Cavenagh Bridge, Singapore

Pencils to Sit Down

Open The Door To Your Success

At www.success.com, there are precious many refreshing articles to boost your mental strength and stretch your adaptability to lead a successful life such as the following for starters:- 

POPULAR ARTICLES

1. Food, Sleep, Exercise: Why You Seriously Need All 3 to Be Successful
   by Rhett Power
2. What's the Secret of the Best Places to Work? Compassion and Connection
   by Echo Montgomery Garrett
3. 6 Tips to Create a Balanced Life
   by Mark Victor Hansen

Gifts from Luxola.com

Get refreshed and be spoilt for choice as you look up www.luxola.com for your cosmetics, skincare and bodycare products. Men's needs are covered as well. 

This Ice Cream Has Nothing To Hide

Under Armour Is On The Rise

These past 2 years or so, I have noticed the rise and rise of Under Armour in Singapore. This is a refreshing addition to dominant players such as Adidas, Nike, Reebok and Puma in the sports industry. It is commendable, too, for a relative newbie to make inroads.

Necessity has been said to be the mother of invention while a problem solved can be turned into an opportunity.

According to Wikipedia, "As a fullback at the University of Maryland, Kevin Plank got tired of having to change out of the sweat-soaked T-shirts worn under his jersey; however, he noticed that his compression shorts worn during practice stayed dry. This inspired him to make a T-shirt using moisture-wicking synthetic fabric.

After graduating from the University of Maryland, Kevin Plank developed his first prototype of the shirt, which he gave to his Maryland teammates and friends who had gone on to play in the NFL. Plank soon perfected the design creating a new T-shirt built from microfibers that wicked moisture and kept athletes cool, dry, and light."

From the looks of it, Under Armour (UA) products are of high quality with tasteful design and colour, and a logo which looks as solid as it comes for their motto "Protect this house." 

Incidentally, UA logo reminds me of a Samurai headgear and the use of "under" is clever in conveying that whenever you don an UA apparel or gear, you are protected by an "armour" just like the warrior-class Samurai.

As gleaned from https://www.underarmour.com/en-us , the background story is as follows:-

"It started with a simple plan to make a superior T-shirt. A shirt that provided compression and wicked perspiration off your skin rather than absorb it. A shirt that worked with your body to regulate temperature and enhance performance.

Founded in 1996 by former University of Maryland football player Kevin Plank, Under Armour is the originator of performance apparel - gear engineered to keep athletes cool, dry and light throughout the course of a game, practice or workout. The technology behind Under Armour's diverse product assortment for men, women and youth is complex, but the program for reaping the benefits is simple: wear HeatGear® when it's hot, ColdGear® when it's cold, and AllSeasonGear® between the extremes.

Under Armour’s mission is to make all athletes better through passion, design and the relentless pursuit of innovation."

It may have taken a while for Under Armour to reach the shores of Singapore, but the passion and innovation behind this brand will ensure that it will get bigger and stronger not just in Singapore, but the rest of the world, too. 

Moving Closer to Your Goal

Thinking Man

This man is all wrapped up in thoughts

It Changed My Life Series by The Straits Times

For your inspiration, may I recommend for your viewing the following five videos submitted by the Straits Times which had garnered a top prize during the Digital Media Awards held at the World Publishing Expo 2015 in Hamburg, Germany:-

1. Deaf Isabelle Lim pursuing her dream of being a photographer http://str.sg/eKv

2. Disfigured Annie Siow Lee Khoon on finding peace of mind http://str.sg/mfG

3. Bertrand Lee overcoming his trauma of a horrific Mumbai crash http://str.sg/Z67u

4. David Hoe overcoming the odds to get to university http://str.sg/mGu

5. Saleemah Ismail's quest to fight for women's rights http://str.sg/7pR

(Source: page A3, The Straits Times dated 7 October 2015)

Knorr Recipes

Planning to cook up a storm in the kitchen? 

Look no further by exploring the recipes that Knorr has made available to intrigue and/or satiate your culinary adventure at http://www.knorr.com/recipes

What Is The World's Strongest Currency?

