Look Into Life – Your Personal Wellbeing and Development Site

The Fierce Wife is a Taiwanese serial I started watching recently. It was aired back in May 2010 but Jean brought it to my attention lately when she started posting comments about the show on Facebook.

 These are some of the quotes I got from Jean through a conversation.

 在爱情中，不被爱的那个，才是第三者。

In love, the one not being loved is the 3^rd party.

I probably lost some of the essence through my translation, but this is a simple yet very forceful statement.

女生還是要對自己好一點，一旦妳累垮了，就會有別的女人去住妳的房子、花妳的錢、打妳的小孩、睡妳的老公。

This is another one which caught my attention. The direct translation goes: Women should take good care of themselves. Otherwise, once you get tired and defeated, there will be other women taking your place – leaving in your house, spending your money, hitting your kids and sleeping with your husband. Harsh, but makes sense, doesn’t it?

The Story, in short

Emo stuff does get my interest now and then, so I got down to watching this show from the beginning and finished it in 3 days. This is a very typical story of a husband (Rui Fan) straying away from a good 10 years of marriage. The wife (An Zhen) was the typical housewife who looked after the household, taking care of the nitty gritty details. The show portrayed her as a woman who is disconnected from the working world and society and focused on making life comfortable for her husband and daughter by making nice warm meals for them. One day, a distant cousin (Wei En) of An Zhen came to seek refuge in her house, and from then onwards, Wei En and Rui Fan developed feelings for each other and got into a covert affair. The tension built up as Rui Fan started to lie to An Zhen and picked on her, and their habits and lifestyle from their 10-yr life together. All hell broke loose when An Zhen finally learned about the affair from her sister-in-law.

Scene from the show. From the left: Wei En, Rui Fan, An Zhen

 An Zhen however remained in denial and was fully prepared to forgive her husband and salvagethe marriage. But the stupid Rui Fan was probably facing a mid-life crisis and was fully convinced he was in love with the young cousin, and that Wei En had roused the “real” him, the man who wanted to love to the fullest, and not be constrained by the commitment of a marriage, of fatherhood. He demanded a divorce and even went down to the hospital, after An Zhen got admitted due to a car accident, and forced her to sign the separation papers.

 The rest of the story shows An Zhen overcoming her failed marriage and her struggles to get up on her feet again, with the support of her cancer stricken mother, her friends and of course the new admirer. Rui Fan and Wei En on the other hand faced the scrutiny of society and under the pressure started questioning their “love” for each other.

 Please do go and watch this serial if this interests you. :) I’ve left out A LOT of details, the ones that really build up the story and the different characters.

Commitment and Responsibility

As typical as the story may go, I was deeply touched by many scenes in the serial, and trust me, my eyes were swollen for these whole 3 days. The scenes were very realistic, especially at the beginning, when An Zhen started to suspect her husband, the feelings of mistrust and doubt hung heavily in the air. The internal struggles of An Zhen – whether she should trust her husband whole heartedly or question him – tugged at me. I totally understood, even the act of questioning undermines the trust L and I was totally pulled into the emotions of the 3 of them. There was this scene which I remember vividly, because it reminded me strongly of my own values, what I valued most in my own relationship. When An Zhen finally confronted Rui Fan on his affair, she asked him why he wanted to throw away the 10 years of marriage they jointly built together, what happened to his commitment to the marriage, whether he still wanted to be responsible to her. Rui Fan reacts by asking An Zhen why her first question wasn’t if he still loved her. *Again, I think he is facing a mid-life crisis, tsk tsk.* An Zhen replied, when he made a decision to relinquish his responsibility to the family, it means he no longer loved her. EXACTLY the same as how I feel! I guess when we are young, we think about love in its most passionate form, love = the need to be with each other, love = the world revolves around the 2 of us. But as we get older, especially for married folks like us, love is also being responsible to each other, love is also making sure we are always there for each other, physically, mentally and also financially. As mundane as this may seem, I equate commitment to love because I also see love as withstanding the realities of life and time. And how do you overcome challenges of life, by having the commitment and responsibility to see things through. So love = commitment, at least for me! But that being said, love is NOT only commitment. To me, love is also a combination of companionship and pride and appreciation and respect J, but I wouldn’t venture into this today…

There is a consequence for every action

In the end, Rui Fan sought An Zhen’s forgiveness and asked for a chance to love her again, to get back into a relationship and start afresh. But NO, An Zhen said she cannot go back to what it was like before.

