What I've learned from chasing my tennis idol

For most people, I'm a crazy 30-year-old who chases her idol. And in this particular case, I wanted to meet my tennis idol, Rafael Nadal.

However, to me, it's not just about meeting Nadal. I admire his fighting spirit in the court but that's not the main reason why I started a campaign to meet him.

To meet the world no. 2 tennis player in the world who hasn't come to Southeast Asia before is hard. And to get to take picture with him is even harder. But now I have to say that anything is possible.

When you are driven by a goal, work your way (legally) towards that goal and you'll eventually get what you want. And perhaps visualization is important too in making yourself believe that you are able to accomplish what you have started.

How to be a 30 something and still look like in your 20s

These tips are highly recommended and approved by HCFoo. It works for me all the time.

1. If you are wearing glasses, get rid of it and use contact lens instead.

2. Never ever perm your hair. Go for hair rebonding (perm straight hair) or even better get a short cropped haircut.

3. Get rid of facial hair and nasal hair!

4. Go to the dentist and get yourself a brilliant smile (don't have to be exactly like Tom Cruise!). Brush three times a day and drink lots of milk. Get a toothbrush to be used in the office after lunch.

5. Drink more water and use moisturizer on your skin. You definitely don't want your skin to look dry and old, don't you?

6. Wear more colours (but don't get yourself mistaken for a clown or rainbow).

7. Wear jeans or khaki shorts instead of pants when going out for leisure.

8. Mingle with people of different ages. Explore different variety of topics with them by reading news and blogs.

9. Get out from the house or your office. All work and no play makes you feel older. Go to the gym, park, shopping centre or on a short vacation.

10. Smile always. And add some humour to your conversation wouldn't hurt ;)

18 ways to stay focus on work

I read through Dave Cheong's blog and found his blog rather resourceful. And I would like to simplify and share his 18 ways to stay focus on work here. I'm kinda distracted since weekend is near.

1. Write out a daily task list and plan your day.

2. Allocate time slots colleagues can interrupt you.

3. Apply time boxing. This means instead of working on a task till it is done, try working on it by giving yourself a deadline or limited time, say 30 mins.

4. Setup filters in your email.

5. Do not check personal email in the morning.

6. Set your IM status as being away or busy.

7. Listen to the right types of music.

8. Use the headphones but leave the music off.

9. Fill up a water bottle so that you can keep yourself hydrated which is important for all sorts of health reasons.

10. Find the best time to do repetitive and boring tasks.

11. Bring your lunch and have it at your desk.

12. Don’t make long personal calls.

13. Clean up your desk.

14. Get a good chair.

15. Use shortcuts on your computer.

16. Close programs you’re not using.

17. Limit time on Digg, Delicious, news sites and blogs.

18. Change your mindset and make work fun.

Happy working!

mckenna can make me thin?

Most people might not have heard about Paul McKenna. Well, he might not be as popular as motivational gurus like Tony Robbins or Zig Ziglar, but I've read two of his books (on the left) already. There are also mind-programming CDs which comes in free along with the books.

Unlike Tony Robbins and others, McKenna's writing is simple and practical. If you are a reader like me who wants to be motivated but in a short and simple way, McKenna is the man.

I don't think any book ever motivated me to do something drastic but McKenna did. After reading his book Change Your Life in 7 Days and listened to his CD for two weeks, I actually took part in the Amazing Mall Challenge organized by AXN channel. I'm always a quiet and shy person. So taking part in competition is too huge for me to handle. And not enough of that, I participated in a treasure hunt early this month.

In work, I've started to do sales and presentations. Now that I publish my own books and create my own educational programme, I need to make cold calls and meet people to create sales. Small steps but a huge different in my life.

And a couple of days ago, I managed to grabbed McKenna weight-loss book I Can Make You Thin at the Big Bookshop sale in Atria shopping complex, PJ. Books are quite cheap at this book-sale, way cheaper than in MPH. Imagine you can get this book at RM19.90 compared to RM62.90 at MPH. Unlike other thick weight-loss book, McKenna's book is 'thin' and yet practical and I think rather applicable for overweight people like me who doesn't eat consciously. After listened to the CD for a couple of days, I seem to began to change the way I eat, slower. According to McKenna, his system will work in at least 2 weeks time. I just make sure I listen to the CD every day and see some changes soon.

You can get the two books at the Big Bookshop sale. Warning: don't expect too much from the book sale. You don't find a lot of popular titles there.