hope

Mar

2021

Zero O’clock

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Did you ever wake up in the morning and feel that something is wrong? For some reason, the day feels gloomy and sad. As the day goes by, nothing seems to be going your way. You feel drained and stressed. You cannot wait for the day to be over. Why? Because you know deep inside that one bad day does not necessarily translate to a bad life. Once the clock hits zero o’clock, it is a signal for a new beginning, a new day and a new life.

You know those days, those days where you are sad for no reason, those days where your body is heavy….but this day will be over, when the minute and second hand overlap…zero o’clock.
– BTS, Zero O’clock

Zero O’clock Tiny Tans version
Video Credit: Bangtan TV

A very powerful message from a beautiful song by BTS. The lyrics were written by the group’s leader RM. When asked during an interview, RM said that “The title is Zero O’clock because no matter how tiring and exhausting our day has been, when the clock hits midnight, it is a brand new opportunity.”

Life is a wonderful thing. Wa can feel love, happiness and joy because we are alive. Unfortunately, not every day is the same. There will be days of disappointments and frustrations. There will be days that will be too difficult to handle. But the beauty of life is that life goes on. Challenges are given to us so that we can grow and become better persons. Each day is different. A bad day does not mean it is a bad life. There is always the promise of a better day.

If there is anything, zero o’clock gives us comfort that it is already another day. The bad day is finally over and It it an opportunity to start anew. The previous day might not be what you have expected it to be but you can always do something different for this brand new day. For one, you can change the way you look at things. Instead of looking at a glass as half empty, look at it as half full. And stop saying that life sucks. Instead, learn to count your blessings. Find joy in the little things. And before you know it, soon, you will be waking up in the morning with a smile on your face.

And you’re gonna be happy, and you’re gonna be happy. Turn this all around, when everything is new, zero o’clock.
– BTS

Image Photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels

Feb

2021

Spring Day

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Spring is the season of new beginnings. It is in spring that flowers bloom, animals awake and birds start to chirp. No wonder spring has always been associated with hope. The signs of new life popping in every corner is proof that the dreary cold and winter days are finally over. In the same way that hope can actively transport an individual from darkness to light. Hope gives the promise that someday, circumstances will get better. That is why people look forward to that first spring day.

Passing by the edge of the cold winter, until the days of spring, until the days of flower blossoms. Please stay, please stay there a little longer.
– BTS, Spring Day

In times like this, when everything seems to be gloomy; more than ever we need to hold on to the power of hope in our lives. Don’t give up. Believe that one day, all this will be over. Soon, spring will come. Someday, we are all going to look back to this day and maybe understand why we had to go through such difficulty in our lives. Thus, is it important to learn the lessons and move on in life. Understand that life goes on. Hopefully, we can all come out of this as better, happier, healthier and wealthier human beings.

So, turn your focus from the negative to the positive. Visualize what your spring day is going to be like. What do you want your future to be like?

That is one good thing about this world…There are always sure to be more springs.
– L.M. Montgomery

Feature Image by Pixabay.

Jan

2021

The Power of Hope in Our Life

Reading Time: 3 minutes

The power of hope is often mentioned only in times of crisis. In fact, it is a major component in motivating us to work hard to succeed in our goals. We know that being successful is a hard process. There are a lot of sacrifices before victory is achieved. One goes through many ups and downs during the journey.

During the down times, it is always hard to keep going forward; to stop ourselves from quitting; to decide to keep going on. It is during these times that our determination matters the most. What motivates us to keep going on is our hope for better things to come.

What is Hope?

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines hope as “desire accompanied by expectation of, or belief in fulfillment.” The Cambridge Dictionary defines it as “something good that you want to happen in future, or a confident feeling about what will happen in the future.”

What these definitions have in common is the concept of hope as a desire for a better future. But in reality, we always don’t get what we hope for. Yet we still hope. We have an intrinsic belief that as long as we have hope, things will always turn out for the best.

