Throughout our years as Singaporeans, the things we get crazy over about are numerous, and ever-changing. One can only remember the craze we had back in the good old school days was A’s; A for academics. When we would mug and strive to get an A, it was a prestige (at least it was, back then).

As we’ve moved on to the early adulthood, our craze changes again. Technology was it. In today’s technology world, the changes keep piling. From wide monitors to LCD monitors, and then the touch-screens came along. It’s almost like a never ending race, where only getting our hands on such tech would satisfy that craze. Can’t get the picture? Make a trip down to Comex Fairs and feel that craze for yourself.

The average Singaporean has now just stepped into the working life; some call it the rat-race. The craze for this group? Money and life-style.

Whether one strives to climb the corporate ladder or takes the unbeaten road down entrepreneurship, it’s the dollars and cents that drive us crazy. How else would get rich quick scams be pulled off here in our society today when information and facts are easily accessed?

With money made, one has to show it to the peers his achievements. What better ways to make such a statement than through the life-style he leads? From fine-dining to designer clothes, luxurious car to exquisite hang-out places.

As one enters parenthood, the craze will then be transferred onto the child. Giving the best (or so that’s what the parents think), to the child. Cramming whatever curriculum activities they could into a day of the child. Unconsciously, this craze manifests itself upon the child; the cycle continues.

Living in Singapore has never been easy. It has also been termed as fast-paced by many. One can’t deny that, when there’re so many things waiting to drive us crazy over with. But one has to spare time to think about it: Is it worth it in the end?

The Basics -

Now apart from the ever popular ‘touch’ interface (TouchWiz UI), it runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 platform. It’s the latest update in its series since 2003. It’s stable and has an interface similar to the PC Windows, hence the user-friendliness.

The screen is at 3.2 inches and it’s definitely slim and lightweight (127g) even when it’s packed with features.

On the Road -

I’ll skip the Wi-Fi connectivity since it seems to be a basic nowadays of mobiles. GPS navigation system is included as well, useful for those on the road and about. Now it’s equipped with a 5mp camera, good enough for snapping and video recording. What differs it here from its competition is that it has a smile shot and face detection feature. Mind you, it comes with a video editing feature as well, inclusive of audio dubbing. That’ll be soo great for my tutorials now!

The Rhythm -

The basic specs of all phones – MP3s and FM Radio.

The Work Addict -

With its Windows Mobile platform, viewing MS Office stuff on the road would now be a breeze. And since push mail features, I can stay connected most of the time with this baby.

Now, ain’t that just everything that I’d wish for packed into a phone? I’d say that it’s a lifestyle statement I’m gonna make with one of this in my hand.

omnia

And then it came to me in a flash, flashes of my childhood back in school, when we were presumably forced to recite the pledge at the daily row call. It was a chore, a chore that we soon made fun of it and never took it seriously. Those were the days of innocence. Now, what caught my attention this time, was one sentence of the pledge; “…based on justice and equality so as to achieve Happiness..”. I recalled reading up on “The Declaration of Independence” where one line stood up as well; “…and the pursuit of Happiness..”.

It seems that our forefathers across the globe has acknowledged and highlighted that happiness is indeed, something to be pursued and to be achieved, and not given easily nor taken lightly. However, it has always been the nature of humans to take things for granted and ever so lightly, never treasured.

Happiness is the basis of the quality of our lives, and of those around us. It is intangible, unseen and yet has tremendous effects on our lives. It is magical and transferable, transferable to other areas of our lives. It is measured differently by different individuals, some feel it more than others. Having things go your way on a good day, would in turn, be spread to your co-workers at work greeted by your warm smile on a cold Monday morning. Having napped a big project at work, would in turn, be brought forward to your romantic dinner with your significant other half in the evening, greeted by a confident and the all-smiles you.

Picture it as a pendulum bob, where one good contact transfers its energy to another bob and on and on. It is that magical.

As you can see, we all know the effects of being happy. But not many of us are able to control and maintain that emotional state within us through an extended period. And within this extended period of high energy, imagine how many more individuals you could have reciprocated that favor and touched their lives.

If you could do it, would you have chosen not to do it and scurry back into the hermit’s shell?

Now, I hope I have caught your attention enough to keep you reading through the next portion; a little checklist of my own.

What makes you happy?
- It is important to know what makes you happy, so that you can pick up the signs subconsciously or consciously. Similarly, it is just as important to understand what makes you unhappy, such that you could choose to avoid such events if possible.

- By knowing what makes you happy, you’ll be able to give thanks and show your gratitude. Remember, nobody is indebted to anyone when it comes to happiness, everyone of us wants to be happy ourselves. By showing gratitude where it’s due, that happiness is reciprocated. And what goes around, does come around in this tightly woven globe.

