Bảo Tàng Chứng Tích Chiến Tranh (War Remnants Museum), Ho Chi Minh City

Following a recent visit to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon), I had a thought-provoking journey back to the Vietnam War upon visiting the War Remnants Museum. 

The visit was a gruesome reminder of the atrocity of war where the lives of many were slain. It was sombre and heart-wrenching experience for me to see the sacrifices made by the people of Vietnam and all who were drawn into the conflict.

Here are some snapshots for your viewing including two pictures in honour of those who paid the ultimate price in the line of fire; it's a troubling sight which would force us to reflect on human suffering. I did not take any photographs on the devastation of Orange Agent and its ramification as they were too grotesque for me.

Your life will never be the same again after you have visited this museum.

Click here for more on the War Remnants Museum.

Are You Winning the Self-Discipline Game? How to Get More Out of Yourself Every Day by Bill Cole

Are You Winning the Self-Discipline Game?

How To Get More Out of Yourself Every Day

Bill Cole, MS, MA
Founder and CEO
William B. Cole Consultants
Silicon Valley, California

Are you happy with your productivity? Could you get more out of yourself on a daily basis? Do you have a system for creating more self-discipline in your life and for becoming better at achieving your goals?

There is a way to push yourself and focus better without being negative or miserable to be around. You can develop the self-discipline that championship athletes possess and apply that to your work, sport or daily life. People have asked me those questions almost every day in my 30 years as a coach. There is a way. Here's how you can make healthy self-discipline a reality.

Question: How can becoming more self-disciplined help me?

Bill: You can achieve more and be more efficient in everything you do. You can reach goals that you never thought possible if you have higher levels of self-discipline. Your self-confidence sky-rockets when you treat yourself right and reach for your dreams.

Question: Some days I just don't feel like doing what I know I have to do. How do I get jump-started to get going?

Bill: Top achievers remind themselves of a few basic, yet powerful truths they live their lives by, to get going when the old bones don't want to move. They remember how short life is, they remember that if it is to be, it is up to them, and they remember that they made a commitment with themselves and they honor that commitment, because they respect themselves. It still may not be easy to get going, but they call on a higher level of thinking to motivate themselves.

Question: Won't I stop having fun if I become too self-disciplined?

Bill: Many folks think that being self-disciplined means being serious and crotchety. It really just means respecting your commitment to yourself and others and doing what you agree to do. You can have as much fun, and more than ever because you will feel so good about what and how you achieve.

Question: I enjoy "going with the flow" some days, instead of being so rigid about my to-do list. Is this OK?

Bill: It's perfectly fine to be flexible and adaptive any time. Being disciplined does not mean staying on course no matter what. You don't even need a to-do list to be disciplined, as long as you achieve what you have to do.

Question: Will I stifle my creativity if I improve my self-discipline?

Bill: You may even improve your ability to be creative. You may find that you open up time for being creative and super-charge your mind so that it works faster and makes connections faster, a major factor in creativity training. Being self-disciplined means being more focused on tasks, not on being more rigid. I think you'll find your creativity opening up as you learn to focus better.

Question: If I become extremely self-disciplined, won't I lose my down-time, my time to relax and just be me?

Bill: Just the opposite. Being self-disciplined allows you to have more down time as you fine-tune your schedule and intentionally put in regular slots for relaxation, exercise, nutrition, socializing, and all else you purposely want to have in your life.

Question: I'm very disciplined in some phases of my life, and terribly lazy in other areas. What can I do about this?

Bill: It depends what you mean by lazy. You have to allow yourself some unstructured time to relax and play. Try doing this and not feeling guilty.

Question: How can I reward myself for improving my self-discipline?

Bill: It is vitally important to reward yourself for effort and for results. You should celebrate all successes, no matter how small. High achievers do not withhold self-reward. They use it to launch themselves to the next task and to the next level.

Question: I seem to become negative when I push myself to achieve more and work harder. Is there a way to be more self-disciplined, yet remain focused and stay positive?

Bill: Build in some fun, relaxation and down-time in your day and take a break when the tension builds. Achievement is exciting, but not 100% stress-free sometimes. Know when to back off.

Question: What are your best strategies for building a program for becoming self-disciplined?

Bill: Set goals, write down the reasons for those goals, when you want to achieve them and how. Then make a signed contract with yourself and vow to stick to that agreement. Measure your progress on a daily and weekly basis and make adjustments to goals when needed. Celebrate your successes and enjoy the process!


To learn about coaching services offered by Bill Cole, MS, MA, the Mental Game Coach™, visit www.mentalgamecoach.com/Services.html.

Copyright © 2005-2012 Bill Cole, MS, MA. All rights reserved.

