A to Z tips on getting myself motivated.

A - Achieve your dreams. Avoid negative people, things and places. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

B - Believe in your self, and in what you can do.

C – Consider things on every angle and aspect. Motivation comes from determination. To be able to understand life, you should feel the sun from both sides.

D – Don’t give up and don’t give in. Thomas Edison failed once, twice, more than thrice before he came up with his invention and perfected the incandescent light bulb. Make motivation as your steering wheel.

E – Enjoy. Work as if you don’t need money. Dance as if nobody’s watching. Love as if you never cried. Learn as if you’ll live forever. Motivation takes place when people are happy.

F – Family and Friends – are life’s greatest ‘F’ treasures. Don’t loose sight of them.

G – Give more than what is enough. Where does motivation and self improvement take place at work? At home? At school? When you exert extra effort in doing things.

H – Hang on to your dreams. They may dangle in there for a moment, but these little stars will be your driving force.

I – Ignore those who try to destroy you. Don’t let other people to get the best of you. Stay out of toxic people – the kind of friends who hates to hear about your success.

J – Just be yourself. The key to success is to be yourself. And the key to failure is to try to please everyone.

K – keep trying no matter how hard life may seem. When a person is motivated, eventually he sees a harsh life finally clearing out, paving the way to self improvement.
L – Learn to love your self. Now isn’t that easy?

M – Make things happen. Motivation is when your dreams are put into work clothes.

N – Never lie, cheat or steal. Always play a fair game.

O – Open your eyes. People should learn the horse attitude and horse sense. They see things in 2 ways – how they want things to be, and how they should be.

P – Practice makes perfect. Practice is about motivation. It lets us learn repertoire and ways on how can we recover from our mistakes.

Q – Quitters never win. And winners never quit. So, choose your fate – are you going to be a quitter? Or a winner?

R – Ready yourself. Motivation is also about preparation. We must hear the little voice within us telling us to get started before others will get on their feet and try to push us around. Remember, it wasn’t raining when Noah build the ark.

S – Stop procrastinating.

T – Take control of your life. Discipline or self control jives synonymously with motivation. Both are key factors in self improvement.

U – Understand others. If you know very well how to talk, you should also learn how to listen. Yearn to understand first, and to be understood the second.

V – Visualize it. Motivation without vision is like a boat on a dry land.

W – Want it more than anything. Dreaming means believing. And to believe is something that is rooted out from the roots of motivation and self improvement.

X – X Factor is what will make you different from the others. When you are motivated, you tend to put on "extras" on your life like extra time for family, extra help at work, extra care for friends, and so on.

Y – You are unique. No one in this world looks, acts, or talks like you. Value your life and existence, because you’re just going to spend it once.

Z – Zero in on your dreams and go for it!!!

Credits from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/motivation-heart-of-self-improvement.html

I first heard this song in Primary 6, where my form teacher for that year, Ms Chua, played this song for my class and urged us on to work hard for the PSLE. Now, I dedicate this song to everyone who's taking 'A' levels this year. Good luck and jiayou everyone!



Each day I live
I want to be a day to give the best of me
I'm only one, but not alone
My finest day is yet unknown
I broke my heart for every gain
To taste the sweet, I faced the pain
I rise and fall,
Yet through it all this much remains

I want one moment in time
When I'm more than I thought I could be
When all of my dreams
Are a heart beat away
And the answers are all up to me
Give me one moment in time
When I'm racing with destiny
Then in that one moment of time
I will feel, I will feel eternity

I've lived to be the very best
I want it all, no time for less
I've laid the plans
Now lay the chance here in my hands

Give me one moment in time
When I'm more than I thought I could be
When all of my dreams
Are a heart beat away
And the answers are all up to me
Give me one moment in time
When I'm racing with destiny
Then in that one moment of time
I will feel, I will feel eternity

You're a winner for a lifetime
If you seize that one moment in time
Make it shine

Give me one moment in time
When I'm more than I thought I could be
When all of my dreams
Are a heart beat away
And the answers are all up to me
Give me one moment in time
When I'm racing with destiny
Then in that one moment of time
I will be, I will be, I will be free

I will be, I will be free

Life and School

Take note of the date- 17/10/2008. Today marks the end of the normal school life in JC for me. The final hurdle in teenage life is approaching hastily. I'm getting more sentimental by the day.