Why does it makes you happy?
- Knowing what makes you happy is just a start, knowing why it makes you happy helps in understanding the dynamics behind. Having been greeted warmly in the morning makes you feel good, the dynamics behind it is that you’ve felt welcomed. By offering to get coffee for you on your co-worker’s way would have made you feel just as welcomed.

How does it make you happy?
- Let’s face it, each individuals has their own measurement of happiness, of feeling good. When a person feels happy, he has been made to feel good about the event, about the other person, and about himself. We all feel good at different levels and events, it is important for us to understand what is our ‘feel good’ button.

Happiness can be achieved from the little things around us, only if we let ourselves to be. It boils down to our level of sensitivity, level of gratitude, and level of satisfaction.

Would you have chosen to be happy if you could let yourself to be?

A successful man becomes what he is today for various reasons. You’ll need to understand yourself and define that reason. Be it for the obvious reasons such as the glittering gold and fame, or any other personal reasons. First, you need to understand the why and the how will follow.

Everyone has that drive in themselves for something they want badly enough. By understanding why, you’ll understand what makes you tick and what doesn’t. By understanding the fundamentals of your ticking clock, you’ll find the needed fuel in your long journey towards success.

My personal favorite would be Chris Gardner ever since I watched “The pursuit of happyness”. He is a driven man, for reasons sprouted from desperation, love for his family, and providing the best for his family. The ‘nitro’ for his drive then come from the unwavering love and trust from his son.

Now that you’ve understood the why, let’s move on to the how. How does a inspired person becomes successful? It is now a matter of finding the right path, which doesn’t necessarily be the beaten or least beaten path. This path could be aligned with your personal interest closely.

After you’ve determined the path from Point A to Final Destination, you need to determine the pre-requisites and then plot the possible routes. Take a pen and paper and list down all the factors.

For example, if you inspire to be a journalist on TV. You’ll need a strong command in a language, either your native tongue or the universal language – English. You’ll also need to have the flair in writing skills. Finally and most importantly, you can’t be camera-shy.

With all that in mind or on paper now, you’ll need to tackle each pre-requisite one at a time. Now, you could sign up for additional courses to brush up the language issue. You could also sign up with AC and have a go at the writing stage. Who knows, you might get popular even before you hit the TV. Lastly, anything that goes on the TV screen has undoubtedly been rehearsed umpteen times before. Get yourself a mirror, write a simple script, read it before the mirror while changing your tones and facial expressions to see the different effects. The key is rehearse, rehearse, and rehearse. For that, you could also get your friends to be your audience.

Next, you’ll need the people skills. In a connected world, nobody is left outside the grid. But it is the people skills that will help you scale that grid. You’re the recruiting interviewer for the day, a loner stereotype kind of guy steps in together with a all-smile friendly guy. Your choice is obvious, at least on the first impression column.

It is important to be warm and friendly, to have the people skills, to be the people’s kind of guy. Because once you’re connected in the grid, doors won’t stop opening for you.

Lastly, though you may have figured out the path and the deciding factors, a pinch of luck still plays an important part in reality. But with serious hard work and consistency, the average Joe can shine brightly at the top. Now to leave you guys with something to think about: “The secret of success is constancy to purpose – Benjamin Disraeli”

As we grow up into adulthood, the responsibilities pile up, the innocence fades. But lemme stress the fact that the world hasn’t changed one bit, it is us who has complicated decisions and problems and the simplest of things around us.

No doubt making decisions have became tougher at times, following through on what you’ve decided is always the difficult part. Once we’ve concluded on a decision, many a times, we’ve failed to plan and prepare adequately. As humans, we hope for the best but failed to expect the worse that might happened.

We’ve failed on the following parts generally:

- Failure to fully understand the rationale behind the decision

- Failure to foresee the chain of reactions upon undertaking the decision

- Failure to expect and plan for the worse possible outcomes that may happen

- And finally, failure to determine how much slack you’ve got before cutting loose

It is only human to err, and to learn from the mistakes would require much more wisdom. Throughout the course of history, engineers have learned from the mistakes from the past and innovates and improves the designs of creations. Titanic would be a classic example, however, the price to pay was just too dear for many.

Now, would you allow your voyage to be a repeat of another’s mistake?

No doubt every one makes mistakes at one point of their lives or another. How many of these individuals have the room and capabilities to learn from the mistakes made? Better still, to learn from mistakes committed by those around you.