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Bill Cole, MS, MA, a leading authority on peak performance, mental toughness and coaching, is founder and CEO of William B. Cole Consultants, a consulting firm that helps organizations and professionals achieve more success in business, life and sports. He is also the Founder and President of the International Mental Game Coaching Association (www.mentalgamecoaching.com), an organization dedicated to advancing the research, development, professionalism and growth of mental game coaching worldwide. He is a multiple Hall-Of-Fame honoree as an athlete, coach and school alumnus, an award-winning scholar-athlete, published book author and articles author, and has coached at the highest levels of major-league pro sports, big-time college athletics and corporate America. For a free, extensive article archive, or for questions and comments visit him at www.MentalGameCoach.com.

Free Re-Publishing Rights For This Article
You have our advance permission to republish this article, as long as you do not sell it. The author's name, web address (MentalGameCoach.com) and copyright notice (Copyright © Bill Cole, MS, MA) must appear in all reprinted articles. If the article appears on a website or in an e-zine, the article must include a link to a page in the MentalGameCoach website. We would also appreciate your including the author's bio and full contact information in your article, although this is not a requirement.

How Superstars Reach Their Goals, How We Can Reach Ours by Bill Cole

How Superstars Reach Their Goals How We Can Reach Ours Bill Cole, MS, MA Founder and CEO William B. Cole Consultants Silicon Valley, California Are superstars born or made? Do they have the genius of supreme achievement by an accident of birth, a favorable environment or from their own individual effort? Whatever the reasons, superstars are a different breed. They must succeed and they will succeed. They have an amazing capacity to dream big, strive even bigger and come through against all the odds. Can we learn to become better achievers by looking inside the minds of the big-time peak performers? Let's see what makes them tick and why they are able to achieve so much more and at a higher level than anyone else. Here are their characteristics. 1. A Can-Do Attitude. Superstars have a "make-it-happen" attitude. They take it for granted that they will succeed. They act as if it's a done deal that they will win. They are infectious in their enthusiasm for a project and enlist others easily to make it become a reality. They are bursting with positive expectancy that everything will be a smashing success. Their motto is "Get It Done!" 2. A Bias To Action. Superstars take action. They start acting on an idea or plan quickly and make room in their schedule for tangible, concrete objectives that take them closer to their goals. They spend time reflectively, but take action when action is required. They don't waste time over-planning. They get down to it. 3. Atmospheric Standards. Superstars are often not 100% happy with their performances. They are not negative about them, but they are realistic and demanding of themselves and often of those around them. They continually seek improvement in even the tiniest areas of their performance and regularly raise the bar as each new ability level is surmounted. They hold their best all-time performances as the ideal and seek to rise to that level always. 4. Superb Organizational Skills. Superstars know how to break projects down into manageable bite-sized chunks. Their favorite motto is "Mile by mile it's a trial; inch by inch it's a cinch". They know that many details placed together in proper order lead to something big. They spend time planning and keeping records to show progress and to stay on time projections. They are in a hurry to succeed, but never rush. 5. Decisiveness. Superstars are decisive. This is a characteristic of all successful people. They gather information and quickly decide to act on it and later make changes based on new information. They take advantage of the windows of opportunities that arise and go for it. They have confidence that they made the right decision and the confidence that if they do not, they can successfully change gear and recover for a positive outcome. 6. They Sacrifice. Superstars know how to sacrifice to make something happen. They know they often can't have it all and that they must have singular focus to succeed. They are good at going into "tunnel-vision" to block out all distractions so they can rapidly advance past their objectives. They deny themselves those things that do not contribute to making them successful. They know how to be self-disciplined and stay on track. 7. They Love The Struggle. Superstars love the battle. They love the process. They love the climb up the ladder. Superstars love to be in the game, the hunt, the chase. This is what it is all about for many of them. They are excited pursuing their goals and take extreme pleasure in the challenge to see what impossible obstacles they can leap on their way to success. They want stories to tell, bragging rights as part of the success trophy. 8. They Love To Achieve. Meeting objectives and reaching goals is energizing to top achievers. They can't wait to get to work and see the results of their efforts. They boost their self-esteem and self-confidence as they finish a project or task that is highly satisfying. They pour their entire passion into what they love to do and complete it with all their energies and enthusiasm. Some people look at superstars and lament that they could never do what they do. They get discouraged at the gap between what is and what could be. Other people look to the superstars and are inspired. They use the superstars as a template or benchmark and use them as models for what they would like to achieve. They view them as "best practices" and measure themselves against the superstars. Watch a superstar and become discouraged or become encouraged...the choice is yours. Copyright © 2005-2012 Bill Cole, MS, MA. All rights reserved. Bill Cole, MS, MA, a leading authority on peak performance, mental toughness and coaching, is founder and CEO of William B. Cole Consultants, a consulting firm that helps organizations and professionals achieve more success in business, life and sports. He is also the Founder and President of the International Mental Game Coaching Association (www.mentalgamecoaching.com), an organization dedicated to advancing the research, development, professionalism and growth of mental game coaching worldwide. He is a multiple Hall-Of-Fame honoree as an athlete, coach and school alumnus, an award-winning scholar-athlete, published book author and articles author, and has coached at the highest levels of major-league pro sports, big-time college athletics and corporate America. For a free, extensive article archive, or for questions and comments visit him at www.MentalGameCoach.com. Free Re-Publishing Rights For This Article You have our advance permission to republish this article, as long as you do not sell it. The author's name, web address (MentalGameCoach.com) and copyright notice (Copyright © Bill Cole, MS, MA) must appear in all reprinted articles. If the article appears on a website or in an e-zine, the article must include a link to a page in the MentalGameCoach website. We would also appreciate your including the author's bio and full contact information in your article, although this is not a requirement.