Tough decision for An Zhen to make, she still loved him. But I guess I can understand, the hurt was too great to bear and how do you rebuild the trust? This An Zhen character is really one hell of a courageous woman. I am thinking, if I was in her shoes, will I say “OK, let’s start afresh” because I want to go back to my old comfortable life?

Which brings me back to internal struggle part, if you suspect your husband of having an affair, what do you do? Do you interrogate him? Do you check on his emails and handphone? Do you hire an investigator? Or would you choose to trust him blindly – trust is such a noble word to use, or should I say would you choose to shy away from the truth and stay in denial? I am thinking, once you decided you want to know the truth, you have to be ready the truth may hurt you, and may take away the relationship you value so much.  Seeking love also requires us to be courageous, if you realize your husband does not love you anymore, will you have the courage to give up the relationship or will you hang on to it?

 Urgh, emo stuff to think about.

Quotes to share

More quotes from The Fierce Wife, I find these rather interesting to me and trigger me to think. Of course there are more from the show. J Pardon the translation please… Doing my best…

只有无能的人，才会报怨这世界不公平。

Only the people who are incapable will complain life is unfair.

This came from Rui Fan, who was lamenting to his brother-in-law cum good buddy that having to be tied down with so many responsibilities (to his work and family) is unfair to him.

被果汁弄髒的衣服可以洗乾淨，可是被外遇弄髒的婚姻呢？

A stained piece of clothing can be cleaned, but how do you clean a marriage stained by an affair?

你們什麼都有，幸福的家、相愛的人，不用什麼努力，就可以什麼都有，可是我呢？我只是要一點點而已，一點點的溫情、一點點的愛，可是我怎麼努力就什麼都沒有，這對我來說公平嗎？

You have everything, a blessed family, people you love and love you, without making much of an effort. What about me? I just want a little warmth, a little love, why is it I can’t have any no matter how much effort I’m making? Is this fair to me?

This came from Wei En, the 3^rd party, young vixen. Tsk tsk, she hasn’t seen the 10-yr effort into building the relationship and the family.

也許這世上沒有不可能的事，沒有過不去的關

There is nothing impossible in this world, there is no challenge you can’t overcome.

Yep, including forgetting straying husbands and moving on!

我拼命在想，他還愛不愛我？他為什麼不愛我？為什麼離開我？可是我從來沒有想過，要問自己，我還愛他嗎？

I was desparately thinking – does he still love me, why doesn’t he love me anymore, why did he leave me? But I forgot to ask myself – do I still love him?

This came from An Zhen, when she was recovering from the hurt, and doing her best to get over her failed marriage.

有人說愛情使人忘了時間，那時間也會讓人忘記愛情嗎？

Someone once said, love can let one forget time, but can time also let one forget love?

Go watch the show – Enjoy!

Hi there, I’m back again.

I was lost for the past (nearly) 2 years. Today I’m at this Google Analytics course which I had to sign up for as part of my work, when I registered for this course 2 weeks ago, I was suddenly reminded of Look Into Life and Steve Pavlina and working towards a wholesome life! I realised I had lost my purpose, being caught up in a new working environment, as well as getting used to married life.

So here I am again, look out for my posts It’s time to start looking at life again!!

How can you expect life to become better when you do the same things every day?

How do you expect to get paid more when you do the same job every day?

How do you improve yourself when you think the same thoughts every day?

Looking in the mirror one day, I realized I really have very obvious laugh lines and my cheeks seem saggy and droopy. I’ve been fraught with sensitive and oily skin since young. From the teens to maybe a few years ago, I was still growing those big, pus-filled, red and swollen pimples. Even now, although my condition did get a little better, I still get the occasional big, pus-filled, red and swollen pimple. Hence I am always skeptical about trying new skin products. If I am fortunate, that product probably wouldn’t have visible effects on me. If I am unfortunate, it will result in a big scale breakout for me. I took a whole 6 months to revert back to a more stable condition after New York Skincare Solutions gave me a full-fledged breakout. And they were pretty mean about it too. The girls at the OG branch kept saying I need to exhaust the seed of evil and purge all my toxins out before I can have great skin; so the breakout was NORMAL. Now, my boyfriend still teases me for completely wasting my money whenever I pass by any New York Skincare Solutions branch.

