Stuart’s Philosophies

In case you were wondering… I was struggling with the upgrade of my blog. So, since it’s been updated, I think I’m a happier man.. haha.

If any of you have missed me… I’ve basically been busy planning out my whole new business at www.InternetMarketingSingapore.com. If you have been a part of it, you will know how important the new business is for the moment. Once it hits the launch, you’ll see very interesting developments that we have in-house that will take Singapore by storm.

Anyway, enough about money making.

I was also in the midst of training Whoosh 24 for Module 2 in the Patterns of Excellence. During that time, I was in an interview with a peak performance coach, Michael Bolduc, who essentially uses NLP and NAC (he was part of the Tony Robbins team) to help create speed change. And boy was it an eye opener! I think many people would have thought it was going to be a mild call. I have to rate it M18 lol.

It does look like we are going to be doing some new stuff, and I must say that a lot of the interesting things I do in the world of Personal development are also going to come forward after my main project for internet marketing is done. One of it is an interesting twist to the idea of Goal-Setting. Another one is the trouble a lot of people face: stress. But stress management is sooooo passe. I prefer looking at a deeper approach of alignment. Well… many things to do, but so little time.

One distinction I came across is this: don’t confuse doing with being. Many people plan tasks, but don’t plan the things they want to be. So, who do you want to be today? What identity do you want to play out, and what does that do to your behavior? See, being controls doing. So, instead of focusing on your doings, why not plan your beings? :)

All right, just a quick one from me and I’m back to training…

If you ever wondered why it’s a “dog’s life”, you better head down here to take a look.

==> http://www.kloudiia.com/1281/if-you-drink-see-this/

psst… in case you thought I was talking about the picture of the girl in the banner, well, she’s cute too, but not for your eyes. hahaha…

Just came out of a training with SMSS… and what do you know. Absolutely a thrill! say “well, that’s to be expected - they come from a good school”. I think that’s true, but I also think that I’ve never seen such a group of students who are that close-knit. Anyhow, here are the pics, and I’m waiting for your successes!

(sorry gals, I only took a video of y’all and I have yet to convert it into a smaller compressed file, so here’s a screenshot of the video. please send me photos you took!!!)

It’s been some time since I posted anything here due to a very tight training schedule (of course, I’d also gone to the US and Mauritius over a 2 week span). Here’s some photos of my latest training done with Woodlands Ring Secondary School.

It’s probably one of the more outstanding schools I’ve been to so far. Lots of potential success that I’m awaiting here! Hope you guys continue to take action and shine!

I suppose after the last few days of training, you guys will be revved up to achieve your goals, right? Remember to keep your focus on the right outcome. Study… yes. But don’t be disappointed with poor results. Pick yourselves up and keep moving forward toward your eventual goals. See y’all soon… whoosh!

I employ a number of people throughout the year, and I have been aware of some employability issues.

Let’s be really honest. Anyone who has graduated from a specific degree or diploma must go through it in order to be a decently educated individual. Or at least this is the norm. other than this, the only way I can tell whether or not a person is worth employing is not through the degree that they get.

In fact, it is constantly getting more and more difficult to base decisions of employment on qualifications alone. Here are some reasons why.

1. Job demands are changing.

Nowadays, workers need to be adaptable and flexible. Often, organizations will want to restructure. Jobs will also be changed. In my company, we usually follow the rule of “suit the job for the person” rather than “hire the person into the job”. Most of the time, it is progressively getting tougher to force people into a mold because they tend to be multi-talented.

2. What you study may not be your passion.

I can see if someone is really passionate about their life when I speak to them and see them at work. However, I won’t we able to tell a person’s passion for life simply through their studies. Hey, I train thousands of unmotivated children and teenagers - specifically those who are unmotivated about studies. But I do know that when they display their passion for things outside their studies, I can tell more about their character and interest. Helps me make a decision if they can suit the organization.

3. Teams are more important than the individual.

In case you didn’t realize, individuals have taken a back seat in the priorities of an organization. It’s all for one, one for all now. Even the CEO isn’t the most important person in the company anymore. Can individuals display team skills? If you have this, it’s going to be more welcome. However, you will also realize this is never going to be taught in school. Often, you have to do this on your own - productively.

4. Nobody really has a clue about what job you’ll be required to do.

In many organizations I’ve seen so far, there’s no such thing as a specialization of labor. It’s more like the sharing of labor that’s the most important, which brings to mind the fact that people need to be flexible. While they’ve not lied when they say that when you learn a specific job, you will have the skills and competence for employment, they neglected to inform you that very often, the work you do has nothing to do with your capabilities you developed in school. After all, if you only developed capabilities in school, you’d be in serious trouble. As an employer, I’ll want my guys to have basic pre-requisites where necessary, and then as you develop, you will learn and grow along the way. That’s where job fulfillment comes from.