'Choose Love' And 'Do Beautiful Things' by Jim Carrey

Some food for thoughts by Jim Carrey. Click here to watch.


By the way, here are some quotes by Jim Carrey for you to munch on:

"It is better to risk starving to death then surrender. If you give up on your dreams, what's left?"

"I really believe in the philosophy that you create your own universe. I'm just trying to create a good one for myself."


"My focus is to forget the pain of life. Forget the pain, mock the pain, reduce it. And laugh."

"I'm very serious about no alcohol, no drugs. Life is too beautiful."

"I wake up some mornings and sit and have my coffee and look out at my beautiful garden, and I go, 'Remember how good this is. Because you can lose it.' "

"I don't think human beings learn anything without desperation. Desperation is a necessary ingredient to learning anything or creating anything. Period. If you ain't desperate at some point, you ain't interesting."

"Good morning! And in case I don't see you: Good afternoon, Good evening and Good night."

Freedom from Fear - How to Conquer Paralyzing Fear by Michael Lee

When you look at successful, confident people, they may look like in full control of their lives, with freedom from fear. In truth, though, fear attacks everyone, even the most confident, successful person. There is no absolute freedom from fear, but there is freedom from paralyzing fear. This is what successful people enjoy that others do not.   

What is paralyzing fear? It is a great fear that stops you from doing something to achieve what you want. For example, a paralyzing fear of rejection can stop you from asking for that raise or from asking out that person you like. A paralyzing fear of looking stupid, meanwhile, may prevent you from asking that seemingly stupid but actually important question.

So what do you do to have freedom from fear, particularly from paralyzing fear? First, realize the real definition of fear. Motivational speakers and authors Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen said fear stands out for Fantasized Experiences Appearing Real. 

You create that negative outcome in your mind. As an exercise, the two authors recommend you to complete this sentence: I would really like to _________ and I scare myself by imagining ___________.  The key words here are "scare myself." You create your fear.

To check your fear, ask yourself, "Logically, what is the worst that could happen?" It may not be as bad as what you are worrying about. Fear actually magnifies the negativity of any possible outcome.

Then, imagine the best thing that could happen. Picture this very vividly in your mind. Ask yourself, "Is this not worth it for me to take action?"

Canfield and Hansen also advise taking a new perspective. If you fail, you really have not lost anything - you are just back where you started. But if you succeed, think about all the good things that will happen! 

In fact, rejection can actually be a good thing. If you ask for a raise and did not get it, you are just back at your regular salary. And, if you took the rejection positively and asked for your boss' feedback on what you should do to get a raise, you will most likely get it next time. But if you do not ask, you do not gain anything!  

The only way to have freedom from fear is to not allow yourself to get paralyzed by it. Focus on the outcome you want and take action!



Let Michael Lee teach you how to easily persuade and influence people to willingly and eagerly do what you want them to do… guaranteed! Go to www.20daypersuasion.com and get some amazing persuasion tips free!

Article Source: http://www.articlesphere.com/Article/Freedom-from-Fear---How-to-Conquer-Paralyzing-Fear/105096

How To Be Optimistic And Happy In 5 Easy Steps by Michael Lee

Learning how to be optimistic and happy can be the key to living a content, enlightened and peaceful way of life. Since we are often faced with trials and stresses, it is very important to have a positive state of mind all the time. 

Here are 5 simple steps on how to be happy and optimistic to help you get through every day with lightness in your heart.

Step 1: Realize That The World Is Not Against You.