So when my mum asked her colleague to help her get 2 cans of Meiji Amino collagen for us, I had my doubts. Topical applications are already dangerous for me, what more collagen for ingestion? But, but, but, each can was priced at about S$45 and being a money-conscious person, I decided to give the collagen a try, because I really shouldn’t let the money go to waste. Essentially the collagen comes in a powdered form and has quite a strong milky smell. I would mix a spoonful into my coffee every morning and surprisingly after 1-2 weeks I was really able to feel a difference. There wasn’t any visible improvement in skin elasticity yet, but I did feel my skin was less oily than before. But being the lazy girl, I do find it a chore to need to mix it into my drink every morning, and since it smells and tastes like milk powder, you can’t exactly mix it with any drink. So just last week, I visited Guardian and got myself Meiji’s new product, Amino Collagen in pill form! Cost me S$39. Just one minus point, the recommended daily intake of collagen is set at 5000mg and that is equivalent to 25 pills a day! Being the lazy gal, I force myself to take at least 10 a day…

Meiji Amino Collagen - in powder form

Meiji Amino Collagen - in pill form

So what exactly is collagen? For those who are curious, collagen is essentially a type of protein. The main use of collagen in our body is to connect and support tissues like our skin, bone, muscles and also our internal organs. Because of this, collagen is known to be beneficial for the improvement of the elasticity of our skin. It also helps in repair and regeneration, making the skin firm and supple. When we grow old though, our store of collagen starts to decrease and SAGGING starts. Wrinkles will appear and our skin doesn’t look as taut as when we were younger. Our face is probably not the only one that gets impacted. Skin on the body generally will lose its elasticity and any presence of cellulite would become more visible. Your hair will perhaps also lose it shine and elasticity. So, this is why I’m so interested in collagen supplements right now… I don’t want sagging skin…

25 pills every day!

If you are interested in collagen products, you need to know that consuming collagen on its own may not be as effective as you would think. You will need to balance collagen intake with substances like vitamin C and arginine. Eating foods like dark green leafy vegetables which are rich in vitamin C helps the body to utilize collagen more efficiently. Arginine is an amino acid which will help to keep skin healthy. So, look out for these extra ingredients if you are thinking of collagen supplements. If you are worried about side effects, from my reading, it seems like there isn’t any widely known or affirmed side effects. This could be because it is water-soluble and is quickly eliminated from the body. However this means that it needs to be replenished quickly and regularly. So it’ll be great if you can get collagen from your daily foods too. Genistein in soy products help to give these soy products their collagen-producing qualities. Lycopenes in red fruits, darker berries and vegetables help to act as anti-oxidents which in turn stimulate collagen production. Foods like salmon and nuts are great too because they contain omega fatty acids which promote collagen production. And also, foods rich in sulphur, like celery and cucumbers, also help in the collagen production process. To summarize, we should have a well-balanced diet!

One more point to note when choosing your supplements, if you have allergies, do look out for the source of collagen too. Your collagen could be bovine-derived (from cows) or from pigs or from fish. The Meiji collagen I’m taking currently happens to come from fish. As per Meiji, fish-derived collagen is absorbed more easily than the kind derived from pigs.

Heh, I’m now really looking forward to seeing more significant benefits from the collagen. Will update again if I feel really good about it!

At the 12 Apostles in Melbourne

 

Cartwheels

 

Hiding under a lovely tree

 

 But… life just turned havoc after returning home.  I was just simply overwhelmed! The wedding preparations really kept me busy, though the process was fun, especially the part where I get to pick the gowns! I felt like a princess trying on the huge, ballooning dresses, lined with lace and accessorized with gems and sequins and all things nice. The photo shoot was an experience too. Carrying my big dress, we ploughed through the Botanical Gardens, explored the Esplanade and conquered the Marina Barrage. The most interesting part was I got people asking to take my photographs! An Indian lady at the Botanical Gardens asked if she could take a picture of me because she thought I looked so gorgeous. And, a mum at the Esplanade requested I took a picture with her young daughter because her girl thought I looked like a princess. Haha, I’m a superstar! But the shoot was very, very tiring; I slept like a pig that night.

