing new candidates, follow up emails and clients, follow up on interviews and offers, business development, interviewing of candidates, any internal meetings etc

5 pm - ticking off the done tasks for the day and preparing for the next day's, week's to do list.

6 pm - quick check with colleagues days and take note to discuss in case studies when appropriate, also to provide training as required. Any scheduled after hours calls or meetings with clients / candidates would also take place about this time.


7 pm - quick review of company's goals and objectives, ensuring team is on track and (re)strategise accordingly and any other required admin stuffs, these are nitty gritty items which require the least attention and easy to check off,so I usually leave till last. A brief scan of my LinkedIn for any notable updates, articles, contacts.

8 pm - head off home! As it takes about an hour plus on the journey back, and being a big fan of going mobile, I'll usually take the time to catch up the news, any interesting articles I marked, magazines issues both new and old, videos etc.

9 pm - home sweet home!
There you have it, a day in the life of, yours truly.


PS: don't bother asking how I have the time to write this blog

The Avalanche in the quest of talent search

How to NOT get that interview, get that call - BIG TIME

Based on real events in a everyday life of a Recruiter (nope, this ain't a rant)

We love helping and working with people, of course we do! It's our job and what we are paid for, right?
Yet, there are some behaviors out there which would drive us nuts!

A recruiter's job is tough enough: to match the right candidate to the right company. As the job seeker, being aware of how to deal with a recruiter can keep you off that dreaded blacklist. Stand out! Aim to be the one candidate who is pleasant, professional, and easy to work with.

If you make a recruiter's day a little brighter and their job a little easier, they'll be keen to help you out. The following habits, however, will make your recruiter sigh heavily, roll their eyes, and scream "Argh!" after hanging up with you.

Here are a few examples on how to get on my blacklist:

Be a BIG EGO.

Go On! Go ahead! Continue to hord the phone line and  tell them why you are a “perfect fit” for the position.
Recruiters rejecting you show their stupidity and it's your job to teach them. “Constructively” criticize them and make sure it gets drilled in them what they are missing out. Expressing emotions using colorful language will go a long way to ensure they truly understand how you feel. Yes, please, go on!

Another point to add to this BIG EGOistic personality, are those who actually accept a job offer, and when everything is inked, disappears on the first day of work, unable to be contacted, no emails, no messages, no return calls, no nothing.

This would really really guarantee you a spot on both the employer's and my blacklist, and by that, i really mean blacklist, in our database system, with a black flag at the side of your name; not blacklist on a notebook just to keep note.

Be Loud and Proud.

Recruiters receive hundreds of resumes and, in order to stand out, you have got to be loud. Do so by constantly stalking. calling, emailing and sending PMs on their social networks. Not only will that put you ahead of all the other applicants but, it will show them that you don’t give up easily.

Make Cold Calls.
Do call the recruitment office and ask for a random recruiter who will listen to you whine about how you can’t find a job. If that recruiter doesn't want to listen, ask to be transferred to another recruiter.

Play James Bond.
The best method to find out your market value is to find out how much companies will be willing to offer you. It doesn't matter if you are not interested in the job. Use this opportunity for practice and leverage. Go as far as you can in the interview process, when you receive an offer, back out. Hey, you got what you needed. You can even present the offer to your current employer and they will match that offer.

Calling from a phone with poor reception.
The last thing a recruiter needs is to waste their precious time on the phones saying, "Can you hear me...how about now? HELLO HELLO~~???"

Failing to update your resume.
If you upload your resume onto a job portal and a recruiter calls to talk to you about a position months later, remember to send her an updated resume—before they send an outdated resume to their client.
Of course, most recruiters will do their due diligence and confirm to make sure they have your most updated resume—but sending them one will make their job a little easier, and yours!

Trying to maneuver them and go straight to the client.

THIS PISSES US OFF BIG TIME!We're not stepping stones. We're constantly working hard to maintain relationships with clients (aka your potential employer). By trying to go around or contacting the client directly, you're making us look bad.EG: if a recruiter tells you you're not a good fit for the opportunity, asking the client directly for alternative opportunities is a major PISS OFF.

The worst is when a candidate thinks the recruiter is no longer a part of the hiring process once they've interviewed and never calls a recruiter back, wanting only to deal with the client directly

Also, recruiters usually have a better relationship with the clients (aka your potential employer) better than you do, so go ahead, see what happens.