Life goes on as usual, but it set me thinking.

How many times have I said goodbye in my life? How many people have walked together with me on this path I've taken, and eventually left to pursue their own direction? Life is like that. In the most cliché terms, footprints were left in my heart. On times like this, I think back on the years that have passed, and I miss those good and bad times.

Teachers, I think, are particularly important. You may forget them, forget how they look like, or even their teachings and knowledge... but they have helped shape you into the person you are, and some more than others. Those few selected teachers, as distant they seem to be within a student's mind, are something irreplaceable in the heart.

I wonder, at times, how lonely a person truly is. At the end of the day, we walk our own unique paths, shaped by a unique set of people who have left imprints in us. Separation is painful, for things would never be the same as the past again. What is lost cannot be found again... because people change.

How would it be like to be a teacher? I think it is bittersweet. Bitter because the batch of students who have been with you- sharing in your jokes, amusing you with their cute antics and surprising you with their maturity and depth of thought for someone their age- for these year(s) would leave and possibly never come back again, never to impact your days at work or leave you angry, frustrated and worried. They would go and be gone when they graduate. Nevertheless, they will leave you with fond memories and a sense of achievement, for you have helped them become better persons on their own paths to greater accomplishment. They are baby birds who have grown up and hardened their wings- bound for the sky; this endlessly long cycles of graduation and fresh intakes make goodbyes just harder.

I have once comtemplated on whether teaching was a career for me. Sometime ago, I have decided against it. It is an arduous journey to take, given the amount of time, effort and commitment a good teacher needs to give of herself/himself. The mental stress and sadness makes teaching a sacred job, reserved only for those who understand the essence of it.

School attributes to a large part in our lives. In primary school, I've learnt the term 'separation'. In secondary school, I've learnt the terms 'friendship', 'appreciation' and 'leadership'. In JC, I've learnt something too... they're called 'failure', 'biasedness', 'responsibility', 'back-stabbing' and 'teachers'. It would do me well to remember these lessons, for what continues as life would just be a tough, rocky road ahead.

On the ending note, I have a few lines to add.

Alone if need be, you will change the world.

The relationships and interactions in life are but a passing phase symbolized by clothes - we change them ever so often, throw them away, but we wear them constantly during the journey.

Note to self: Maybe a few years later, when I have an urge to reminiscise about the past, I would chance upon this entry and lament for the past.

Days have been passing by like the fleeting wind. The countdown timer has started, but it is one that is severely flawed. Perhaps it's time to abandon the addictions and embrace the light.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

I've been listening to this song by Meredith Brooks, it's called "Bitch" and I find it absolutely hilarious. The lyrics goes like this:

I hate the world today
Your so good to me, I know
But I cant change
Tried to tell you but you looked at me like maybe Im an angel underneath
Innocent and sweet

Yesterday I cried
You must have been relieved to see the softer side
I can understand how youd be so confused
I dont envy you
Im a little bit of everything
All rolled into one

Im a bitch
Im a lover
Im a child
Im a mother
Im a sinner
Im a saint
I do not feel ashamed
Im your hell
Im you dream
Im nothing in between
You know you wouldnt want it any other way

So take me as I am
This may mean youll have to be a stronger man
Rest assured that when I start to make you nervous
And Im going to extremes
Tomorrow I will change
And today wont mean a thing

Im a bitch
Im a lover
Im a child
Im a mother
Im a sinner
Im a saint
I do not feel ashamed
Im your hell
Im you dream
Im nothing in between
You know you wouldnt want it any other way

Just when you think you got me figured out
The seasons already changin
I think its cool you do whatcha do
And dont try to save me

Im a bitch
Im a lover
Im a child
Im a mother
Im a sinner
Im a saint
I do not feel ashamed
Im your hell
Im you dream
Im nothing in between
You know you wouldnt want it any other way

Im a bitch
Im a tease
Im a goddess on my knees
When youre hurt
When you suffer
Im your angel undercover
Ive been numb
Im revived
Cant say Im not alive
You know I wouldnt want it any other way

It reminded me of a character in Bleach, and it was pretty amusing how well that character fits into this song. Go Youtube it!

There's nothing much happening in my life right now... except for weekly gym sessions! =P Perhaps I should learn to make more use of the school's facilities while I still can. Hmm...