 Low morale

Although there really is a lot to do about the wedding, I’m happy because I’m doing something for myself. My work at the office though, is the main culprit putting me down. We are currently in the process of changing to a new planning system, and this whole month is allocated to testing the system. I now spend at least 12 hours working everyday so much so I have been neglecting this blog and my plans to learn about share investing. I didn’t have time to start on my Australia trip’s photo album too. Now, not being able to spend time to get in touch with myself and do things for myself is really demoralizing. I’ve been missing my gym sessions as well as my favorite Pilates classes and because of this I feel weak and unhealthy and unfit. In the night, after I get home from work and gobble down my late dinner hungrily, I settle down for an episode of CSI and the day is gone.  This recent lifestyle forced me to rethink what I want again. Sometimes I really hope I have the courage to get out of this, stop working for someone else, and start working for myself. My auntie now stays at home to monitor her shares every day, can I do the same? Am I just being lazy? Am I trying to find an excuse for not working? What will my parents say? Can I start my own business, start buying LV bugs and selling them?

Recently a close colleague tendered her resignation and she did that without having securing a new job. I thought she was brave, but some of us thought it was risky. Why is it common view that you must at any one point have a job? Is having a job the only source of income?

This is my all-time favorite article on Steve Palina’s website.  Makes me feel better, and sometimes braver. http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/07/10-reasons-you-should-never-get-a-job/

I like the idea of 7-day projects. Sometimes it is very difficult to keep to a target because of the lack of discipline. But if you tell yourself you will only do something for 7 days, and after that you are free to return to your normal life, it makes the whole thing much easier. Plus, after seeing the benefits of keeping to a new habit for 7 days, you will probably be more motivated to continue your new life.

Try variations in your projects according to how disciplined you are. You can try extending your 7-day project to 2-week project, then further extend it to 30-day.  You can also apply the concept of the 7-day project to different areas of your life.

Some 7-day project ideas

7-day fat-free diet project

7-day vegetarian diet

7-day exercise everyday project

7-day wakeup on time project

7-day no frowning project

7-day dress well project

7-day look into yourself project

7-day get connected with your friends project

7-day no TV project

Last week, I embarked on a 7-day a face mask a day project. My best friend recently had her wedding. Weeks before her wedding, she used a face mask every day and you can really see the vast improvement in her complexion. Now you may think putting a face mask on every day is no big deal. But I have never been a hardworking person in terms of keeping my skin well maintained and soaking it with nutrients. Putting on a sheet face mask means that I am confined to the bed or sofa for an hour, where I can only watch TV. And when that hour is up, I have to get pass the drowsiness, wake up to wash my face and apply all my creams again. What a bother…

But looking at the effects on my girlfriend’s skin, I decided to try it myself, but for only 7 days. If these 7 days prove a difference, I will then probably go on to consider putting on a face mask more frequently.

Day 1

The Faceshop Collagen face mask sheet

My face feels smoother!

The Face Shop Collagen Face Mask

Day 2

The Faceshop Pearl face mask sheet

The smoothness from yesterday has worn off. But the 2^nd face mask seems to have made my skin suppler.

The Face Shop Pearl Face Mask

Day3

The Faceshop White Wine face mask

No difference from yesterday.

The Face Shop White Wine Mask with XBB

Day 4

SKII Miracle face mask

The face mask is super duper soaked with SKII Miracle Water. My skin did turn out smoother and more radiant but I really expected a lot more from this face mask, because of the mere fact I am applying more than 10x the usual amount of Miracle water on my face. The results were a little disappointing though.

SKII Face Mask

Day 5

The Faceshop Collagen face mask sheet

My face always feel so much better after the Face Shop’s sheet masks, but somehow the effects do not last as long as I want them to be.

Day 6

The Faceshop Pearl face mask sheet

My skin is clear and radiant after this mask, as always.  

Day 7

The Faceshop White Wine face mask

This is the last night of my 7-day face mask project. My face does feel a little smoother than it was before I started the project.

The Face Shop White Wine Mask

Results of my 7-day project face mask project

Honestly, to be more scientific, I should have used the same face mask every day. This is because the white wine face mask didn’t seem to have as much effects as the others. Hence effectively, I probably lost 2 days of this project. But it is ok, the idea is to do something, a white wine face mask is better than no face mask at all! Personally, I see some improvement in my skin tone as well as elasticity. My cheeks do not seem to sag as much. However no one commented on how my skin looked better, so maybe the effects are not that significant enough to be noticed by other people. I really should have taken before-after pictures though. My conclusion: The improvement I see in my skin is not that to warrant the efforts of putting on a mask every day. But nevertheless, a face mask can provide some benefits, so I guess I’ll stick to 2 per week!