I am prepared for the worst but hope for the best.
Benjamin Disraeli

This concept is hard to define or describe. Dr. Jerome Groopman, M.D. defines hope based on what his patients taught him as an oncologist for 30 years. He was quoted by Dr. Asa Andrew in his book The Anatomy of Health:

Hope is one of our central emotions, but we are often at a loss when asked to define it. Many of us confuse hope with optimism, a prevailing attitude that things will turn out for the best. But hope differs from optimism. Hope does not arise from being told to think positively, or from hearing an overly rosy forecast.

Hope, unlike optimism, is rooted in unalloyed reality. Although there is no uniform definition of hope, I found one that seemed to capture what my patient had taught me. Hope is the elevating feeling we experience when we see — in the mind’s eye — a path to a better future. Hope acknowledges the significant obstacles and deep pitfalls along that path. True hope has no room for delusion.
Dr. Jerome Groopman, M.D.

The Power of Hope

Hope is more than optimism or positivity. It is not just an attitude or a mindset; it is more of a belief. A belief in oneself as well as a belief in a power bigger than you. This belief also assumes that there is someone or something outside of you, that is more powerful than you, that is looking after you and helps you when you need it most. All you need is to ask and believe, and continue believing even when it seems you are being pulled in another direction.

If you read the autobiographies of many successful individuals; you will find that most of them never lost hope in times of crisis. In fact, their hope became stronger during these times. They surrender to a power beyond themselves. They believed in that power to help them get through their struggles. That is why they never gave up on their dreams. Sometimes, they didn’t get what they want. But because they kept working hard towards their goals, they always found a way to succeed; even if it wasn’t in the original way they intended to.

Hope is being able to see that there is light despite the darkness.
Desmond Tutu

There are many stories to attest to the power of hope in our lives. From miracles to coincidences, serendipity, and even the sight of a beautiful sunrise; we find hope every where, every day as long as we keep believing. The power of hope is what enables us to still keep on smiling, despite the negative circumstances.

What are your hopes for this new year? What are you hopeful for each day?

Feature Image: Original Photo by Mateus Campos Felipe on Unsplash.

Jan

2021

Life Goes On

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The year 2020 has been tough. But no matter how tough it has been, you were able to survive it all. So, congratulations! You made it at this point. It is now 2021. The New Year signifies new beginnings. Life cannot remain in a standstill. At some point, people need to move on and accept that life goes on.

Challenges are part of life. Even without this pandemic, every human being will go through challenges in their lives. What is important is how individuals will react to challenges that will come their way. It may sound cliche but everything happens for a reason. Learn the lesson and move on. That is the essence of life.

The COVID-19 pandemic literally caused the world to a standstill. the world which we are used to ceases to exist. Suddenly, we have no choice but to adapt to the new normal. It happened in the blink of an eye that no one was prepared for it. But now that it has been months since the start of the pandemic, people need to learn the lessons from COVID-19 and move on. There is no point resisting the new norm. It will only cause stress and more problems. Unfortunately for us, it will be difficult to go back to the world that we were used to. So, there is nothing left to do but to embrace change.

Life Goes On is a promise of a better tomorrow. We don’t know when it will come but it will come. One day, all these things will remain just a distant memory.

Close your eyes for a moment. Hold my hand to the future, let’s run away. Like an echo in the forest, the day will come back again as if nothing happened.
– BTS, Life Goes On

New Beginnings

The New Year is the perfect time to redesign our life through a bucket list. The goals that we had before may no longer be applicable in the new normal. So, take this time to reflect on what it is that you really want in life. Visualize your ideal life. Unleash the genius within you. It is okay to start from scratch. Just believe in yourself. Believe that you have the power to create your reality. You can be happy, healthy and wealthy. It is all up to you. Listen to your hear t.

No matter what happens, or how bad it seems today. life goes on, and it will be better tomorrow.
– Maya Angelou

Let’s all work for a better 2021. Happy New Year!

Apr

2020

Rise Above the Storm

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Challenges are part of our daily lives. They come in many forms. They can be in the form of financial difficulties, work problems, health issues or relationship conflicts. While some challenges are manageable, others are not. Sometimes, they can be very difficult to overcome especially if it is something that is beyond our control. Whatever problems you are encountering right now, the most important thing is how to rise above the storm.