And not everything is out to get you. Happiness and optimism are a state of mind. When you can't change or control the circumstances you're in, you can choose to see them in a different point of view. 

Knowing how to be happy and optimistic means you choose to respond positively to the things around you, no matter how terrible they may seem. Learn to accept your current circumstances and find the good side of everything.

Step 2: Identify The Source Of Your Pessimism. 

There are times that you can't really help but feel negative about your situation. What you should do is think about why you feel that way. 

Do you feel stressed and worried at work? Are your relationships putting a strain on you? Do you find it hard to handle the responsibilities of everyday? Only when you have identified the problem can you take action to eliminate it.

Step 3: Release Past Mistakes And Regrets

The past does not equal the future. We all have regrets, things we could have done differently or things we shouldn't have done at all. Don't let mistakes of the past bring you down. 

Remember, we all make mistakes. Knowing how to be optimistic and happy means that you also understand that the past is past. It's not in your power to change it and the best that you can do is to learn from it.

Step 4: Be A Balanced Optimist. 

It isn't healthy to think that everything will go your way either. The key is to keep a balance. Be realistic. Accept that obstacles are bound to come your way. Keep in mind that what matters is how you deal with them.

Step 5: Avoid Negative People. 

If this is not possible, don't let them get to you. Misery loves company, so be sure that you mingle with people who can encourage and support you to be more cheerful and hopeful.

Learning how to be optimistic and happy can be a breeze if you only accept that challenges, pain, failures and disappointments are parts of life; but you can minimize them if you want to. Life is short; so don't waste it by being negative and cynical.



To help you achieve your dreams in record time, I'd like to give you instant access to more than 100 of the best free self-help ebooks that could greatly change your life! Download them free at http://www.20daypersuasion.com/goldaccess.htm

Article Source: http://www.articlesphere.com/Article/How-To-Be-Optimistic-And-Happy-In-5-Easy-Steps/258600

Quotes by Henry David Thoreau

The following are just a sampling of quotes from Henry David Thoreau which I find refreshing:-

“I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” 

“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” 

"Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake."

“Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed, and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. It is not important that he should mature as soon as an apple-tree or an oak. Shall he turn his spring into summer?” 

"As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives."

"Do what you love. Know your own bone; gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it, and gnaw it still."

"Goodness is the only investment that never fails."

“However mean your life is, meet it and live it; do not shun it and call it hard names. It is not so bad as you are. It looks poorest when you are richest. The fault-finder will find faults even in paradise. Love your life, poor as it is. You may perhaps have some pleasant, thrilling, glorious hours, even in a poorhouse. The setting sun is reflected from the windows of the almshouse as brightly as from the rich man's abode; the snow melts before its door as early in the spring. I do not see but a quiet mind may live as contentedly there, and have as cheering thoughts, as in a palace.” 

“We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us even in our soundest sleep. I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavour. It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look, which morally we can do. To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts.” 

“I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society.” 

“A written word is the choicest of relics. It is something at once more intimate with us and more universal than any other work of art. It is the work of art nearest to life itself. It may be translated into every language, and not only be read but actually breathed from all human lips; -- not be represented on canvas or in marble only, but be carved out of the breath of life itself.” 

Sky Dancers of Singapore (Go Fly Kite By Remote Control)

While growing up, 'go fly kite' was a commonly heard expression. In essence, it means telling someone who is a nuisance to get out of your way or, simply, to get lost.

Now, in Singapore, one might well do a double take as Go Fly Kite.com Pte Ltd has given new wings to kite-flying and propelled it to national limelight with appearances at the Youth Olympic Games 2010 and National Day events.

Click here to catch a glimpse of these easily identifiable flying objects ('sky dancers') and be blown away figuratively.

To explore further, please visit goflykite.com.sg/

It's refreshing to see that the traditional kite has been given such a gravity-defying technological-inspired makeover. 

Top Documentary Films

One of the way to refresh and renew our mind would be to watch a documentary, and learn more about ourselves and the world we live in.

You may wish to check out http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/ and see if there is a category of films which may be of interest to you. But, first, do read their Terms of Use/Privacy Policy and FAQ.

Also, when watching a documentary, you may find the following advisory from Top Documentary Films (TDF) to be vital: 

"We always have to keep in mind that a Documentary, after all, can tell lies and it can tell lies because it lays claim to a form of veracity which fiction doesn’t. Some of the documentaries are made just to discredit some particular person, party, organization, system etc, but most of them here on TDF are non biased, without prejudice and worth watching."

Enjoy.