I do feel the urge to make mistakes. Call me a sucker. But this is how I’d learn much better, much faster and better my understanding on the bigger picture. Take away that freedom to make mistakes, and I’d be treading from cradle to grave, no ups nor downs, doing what I’m told to do without understanding the dynamics and wheels behind it. There would be no innovation, no invention, no adaptability, no growth, and no advancement.

Now, how boring can that be, being told to follow through the steps?

So, let us not fear making mistakes, but fear not learning from the mistakes committed by others and oneself.

Realizing the importance of prioritizing is the first step to working smart. By first filtering out the less important tasks on hand, you’ll be able to limit the unnecessary stress and time going through them later on. Also, with enough practice, prioritizing the tasks efficiently enough, you’ll be able to improve your efficiency greatly, freeing up excess time to squeeze in more tasks or undertaking the similar tasks concurrently. Whilst failure to do so, would lead to overwhelming amount of tasks, and yet not knowing where to start.

I’ve recently done up a wish list for the rest of the year, marked down the time frame I’ve set for myself on the organizer as well. In a way, this would have become the sea chart and compass for my boat. I’m able to clearly see what’s ahead of me, the obstacles as well as opportunities to do some tasks concurrently.

Of course, as my voyage continues, I would need to constantly update the sea chart, referring to my compass time and again. I would need to review my goals and time-line again and again as more factors are taken into the equation.

For there’s only a few decades to one’s life, limited hours in a day before the sun sets and rises again. Working smart and efficiently would be the only option I see in this path. Leveraging on the limited time given to complete the maximum amount of tasks.

So, be sure to list down the tasks on hand the next time, before they become too taxing on yourself.

As we’re thrown these many options, we have to sit down and do a lot of planning, and tons of weighing. Weighing the pros and cons, the risks involved and the upsides if you can pull it off successfully. You may or may not have come across the term: SWOT Analysis. In the gist of it, it’s an analysis of a situation or a product, the Strengths, the Weaknesses, the Opportunities, and the Threats involved. Thereafter, add in a dash of gut feeling and proceed down the path of belief, a leap of faith. Why gut feeling? It’s something indescribable in each and everyone one of us, a strong belief that comes from within that our decisions are right, a belief strong enough to propel us forward, embracing the uncertainties head-on. Convincing yourself taps into a pool of boundless energy.

Sitting at the cross-road I am right now, 26 years of age, in my prime. Weighing my options, its opportunities and risks involved. Convincing a fool has always been a difficult task. I have every reason to believe this next decision I make will decide the following 3-5 years’ outcome, and ultimately my success in life, the quality of my life, the comfort of my life, and of course the quality level I can provide my family with.

Everyone has been supportive and strong belief in me, it is only myself that I have left to convince. And I thank you for that, for the trust.

Time is not of essence to me right now, however, haste do make waste.

Let me tread upon this path I should come to decide, with my eyes set forward upon the final pot of gold. My head held high, brimming with confidence, busking in your faith and belief in me.

Thank you.

Just would a pendulum bob swing in its own set of rhythm, there’s a bob in each and every one of us. A set of actions and reactions would set that bob swinging. How forceful it swings in its rhythm depends on our actions and inactions.

Today, I have fulfilled the first item of my wish list; I have certified myself in Health Insurance. Though this may not be a major feat in any ways, I felt an urge nonetheless. It’s been awhile since I’ve felt that.

The way that would make me smile uncontrollably even if I’m alone, the way that would make me feel an urge to pursue something greater, the way that would make me go “Alright, what’s next”. I have found the long-lost bob, and pushed it.

As the pendulum bob strikes the one besides, a series of action would occur. It is a momentum. Left alone, and it dies off by itself, quietly. React to it, and it can propel itself and transfer the energy to the next bob and on.

Let me react to it. And let me act upon it. For I am catching up on lost time.

A sew and needle at a time.

Humans have a strong tendency to make assumptions and jump to conclusions. It is in our nature, and that we cannot deny nor blame. I am one of them, and I truly hope you don’t deny that of yourself.

I’ve been spending some time thinking about the nuts and bolts of it, the mechanism behind this compulsive behaviour and concluded a few possibilities.

• When we’re in doubt and we’ve failed to ask intelligently, it’d be much easier just to assume.

• When we think that highly of ourselves, belittling everyone else around us, we choose to assume.

• When we’re in the heat of argument or anger, we tend to believe what we want to believe, regardless of the facts.

I have been assumed of something. I have made an assumption today as well. And I have hurt a person in doing so. For assumptions test the very foundation of trust. I have broken the trust. So have my trust in a friend I once believed been broken.

Why jump to conclusions and make an ass out of yourself, when you could ask? When I could have asked.. It was a lesson well-taught, well learned. A lesson I’d hold dear to my heart, and can only hope I do not repeat it.

I hope the same for you.