An example the Covid-19 pandemic. It came unexpectedly. No one was prepared for the negative effects it brought into people’s lives. We feel angry, frustrated, anxious and depressed. Despite our helplessness, there are some things that we can do to protect ourselves and to help others.

All challenges are the same. It is natural to feel helpless, frustrated, depressed and anger. Embraced that feeling for awhile. However, you need to go beyond that in order to successfully overcome the challenge. You can’t live with your negative emotions forever.

So, what are you going to do about it?

The Right Approach

The fact is, the challenges that you encounter in life will never go away on their own. You need to face and address them. You need to have the right attitude. Start by acceptance. Then, you need to detach yourself from the problem and look at it from a different perspective. By doing so, you will be able to discover your strengths and new abilities that you have never known before. It is ok to ask for help or reach out to others if you feel that it is too much for you to handle alone.

Of course, you always have to option to feel distressed. You can blame it on others. You can even choose to harm yourself and others. But you can also choose to fight. You can choose to stand up again and not be defeated. The decision is yours to take.

It is not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.
– Epictetus

Join us this month as we help you go rise above your challenges. Together, let us all overcome whatever it is that we are going through and emerge as stronger, healthier, happier and better persons in the process.

Feature Image by Kryzsztof Pluta from Pixabay Images

Feb

2020

Fundamentals for Success from The Winners Manual

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Do you consider yourself a winner in life? If you’re not that confident to answer “Yes” to this question, then you may be struggling with some issues in different areas in your life. There is no one rule book that we can consult on how to succeed in life and this is because each person’s experience is different. However, there are some fundamentals for success that we can apply to get better in each area of our life, so that when we look back, we can say that we’ve had more wins than losses.

Jim Tressel is an Ohio State football coach and through the years he has learned a lot of life lessons from working with different people on the team, from the players to the staff. The nuggets of wisdom he gained from his experience is shared in the book The Winners Manual: For the Game of Life.

The book is given to everyone on the team and even if the lessons are gained mostly from his experience coaching a football team, the lessons are applicable even to regular 9-5 workers trying to be “adults” in dealing with life’s hurdles.

First, Jim wants everyone to focus on 2 major goal areas:

Your Purpose

This includes your personal/family, spiritual/moral and caring/giving aspects of your life.

Many people often grow up defining themselves by what they do (e.g., their job title) and in the process of pursuing success in their career, they end up forgetting who they are. If you cannot find or define your life’s purpose, then you will never find success or happiness, and never feel like a true winner in life even if you achieve your goals.

Your Goals

This includes matters pertaining to strength/fitness, family, academics/education and career.

Whatever your specific goals, you must view this in the context of your entire life and should be aligned with your life’s purpose. It is hard to get motivated if you don’t have a purpose.

Your purpose is your inspiration and your goals are your motivation. However, there is a huge difference between the two. While inspiration helps you think and create, motivation gets you moving to make things happen.

Spend some time to think about your purpose and goals. It helps to write things down and when you are ready, you can study how to apply Jim’s 10 fundamental for success to win at life.

1. Attitude

There are 3 types of people: 1) those who make things happen, 2) those who watch things happen, and 3) those who say: “What happened?”.

Attitude is a choice so you need to choose which one you are going to be each day. You can choose to live your life as a celebration or as a chore. An attitude of gratitude is one of the best attitudes to adapt as it is impossible to be grateful and unhappy at the same time.

If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies within yourself.
– Tecumseh

TIP: Keep a gratitude journal. Each day, write down at least 3 things that you are grateful for. Count your blessings daily and you will notice that you will have more things to be grateful for as each day passes.

2. Discipline

Discipline is often seen negatively – as punishment for bad behavior, when in reality, it is something that is helpful to us. Discipline prepares us and keeps us focused on our goals.

You can’t get much done in life if you only work on the days that you feel good.
– Jerry West

TIP: Remember that practice makes perfect. Do it right, do it hard and then do it again. When it’s time to practice, focus on the practice. You should be confident enough in your skills and be tough enough to follow through.

Whether you are practicing a sport or trying to write a novel, it’s the discipline to constantly show up and do the work that allows you to correct your mistakes, polish your moves so you can deliver and perform perfectly whenever you need to.