The answer is: Trust.

This marketing gem by United Overseas Bank Limited made my day as it illustrated and illuminated the strength undergirding currencies in a highly relatable fashion.  

To digress: What Is The Currency of Heaven?

The answer is: Faith.

"But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)

God's rewards for those who believe in Him are as written in the Holy Bible such as the following from the New King James version (NKJV):

"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him." James 1:5

"The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with it." Proverbs 10:22

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16

For more Bible verses, please explore https://www.biblegateway.com

AOX -- The Most Effective Natural Antioxidant Water?

AOX stands for Anti-OXidant.

Please feel tree to explore the resources at http://www.aox.com.sg to find out more so that you can make your own assessment, enquiries and deliberation. 

The following extracts from their website are highlighted for your information.

"AOX is designed to detox your body, restoring the blood cells to deliver oxygen and nutrients effectively. It helps to remove toxins that have been stored, kick-starting, supporting and cleansing the organs that are responsible for elimination and getting things moving so that every system is working efficiently."

What are the benefits of drinking AOX Water?

"AOX water has anti-aging effects. It also increases metabolism, improves immune system, supplies essentials minerals, neutralizes acidic wastes and uric acid, restores pH balance in the body, improves blood circulation and does so much more. Many of our AOX users have experienced their cholesterol and blood sugar level under control after drinking AOX for a period of time. (Please see video testimonials)."

Take Time

Time Nuggets taken from the back of taxi-driver Mr K R Samy's seat 

Think Out of The Box?

Our brain could be likened to a passport. Depending on our passport, we may have visa-free access to most, if not all, the countries in the world, or we might have no-access to many countries, unless a visa is granted.

The bigger the capacity of our brain, the more we can know and experience, and the better we are positioned to create a better world for ourselves, our loved ones and our world. We could grow our brainpower through study, research and learning from best practices.

Also, we could exercise our thinking holistically, using both the Left Brain (Logic) and Right Brain (Creative). Research has shown that there are many types of thinking such as the following:

1. Analytical Thinking 

- find out the facts, arrange them and derive meaningful associations from them (e.g., market research)

2. Convergent Thinking 

- scrutinize the facts, evaluate whether they meet your criteria and select the most suitable (e.g., shortlisting interviewees)

3. Divergent Thinking 

- allow for a free-flow of ideas,  keep all options open and keep trying until you hit on the idea that works (Think of Thomas Edison who persevered beyond the 999 elements which would not work out for his light bulb.)

4. Innovative Thinking

- use your imagination and resourcefulness to come up with new (unconventional, novel) workable ideas to address a present situation or problem and resolve it or turn it into an opportunity. (e.g., conveyor belt for serving sushi on covered plates.)

5. Intuitive Thinking

- use of past experiences and understanding of human nuances which have been proven many times over. (e.g., lie or scam detection)

6. Strategic Thinking

- planning and making fundamental changes now for the long-term and in anticipation of future requirements. (e.g., automation of work processes).

There is so much more that we do not know. As we equip ourselves better, we would look at problems and situations in a whole new light and brighten up our lives in the process.

For example, Mr Geoffrey Goh, an accomplished trainer of Capelle Academy Pte Ltd, had shown me that you could poke a balloon with a wood skewer and it would not burst, contrary to conventional thinking. The science is to pierce the inflated rubber balloon at  1 to 2 mm from its mouth where the rubber is of a darker shade and not yet stretched. Try it and you will experience this a-ha moment, too.

Perhaps, it is time for us to Enlarge Our Box so that what was previously out of our box could now be incorporated into our box of knowledge, understanding and experience.

Adapting from another of Geoffrey's illustration, a boy asked his Dad why a bird could fly. Dad replied, "Because it has wings." After some thoughts, the boy asked, "How come a chicken has wings but it can't fly?" Dad replied, "Because the chicken is heavy." The boy was about to stop thinking when he lighted up with, "How come an airplane can fly and carry us aboard when it is so heavy?!"

Don't stop thinking and don't stop asking 'stupid questions'. We can only think out of our existing box when we enlarge our box. Go and get a Bigger Box!