5. Parents influence their childrens’ decisions.

I have taught thousands of students. And the fact that there are people who are constantly being influenced by their parents to take up a job that their parents feel is a mark of respect of some kind of family tradition shows a severe lack of insight into the current employment trends. I know a friend who is a lawyer by training and car salesman by passion. His degree was done to prove that he was competent and had the choice to do whatever he wanted. Parents will have to open their eyes to the new world of possibility. After all, in the past there was no such thing as a full time computer game tester. There would be no such thing as a graphic designer. And the prospect then of being an entertainer would be ridiculously unsound. Today, things have changed. You can set up any business in any part of the world instantly and make a whole load of money with the right kinds of strategies. The ‘generation gap’ is not a gap of age - it’s a gap of involvement. Perhaps parents can play a few computer games once in a while.

In other words, there are a number of new changes that are required of our mindset. We have to develop more skills that are going to give us an unfair advantage. One such skill is NLP, or neuro-linguistic programming. With this skill, it allows us the capacity to grow any capacity we want. Is it going to come with a certification or qualification? Heck, no. NLP is hardly even considered effectively because it is completely misunderstood. They think NLP is motivation, when it actually is far more than that. Today, NLP certification is also just another piece of paper. The real people who are heroes of NLP actually go way beyond the certification column of NLP - they develop skills and enhance themselves by developing models from their learnings. They innovate. They seek out differences to find a new, possibly better, path to success in any area of life.

If you want to find out more about NLP, go to www.WorldOfNLP.com to learn about it.

I found it funny because I was sitting down listening to a group of people from a specific group that I shall not name. They were complaining about why their employer was unfair. In reality, their employer (a sizable organization) had been changing the way they ran their business over the number of years, which led to a lot of streamlining, retrenchment and pay cuts.

Yet, from my knowledge of this company in recent years, the company was not just doing well, they had paid out fairly large bonuses to their people. The odd thing is, the bonus was given out… and the people I eavesdropped on were saying that the bonus payout was just a distraction - they said that the company was probably going to retrench more people.

Strange - but when people are in  hemmed in by perception, it can be a fate worse than death!

I later had a chat with a friend and I asked why people believe what they believe, and refuse to back down. Here are some reasons I came up with. Maybe you can look at them and consider their validity in your situation:

1. People are lazy. They are shallow thinkers and are unable to develop a well-rounded view of people. They are more willing to listen to sensational news than the truth. They are interested in rumors and gossip as the real thing, but do not bother clarifying because their mental movies are what they like to see. As a result, their first impression tends to be their last, and they carry on with this, not realizing that they are limiting their own possibilities and choices.
2. People refuse to accept they could be wrong. Those who used to declare that someone is “bad” to their colleagues in public use the same public commitment and never get around to realizing that the same person could become “good”.
3. People reinforce whatever they want to believe. I recently realized (sheesh) that there are some people who advocate that personal development should be a free service, and that anyone running a personal development business for profit must be evil. I suppose it’s a little extreme, but whenever there is this kind of priming, I’m sure you will look out for examples to back this up in your own mind.

I guess your faith in the human race should be shattered completely. It begs the question that in order to change, a completely new environment needs to be created. You need to move out of the country (and I know a number of people who do), you need to go for a complete makeover… in order to start anew.

Unfortunately, when something like this brews, a lot of positive growth will turn sour. In the case of the company I mentioned above, it’s very likely that people who continue to believe their company is bad will either end up being retrenched (and they won’t see the people who are being promoted and rewarded)  because their thoughts activate non-productive patterns of behavior, or that because of them the company will lose out due to arguments and disagreements.

Ironically, the more you want to prove that something is untrue, the more others will refuse to believe it. It’s a systemic reaction, and the problem lies far beyond what can be “done”.

What appears to be now is that one person’s image is really not made up of who you are, but a projection of what other people think you are. And as that continues to build up creating a person who is successful, or someone who isn’t. If you are in this kind of a downward spiral of perceptions, you end up thinking that maybe since other people think it is true, it must be true. So, it turns out to be a self-defeating behavioral pattern - and then you buy into the idea.

It’s sad, but I think the subjugation of the human race is happening. Right in your own back yard. And if you don’t find a way to fight it…

I think a lot of people miss the point in the whole point in the controversy in the medals. If you want to be territorial, it’s simple. Who did what, and argue about the value of how much you sacrificed.

That’s silly. The argument will carry on for a thousand more years.

I truly believe that whatever is being said in the news now is probably far more exaggerated as people come in with their views. It’s unfortunately, no longer about whether the hard earned medals were from the sweat and tears of the athletes.