Pet Food Business Dream: Jerel Kwek and His Addiction

[This article is a digest of "Dogged Climb to Make Success of Pet Project" by Wong Kim Hoh, The Sunday Times, 16 June 2013]


Profile / Background of Mr Jerel Kwek

In spite of having set up three tech businesses, Mr Kwek wanted to do something scalable like having products which have cross-market appeal. He decided on pet food because his two biggest passions are animals and food.

His maternal grandmother Laura Tan founded 3 Aces which went on to become Singapore's largest outdoor bus banner agency while his mother Jayne Kwek is the chief executive of MooveMedia, the advertising unit of ComfortDelgro.

As a kid, he was enthused to hear of the challenges that his grandmother and mother had encountered in their businesses.

During school holidays, he interned at various businesses -- learning something new, exploring and meeting people in a working environment, which was fun for him.

He garnered his Web skills from reading books and magazines, and started his first company Imagine Multimedia while doing his first year of studies at National Junior College.

He put his studies at Wharton business school on hold and went on to start two more IT businesses: MyAngel.com e-recruitment and Relevanz knowledge management with specialisations in intranet portals and digitalising contents.

In 2001, at 22, he was one of the two young men who received the inaugural IT Youth Award by the Singapore Computer Society.

Unique Selling Proposition / How he did it

At 23, he invested SGD 6,000.00 of his savings to start a pet food company together with a veterinarian and animal nutritionist in Singapore. Today, Addiction is a multimillion-dollar global business with its own manufacturing plant in New Zealand and hires more than 40 people across three countries. Its range of products are sold in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, United States, Canada and Japan.

Instead of the usual suspects (such as chicken, beef or lamb), Addiction uses premium proteins and high quality wild game meats which have richer nutrients, hypoallergenic and easier to digest such as brushtail possum, kangaroo, venison, salmon, eel, rabbit, duck, buffalo, sweet potatoes and blueberries.

His company developed products no one else has and was therefore able to get a premium in the market place. It was a first-mover in the use eco-friendly meat and low-temperature processing to produce an array of raw dehydrated food.

As Mr Kwek has said, "New Zealand is the cleanest place in the world to produce pet food. There is free-range meat, there is no mad cow, or foot and mouth disease, there are stringent checks by the New Zealand Food and Safety Authority. We have unfettered access to any place in the world by producing our food in New Zealand because the reputation is so good."

Character / Attributes/ Business philosophies/ Secrets for success

Kwek-speaks:

"A setback is a set-up for a comeback. In my 10 years, I've had many setbacks -- customers who don't pay on time, suppliers who close down, equipment which break down. It's so easy to be discouraged but you have to transcend that."

"I'm constantly told by people that things cannot be done but I don't take 'no' for an answer. It's a matter of time and resources and your ingenuity."

"I just love the challenge of building the business. I love the idea of operating at different altitudes every day."

"I can't switch off. Before I go to bed, I make a list of what I have to do. Sometimes I get the solutions in my dreams."

Click here to access Addiction Pet Foods.


Bibliography:

The Sunday Times, 16 June 2013, "Dogged Climb to Make Success of Pet Project" by Wong Kim Hoh

Elephant Paintings

Elephants are renowned for their memory and the dexterity of their trunk. Yes, they can hold a paintbrush and remember some keystrokes so as to repeat them on the canvas. 

From what I have seen, they could probably thrive in the area of abstract art and beat many of us with our trunks down (pun intended). Imagine what they might well draw if they could recollect their dreams, assuming that they do dream dreams in their sleep.

For example, the following painting is sourced from The Elephant Art Gallery:-  

A Dream Come True
a painting by elephant “Khankluay”

Click here to view the gallery of paintings by elephant at at http://www.elephantartgallery.com/

Is this all true? I am in no capacity to vouch for them and readers' discretion are advised. You may wish to check out hoax-slayer.com's take on this. Click here to read their findings.

Finally, you may catch the elephants in action! Click here for Part 1  and here for Part 2.

Korean Running Man

Do you still have fond memories of your growing up years? I hope you do. Maybe not the Gen Y or thereafter, but you may recall, albeit vaguely, having participated in games such as hide-and-seek, police-and-thief and scissors-paper-stone.

Well, you can relive all these memories and feel the adrenaline rush by watching Korean Running Man. It's kinda like the amazing race but it is all happening mainly within South Korea with some few episodes filmed overseas.

The participants are fiercely competitive, witty, smiling even at their wit's ends and, above all, super sporting. They are colourful, too, with names such as Ha-Ha, Ace, Big Nose, Giraffe and Commander. Watch your time though and don't over-indulge.

Click here and get a new perspective of entertainment Korean-style. Yes, one of the regular running man has a cameo appearance in Psy's Gangnam Style video.