What is emotional independence to me? Emotional independence to me is not allowing people to affect my inner feelings negatively through their actions or non-actions. It means that I should not read too much into other people’s actions and not defining my self-worth according to someone else’s standards. Emotional independence also means that I should not rely on other people as a direct source of happiness, but find happiness in myself. This is probably a difficult state to achieve, especially when we have people we love and care about. What they do affects how we feel about ourselves.

For example, your partner may decide to forgo a weekly dinner with you in order to meet up with his high school friends. If you are emotionally dependent, you can imply his action to mean that he enjoys the company of his friends more than you. You let him diminish your self-worth when in fact his actions may not have meant anything.

Or if you overheard a colleague made a comment about how he disagrees with your proposal, do you feel hurt and upset? Do you feel defensive, even if you have not clarified his ideas and thoughts about your suggestion? Even after he has confirmed his opinions, do you continue to feel upset and embarrassed because you think he probably feels you are not a very capable person?

Like I’ve said, these feelings are probably very normal, at least to me. That is because we care about how other people, especially the people who are close to us, think about us. But I also know that I have my own worth too. I will take care never to lose myself in the process of making other people happy. Mentally, we need to remind ourselves that we can control our own feelings, and not allow people determine how we should feel about ourselves. Look at situations objectively and do not link or relate feelings to them. When we tag our feelings to a scenario, we immediately internalize them and cloud our understanding of the situation. If you find it very difficult to not link any emotions, take one step further, choose a more positive feeling. Yes! You can choose!

I think increasing your self-worth is the route to emotional independence. You feel your own sadness and your own happiness so it all starts with you. Find time to start getting connected with yourself by spending some time alone now and then. Know your feelings, when you are feeling sad, feeling jealous, feeling angry and take conscious efforts to enjoy and understand why you are feeling that way. Another great way to emotional independence is to find a purpose. Set goals for yourself. When you are focused, small incidents will remain as small incidents, as they are only minor parts of a bigger picture. However remember that humans are humans because they have feelings. So allow emotions to flood you sometimes, just remember to keep the negative ones in check.

What do you do when you are bored? I got seriously bored during the last Christmas and New Year period. Work at the office got a little more slower and bearable as my co-workers left for home or for vacation. Now, bored does not equal having nothing to do. You could have dozens of reports to run or stacks of VCDs to watch or numerous dinner appointments to keep but at the same time still feel bored. For me, I get bored when I feel that the things I do no longer add value to myself, and that life is just clockwork, repeating itself. So, during that period, I guessed I had less people to talk with and had more time for myself. So I sat down and brainstormed a list of things that I can probably do to be more productive. And, as you can see, I’ve started on the very first item!

1. Start a blog.

Put your ideas down. Maybe you can earn yourself a house with a paper clip. Starting a blog is a big business especially if you intend to monetize it. Learn how create a website, use google adsense/adwords and understand the workings of affiliate programs.

2. Learn to create your own program.

Develop your own program to track your expenditure. Create an excel spreadsheet and add in macros for easy updating. Put in charts and graphs to better understand your spending pattern.

3. Brainstorm on how to make money.

Try tutoring. Or start a new business. Try something small first if you are not that ambitious, like selling jewellery online.

4. Find another job

If you do not like your current job, start finding another during your free time rather than use the free time on entertainment and food to reduce your working woes.

5. Participate in volunteering activities.

Try tutoring for free. Help your friend plan for her wedding or for a holiday. Help out at the old folks home. Babysit your nephew.

6. Read books to enrich yourself.

Don’t just pick up any magazine or novel. Search for recommended books which trigger you to think more. Find a purpose. Once you have that purpose, you shouldn’t feel bored. My recommendation: Anthony Robins, an expert on NLP (neuro linguistic programming). Or pick books on philosophy and religion.

7. Cook interesting dishes at home.

Explore new recipes and cook together with your partner. Increase bonding time.

8. Clean up your room.

Get rid of things you do not need by throwing them out, giving them to other people, or putting them up for sale on ebay. Arrange a garage sale amongst your friends, just exchange items and you will have new pieces without spending any money.

9. Start a catalogue

If you are always late because you take a lot of time deciding what to wear in the mornings, start a clothing, handbags and shoes catalogue. This will give you a better view of the items you own.

10. Work more!

Automate tedious stuff at work and make your work life more bearable. This brings us back to point 2. Take time to re-organize your folders and email.