Let’s take this scenario and bring it to, say, the Ministry of Health. What say you to the people who sacrificed their lives in the SARS episode? Where are their medals?  How about the Ministry of Defence? What do you say to people who have had to go on missions?

At the end of the debate, some will say that it was uncalled for - that Tao Li’s comments were sour and people dislike it. At first glance, maybe the issue is the question of fairness rather than whether money should be given out.

See, she says that money should be spent on elite athletes. The officials say that there already is a contractual agreement. So, the problem is in the attitude towards money, and de-linking the medals with the request for more money spent on elite athletes. It doesn’t make sense to link the two.

You’ve already signed a contract. If you didn’t have that, you wouldn’t have the chance to see so much money. BUT if you want more money to train elite athletes, then you should consider a proper proposal and a clear compensation plan.

All this crying blame across different parts of the country or thinking someone is unfair only propagates the issue. Good athletes already have good focus - what exactly do you want? Will you breach the terms of a contract signed in good faith? Or will you honor the contract and find new ways to voice your opinion, and not turn into a public relations nightmare?

The quest for medals is not just a tally board. It’s an individuals quest for pride and meaning. The fact you can contribute at this level of physical and mental excellence rewards itself. But if it turns into a street brawl about who is fair and who has put in effort… come on. Everyone’s put in effort. Everyone’s going to think they are the most fair. Stop thinking at the level that exacerbates the issue. Consider other factors and listen to what is really being said (or not being said, since most of the problem lies in the assumptions of the words being spoken)!

Just a quick note to let you know that I’ve been invited to speak at APPRC Singapore in October. Those who are keen on psychiatric rehab and NLP, I’ll be there to deliver my approach to NLP in mental health.

Check the main site.

http://apprc.com.sg/prog.html

I read with great interest the responses in the Forum to the Principal’s tone regarding the idea that some 60% of students won’t be able to graduate from their syllabus. In my opinion, I think many people will find problems no matter how they attempt to argue their case against the principal.

First off, I train many Normal students as well. It’s not always easy to determine when is the point where you take a harsh stance and communicate the truth to your students. This is in no way derogatory (at least to me). I believe that people who see a message from the principal like this will believe it is a harsh thing to do. But that’s because most of them don’t have the means to interact with NA/NT students on a regular basis, let alone be concerned for their day-to-day livelihood. So, my point is this - unless you have had the experience like this before over a long term, it’s not always simple for someone to say “you’re being unfair” because you have absolutely no idea what some NA/NT students in certain schools are doing. In that sense, your statements would be unfair too.

Second, it’s probably odd to me to think that the principal would even bother to address the NA students unless it were a very important thing. Could it be a last straw attempt? Many students who take their school for granted also often give problems to the school administration.

Given that, it’s a little tough to stretch the boundaries.  I personally feel that NA or NT students are merely talented in different areas. Seriously, if you were in the same environment and family predicament, you might find yourself experiencing the same difficulties. They are considered the underdogs of society, and some who are able to overcome their environment end up successful.

In any case, if you’re a student in the NA/NT stream, don’t give up. I believe very strongly that your capabilities are going to be far more valued in the future. The world is starting to change. Even the fact that you are reading a blog is a sign of the times. There’s so much more possibility. You can be a famous chef. Or game tester. Or own a cleaning business. Many of these are still admirable goals. The question is not whether society be able to drop their biases and labels and look at your potential, rather than your limitations.

The real question is: can you?

Recently, I spoke at a workshop at the District 80 Semi-Annual convention, and was greeted with quite a surprising response. To be able to see MANY old friends and people whom I’d worked with for quite some time was, least to say, embarrassing since I’d forgotten many names.

Well, here’s a chance to see an embarrassed Stuart Tan. I’ll be running a workshop for District 80 on Evaluations and the Voice of Leadership. It’s one of those topic titles I feel is important enough for people to open up their eyes and look at.

Has your evaluation been the Voice of Leadership? That’s so important, you’ll suddenly realize that any leader worth their salt celebrates the successes in a speech and draws out the best possible in a person. How do you do that, and do you know that your words will have a long lasting impact in the lives of others?

In 2002, I had formulated a very raw approach to evaluations. It was quite messy to say the least. However, that was sufficient for me to win the District 51 Evaluation Speech Contest. I think I’ve honed that skill and ability for a long time already in different kinds of evaluations (evaluating a business, evaluating a potential employee…) and I find that to really build what the Toastmaster/Leader, we must infuse the best of evaluation skills in their speaking toolbox and their lives.

Anyhow, here’s the shortcut to the details.

http://district80.org/index.php?option=com_attend_events&task=view&id=4&Itemid=104

This is part of my personal community contribution plan, and can only happen because I’m a Toastmaster and I want to help those who are interested in speaking better. :)

See ya!