Exaggerating your skills set.
Lying to recruiters about your expertise will hurt both the recruiter's and your credibility in the long run.
If there is a gap in your resume or you were fired from a job, explain why

There isn't a whole lot of time or resources for recruiters to triple check your skills, so most of the time they'll take your word (and resume) for it. Be honest or else they'll end up unintentionally overselling you to their client. Huge mistake.

Treating recruiters as job-vending machinesSays it all!

The executive recruiter is working for the client to find the right candidate with the requisite experience, skills, and culture fit etc

Executive recruiters are not working for the candidate.
That being said—they are looking for a great fit, and if that's you, then we will do what we can to get to a job offer for you

Just don't call every day looking for updates or new positions; whining about how you have been out of a job for ages.

Building that A - team ( Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Jessica Biel, Sharlto Copley NOT Included )

Having had the privilege to gone through one of the toughest and elite military training within the Singapore Armed Forces as a Naval Diver and setting up my own business venture few years back; these 2 most important journeys of my life has taught me a lot about building and leading teams.

Pretty sure we have all experienced great teams and not-so-great (i'm being nice.. really) teams, so let's not dwell in on how / why bad teams are.

Instead, let's focus on the A Teams;


So...what makes up a A- Team?

If you've been on a team that was all fired up and performing at an elite level, it would have been sort of a near miracle or magical event! 

The amount of synergy, the amount of output energy, the level of happiness, motivation and putting in twice the amount of hard work; Everyone seems like Seal Team 6 conquering mountains and seas with ease, Life is good... real good! (Quit dreaming already)

Then why isn't everyone else the same?

Whether born or bread, an AWESOME leader is a forceful personality who has the most effects on building such a great team; according to traditional wisdom.

This leader is in charge of the Strategic Plan, which includes the Vision, Mission & Values of the organisation  to be hanged somewhere in the main hall or meeting rooms; the Strategic Plan itself is kept in a dossier and ultimately left to be locked up in a lonely cabinet somewhere ( or lost in some thumbdrive )

The optimistic team after all the hype now starts charging and blunders here, there, everywhere, never making it to the top. 

That leader is now deemed a failure, and a new leader is chosen.

Rinse, repeat and the whole scenarios plays like a soap opera gone bad.

So... What is missing? - The Integration of the 3 Dimensions

1) The Leader - Self Leadership - The "I"

Our internal experience whenever we are alone and deep in thoughts ( Om...Just kidding )

2) The Team - the "We"

Our internal experience including and during the who, what, when, why, how of us being located and cooperation with our teammates

3) The Organisation - the "It"

The "it" of our social systems - our organizations, schools, societies, etc. - has a broad and vauge impact on the "I" and "we" dimensions. This dimension is the result of rigid rules, regulations, norms, systems, and the likes.

Imagine the experience you would have in the Armed Forces (The Organisation - the "It"). You know what to wear, where to go, what to do, norms for communicating (hand salute!), how much money you will make, and on and on. 

Fast forward to your first day of retirement. You are out of the regimental life. Your experience is radically different. The Armed Forces, which somehow helped define who you were for 20 years, now has no impact on your internal experience besides lingering beliefs and habits. Chances are you will still wake up, but you may not know what to do with yourself!

The "I" is the world of the interior-individual. This is where you reside inside your head and heart. This dimension is the hearts & minds of the leader's and the teammates, or followers, if you will.

In this Dimension, the individual consciousness and world view are the driving force. From inside each of us, informed by our level of awareness and consciousness, comes:

Trustworthiness - powered by our virtuous behavior

Self-Leadership - we must lead ourselves before leading others

Personal Mastery - the journey of personal mastery is a necessary journey on the warrior's / leader's path

The "WE" dimension is the interior-collective. Here "I" connects with "you" to become "we." In "we" there must be:

Trust -  the trustworthiness of the individuals
Shared Experience - there must be enough common experience to relate
Shared Risk - doesn't work if I take all the credit while you take all the risk (BIG NO NO!)
Service - toward your teammates


Finally the "IT" dimension is the world of the exterior collective where we find various forms of:

Rank & positional authority
Command, control & org charts
Rules and regulations
Support structures & resource allocation 

Elite teams focus on understanding, developing (active growth of "I" and "We" in a healthy "IT") and balancing all three dimensions without stifling or poisoning one another

Ultimately, for a team to operate at an elite level, then the three dimensions must also be operating at an elite level individually. 

Each teammate (including the leader) seeks a strong body, mind and spirit individually while simultaneously seeking a strong collective "body, mind and spirit" of the team. 

When all three dimensions are aligned by their actions, then there would be a successful creation of the "A" team

To weight, or not to weight

I guess this picture says it all huh?

Remember, the difference between a boss and a leader... 