11. Visit the museum.

Museums are fairly cheaper places to go and you can gain and share your knowledge in history after that. Other cheaper places to visit include the Science centre.

12. Watch VCDs and DVDs at home.

Look out for the must watch titles. The Shawshank Redemption and The Pianist are my personal favorites. The Discovery Channels documentaries like “I shouldn’t be Alive” are interesting and educational. Do you know how to increase your chances of survival when you are stranded swimming in shark-infested waters?

13. Picnic at the park or the beach.

You’ll take time planning the picnic, who to invite, where to go and what food to bring. Or opt for a barbeque or potluck instead.

14. Exercise!

Start a new regime. Find new exercise partners. Running is free. Have a stroll in the park. The hardest part is usually getting off your butt though. (link to previous entry)

15. Fix things at home.

Fix the creaky gate. Sew fallen buttons back onto that shirt. Make entirely pieces of new clothing with existing materials you have, add sequins, crystals, etc.

16. Proclaim today a self grooming day.

Have a DIY manicure and pedicure and body scrub session. Go cut your hair and trim your eyebrows and cut your fingernails.

17. Visit friends.

Look through your phone list and organize gatherings. Visit your parents (if you do not stay with them) and relatives to catch up. Even if people are not free to meet up, you will at least still remind them you exist.

18. Sign up with networking sites like Facebook, Friendster and Linked In

This is a nice and convenient way to stay in touch with everyone. Do not get addicted though. You know when you are addicted when you update your status once every hour, and you find to stalk on facebook. Appearing on Linked In and building your network might give just give you more opportunities in your career.

19. Write down your feelings

Write down anything that comes to mind, including why you are feeling bored and what you want to achieve in life. Keep the pen moving. This may seem a simple exercise, but it keeps you in touch and connected with yourself. You might have a clearer direction after the essay.

20. Make cards for your loved ones on special occasions.

Or thinking along the same line, compile a CD of their favorite songs or make a nice online photo album from your holiday trip last year and share it with friends.

I was going to watch Slumdog Millionaire in the theater when this cute Visa commercial aired just before the show. I had always treated it as just a creative commercial with a funny man dancing in different countries until my friend told me this comical character has actually really traveled around the world performing his dance, and he was sponsored! I got really inspired then. How can such a simple idea, a spur of the moment dance, earn a man a free trip (in fact 2)? Then I remember the other 2 stories he told me as well, and I am going to share them here. The ideas these men have are simple but totally fabulous! It just goes to show the impact a very simple idea can have on all of us.

Where the hell is Matt?

Matt Harding was initially a video game designer until one day he realized he needed more out of life, he then quit his job and started traveling. Once when travelling in Vietnam, his travel buddy suggested that that he added his signature silly dance in his travel video clips. These clips were then uploaded to the internet for his friends and family to watch. And Voila! He became famous! Because his videos were gaining fast popularity, he attracted the attention of Stride, a gum company, who went on to sponsor Matt on a around the world trip. And Voila! In 2006, Matt happily took a 6 month trip to visit 39 countries, and he would video himself performing his silly dance at each destination.
This was not the end of the story. Matt then already had a fair bit of fame and lots of people all over the world would email him and write to him. In 2007, he submitted another proposal to Stride: He would travel the world one more time, and this time he would invite these people who wrote to him to come and dance together with him. And so Voila! He went around the world a second time.
Isn’t that nice? You can see Matt Harding’s silly dance here. I get all warm inside after watching these videos, particularly the parts when the children joined him in his dance.

Kyle Macdonald’s one red paper clip

He started with a red paper clip in July 2005. He started a blog, and looked for people who were willing to exchange something bigger in return for his red paper clip. The paper clip became a pen which got Kyle a cute door knob which was swapped for a barbeque stove which…. … … morphed into a date with Alice Cooper which became a snow globe which turned into a movie role which finally was exchanged for a HOUSE in July 2006!

And this is the romantic part, Kyle proposed to his girlfriend some time after he got the house and he used the very initial red paperclip he had as a wedding ring! Seems that he managed to convince the woman he first traded with to give him back his paperclip.

And in June 2007, Kyle published his book One Red Paperclip. He also now holds the Guinness World of Records title for the Most Successful Internet Trade. Reading this, you may want to contact Kyle Macdonald to make a trade for his house, because he actually swapped a date with Alice Cooper for a snow globe. Who knows, you can actually get his house by giving him your pet dog.