3. Excellence

Strive to deliver excellence each time. In competitive sports, it isn’t good to be good from time to time. You need to deliver a good performance every day in order to be considered great

If you listen to your fears, you will die not knowing what a great person you might have been.
– Robert H. Schuller

TIP: Consistency is the true test of greatness. It takes discipline (constant practice) to turn a violinist into a master, a student into an expert, you get the drift?

More importantly, our intentions have a great impact in determining how we reach our potential. So your intent to be excellent should be reflected in your performance. Your number one intention is to seek excellence in all phases of your life.

4. Faith and Belief

All champions believed in themselves even if no one else did and that’s how they motivated themselves to become great; and that’s how they ended up inspiring others in return.

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
– Eleanor Roosevelt

TIP: It helps to write down your dreams. Unless you write down your dream or vision, you can’t start planning how to achieve it.

So write down your dreams, describe it, make a collage out of it and make sure to consult it everyday as a constant reminder of why you are working hard each day. More importantly, don’t be the first one to doubt yourself when your plans don’t go the way you wanted to. Instead, focus on finding a solution.

5. Work

Work is a lifelong pursuit so you better do it passionately. Not everyone can love their work but with a good work ethic, you will increase your opportunities to gain success.

Everyone has a plan until they are hit.
– Evander Holyfield

TIP: Persistent effort is key to success. You only fail when you quit. Remember that failing is an event; failure is a temporary status and you can always turn it around as soon as you succeed. So don’t be put down by obstacles and see them as opportunities to better yourself instead.

6. Handling Adversity and Success

The road to greatness is never easy but if we face our struggles with an attitude of learning, then the adversity we experience can become our stepping stones to success.

Success is a lousy teacher. It makes smart people think they can’t lose.
– Bill Gates

TIP: Embrace the struggles as much as the successes. Your struggles should help you build strength of character, and this is what can elevate your good performance into greatness. Handle adversity as a learning experience and learn from your success as well. Both are opportunities to improve yourself and fine tune your plans to reach your goals.

7. Love

You won’t win in life thru talent alone. Just like in winning championships, you need love and discipline. If everyone in the team loves one another, then they will strive to not let one another down. This works in any relationship, be it you and your partner, your whole family, your friends and even work mates.

Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: what are you doing for others?
– Martin Luther King, Jr.

TIP: Do not hesitate to help others succeed. When you help someone else succeed, you get closer to your own success.

How you treat others who can do nothing for you is how you show your love towards your fellow man. In your own relationships, you can only survive tough times by being tough yourself and the only way to do that is to give and receive love from those around you.

8. Responsibility

There are different areas in your life where your individual conduct is not just attributed to your own self but reflects on a larger group of people such as your family or the organization that you work for. So take care to be responsible in all your actions as you may also affect the reputation of other people.

The reputation of a thousand years may be determined by the conduct of one hour.
– Japanese Proverb

TIP: Associate yourself with good people. By good people, we mean people who have a “do what’s right” mentality. These are the people who will help you conduct yourself responsibly in the different areas in your life. They will be the people who will push you to live a life with a clear conscience.

9. Team

Although your own life purpose and goals is yours alone, most of our life endeavors is a group journey. That’s why unselfishness and team work are important qualities to succeed in life.

There is no delight in owning anything unshared.
– Seneca

TIP: Be in service to others. Unselfishness is one of the greatest quality of great teams as this enables each person to work for the good of the greater whole. This means that each person is willing to listen to others and in this way each one is able to influence the others positively.

10. Hope

Have realistic hope both for your goals and for your team (family, friends, etc.). It is ok to indulge in wishful thinking once in a while but unless you put your faith to work, you will not achieve success.

There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something tomorrow.
– Orison Marden

TIP: Be a dealer of hope. When people around you are losing hope, they become susceptible to criticism and their own doubts. Lead by example and show them that hope is still alive. It may not be in the form you initially “hoped” for but it may take form in another opportunity disguised as an obstacle. When you keep hope alive, you will see good things happen in your life and in the people around you.

Do you think you can apply these rules to the different areas of your life? If you have been practicing some of them, or all of them, tell us how it has helped you achieve success in the different phases in your life.

Original Photo by Razvan Chisu on Unsplash