A boss say "Go" 

A leaders say "Let's go"

It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.- Nelson Mandela 

Visualization - What you see is what you get

Visualize Success 
During the times of running my own training business; we frequently employed this technique called Visualization; the creation or re-creation of an external experience in the "mind's eye." Sports psychologists and top coaches have used visualization to enhance performance for some time now. It is estimated that 90% of Olympic athletes use some form of visualization and 97% say that it helps. Most Olympic coaches include it in their training arsenal.

So... 

If it works for Olympians, why haven't most of us in the corporate , leadership, development roles, committed to bettering ourselves and others employed this yet?

Why does visualization work?

A properly visualized event is treated as if it happened for real in your conscious and sub conscious mind, our human brain is unable to differentiate between what is real or unreal.  

Essentially, you are seeing and doing the event a second time when you do it for real physically. Also, during a visualization event your muscles are stimulated as if during a "real event," conditioning yourself by virtue of the repetitive motion. The best part of visualization is that you choose the outcome, and the quality of the performance. Why not start with a winning outcome and great performance in your mind first!

Typically two types of visualization are utilized during our Trainings and Seminars in the past; even right now in my daily work


1. "Practice visualization" is rehearsing an event in the mind before attempting it. Visualizing a performance on a  workout, swim, run, a fight, a sales call, a meeting with your boss, an interview etc can have a positive impact on the results, especially if done well and repeatedly over time.

2. "Future-me visualization" is where we create a powerful image of a future event which is a major goal. A good example would be earning the gold medal, or launching a business or successfully landing your dream career. You create the event in your mind, complement it with full emotions, color, sounds, smell and tastes, all as vividly as possible. 

Then we reinforce this visual image through repeated internal visits. This creates a powerful anchor in our subconscious mind. The subconscious mind then goes to work to recruit the resources necessary to nurture the event to fruition through proper thought and action.

Proper visualization helps to reduce stress of the unknown and control emotional responses 

It builds confidence and helps you concentrate on the important tasks required rather than waste energy on non-productive states of mind resulting from uncertainty. because you have "been there" before. 

When you begin the practice of visualization, you will likely start with second person (external visualization). This is where you view yourself from a 3rd party perspective. As you gain experience you will shift to first person (internal visualization) POV. This is where your imagined event is happening from your perspective, as if you had a helmet cam on. 

Visualization is a valuable tool in the development of any sport or skill (shooting, jumping, diving and public speaking). A solid session can help hone and test a strategy.

I hope this is helpful and that you can put the information to use someday. As always, stay focused and have fun!

Keep Learning, Keep Growing
Jason

Welcome to where the mind is fed (mental nutrition - in - the - brewing)

Hi guys! Welcome to anyone from anywhere reading this space!

For our very 1st entry, let's have a very brief description.
This was set up because i needed a place where i could share (plus.. ahem.. the occasional rants...) any information and my thoughts on Talents / HR / Leadership related topics.

A little haven where all like minded people gather and share (rant) about their work, their thoughts, experiences etc etc etc... (you get the drift?)

So... 

Why the name Thinkers, Builders, Producers, Improvers - TBPI?

Well, I was reading a piece (see original article here) which got me thinking; many of us in the working world passes through these 4 phases in our careers at one point or the other.



According to Lou Adler -The Original Headhunter and Author for: Hire With Your Head and The Essential Guide for Hiring and Getting Hired:


Thinkers: these people are the visionaries, strategists, intellects, and creators of the world, and every big idea starts with them.

Builders: these people take an idea from scratch and convert it into something tangible. This could be creating a new business, designing a complex new product, closing a big deal, or developing a new process

Producers: these people execute or maintain a repeatable process. This can range from simple things like working on an inbound help desk and handling some transactional process like basic sales, to more complex, like auditing the performance of a big system, writing code, or producing the monthly financial reports.

Improvers: these people upgrade, change or make a repeatable process better. 


I don't know how true it sounds to most of you but personally, i have had the fortune to have gone through ( and yes, i'm still growing and going through ) all these 4 stages, especially right now at my current company.

To keep things short and sweet, hope this blog would serve as a informational (my two cents worth of thoughts actually) reading list; for the young millennials and Generation Ys, or even if you are a seasoned, experienced member of the global workforce. 

Topics (and yes, includes my random thoughts and yes.. occasional rants) would evolve around building readers and myself into better of each of the 4 types of persons - TBPI.

Comments and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated; as definitely I would love to learn and grow together with you!

Enjoy reading!

Keep Learning, Keep Growing,
Jason