One Red Paper Clip

The Million Dollar Homepage

In Aug 2007, a 21 year old student from England, Alex Tew, realized he will probably take a long, long time to finish paying off his study loan. Hence he came up with the Million Dollar Homepage to raise money for his education. His webpage consists of a square grid of 1,000,000 pixels divided into 10,000 10×10 pixel smaller blocks and he sold off each block at a cost of USD$1 per pixel. His buyers can add images, logos, advertisements and hyperlinks to the pixel space they purchased.

Initially, Alex’s website was only marketed by word of mouth. But when a press release picked up by BBC was sent out, the visitor hits to his website sky rocketed. By Jan 2006, the demand for his pixels was so great that he had only 1,000 pixels left. Smart Alex then decided to auction off these remaining 1,000 pixels on eBay for an impressive $38,100.

In total, Alex’s website fetched him a whopping sum of $1,037,100!

Million Dollar Homepage

Inspired?

It is too bad these ideas have already been used up, but we should always believe in ourselves, our creativity. So no worries if you are stuck in a rut right now, take time to daydream and brainstorm, keep your eyes open and your mind alert and you may just strike that single idea that can transform your life.

I have been working in my current job for a year. I seldom stay in the office past 7pm unless I have urgent matters to deal with. From observation, most people stay past 7pm and some bring their work home. Of course, some of them really do have a huge workload, but for most of the time, I detect inefficiencies in our work processes. Here are some tips that I practice personally and find them useful, I hope these tips can help improve your productivity too so that you can spend less time at work and more time at pleasure.

1. Plan your day.
List down the stuff you have to do for the day. Anything that comes up beyond the plan can wait, unless your boss comes up to you and ask for immediate attention. Set deadlines for each task and keep to them, even if it means you are going to work overtime into the night. When it becomes painful, you will attempt to solve your problems in the shortest amount of time.

2. Allocate email response periods
Time is often spent on reading mails, digesting them and responding to them, more time is spent especially if you need to supply information and data. Allocate email respond periods, probably twice a day, once before lunch and once in the afternoon. All time outside these email response blocks should be spend on what has already been planned for the day. This allows you to focus on the big tasks and nobody should blame you because you still respond to emails!

3. Eliminate and Automate and Delegate
Do away with the unnecessary; understand if the task you are handling adds value. If you are overloaded, talk to your boss and hopefully he can alleviate your load by redistributing it. If you are doing a lot of data crunching, this is the best scenario to learn how to use Excel macros, a simple tool that will allow you to automate part (hopefully all) of your data processing. If a task proves to be of more value to another person than to you, delegate that task off to him if possible. If he does not have access to the data, you can provide him with the raw data, and he can do whatever processing he needs with it.

4. Manage meetings
Do not arrange for meetings if not needed. Conference technologies are very common nowadays, we can strive to replace face-to-face meetings with a multi-party conference call plus a netmeeting to eliminate room-booking and travelling time. As for attending meetings chaired by your co-workers, be selective and attend only when the information is significant to you or when you are the key person making the decision. Go to the meeting prepared so that time is not wasted on searching for past emails and information. Doing this can set the same standards for others when they participate in the same meetings as you the next time. You can also send a list of to-dos for all participants before the meeting so that they come prepared too.

5. Send effective emails
Put whatever questions you need to ask in point form so that the other party can answer them easily without missing any of them. Anticipate any questions that would be ask of you and answer them first so that you can cut down on the number of emails flying around. When dealing with mass emails, make sure your details are right first to avoid confusion which can invite floods of emails and plenty of time wasted trying to explain to big groups of people.

6. Make sure your 10 minute tea break is 10 minute long
It is perfectly ok to have tea breaks to loosen up your mind a little. But do not let 10min tea breaks morph into half hour long gossip sessions. To avoid that, you can probably have your breaks alone, or plan group breaks just before a meeting so that you have no choice but to cut off your break on time.

7. Be totally focused
Stay very focused on the task you are working and do not proceed to work on another one unless the current one is completed. Allow no room for disruptions. Disable your instant messenger and do not check your emails if you can. This rule works best for the really painful jobs that are easy to give up on.

8. Maintain good working relationships
There are certainly moments in your work when you will need inputs from other people. Maintaining good relationships with these people make elevate you to a higher position on their priority list and you will save time waiting on replies. Generally, we should try to be on good terms with most people as you will never know when you will need help.